AP National Business

By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Authorities are investigating a natural gas leak at a ConocoPhillips Alaska oil drill site on Alaska’s North Slope. The company says the leak was detected last Friday. It says that it acted on Monday to relocate non-essential personnel from the area because of what was described

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Three Idaho women are suing the state in federal court over its expensive training requirement for professional hair-braiders. The Idaho Statesman reports the women, represented by the Institute for Justice, filed the lawsuit Tuesday against the Idaho Barber and Cosmetology Services Licensing Board in Boise’s U.S. District Court. Idaho is one

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — A prominent literary journal is shutting down this fall after losing support from its publisher, Bard College. Conjunctions, founded in 1981 by Bradford Morrow and the recipient of numerous awards, has been a forum for writers ranging from W.S. Merwin and Richard Powers to Kelly

By MATTHEW DALY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is restoring California’s authority to set its own tailpipe pollution standards for cars, reversing a Trump administration policy and likely ushering in stricter emissions standards for new passenger vehicles nationwide. A waiver approved Wednesday by the Environmental Protection Agency allows California to set tough

By BERNARD CONDON Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A bank’s decision to loan Donald Trump’s company $100 million is the latest evidence the former president might survive fraud investigations and a business-world backlash over his efforts to stay in office after losing the 2020 election. Documents filed with New York City on Tuesday show

HOUSTON (AP) — Federal officials say Chevron Phillips Chemical Co, will pay $118 million for upgrades and compliance measures at three Texas petrochemical plants over allegations that it violated the Clean Air Act. The company will also pay a $3.4 million civil penalty under a proposed settlement announced Wednesday by the Justice Department and the

By ADAM BEAM and DON THOMPSON Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed a tax rebate amid record-high prices at the pump. He announced the plan in his State of the State address Tuesday. He rejected calls to increase oil drilling, saying he wants to free the state “from the

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. businesses posted a near-record level of open jobs in January, a trend that has pushed up worker’s pay and added to the economy’s inflationary pressures. The Labor Department said Wednesday that employers posted 11.3 million jobs at the end of January, down slightly from a

By RAF CASERT, KELVIN CHAN and DANICA KIRKA Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Europe faces a rough choice: is it worth a recession to choke off oil and gas money to Russia while it fights a war in Ukraine? While the U.S. and British bans on Russian oil increase the pressure on Europe, the continent’s

BAY SHORE, N.Y. (AP) — Charles Edward Entenmann, who helped turn his family’s New York-based bakery into a national brand, has died at age 92. Entenmann died Feb. 24 in Hialeah. His son, Charles William Entenmann, confirmed the death to Newsday. Charles E. Entenmann was a grandson of William Entenmann, a German immigrant who founded

By GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press A judge has indicated he is moving forward with a plan for the owners of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma to pump at least another $1.2 billion into a nationwide settlement of lawsuits against over the toll of opioids. Legal wrangling still lies ahead for the overall bankruptcy reorganization plan. The

By GLENN GAMBOA AP Business Writer Gun violence in America is a public health crisis that is worsening with pandemic-like speed. So says Steve Ballmer, the billionaire philanthropist whose nonprofit is devising a new remedy to address it. Even with COVID-19 lockdowns, deaths caused by gun violence in America jumped 30% from 2019 to 2020,

PHOENIX (AP) — Nestle USA says it will build a $675 million plant in metro Phoenix to produce beverages including oat milk coffee creamers. The company announced Wednesday that the factory will eventually employ more than 350 people in Glendale. It’s slated to open in 2024. Nestle, which makes the Coffee mate brand of creamers,

DETROIT (AP) — BMW is recalling more than 917,000 cars and SUVs in the U.S. _ most for a third time _ to fix a problem that can cause engine compartment fires. The recall covers many 3 Series, 5 Series, 1 Series, X5, X3, and Z4 vehicles from 2006 through 2013. Documents posted Wednesday by

