AP National Business

By FRANK JORDANS Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — German police say they have disrupted a ransomware-sowing international cybercrime gang which has been blackmailing large companies and institutions for years. Police in Duesseldorf said Monday that, working with partners including Europol, the FBI and authorities in Ukraine, they were able to identify 11 individuals linked to

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s administrative watchdog is trying to find out how a top transport official was permitted to fly to Qatar with tickets paid for by the government there. European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly’s inquiries come as a major corruption scandal linked to the Gulf state roils the

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia says it deposited $5 billion into the Turkish central bank. The move on Monday will likely help Ankara firm up its long-weakening currency, the lira, after last month’s massive earthquake. The statement offered no details on how the cash would be used

By JARI TANNER Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Estonia’s center-right Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has won reelection. Kallas is one of Europe’s most outspoken supporters of Ukraine. Her Reform Party overwhelmingly won the Baltic country’s general election on Sunday. A far-right populist challenger lost seats in vote that focused on national security and the

By KAREEM CHEHAYEB Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — The Lebanese pound has lost as much as 98% in value since late 2019, and now most restaurants and many stores are demanding to be paid in dollars to bypass what’s seen as a nearly useless currency. This month, the government is allowing grocery stores to do

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Chinese economic officials have expressed confidence they can meet this year’s growth target of “around 5%” by generating 12 million new jobs and encouraging consumer spending. The Cabinet planning officials announced no details of spending or other initiatives to revive growth that slumped to 3% last

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher in muted trading Tuesday, as investors tried to digest a slew of economic data and awaited moves by the U.S. Federal Reserve. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.4% to 28,336.98. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.5% to 7,366.90. South Korea’s Kospi added

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine transport groups have launched a nationwide strike to protest a government program that drivers fear would phase out iconic jeepneys and other aging public transport vehicles. Officials deployed government vehicles to carry stranded passengers. Other groups refused on Monday to join the weeklong strike against the government transport modernization program

By YURI KAGEYAMA Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Hit Japanese manga “One Piece” is coming to Netflix as a live-action series — a development that’s both exciting and worrisome for fans who have seen mixed success in a growing list of Hollywood adaptations. Chronicling the coming-of-age adventures of Monkey D. Luffy, a young pirate with

BEIJING (AP) — After a decade in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s shadow, Li Keqiang is taking his final bow as the country’s premier, marking a shift away from the skilled technocrats who have helped steer the world’s second-biggest economy in favor of officials known mainly for their unquestioned loyalty to China’s most powerful leader in

By SAMY MAGDY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian authorities say a cargo vessel ran aground in the Suez Canal but traffic through the global waterway was not impacted. The Liberia-flagged MSC Istanbul, heading to Portugal from Malaysia, got stuck in a two-lane part of the Suez Canal on Sunday. The head of the Suez

By JARI TANNER Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Voters in Estonia elected a new parliament Sunday with initial results suggesting the center-right Reform Party of Prime Minister Kaja Kallas. one of Europe’s most outspoken supporters of Ukraine, had won overwhelmingly with nearly all votes counted. Kallas faced a challenge from the far-right populist EKRE

BEIJING (AP) — BGI Group, one of the world’s biggest genetics analysis companies, has said it never would be involved in human rights abuses after the U.S. government said there was a danger some of its units might contribute to Chinese surveillance. Three BGI units were among Chinese companies added to an “entity list” last

By JOE McDONALD Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — China’s government announced plans for a consumer-led revival of the struggling economy as its legislature opened a session Sunday that will tighten President Xi Jinping’s control over business and society. Premier Li Keqiang, the top economic official, set this year’s growth target at “around 5%” following the

The Associated Press Prosecutors and attorneys for FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried are requesting the disgraced cryptocurrency entrepreneur be allowed a flip-phone or another device that’s not a smartphone while on bail. The proposal was submitted Friday to the judge overseeing the case. Prosecutors alleged last month that Bankman-Fried used electronic devices in ways that can’t

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A Volkswagen Group-backed automotive company announced plans this week to open a $2 billion electric truck and SUV manufacturing plant just outside of Columbia, South Carolina. Scout Motors Inc. and South Carolina officials said Friday that the company would be establishing its first manufacturing plant in Blythewood at an industrial site.

