AP National Business

By KELVIN CHAN AP Business Writer LONDON (AP) — Anti-poverty group Oxfam has called for governments to impose a one-time 99% tax on the world’s billionaires and use the money to fund expanded vaccine production for the poor. Oxfam said in a report Monday that the ranks of the super-rich have swelled during the coronavirus

By COLLEEN BARRY AP Fashion Writer MILAN (AP) — Jeff Goldblum infused Milan Fashion Week with some levity as he shimmied down the Prada runway in a dark overcoat that cast a dramatic silhouette.  The latest menswear collection in the two-year-old collaboration between Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons as co-creative directors was at once elemental

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — After a month at the top of the box office, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” has finally been overtaken by “Scream.” Sunday studio estimates say the Paramount Pictures reboot grossed $30.6 million over the weekend. Paramount forecasts that “Scream” will total $35 million over the four-day

PARIS (AP) — France’s parliament has approved a law that will exclude unvaccinated people from restaurants, sports arenas and other venues. It’s the central measure of French government efforts to protect hospitals amid record numbers of infections driven by the highly contagious omicron variant. Centrist President Emmanuel Macron had hoped to push the bill through

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — As California enters its fifth year of broad legal marijuana sales, industry insiders say the practice of working simultaneously in the legal and illicit markets is all too commonplace in the struggling pot economy. Legal businesses have long complained that heavy taxes and regulation —

By MAE ANDERSON AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Sharply higher costs are yet another challenge thrown at business owners by the global pandemic. The unpredictability of shipping, labor and the coronavirus itself have created an environment where owners are often left guessing about when products might arrive and how much they’ll cost. In

By BABA AHMED and KRISTA LARSON Associated Press BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Mali’s former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has died nearly 18 months after he was ousted in a military coup. He was 76. Keita’s death was announced Sunday in Bamako. Keita had been battling health problems in recent years. He won the historic 2013

By HOLLY MEYER and HALELUYA HADERO Associated Press Biltmore United Methodist Church of Asheville, North Carolina, is for sale. Already financially strapped because of shrinking membership and a struggling preschool, attendance at weekly services have plummeted during the pandemic, with many staying home or switching to other churches. Gone, too, is the revenue from renting

By YURAS KARMANAU Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine says Russia was behind a cyberattack that defaced government websites and it alleged that Russia is engaged in a “hybrid war” against the country. The statement from Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Development came a day after Microsoft said dozens of computer systems at an unspecified

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — The Austrian government has presented revised plans for its proposed COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Officials say it will now apply to all residents age 18 and over. Originally it was 14 and over. Officials said Sunday that a phased introduction will give people plenty of opportunity to comply.

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia has held a referendum on constitutional amendments that the populist government says are needed for the Balkan country to advance in a bid to join the European Union. The ballot focuses on the changes in the election of judges and prosecutors that authorities say are aimed at boosting their independence

HELSINKI (AP) — Denmark has lifted a number of coronavirus restrictions and allowed the reopening of certain venues despite the spread of the omicron variant in the country. Cinemas, zoos, museums and theaters were among the places that could open their doors Sunday. Limited numbers of spectators also were allowed to attend indoor and outdoor

BERLIN (AP) — The World Health Organization says a U.N.-backed program shipping coronavirus vaccines to many poor countries has now delivered 1 billion doses, but that milestone “is only a reminder of the work that remains” after hoarding and stockpiling in rich countries. The U.N. health agency said Sunday that a shipment of 1.1 million

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — The official two-week campaigning period for Portugal’s Jan. 30 general election is kicking off. But there will be none of the large flag-waving rallies usually associated with the buildup to the ballot because of the coronavirus pandemic. The ballot comes two years ahead of schedule after parliament rejected the minority Socialist

By TOM BOWKER and TOM KRISHER Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Tesla is turning to Mozambique for a key component in its electric car batteries in what analysts believe is a first-of-its-kind deal designed to reduce its dependence on China for graphite. Elon Musk’s company signed an agreement last month with Australia’s Syrah Resources, which