By ANDY ROSEN of NerdWallet Originally a misspelling in an online forum, the term “HODL” has become gospel among some owners of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. HODL means hold, and it is an irreverent take on the strategy of hanging onto digital assets in the hope that gains over a period of years will overshadow

LONDON (AP) — Ukraine’s government has banned the export of wheat, oats and other staples that are crucial for global food supplies as authorities try to ensure they can feed people during Russia’s intensifying war. A government announcement this week said new rules on agricultural exports are being introduced that also prohibit the export of

By ALEX TURNBULL Associated Press PARIS (AP) — The Kyiv City Ballet danced to a full house in Paris for the last show of a French tour that has left the company stranded after the war broke out in Ukraine. They described being physically and emotionally exhausted. Being given the opportunity to train and dance

By MILES BRANMAN Edmunds The Hyundai Ioniq 5 joins the growing electric small SUV market touting affordability and a large feature set. But can it take the lead from Tesla’s excellent Model Y? Edmunds compares them to find out.

By FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has signed an executive order on government oversight of cryptocurrency that urges the Federal Reserve to explore whether the central bank should create its own digital currency. The Biden administration sees the explosive popularity of cryptocurrency as an opportunity to examine its risks and

LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization says the number of new coronavirus cases and deaths globally have continued to fall in the past week. Only the Western Pacific is reporting an increase in COVID-19. The U.N. health agency issued its latest report on the pandemic on Wednesday. WHO said new COVID-19 infections dropped by

By JUSTIN SPIKE and RENATA BRITO Associated Press ZAHONY, Hungary (AP) — Annamaria Maslovska left her friends, her toys and her life in Ukraine and set off on a days-long journey with her mother toward safety in the West. They left after bombs started falling in their hometown of Kharkiv. The 10-year-old is one of

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Austria’s government says it’s suspending the country’s coronavirus vaccination mandate for most adults. Authorities argue that there’s no need to implement it at present only a week before its enforcement was due to begin. The mandate for people age 18 and over became law in early February

By RAF CASERT Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Russia has lost influence and friends since the collapse of the Soviet empire in 1989. But the nuclear superpower still holds sway over several of its neighbors in Europe and keeps others in an uneasy neutrality. The Russian invasion of neighboring Ukraine and the humanitarian tragedy it

By BRITTANY PETERSON and MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press DECKERS, Colo. (AP) — Thinning the dense stands of trees across millions of acres of U.S. forestlands is a central piece of the Biden administration’s $50 billion plan to protect against deadly firestorms that have been exploding across western states. But the same warming trends that worsen

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Tokyo’s stock benchmark soared 4% and other Asian markets have surged after oil prices dropped, easing fears inflation was set to accelerate. Wall Street’s S&P 500 index rose 2.6% for its biggest daily gain in 12 years as prices swing wildly amid uncertainty about the impact

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Legislation to limit insulin costs for people with diabetes is getting a new push in the Senate. Democrats say they want to move quickly, but they’ll need Republican support to get anything through an evenly divided chamber. And they’re not there yet. Curbs on insulin costs have

By JOSH BOAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has a solution for high inflation that seems counterintuitive: Bring factory jobs back to the U.S. This challenges a decades-long argument that employers moved jobs abroad to lower their costs by relying on cheaper workers. The president says outsourcing has led to higher inflation

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD Associated Press SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) — A dispute over building an oil pipeline across California has intensified with the defeat of ExxonMobil’s proposal to truck oil from now-idled offshore platforms. Santa Barbara County supervisors rejected the interim trucking plan Tuesday, denying the company a crucial step in its hopes of

By MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. wildlife officials have reversed their previous finding that a widely used and highly toxic pesticide could jeopardize dozens of plants and animals with extinction. The move comes after government officials received pledges from chemical manufacturers to change product labels for the pesticide malathion so that

