AP National Business

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Shares skidded in Asia on Wednesday after another broad decline on Wall Street as markets remain gripped by uncertainty over inflation, rising interest rates and the potential for a recession. U.S. futures edged higher while oil prices fell back. A weaker-than-expected U.S. consumer confidence reading highlighted

By THOMAS ADAMSON AP Fashion Writer PARIS (AP) — Kenzo’s designer, Nigo, found his groove for his sophomore collection at the LVMH-owned house, drawing vibrant parallels with house founder Kenzo Takada. Nigo has made history as the first Japanese designer to front the house since Takada, who died in 2020. Funky scarves, a take on

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley biopic “Elvis” shook up theaters with an estimated $30.5 million in weekend ticket sales, but — in a box-office rarity — “Elvis” tied “Top Gun: Maverick,” which also reported $30.5 million, for No. 1 in theaters. Final figures Monday, once Sunday’s

By HALELUYA HADERO AP Business Writer As workers at major companies increasingly move to unionize, the political environment for labor couldn’t be more ripe. Perhaps nowhere is that more accurate than at the National Labor Relations Board. The agency’s top prosecutor, Jennifer Abruzzo, is seeking to overturn prior precedents and revive decades-old labor policies that

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Furious about surging prices at the gasoline station and the supermarket, many consumers feel they know just where to cast blame: On greedy companies that relentlessly jack up prices and pocket the profits. Yet most economists say corporate price gouging is, at most, one of many

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Senior U.S. officials are in Sri Lanka seeking ways to help the island nation cope with an unprecedented economic crisis and severe shortages of essential supplies. The energy minister warned in a tweet that new fuel shipments would be delayed and people shouldn’t be lining

By ZEKE MILLER, DARLENE SUPERVILLE and GEIR MOULSON Associated Press ELMAU, Germany (AP) — President Joe Biden and Western allies opened a three-day summit in the Bavarian Alps on Sunday intent on keeping economic fallout from the war in Ukraine from fracturing the global coalition working to punish Russia’s aggression. Britain’s Boris Johnson warned the

by FABIANO MAISONNAVE RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s first elected leftist president, will take office in August with ambitious proposals to halt the record-high deforestation rates in the Amazon. He’s promised to reserve land where people can legally harvest rubber, acai and other non-wood forest products, and to limit the expansion of

By ZEKE MILLER and DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press MUNICH (AP) — President Joe Biden is out to sustain the global alliance punishing Russia for its invasion of Ukraine as he embarks on a five-day trip to Europe as the 4-month-old war shows no sign of abating and its aftershocks to global food and energy supplies

By NICOLE WINFIELD and LUCA BRUNO Associated Press MILAN (AP) — The mayor of Milan has signed an ordinance turning off public decorative fountains and limiting water sprinklers as northern Italy endures one of the worst droughts in decades. In addition, the city’s arcibishop made a tour of churches in farm areas outside Milan to

By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER Associated Press HONOLULU (AP) — Megan Kau takes occasional weeklong hunting trips to the Hawaiian island of Lanai, where she enjoys watching the sunrise and hearing the distant rustle of deer and mouflon sheep in the tropical wilderness, a rifle ready at her side. As a gun owner, she also goes

By LAURAN NEERGAARD AP Medical Writer Pfizer announced Saturday that tweaking its COVID-19 vaccine to better target the omicron variant is safe and works — just days before regulators debate whether to offer Americans updated booster shots this fall. The vaccines currently used in the U.S. still offer strong protection against severe COVID-19 disease and

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO and HALELUYA HADERO AP Business Writers The Supreme Court’s decision to end the nation’s constitutional protections for abortion has catapulted businesses of all types into the most divisive corner of politics. Some companies that stayed silent last month — when a draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito was leaked to Politico —

By JULHAS ALAM Associated Press DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has celebrated the opening of the country’s longest bridge, which took eight years to build amid setbacks involving political conflict and corruption allegations. The 4-mile bridge spanning the Padma River cost an estimated $3.6 billion and was paid for with domestic