By HELINA SELEMON Associated Press Thousands of miles away from the Tigray war a lawsuit between trustees and clergy over the language of services is tearing apart an Ethiopian church in Ohio. The ethnic tensions in the church reflect how the war in Ethiopia has fueled divides across the more than 3 million members of

By LORI HINNANT Associated Press STRASBOURG, France (AP) — The omicron variant of the pandemic is exposing the vulnerabilities of European public health systems. Hospitals in France and Britain are again struggling to staff intensive care units and treat patients as their own employees get infected. Experts say the problem is that few health systems

By FRANK BAJAK Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Microsoft says dozens of computer systems at an unspecified number of Ukrainian government agencies have been infected with destructive malware disguised as ransomware. The disclosure suggests an attention-grabbing defacement attack at the same time that temporarily took some 70 government websites offline was a diversion. The extent

By FRANK BAJAK Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — DirecTV says it plans to drop the right-wing TV channel One America News Network. The satellite television provider’s move is expected to significantly shrink the reach of the channel loyal to former President Donald Trump. OAN has been criticized for spreading misinformation including Trump’s claim, he won

By COLLEEN BARRY AP Fashion Writer MILAN (AP) — Italian media say Nino Cerruti, the Italian fashion designer credited with revolutionizing menswear in the 1960s and who gave Giorgio Armani his first fashion break, has died. He was 91.  The Italian news agency LaPresse reported that Cerruti died in northwestern Italy, where his family has

By COLLEEN BARRY AP Fashion Writer MILAN (AP) — Milan menswear designers seem to have decided on the answer, but the question remains: Have the pandemic lockdowns emboldened men to embrace a more feminine silhouette, including skirts, mini-dresses and cape coats? The Milan Fashion Week of previews for next winter and fall continued for the

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group and its main Shiite ally say they are ending their boycott of Cabinet meetings after three months. The deadlock has worsened the small Mideast nation’s unprecedented economic meltdown. The two Shiite groups said in a joint statement on Saturday they will attend Cabinet sessions to approve a new

ROME (AP) — The discovery of African swine fever in northern Italy has pork producers fearing significant damages to a major agricultural export, and is also cutting short truffle hunting. Earlier this month, a case of the virus, which can be deadly to pigs but doesn’t harm humans, was discovered in a wild boar in

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Environmental protesters are once again demanding the cancelation of plans for lithium mining in western Serbia. They took to the streets again Saturday in the Balkan nation, blocking roads and, for the first time, a border crossing. Traffic on Serbia’s main north-south highway was halted by the protests for more than

By ANNIE MA Associated Press Philanthropy, federal relief funding and other community driven efforts to close the digital divide in a year of remote schooling have helped significantly to bring more children online. But many families remain underconnected. They find themselves able to access the internet and the increasing number of tasks that rely on

AMSTERDAM (AP) — As stores in Amsterdam and across the Netherlands cautiously reopened after weeks of a coronavirus lockdown, the Dutch capital’s mood was further lightened by dashes of color as thousands of free bunches of tulips were handed out. National Tulip Day is usually marked by an improvised flower garden in front of the

BERLIN (AP) — A senior European Central Bank official says that raising interest rates prematurely could “choke off the recovery,” comments that come as inflation in the 19-nation euro area has hit a record rate. The European Union’s statistical office said Jan. 7 that the annual inflation rate rose to 5% in December — the

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — The coronavirus pandemic has forced the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting of world leaders, business executives and other heavyweights to go virtual for the second year in a row. Organizers still hope to catapult the world into thinking about the future of the pandemic, climate change and

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) — About $7 million worth of surplus personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies, purchased by a Northern California county earlier in the coronavirus pandemic, was damaged in recent rainstorms after it was left outside for months. San Mateo County officials acknowledged the disaster Friday following a KGO news report that showed

By ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is pushing ahead with efforts to prod people to get COVID-19 shots after the Supreme Court put a halt to the administration’s sweeping vaccinate-or-test plan for large employers. At a time when hospitals are being overrun with patients and record numbers of people are

By DEMETRIS NELLAS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Credit ratings company Fitch has revised Greece’s outlook to positive from stable, although it kept the country’s rating at BB, two notches below investment grade. Fitch says the economy grew faster than forecast in 2021 and growth will continue to be strong in 2022 and 2023.

By ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is pushing ahead with efforts to prod people to get COVID-19 shots after the Supreme Court put a halt to the administration’s sweeping vaccinate-or-test plan for large employers. At a time when hospitals are being overrun with patients and record numbers of people are

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Scientists say a duck killed by a hunter in South Carolina had a contagious and dangerous bird flu not seen in the wild in the U.S. in five years. Officials say the Eurasian H5 avian influenza poses a low risk to people, but can spread quickly through chicken houses and other

By DAISY NGUYEN Associated Press OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A decaying, 122-year-old property marketed as “the worst house on the best block” of San Francisco has sold for nearly $2 million. A developer’s $1.97 million cash offer for the Victorian house was finalized last week. The sale caught the attention of the social media page

By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer The Federal Aviation Administration is telling pilots to take extra precautions when landing on slick runways near impending 5G wireless service. The federal officials say the planes might need more room to land if the 5G systems interfere with instruments that measure how high a plane is above the

The Associated Press A late-afternoon recovery in technology stocks helped erase most of the market’s losses Friday, but it wasn’t enough to keep major indexes from logging their second losing week in a row. The S&P 500 snuck back into the green in the last few minutes of trading. The tech-heavy Nasdaq also rose, while

By TALI ARBEL AP Technology Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Netflix is raising prices for customers in the U.S. and Canada. The boost comes less than a year and a half since its last price increase, as competition from other streaming services increases. The Los Gatos, California, company said Friday that prices are going up

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes Friday: JPMorgan, Sherwin-Williams fall; Wells Fargo, ODP rise.

By The Associated Press NEW YORK Newly unredacted documents from a state-led antitrust lawsuit against Google accuse the search giant of colluding with rival Facebook to manipulate online advertising sales. The CEOs of both companies were aware of the deal and signed off on it, the complaint alleges. The original redacted lawsuit, filed in December

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

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Thieves have been raiding cargo containers aboard trains nearing downtown Los Angeles for months, leaving the tracks blanketed with discarded packages. CBSLA reported Thursday that the sea of debris left behind included items that the thieves apparently didn’t think were valuable enough to take. While CBSLA cameras were on the scene,

By ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says the federal website where Americans can request free COVID-19 tests will begin accepting orders on Wednesday. The announcement on Friday comes as the administration looks to address nationwide shortages, but supplies will be limited to just four free tests per home. Americans shouldn’t

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge has ordered Martin Shkreli to return $64.6 million in profits reaped from inflating the price of a lifesaving drug and barred him from the pharmaceutical industry for the rest of his life. The ruling Friday by a federal judge

By KEN SWEET AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Three of the nation’s biggest banks reported blowout profits for 2021 on Friday, helped by the improving economy and consumers and businesses willing to spend and take on loans. But Inflation is clouding the outlook for 2022, based on comments from bank executives to reporters

By BABA AHMED Associated Press BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Thousands have joined in a government-sponsored rally in Mali’s capital to protest new regional economic sanctions and growing pressure from former colonizer France, after Mali’s military ruler pushed back promised elections by four years. The demonstrators in Bamako Friday shouted: “Down with imperialism, down with ECOWAS,

By CEDAR ATTANASIO Associated Press / Report for America SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Around 75,000 New Mexico schoolchildren are missing school Friday for the second day after a cyber attack hit the state’s largest school district on Wednesday. At least five other school districts have suffered costly cyber attacks in the past two years,

PRAGUE (AP) — The new Czech government will allow some workers who have tested positive for the coronavirus to stay on the job, in an extraordinary measure to ease possible staff shortages caused by an anticipated surge of the omicron variant. Health Minister Vlastimil Valek said Friday the measure, which was also used during the

By MICHAEL PHILLIS and SUMAN NAISHADHAM Associated Press ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Biden administration is moving to tighten oversight of projects that benefitted from Trump-era loosened water protections. However, some projects including a controversial Georgia mine will likely be able to escape new scrutiny. It’s the latest twist in a long-running dispute over the