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — National Park Service Director Chuck Sams says he and other federal officials are committed to boosting the role Native American tribes can play in managing public lands. He said Tuesday during a congressional hearing that part of the effort includes integrating Indigenous knowledge into management

By LISA MASCARO AP Congressional Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress has passed legislation that would shore up the U.S. Postal Service. The bill approved by the Senate on Tuesday would also require six-day-a-week mail delivery. It now goes to President Joe Biden, who is expected to sign it into law. The long-fought postal overhaul has

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Stitch Fix: Fiscal Q2 Earnings Snapshot

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer NEW YORK (AP) — By drawing power alone, President Joe Biden was last week’s biggest TV star. He drew more than 38 million people to see his State of the Union address, spread out over several different networks. The Nielsen company said more people watched on Fox News Channel

By WILL WEISSERT and NATHAN ELLGREN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — By banning U.S. imports of Russian oil, President Joe Biden is hoping that punishing Vladimir Putin’s country for the war in Ukraine is worth the political hit he’ll take at home, where gasoline prices have already shattered records and are likely to climb even

The Associated Press Stocks ended lower following another day of yo-yoing between gains and losses after crude oil prices rose anew as the U.S. banned imports from Russia. The price of nickel surged so much that trading for the metal was shut on Tuesday as the economic fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes Tuesday: Scotts, Mandiant fall; Dollar Tree, Chevron rise.

MIDLAND, Texas (AP) — A West Texas oilfield company and a company executive have been indicted in the 2019 poisonous gas deaths of a worker and his wife. Odessa-based Aghorn Operating Inc. and Aghorn Vice President Trent Day are charged with violating federal clean air and water laws and obstructing a federal job safety investigation.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In their latest case targeting alleged fraud in cryptocurrency, federal regulators have accused two siblings of defrauding thousands of ordinary investors out of some $124 million in unregistered securities offerings involving a digital token. The Securities and Exchange Commission alleged in a civil lawsuit that John and JonAtina Barksdale used in-person roadshows

The Associated Press Closing prices for crude oil, gold and other commodities, and foreign exchange levels.

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) — Apple on Tuesday unveiled a new version of its budget-priced iPhone that’s capable of connecting to ultrafast 5G wireless networks, an upgrade that has been available on the company’s upscale models for more than a year.  The latest iPhone SE marks the first upgrade

By KEVIN McGILL Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — President Joe Biden’s requirement that all federal employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 is awaiting judgment from a federal appeals court after arguments in New Orleans. An administration attorney told the court Tuesday that a federal judge in Texas was wrong to block the mandate. Opponents of

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has evoked wartime British leader Winston Churchill in a speech to Britain’s Parliament. He told U.K. lawmakers by video link on Tuesday that Ukrainians would fight Russian invaders to the end in the country’s forests, fields and streets. He said “we will not

By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer DETROIT (AP) — McDonald’s, Starbucks, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and General Electric all announced Tuesday they were suspending their business in Russia in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine. McDonald’s is temporarily closing all of its 850 restaurants in Russia, but will continue paying its 62,000 employees there. Starbucks is

By KERSTIN SOPKE and FRANK JORDANS Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Tens of thousands of people fleeing the war in Ukraine have been arriving in Berlin. Many of those coming to the German capital are staying in private accommodations with friends, relatives or volunteer hosts. Among them is Emmanuel Oyedele, a Nigerian student who is

By JOSH FUNK AP Business Writer OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The unions that represent roughly half of BNSF’s workers continue to fight against the railroad’s new attendance rules they say penalizes them for missing work for any reason even though a judge has barred them from striking. The unions launched a petition drive this week

By VADIM GHIRDA and OLEKSANDR STASHEVSKY Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Food, water and medicine grew rarer in Ukraine on Monday, well into the second week of war with Russia. Tent villages with kitchens have sprung up in the capital Kyiv, serving hot meals. That’s given some volunteers a chance to keep from “sitting