By AYA BATRAWY Associated Press Rising food costs. Soaring fuel bills. Wages that are not keeping pace. Inflation is plundering people’s wallets, sparking a wave of protests and workers’ strikes around the world. This week alone saw protests by the political opposition in Pakistan, nurses in Zimbabwe, unionized workers in Belgium, railway workers in Britain,

By ANNE M. PETERSON AP Sports Writer There’s a push for the cities awarded games for the 2026 World Cup to commit to livable wages, and equitable hiring and worker protection. Many of those rights have cast a cloud on the upcoming World Cup in Qatar. The Dignity 2026 coalition has brought together diverse groups

By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer The bidding war over Spirit Airlines is heating up again. On Friday, Frontier Airlines sweetened its offer for the rival discount airline. Frontier is adding $2 in cash to its previous offer of $2.13 in cash and just under two shares of Frontier for each share of Spirit. And

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes Friday: Wells Fargo, Carnival rise; CalAmp, Lending Tree fall

The Associated Press Wall Street rallied on Friday, lifting the S&P 500 3.1% for its best gain in two years. The benchmark index also ended the week 6.4% higher, erasing the brutal loss it took a week earlier. It was just the second winning week for the S&P 500 in the last 12. Stocks climbed

The Associated Press Benchmark U.S. crude oil for August delivery rose $3.35 to $107.62 a barrel Friday. Brent crude for August delivery rose $3.07 to $113.12 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline for July delivery rose 12 cents to $3.88 a gallon. July heating oil rose 2 cents to $4.36 a gallon. July natural gas fell 2

By MARCY GORDON AP Business Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Four Democratic lawmakers are asking federal regulators to investigate Apple and Google for allegedly deceiving mobile phone users by enabling the collection and sale of their personal data. Their call comes as the Supreme Court ended the constitutional protections for abortion Friday. The court’s decision to

By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer DALLAS (AP) — Airlines under scrutiny for widespread flight disruptions are renewing their criticism of the government agency that manages the nation’s airspace, saying that understaffing at the Federal Aviation Administration is “crippling” traffic along the East Coast. Airlines for America, which represents the largest U.S. carriers, said Friday

By TERRY TANG Associated Press For two years, former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords allowed a film crew to shadow her and husband Sen. Mark Kelly. The result is a film titled “Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down.” An intimate look at Giffords’ recovery after the 2011 shooting that changed her life. But it’s also an insider view

By TOM MURPHY AP Health Writer Juul can continue to sell its electronic cigarettes, at least for now, after a federal appeals court on Friday temporarily blocked a government ban. Juul filed an emergency motion earlier Friday, seeking the temporary hold while it appeals the sales ban. The e-cigarette maker had asked the court to

By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer DALLAS (AP) — The largest pilots union has approved a contract that would boost the pay of pilots at United Airlines by more than 14% over the next 18 months, potentially clearing the way for similar wage hikes throughout the industry. The deal reflects the leverage currently held by

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s leadership of the Conservative party has suffered a heavy double blow as voters rejected the Tories in two special elections. In the southwestern constituency of Tiverton and Honiton, the Liberal Democrats overturned a 24,000 Conservative majority to win, while the main opposition

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The Dutch government plans to cut the maximum number of flights allowed each year at the country’s busiest aviation hub, Schiphol Airport, in an attempt to reduce noise and air pollution. Friday’s decision is expected to take effect late next year. It will cut the number of

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says that a wind-stoked wildfire that has been raging near a popular resort in southwestern Turkey has been “largely” brought under control. The fire erupted Tuesday near Marmaris on the Aegean Sea coast and spread rapidly. It drove hundreds of people from their homes. Erdogan said

By GLENN GAMBOA AP Business Writer Donations for Afghanistan earthquake victims will face far more hurdles than other disasters, due to sanctions against the country’s Taliban government and its troubled relationship with Western nations, experts say. International groups that maintained operations in the country following the collapse of its government last year have rushed to