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Sixteen years after their legal battle began, about 18,000 homeowners in central Florida will be paid more than $42 million collectively by Florida’s agriculture agency for destroying their citrus trees during a state effort to eradicate a harmful citrus disease. The homeowners in Orange County will

By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors are recommending dropping charges against a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who was accused last year of hiding work he did for the Chinese government while also collecting U.S. dollars for his nanotechnology research. That’s according to a person familiar with the decision who spoke

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Britain’s foreign minister has expressed optimism that there is a “deal to be done” to resolve a Northern Ireland trade dispute that has soured the U.K.’s relations with the European Union. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss struck an upbeat tone Friday after her first set of talks with

By GLENN GAMBOA and HALELUYA HADERO AP Business Writers The late Betty White was a tireless advocate for animals for her entire life, from caring for homeless animals as a child to launching her own weekly TV show “The Pet Set” dedicated to her celebrity friends and their pets. Her biggest contribution, though, may be

By TALI ARBEL and KELVIN CHAN Associated Press A lot of people are angry at Novak Djokovic. And his sponsors may just wait it out. It’s unclear if the No. 1 seed can compete Monday in the Australian Open after Australian officials again revoked his visa over his lack of a COVID-19 vaccine. So far,

By ULIANA PAVLOVA Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian government has decided to delay a controversial bill requiring QR codes confirming vaccination or recovery from COVID-19 to access public places, despite surging cases and warnings from top officials about the highly infectious omicron variant. Russia on Friday reported 23,820 new infections, a 12% increase

By TOM MURPHY AP Health Writer Insurers and employers are taking a renewed interest in programs that help people deal with chronic _ and potentially expensive _ health problems. They are identifying patients with diabetes or high blood pressure and connecting them with care managers who can answer questions about their medicines or help them

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. industrial production fell 0.1% in December, the first decline since September, with weakness in factory output showing that manufacturers are still struggling with snarled supply chains. The 0.1% decline was unexpected. Many economists had been forecasting a small increase, helped by a further rebound in

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Americans overlooked shortages, spiking prices and uncertainty over the omicron variant to break spending records during the critical holiday shopping season. But figures released Friday show that after spending robustly early in the holiday season, consumers sharply slowed their purchases from November to December. The

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russia has strongly repeated its demand that NATO doesn’t expand eastward despite the rejection of that by the military alliance amid a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday described Moscow’s demands that NATO will neither expand nor deploy forces to Ukraine and

By ULIANA PAVLOVA and SUZAN FRASER Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Turkish and Armenian envoys have met in Moscow to try to end decades of bitterness between their countries and to establish diplomatic ties. Turkey was among the first countries to recognize Armenia’s independence in 1991. But the neighbors share a bitter relationship and have

By ALEKSANDAR FURTULA and MIKE CORDER Associated Press VALKENBURG, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch government has eased its coronavirus lockdown, allowing non-essential stores, universities, sports clubs and “contact businesses” like hairdressers to reopen for the first time in nearly a month. But while many businesses can open Saturday until 5 p.m., bars, restaurants, museums and

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s Defense Ministry says that a massive leak from a military equipment database includes only publicly available information and is not harmful. The ministry said Friday that the database found on the internet is a list coming from a body responsible for making purchases for Poland’s military. It blamed the leak

By KEN SWEET AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — JPMorgan Chase says fourth-quarter profits fell 14% from a year earlier, due to a weaker performance from its trading desk and higher compensation expenses for employees. Even with the weaker quarter, JPMorgan had a record annual profit, nearly $50 billion. The total is significantly more

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Croatian authorities say last year’s population census in the European Union country has shown an almost 10% drop over the past decade. Officials said Friday that the census listed 3.8 million citizens compared to close to 4.2 in the previous census in 2011. The decrease reflects the depopulation problem in Croatia

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — Wells Fargo easily beat Wall Street expectations for the fourth quarter with interest rates beginning to take off, likely another boost for the nation’s largest mortgage lender going forward. The San Francisco bank posted earnings on Friday of $5.8 billion, or $1.38 per share,