DETROIT (AP) — Tesla CEO Elon Musk is asking a federal judge to nullify a subpoena from securities regulators and throw out a 2018 court agreement in which Musk had to have someone pre-approve his posts on Twitter. In a motion filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Musk attorney Alex Spiro contends that

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writer The average price for gasoline in the US is hitting a record $4.17 per gallon as the U.S. bans Russian oil imports after its invasion of Ukraine. According to the AAA, the average price rose by 10 cents per gallon in one day, and it’s up 55 cents since

By PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The industry that harvests one of the most valuable fish species in the United States is hoping for a more stable year in 2022 after two years of volatile price swings. Fishermen in Maine harvest baby eels. The elvers are sometimes worth more than $2,000 per

By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A cybersecurity firm says hackers working on behalf of the Chinese government broke into the computer networks of at least six state governments in the United States in the last year. A report released Tuesday by the Reston, Virginia-based private cybersecurity firm Mandiant does not identify the

By RAF CASERT Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union is seeking to fully phase out its dependency on Russian energy “well before 2030” to ensure the 27-nation bloc no longer faces difficult decisions about hurting their own economies in geopolitical crises like the invasion of Ukraine. The EU leaders meet in Versailles outside

By ZEKE MILLER, MIKE BALSAMO and JOSH BOAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has announced that the U.S. will ban all Russian oil imports, toughening the toll on Russia’s economy in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine. But he also acknowledged it will bring costs to Americans, particularly at the gas pump.

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — Google is fortifying its cloud services with a $5.4 billion acquisition of cyber security firm Mandiant, the companies announced Tuesday. Google, a subsidiary of Mountain View, California-based Alphabet Inc., will pay $23 per Mandiant share in all-cash deal expected to close later this year.

By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The days when only men sat on U.S. corporate boards are nearly extinct. But the pace at which boards are moving toward gender parity has slowed, and it’ll likely be a decade before they’re evenly split. About one out of every four directors at U.S.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia will reopen its borders on April 1 after two years and lift remaining coronaviurs restrictions on businesses as it moves to restore normal life. Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob says the decision was the result of the country’s high vaccination rate, low hospital bed usage by COVID-19 patients and

By CATHY BUSSEWITZ and MATTHEW DALY Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — With Russia intensifying its war on Ukraine, killing civilians and triggering a mass refugee crisis, President Joe Biden announced a U.S. ban on imported Russian oil. A full embargo would be most effective if it included European allies, which are also desperate to

By COLIN BERESFORD of NerdWallet Graduating from college brings with it a lot of change, and that might mean a shift in your financial situation. With just a couple of months before another class leaves college behind, now is the time to start prepping your money to make the transition a little bit easier. This

By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer DALLAS (AP) — Less than a year after it started flying, new Breeze Airways is announcing an aggressive expansion plan that will include flights on the West Coast. Breeze said Tuesday that it will add 35 routes from 10 more cities. That growth is coming just as jet fuel

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Shell says it will stop buying Russian oil as international companies come under increasing to sever ties with the country after its invasion of Ukraine. The move Tuesday came hours before the U.S. and British governments banned Russian oil imports. The turmoil has rattled global markets, sending

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Danish toy company Lego says its net profit increased by more than a third in 2021, the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, coming in at 13.5 billion kroner ($2 billion), up from 9.9 billion kroner a year earlier. Consumer sales were up 22% while revenue grew 27% to 55.3 billion

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Asian stocks are mixed after Wall Street declined and China reported inflation edged higher. Already high oil prices rose further, adding more than $2 per barrel following President Joe Biden’s ban on imports of Russian crude. Stock benchmarks in Tokyo and Sydney rose while Shanghai and

PHOENIX (AP) — The board that oversees Arizona’s three public universities has ordered their presidents to sell any Russian investments their institutions hold as quickly as possible because of ongoing war it is waging against Ukraine. The Arizona Board of Regents also voted Monday to exclude Russian investments from the board’s retirement plan. The board