By DAVID KEYTON, JOHN LEICESTER and YURAS KARMANAU Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — After weeks of ferocious fighting, Ukrainian forces have begun retreating from a besieged city in the country’s east to move to stronger positions, a regional official said Friday, the four-month mark in Russia’s invasion. The planned withdrawal from Sievierodonetsk, the administrative

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Back-to-back world leader summits in Europe opening this weekend will focus on uniting Western nations behind Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion and overcoming Turkey’s opposition to NATO membership for Finland and Sweden. The Group of Seven leading economic powers are meeting in Germany for their

By THOMAS ADAMSON AP Fashion Writer PARIS (AP) — Flowers, art, and Dior’s world-famous ateliers collided on Friday at Paris Fashion Week for a sweet-smelling explosion of creativity. The show was an homage to late British painter Duncan Grant and celebrated member of London’s Bloomsbury Group, who died in 1978. At Paul Smith a fresh

By FRANCESCA EBEL and JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The European Union’s decision to make Ukraine a candidate for EU membership offered war-weary Ukrainians a morale boost and hope of a more secure future Friday as the country’s military ordered its fighters to retreat from a key city in the eastern Donbas

BRUSSELS (AP) — A day after endorsing Ukraine’s candidacy to join the European Union, the bloc’s leaders turned their attention to the severe economic turbulence from Russia’s war in the neighboring country. The EU’s 27 leaders gathered in Brussels to grapple with surging inflation, energy shocks, dwindling business and consumer confidence, and growing budget pressures.

GENEVA (AP) — Swiss customs authorities are tracking about 3 tons of gold of Russian origin that entered Switzerland from Britain last month to watch for potential violations of economic sanctions against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. The gold is worth 194 million Swiss francs ($202 million). The Federal Office for Customs and Border

BERLIN (AP) — The head of the United Nations warned Friday that the world faces “catastrophe” because of the growing shortage of food around the globe. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the war in Ukraine has added to the disruptions caused by climate change, the coronavirus pandemic and inequality to produce an “unprecedented global hunger

BEIJING (AP) — The Chinese electric car brand NIO says two employees involved in testing died when one of its vehicles fell three stories from a parking structure in Shanghai. The company said the crash was under investigation but appeared to be an accident and “not caused by the vehicle.” It said the employees who

By STAN CHOE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers Stocks racked up more gains on Wall Street Friday, as the S&P 500 had its best day in two years and just its second winning week in the last 12 to provide a bit of relief from the market’s brutal sell-off this year. The benchmark index

By LAURIE KELLMAN Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — There’s no plaque on the gate of the U.S. ambassador’s new residence in Jerusalem, no Stars and Stripes visible, no official listing as a notable overseas property. The official residence of the American envoy is a rental and temporary, officials said, secured after two years of house-hunting

By ZEINA KARAM and DAVID RISING Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon and Sri Lanka may be a world apart, but they share a history of political turmoil and violence that led to the collapse of once-prosperous economies bedeviled by corruption, patronage, nepotism and incompetence. The toxic combinations led to disaster for both: Currency collapse,

By BRUCE SCHREINER Associated Press The company that operated a Kentucky candle factory leveled by a deadly tornado last winter is planning to ramp up production. Gov. Andy Beshear announced Thursday that Mayfield Consumer Products plans a $33 million investment at a nearby plant. It plans to employ more than 500 people full time in

By STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service has issued a draft environmental assessment to lay the foundation for a proposed 20-year moratorium on copper-nickel mining upstream from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Formally, the proposal would “withdraw” about 352 square miles within the Rainy River watershed in

By ADAM BEAM and DON THOMPSON Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The California Senate has rejected a proposal to ban involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime. The California Constitution bans involuntary servitude except for the punishment of a crime. Some state lawmakers proposed an amendment to remove that exception. Voters would have to

By DAVE KOLPACK Associated Press FARGO, N.D. (AP) — The sale of a couple thousand acres of prime North Dakota farmland to a group tied to Bill Gates has stirred emotions over a 1932 law meant to protect family farms and raised questions about whether the billionaire shares the state’s values. State Attorney General Drew