By YURAS KARMANAU, FRANK BAJAK, ERIC TUCKER and DASHA LITVINOVA Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Hackers have temporarily shut down dozens of Ukrainian government websites, causing no major damage but adding to simmering tensions while Russia amasses troops on the Ukrainian border. Separately, in a rare gesture to the U.S. at a time of

By COLLEEN BARRY AP Fashion Writer MILAN (AP) — Milan fashion houses were charting a path out of the pandemic that included a menswear calendar packed with 22 live runway shows and another 18 physical presentations this month. But that was before the omicron surge. Milan Fashion Week with previews for fall-winter 2022-23 opens Friday

By FRANCES D’EMILIO Associated Press ROME (AP) — Italy, Spain and other European countries are reinstating or stiffening mask mandates as their hospitals struggle with mounting numbers of COVID-19 patients. Other nations like the Netherlands are considering introducing masking rules. The use of more protective FFP2 masks in Italy is also seen as a way

By JOSH BOAK Associated Press President Joe Biden is trying to put behind recent setbacks on voting rights and his economic agenda by outlining the progress made in implementing the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package. Biden says, “When we invest in infrastructure, we’re really investing in opportunity. These are investments that will build a better

By DAVID McHUGH Associated Press FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The risk of recession is looming for Germany after Europe’s biggest economy shrank at the end of 2021 and as it faces a bumpy start to this year. The rapid spread of COVID-19’s omicron variant is deterring people from shopping and travel and supply bottlenecks are

By ZEN SOO Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong International Airport is banning transit passengers from 150 countries and territories starting Sunday, tightening stringent travel controls in an effort to stem the spread of the highly contagious omicron variant. Authorities also said Friday they will extend social distancing restrictions, including a ban on

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A fire  that erupted during maintenance work at a major oil refinery in Kuwait has killed two workers and critically injured five others. The Kuwait National Petroleum Company says the blaze broke out on Friday at a gas liquefaction unit that had been out of service for maintenance work.

By MARK SHERMAN and JESSICA GRESKO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has stopped a major push by the Biden administration to boost the nation’s COVID-19 vaccination rate, a requirement that employees at large businesses get a vaccine or test regularly and wear a mask on the job. At the same time, the

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden nominated three people for the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, including Sarah Bloom Raskin, a former Fed and Treasury official, for the top regulatory slot and Lisa Cook, who would be the first Black woman to serve on the board. Biden also nominated

By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers A late-afternoon recovery in technology stocks helped erase most of the market’s losses Friday, but it wasn’t enough to keep major indexes from logging their second losing week in a row. The S&P 500 snuck back into the green in the last few minutes of

The crowdfunding platform GoFundMe announced Thursday that it has signed a deal to acquire the nonprofit fundraising company Classy. The move will help the largest crowdfunding site in the world further increase its influence in the philanthropic sector. A news release from GoFundMe says under the agreement, Classy will become a subsidiary of GoFundMe and

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — China’s politically volatile global trade surplus surged to $676.4 billion in 2021, likely the highest ever for any country. Exports jumped nearly 30% over a year earlier despite semiconductor shortages that disrupted manufacturing. Customs data showed the country’s trade surplus in December swelled 20.8% over a

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will nominate three people for the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, including Sarah Bloom Raskin, a former Fed and Treasury official, for the top regulatory slot and Lisa Cook, who would be the first Black woman to serve on the Fed’s board. Biden

By DAVID KOENIG AP Business Writer For big companies across the country, it’s now up to them to decide whether to require employees to get vaccinated. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that OSHA doesn’t have authority to impose a vaccinate-or-test requirement on businesses with at least 100 employees. Many companies are silent so far

LOS ANGELES (AP) — In a story published January 13, 2022, about a Virgin Orbit launch, The Associated Press erroneously reported that Richard Branson said 480 countries can use Virgin Orbit. He said “all 180 countries” can use it.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador says he hopes Mexican investors buy the local subsidiary of Citigroup. The president made his remarks about Citibanamex in a video posted to his social media accounts Thursday, saying that “we would like this bank to be Mexicanized.”  The president contends foreign bankers often take