By STEVE KARNOWSKI and AMY FORLITI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Teachers have hit the picket lines at public schools across Minneapolis, calling their strike a fight to ensure “safe and stable schools” for students and for better wages for the lowest-paid support staff. But many families of the 29,000 students in one of Minnesota’s

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A California judge has ordered an online, for-profit university and its former parent company to pay $22 million in penalties, saying they misled students. The San Diego Superior Court ruled Thursday in favor of the state of California in its lawsuit against Ashford University and its then-parent company Zovio, Inc. The

By STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Teachers in the Minneapolis School District said they would go on strike Tuesday after failing to reach agreement on a new contract. It’s a move that will idle some 29,000 students in one of Minnesota’s largest school districts. Meanwhile, the teachers in neighboring St. Paul

By FATIMA HUSSEIN and AAMER MADHANI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is expected to sign an executive order on cryptocurrency this week that will mark the first step toward regulating how digital currency is traded. The move comes as administration officials have raised concern in recent weeks about Russia’s use of cryptocurrency

By JOHN ANTCZAK Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — The city of Los Angeles is suing Monsanto and two other companies for past and future costs of dealing with contamination of waterways by long-banned chemicals called polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. City Attorney Mike Feuer announced the lawsuit Monday, saying long-lasting PCBs were used in numerous

By CANDICE CHOI Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Meat from gene-edited cattle could be on the way in a few years. U.S. regulators on Monday said the animals do not raise any safety concerns. The cattle were altered to have short, slick coats that make it easier for them to withstand hot weather. That

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction that suspends Oregon’s ban on personal notes nicknamed love letters from prospective homebuyers to home sellers. The judge last week said the ban violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by restricting free speech too broadly. The  Oregonian/OregonLive reports the conservative Pacific

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes Monday: American Express, Ciena fall; Cornerstone, Exxon Mobil rise.

The Associated Press Stocks had their biggest drop in more than a year Monday after another big leap for oil prices threatened to squeeze inflation’s grip on the global economy. The S&P 500 sank 3%, its biggest drop in 16 months, after a barrel of U.S. crude surged to nearly $120 on the possibility that

MADRID (AP) — Spanish royal officials says that King Felipe VI is accepting his father’s desire to return to Spain for periodic visits. But former King Juan Carlos I will remain based in the United Arab Emirates where he moved in 2020 following probes into his financial dealings. A statement on the royal website on

By DAVID PITT Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Officials announced they have identified bird flu in a commercial flock of 50,000 turkeys in northwest Iowa, the state’s second case of a virus that has been identified in multiple states. Iowa agriculture officials and the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday confirmed the case

The Associated Press Closing prices for crude oil, gold and other commodities, and foreign exchange levels.

By SAMY MAGDY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Cash-stripped Sudan has announced it will float the country’s currency as economic conditions deteriorate further, some four months after a military coup plunged the African nation into further turmoil. The Central Bank of Sudan said on Monday that banks and exchange firms will determine the value of

By SEAN MURPHY Associated Press Writer OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Republicans in the Oklahoma House are unveiling a package of new restrictions on the medical marijuana industry. The 12-point plan announced Monday is designed to crack down on the number of illegal growers who are selling cannabis on the black market. The marijuana business has

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has defended his government’s treatment of Ukrainians fleeing war, after France accused U.K. authorities of “inhumane” behavior towards the refugees. Johnson said Britain was being “very, very generous” but would not have “a system where people can come into the U.K. without

By JUSTIN SPIKE Associated Press ZAHONY, Hungary (AP) — The violin was so beloved by Myroslava Sherbina that it was the one item she took as she fled Ukraine, along with the clothes she wore. But the instrument has remained silent since Russia invaded. The 20 year-old didn’t want to play “so I could hear