By MARK PRATT Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — NASA wants its moon dust and cockroaches back. The space agency has asked Boston-based RR Auction to halt the sale of moon dust collected during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission that had subsequently been fed to cockroaches during an experiment to determine if the lunar material contained

By COLLIN BINKLEY AP Education Writer The Biden administration has agreed to cancel $6 billion in student loans for about 200,000 former students who say they were defrauded by their colleges, according to a proposed settlement in a Trump-era lawsuit. The agreement filed Wednesday in San Francisco federal court would automatically cancel federal student debt

The Associated Press Stocks shook off a midday slump and ended higher, keeping major indexes on track for weekly gains. Trading was wobbly throughout the day as investors remained focused on another day of testimony before Congress by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq rose.

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes Thursday: Mosaic, Bank of America fall; KB Home, Rite Aid rise.

The Associated Press Benchmark U.S. crude oil for August delivery fell $1.92 to $104.27 a barrel Thursday. Brent crude for August delivery fell $1.69 to $110.05 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline for July delivery fell 6 cents to $3.73 a gallon. July heating oil fell 6 cents to $4.32 a gallon. July natural gas fell 62

DALLAS (AP) — Delta Air Lines will get to stay at Love Field, the airport closest to downtown Dallas. The city council this week approved a settlement that will pay Alaska Airlines to let Delta use one of its gates. Southwest Airlines dominates traffic at Love Field, and it has long wanted to remove Delta

By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer Yelp is closing three of its U.S. offices after finding most of its employees prefer to work remotely.In a blog post Thursday, Yelp Co-Founder and CEO Jeremy Stoppelman said the company will close its offices in New York, Washington and Chicago on July 29. The online review and reservation

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria is grappling with widespread fuel shortages that are forcing motorists to spend hours in lines to buy gas and causing prices to surge for transportation and basic commodities. Russia’s war in Ukraine has caused prices to import fuel go up by more than 100%, but

By MATTHEW DALY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Groups representing the oil industry and refiners say a meeting with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm was productive and should send a signal to markets that the United States is committed to long-term investments in the oil and refining industry. The meeting Thursday with Granholm and other top

By The Associated Press Tesla CEO Elon Musk described the electric automaker’s factories in Austin and Berlin as “money furnaces” that were losing billions of dollars because supply chain breakdowns were limiting the number of cars they can produce. In a May 30 interview with a Tesla owners club that was released this week, Musk

By BARBARA ORTUTAY and MATT O’BRIEN AP Technology Writers Instagram is testing new ways to verify the age of people using its service, including a face-scanning artificial intelligence tool, having mutual friends verify their age or uploading an ID. Meta, which owns both Facebook and Instagram, said that beginning on Thursday, if someone tries to

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California judge has approved a request by Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s adult daughter to change her name and gender on her birth certificate. Vivian Jenna Wilson filed the petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court the day after turning 18 in April. She listed gender identity and an apparent dislike

By The Associated Press Nike will fully shut down its operations in Russia, joining other international companies that have withdrawn from the country after its brutal invasion of Ukraine.Nike Inc. suspended operations three months ago at all of its company-owned and operated stores in Russia but like other major corporations, has attempted to avoid exposing

By GENE JOHNSON Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — Amazon said Thursday it is providing $23 million to help minority-led organizations build or preserve more than 500 new affordable housing units in Seattle — the latest spending by a tech company to ease a severe housing crunch the industry has helped create. The commitment comes from

DAMACUS, Syria (AP) — A private company says the international airport in Syria’s capital of Damascus has resumed flights after nearly two weeks following an Israeli airstrike that caused serious damage to the facility. Cham Wings Airlines says it had four flights that took off from the Damascus International Airport on Thursday for Kuwait, Oman,

Associated Press Amazon’s Alexa might soon replicate the voice of family members – even if they’re dead. The capability, unveiled at Amazon’s Re:Mars conference in Las Vegas, is in development and would allow the virtual assistant to mimic the voice of a specific person based on a less than a minute of provided recording. Rohit