By MATT O’BRIEN AP Technology Writer Microsoft says it is opening an inquiry into how it responds to workplace sexual harassment and gender discrimination. That includes its handling of allegations about company co-founder Bill Gates. The review is a response to pressure from Microsoft investors. Nearly 78% of shareholders at Microsoft’s Nov. 30 annual meeting

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — A  man once dubbed “King Perry” will spend more than 17 years in prison for his role in masterminding a long-running Ponzi scheme that collected more than $115 million from 1,000 investors nationwide. Perry Santillo appeared Thursday in federal court in Rochester, New York. A judge ordered him to pay $103

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Paul Tash is retiring as CEO of the Tampa Bay Times, a media organization he joined 47 years ago as a summer intern. The Times announced the move Thursday. Tash, 67, became editor of what was then the St. Petersburg Times in 1992. During his tenure, the newspaper won nine

By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio prison system says it will deploy more than 5,000 body cameras by May in all state prisons and adult parole authority offices. The director of the Ohio corrections department said Thursday that the state has signed a contract with Arizona-based Axon for the cameras.

By TOM KRISHER AP Auto Writer DETROIT (AP) — The federal government is moving forward with a plan to let teenagers drive big rigs from state to state in a test program. Currently, truckers who cross state lines must be at least 21 years old. But an apprenticeship program required by Congress to help ease

By FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The House committee investigating the Capitol insurrection has issued subpoenas to Twitter, Meta, Reddit and YouTube, demanding documents after lawmakers said the companies’ initial responses were inadequate. The committee chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, demanded records from the companies related to their role in allegedly spreading misinformation about

The Associated Press Stocks shed early gains and closed lower Thursday as investors gauged the latest data on inflation and company earnings. The S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq fell. Technology companies were the biggest weight on the market. Health care stocks and companies that rely on consumer spending also fell.

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Authorities have arrested more than two dozen people for allegedly taking part in a multistate shoplifting ring involving more than $10 million in stolen merchandise. U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson in Tulsa and Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor announced state and federal charges Thursday against 29 defendants, including 25 who have been

Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes Thursday: Angi, Elastic fall; KB Home, Delta Air Lines rise.

AMARILLO, Texas (AP) — Federal work-safety investigators say another federal agency violated safe handling policies at a helium plant in the Texas Panhandle. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said in a statement Thursday that it has issued 21 notices of unsafe working conditions to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The citations involved the

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

By SUDHIN THANAWALA Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta’s recently elected mayor has unveiled a new police precinct in the city’s large Buckhead district as he tries to head off an effort to make it a separate city. Mayor Andre Dickens said Thursday the precinct is expected to have at least 12 officers. It should

By MARK SHERMAN and JESSICA GRESKO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has stopped a major push by the Biden administration to boost the nation’s COVID-19 vaccination rate, a requirement that employees at large businesses get a vaccine or test regularly and wear a mask on the job. At the same time, the

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR Associated Press People looking for health insurance in the grip of the omicron surge have through Saturday to sign up for taxpayer-subsidized private coverage under the Obama-era Affordable Care Act. President Joe Biden’s administration is on track is to deliver robust enrollment numbers, but those gains could turn into a mirage if

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Two former top officials will repay thousands of dollars to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium after audits found improper spending and questionable business practices cost the institution more than $630,000. The Columbus Dispatch reports the zoo’s board of directors approved a $132,000 settlement with former chief financial officer Greg Bell during

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations is forecasting lower global economic growth for 2022 and 2023. It says this is because the world is facing new waves of coronavirus infections, persistent labor market challenges, lingering supply chain issues and rising inflationary pressures. The U.N.‘s global economic forecast released

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Police are treating a fire at the home of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors chair and a prominent labor leader as suspicious. Supervisor Nathan Fletcher said he escaped unharmed with his family and his house was saved. He and his wife, labor leader and former state lawmaker Lorena Gonzalez,