By DAVID KOENIG AP Business Writer Gasoline prices are pushing even farther above $4 a gallon, the highest price that American motorists have faced since July 2008, as calls grow to ban imports of Russian oil. Prices at the pump were rising long before Russia invaded Ukraine and have spiraled faster since the start of

By TOM KRISHER AP Auto Writer DETROIT (AP) — The Biden administration is proposing stronger pollution regulations for new tractor-trailer rigs that would clean up smoky diesel engines and encourage new technologies during the next two decades. The proposal released Monday by the Environmental Protection Agency would require the industry to cut smog-and-soot-forming nitrogen oxide

By JASEN LO Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Americans paid a combined $561 million in late payment fees to electrical utilities in 2019.  But how much you pay depends on where you live. An AP analysis of federal regulatory data found that several major utility companies in states like Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, Florida and

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO The Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Department store chain Kohl’s said it aims to increase sales by a low-single-digit percentage annually. The retailer plans to open 100 new small-format stores in the next four years and expand its partnership with Sephora to be a $2 billion business, among other moves. Kohl’s

The Associated Press The Federal Reserve issues a report on U.S. consumer borrowing Monday. The Labor Department serves up its latest tally of U.S. job openings Wednesday, and its February snapshot of inflation at the consumer level Thursday.

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) — Niantic Labs CEO John Hanke has been working on technology that helps people navigate and enjoy places in the real world since he helped create Google Maps nearly 20 years ago. So it’s not surprising that Hanke isn’t a fan of the current hyperbole

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writer The investment firm of billionaire Ryan Cohen has taken a large stake in Bed Bath & Beyond and is recommending that the struggling retailer sell all or part of its business. RC Ventures LLC has acquired a nearly 10% stake in Bed Bath & Beyond, according to a regulatory

LONDON (AP) — Leading Russian banks are looking into using a Chinese payment rival after Visa and Mastercard suspended operations over the invasion of Ukraine. All the big global accounting firms also said they would pull out of Russia in the latest corporate fallout. Sberbank and Tinkoff Bank say they’re considering the possibility of payment

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — U.K. lawmakers are set to pass a bill aimed at toughening sanctions on Russia and rooting out ill-gotten money from the British economy. Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the Economic Crime Bill will let British authorities ”pursue (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s allies in the U.K. with the

By KIMBERLY PALMER of NerdWallet Most tax returns generate a tax refund, which means a lot of Americans are expecting to receive a windfall soon. The average tax refund last year was about $2,800. Saving for the next emergency and paying off high-interest debt are important things to focus on, especially given the strains from

By HOPE YEN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Public transit systems straining to win back riders after being crushed by the COVID-19 pandemic are getting a $3.7 billion boost to help stay afloat and invest in electric buses. It’s part of several initiatives announced Monday by the Biden administration to promote green-friendly transit as workers

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — FlyDubai has reported a $229 million profit last year. That comes as the state-owned budget carrier saw its business rebound from the coronavirus pandemic and as regulators allowed it to again fly the Boeing 737 Max. FlyDubai nearly doubled its revenue in 2021 to

By DAVID RISING Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — The death toll from COVID-19 has surpassed 6 million. The tragic number confirmed Monday is believed to be a vast undercount and shows that the pandemic in its third year is far from done. It’s also a reminder of the unrelenting nature of the pandemic even as

By BARBARA SURK Associated Press NICE, France (AP) — Most of the world is shunning President Vladimir Putin since Russia invaded Ukraine. One world leader notably isn’t. French President Emmanuel Macron is keeping an open line of communication. His diplomatic efforts to prevent the war failed. But Macron hasn’t given up. The two men have

BEIJING (AP) — China is seeing a new surge in COVID-19 cases across the vast country, despite its draconian “zero tolerance” approach to dealing with outbreaks. The mainland reported 214 new cases of infection on Monday reported over the previous 24 hours. The southern province of Guangdong, which borders Hong Kong, reported the most cases