By MARCY GORDON AP Business Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal regulators have accused Harley-Davidson and Westinghouse of imposing illegal warranty terms on customers and ordered them to fix their warranties and ensure that their dealers compete fairly with independent repair-makers. The companies have imposed illegal warranty terms that voided customer warranties if they used anyone

LONDON (AP) — The European Medicines Agency says it is recommending the authorization of the coronavirus vaccine made by French pharmaceutical Valneva, making it the sixth shot to be given the green light in Europe. In a statement on Thursday, the EU drug regulator said it had cleared Valneva’s two-dose vaccine for use in people

By JOSH FUNK AP Business Writer OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway bought more than $500 million worth of Occidental Petroleum shares over the past week as it continued to invest heavily in oil producers this year. Occidental shares gained more than 2% Thursday after Berkshire disclosed owning 16.3% of the company’s stock.

By ED WHITE Associated Press DETROIT (AP) — The state of Michigan has agreed to destroy more than 3 million dried blood spots taken from babies and kept in storage, a partial settlement in an ongoing lawsuit over consent and privacy in the digital age. At the state’s direction, hospitals have routinely pricked the heels

By MATTHEW PERRONE and TOM MURPHY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health regulators on Thursday ordered Juul to pull its electronic cigarettes from the market, the latest blow to the embattled company widely blamed for sparking a national surge in teen vaping. The action is part of a sweeping effort by the Food and

By ANNA HELHOSKI of NerdWallet Buy now, pay later financing options are increasingly being offered by for-profit credentialing schools and boot camps. The “learn now, pay later” concept is appealing, and students are already familiar with the name brand companies since buy now, pay later is ubiquitous within online retail. But are these just risky

By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The good news for stocks is that this year’s sell-off means they no longer look eye-wateringly expensive. The bad news: That won’t matter if corporate profits give out. A stock’s price rises or falls for essentially two reasons: how much cash a company generates and

By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A sleek $156 million superyacht belonging to a sanctioned Russian oligarch and parliamentarian is now docked in Dubai, the latest reminder of how the skyscraper-studded sheikhdom has become a haven for Russian money amid Moscow’s war on Ukraine. The Madame Gu, which has a

By MATTHEW DALY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is launching a partnership with 11 East Coast governors to boost the growing offshore wind industry, a key element of President Joe Biden’s climate change plan. Biden administration officials will meet with governors and labor leaders Thursday to announce commitments to expand important parts

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Police in Portugal have found just over 8 metric tons (8.8 short tons) of cocaine concealed inside banana shipments from Colombia. Police said Thursday the cocaine was hidden in the hold of three cargo ships that docked in Setubal in a port about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the Portuguese

By KRISHAN FRANCIS and BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI Associated Press COLOMB0, Sri Lanka (AP) — Senior Indian officials are in Sri Lanka for talks on how to help the island nation weather an unprecedented economic crisis. The Indian delegation’s visit Thursday followed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s declaration that Sri Lanka’s economy had “collapsed.” Sri Lankans have endured months

By YURI KAGEYAMA Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — An American executive who resigned from Toyota after being arrested in Japan in 2015 on suspicion of drug law violations has returned to the Japanese automaker. Toyota said Thursday that Julie Hamp has been hired by its North American operations to support its chief executive, Akio Toyoda,

PARIS (AP) — The chief of airline alliance Air France-KLM says it will take weeks or months to get new security staff in place to lighten pressure on the Amsterdam airport. The Schiphol Airport has seen flight cancellations, huge delays and big travel headaches as global air travel rebounds. Other European and U.S. airports are

By JOHN LEICESTER and DAVID KEYTON Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine says Russia’s military has captured two villages in eastern Ukraine and is vying for control of a key highway as it seeks to cut supply lines and encircle frontline Ukrainian troops. The Ukrainian military hopes to gain an advantage with the arrival

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norway’s central bank has raised its key policy interest rate from 0.75%  to 1.25%. In a statement on Thursday, Norges Bank cited a bigger than expected decline in unemployment and higher than anticipated inflation as factors in its decision. Inflation in Norway is at 5.7%, while unemployment came in at 3.2%