By SEAN MURPHY Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Tens of thousands of Texans from the bustling Dallas-Fort Worth area routinely drive across the Red River to gamble in glitzy, Las Vegas-style tribal casinos or to relax at cabins or swim and ski in lakes that dot southern Oklahoma. Soon, they could come north for

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press STRATFORD-UPON-AVON, England (AP) — Thousands of warm hubs have sprouted across Britain as high energy bills fuel a cost-of-living crisis. One of them is in the foyer of the Other Place theater in Shakespeare’s birthplace of Stratford-upon-Avon, offering a cozy refuge from winter. The Royal Shakespeare Company set up the

By TOM KRISHER AP Auto Writer CHICAGO (AP) — The No. 66 bus rattles just like a regular diesel bus on Chicago’s west side, but no one seems to notice the high-pitched whine of the electric motor that makes it go. That’s just what Chicago Transit Authority wants. Buses that don’t pollute the air yet

By JARI TANNER Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Estonia is preparing to hold a general election that will determine whether it can sustain its high level of support for Ukraine. The small Baltic nation has provided Ukraine with more weapons than any other country relative to the size of its economy. Prime Minister Kaja

By TOM KRISHER and MARK THIESSEN Associated Press TOK, Alaska (AP) — Alaska’s rugged and frigid interior, where it can get as cold as minus 50 Fahrenheit (minus 46 Celsius), is not the place you’d expect to find an electric school bus. But here is Bus No. 50, with a cartoon horse decal on its

By JEFF McMURRAY Associated Press Trucker Tim Chelette has been making the same twice-daily drive for 16 years hauling empty whiskey barrels from Louisville, Kentucky, to the Jack Daniels distillery in Tennessee, yet his workday keeps getting longer due to time lost in Nashville traffic. Although trucks wouldn’t be eligible for the pay-to-use express lanes

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards is traveling to Asia for a weeklong series of meetings with business leaders and policymakers in the hopes of growing foreign investment. Edwards left Friday and will return March 11. During his time in Asia, he will visit South Korea and Japan and meet with

The Associated Press Stocks rallied on Wall Street, climbing to their biggest gain in six weeks. The S&P 500 jumped 1.6% and marked its first winning week in the last four. Big gains for tech giants like Apple helped propel the Nasdaq composite to an even bigger gain of 2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes Friday: Marvell Technology, Inc., down $2.19 to $44.04. The chipmaker gave investors a weak financial forecast for the current quarter. Broadcom Inc., up $34.11 to $632.76. The chipmaker gave investors a solid revenue forecast. VMware Inc., up $7.63 to $118.88. The cloud

By TOM MURPHY AP Health Writer Walgreens says it will not start selling an abortion pill in 20 states that had warned of legal consequences if it did so. The drugstore chain’s announcement Thursday signals that access to mifepristone may not expand as broadly as federal regulators intended in January, when they finalized a rule

BEIRUT (AP) — The World Bank says that Syria has sustained an estimated $5.1 billion in damages in the massive Feb. 6 earthquake that hit northern parts of the country and also southeastern Turkey. The assessment came in a report that was released on Friday. The World Bank says the level of the damage is

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Ford will increase production of six models this year, half of them electric, as the company and the auto industry start to rebound from sluggish U.S. sales in 2022. The automaker announced Friday that it plans to build more of the Mustang Mach-E, the Bronco Sport SUV and Maverick small pickup,

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Six states in Nigeria have withdrawn a suit asking the country’s Supreme Court to void the result of the just-concluded presidential election. The six states from the opposition party had accused Nigeria’s electoral commission of failing to follow its own rules and election laws in conducting

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — Republican businessman Perry Johnson has announced his long-shot bid for president. Johnson’s campaign says he announced his candidacy to supporters Thursday after speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland. Johnson did not mention his campaign when he spoke at CPAC, where a handful of other candidates and potential

By HALELUYA HADERO and MATTHEW BARAKAT Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon is pausing construction of its second headquarters in Virginia following the biggest round of layoffs in the company’s history and its shifting plans around remote work. The Seattle-based company is delaying the beginning of construction of PenPlace, the second phase of its

By PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press ROCKPORT, Maine (AP) — Fishers of Maine lobster, one of the most lucrative seafood species in the U.S., had a smaller haul during a year in which the industry battled surging fuel and bait prices, rebukes from key retailers and the looming possibility of new fishing restrictions. Maine lobster has

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer NEW YORK (AP) — If young people are spending so much time on social media, it stands to reason that’s a good place to reach them with news. Operators of the News Movement are betting their business on that hunch. The company, which has been operating for more than

By ANDREW WILKS Associated Press ISTANBUL (AP) — A leading Turkish opposition politician has indicated that her party is breaking with a major alliance formed to challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in elections scheduled for May. A split in the opposition bloc ahead of the presidential and parliamentary elections would be a major boost for

CHICAGO — OFS Capital: Q4 Earnings Snapshot

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A group of airlines including KLM, Delta and easyJet say they are suing the Dutch government over its plans to reduce the number of flights from Amsterdam’s busy Schiphol Airport. The government said last year it was seeking a “new balance” between the economic benefits provided by Schiphol and its

ARLINGTON, Mass. — Kala Pharma: Q4 Earnings Snapshot

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson has agreed to plead guilty to U.S. foreign corruption violations and pay more than $206 million for breaking a deal with the Justice Department over charges of bribery and falsifying records in countries from China to Kuwait. The U.S. Justice Department said Thursday that the Stockholm-based company

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Hibbett: Fiscal Q4 Earnings Snapshot

SAO PAULO — Ambev: Q4 Earnings Snapshot

DENVER — Gold Resource: Q4 Earnings Snapshot

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — China has accused Washington of improperly attacking Chinese companies after genetics analysis giant BGI Group and 17 others were hit with curbs on access to U.S. technology on security or human rights grounds. The Commerce Department said it saw a danger that two BGI units might

BRUSSELS (AP) — Hundreds of tractors driven by angry farmers protesting a plan to cut nitrate have converged on Brussels. Police said more than 2,700 vehicles attended Friday’s protest, causing major traffic disruption in Belgium’s capital city. Disruptions could last until the end of the day and police recommended people use public transportation instead of

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A new crew arrived at the International Space Station on Friday for a six-month mission, after overcoming trouble with one of the capsule’s docking hooks. The SpaceX capsule and its four astronauts had to wait 65 feet (20 meters) from the orbiting lab, as

By TED ANTHONY AP National Writer WEXFORD, Pa. (AP) — By the time the doors open at 4:30 p.m., a boisterous line of 50 hungry people is looping around the gymnasium foyer at Blessed Francis Seelos Academy. Their objective: to occupy tables on the basketball court and, for the parish’s first time since the pandemic

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian former Prime Minister Najib Razak has been acquitted in the latest trial in response to the multibillion-dollar looting of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad state fund. Najib is already serving a 12-year prison term from his first of several corruption trials linked to the 1MDB scandal. On Friday, the High

By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rallied Friday to send Wall Street to its best day in six weeks. The S&P 500 rose 1.6% to cap its first winning week in the last four as relaxing yields in the bond market took some pressure off Wall Street. It’s found some

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese central bank official says the country’s vast real estate industry is recovering from a slump triggered by tighter debt controls. Those controls led to a wave of defaults by developers that rattled global financial markets. The official, Pan Gongsheng, mentioned Evergrande Group, the global

LONDON — VTEX: Q4 Earnings Snapshot

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Western Asset Mortgage Capital Corp. (WMC) on Thursday reported a loss of $828,000 in its fourth quarter. On a per-share basis, the Salt Lake City-based company said it had a loss of 14 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to 33 cents per share.

BETHESDA, Md. — Saul Centers: Q4 Earnings Snapshot

By KEN RITTER Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — Tesla will get more than $330 million in tax breaks from Nevada to massively expand its vehicle battery facility near Reno and add electric semi-truck production. The deal was approved Thursday by the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo cited the benefit of

SAINT PETERSBURG, Fla. — United Insurance: Q4 Earnings Snapshot

TIGARD, Ore. — Great Ajax: Q4 Earnings Snapshot

TORONTO (AP) — Nordstrom Inc. is closing all of its Canadian stores and cutting 2,500 jobs as it winds down operations in the country. The Seattle-based retailer has six Nordstrom and seven Nordstrom Rack stores in Canada, which will be shuttered by late June. Its e-commerce business will cease operations Thursday. Nordstrom chief executive Erik

NEW YORK — Integral Ad Science: Q4 Earnings Snapshot

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Ooma: Fiscal Q4 Earnings Snapshot

By FRANK BAJAK AP Technology Writer The online counseling service BetterHelp has agreed to return $7.8 million to customers to settle with the Federal Trade Commission for sharing with companies including Facebook and Snapchat health data it had promised to keep private. The FTC says the data included information about mental health challenges such as

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — V2X: Q4 Earnings Snapshot

By JULIE CARR SMYTH Associated Press CINCINNATI (AP) — Prosecutors have used the former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder’s own speeches, photographs and conversations against him as they seek to unravel the Republican’s denials of key elements of the secretly funded $60 million racketeering scheme they allege he carried out on behalf of FirstEnergy Corp.

ROUND ROCK, Texas — Dell Technologies: Fiscal Q4 Earnings Snapshot

ISSAQUAH, Wash. — Costco: Fiscal Q2 Earnings Snapshot

LOS ANGELES — Puma Biotech: Q4 Earnings Snapshot

WALTHAM, Mass. — Ardelyx: Q4 Earnings Snapshot

SAN RAMON, Calif. — The Cooper Companies: Fiscal Q1 Earnings Snapshot

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes Thursday: Salesforce Inc., up $19.24 to $186.59. The customer-management software developer gave investors a strong profit forecast. Veeva Systems Inc., up $7.43 to $173.56. The provider of cloud-based software services for the life sciences industry reported strong financial results. Splunk Inc., down

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — A run of strong economic data and signs that inflation remains stubbornly high could lead the Federal Reserve to raise its benchmark rate higher in the coming months than it has previously forecast, several Fed officials say. Christopher Waller, a member of the Fed’s Board of

ROSEVILLE, Minn. — Calyxt: Q4 Earnings Snapshot

The Associated Press Walmart plans to add more than two dozen health care centers to some of its stores next year, as the retailer moves deeper into providing primary care and other services. The company said Thursday that it will open 28 centers in 2024, mostly in Dallas and Houston. It also will expand into

By JOSH FUNK and JOHN SEEWER Associated Press Residents who say they’re still suffering from illnesses nearly a month after a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in Ohio confronted the railroad’s operator Thursday at a town forum, demanding to know whether they’d be relocated from homes they’re afraid to live in. “It’s not safe here,”

The Associated Press Benchmark U.S. crude oil for April delivery rose 47 cents to $78.16 a barrel Thursday. Brent crude for May delivery rose 44 cents to $84.75 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline for April delivery rose 3 cents to $2.70 a gallon. April heating oil was unchanged at $2.87 a gallon. April natural gas fell

By DAVID A. LIEB Associated Press JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Entities from China and four other countries could be banned from purchasing land in Missouri under a plan approved by the Missouri House. The legislation approved Thursday comes amid international tensions that were heightened after the trek of an alleged Chinese spy balloon across

By STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Senate voted Thursday to make it harder for thieves to sell stolen catalytic converters, a crime that has skyrocketed across the country in recent years. Thefts of the pollution control devices from cars and trucks more than quadrupled from 3,389 in 2019 to

DULLES, Va. (AP) — A Lufthansa flight that experienced “significant turbulence” was diverted to Washington Dulles International Airport and seven people on board were taken to area hospitals, officials said. Flight 469 from Austin, Texas, had been headed to Frankfurt, Germany, but landed safely Wednesday evening at the airport in Virginia, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority

By BEN FINLEY Associated Press U.S. airlines have made steady improvements to their overall accident rate in recent years. But turbulence continues to be a major cause of accidents and injuries. A Lufthansa flight from Texas to Germany is the latest example. The Airbus A330 reported severe turbulence over Tennessee Wednesday and was diverted to

By KANIS LEUNG Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong authorities are investigating the cause of a huge blaze that broke out at a construction site in a popular shopping district. The fire forced around 170 people in nearby buildings to evacuate. The fire erupted at the Mariners’ Club redevelopment project at 11 p.m.

By THOMAS ADAMSON AP Fashion Writer PARIS (AP) — From Renaissance art to couture and celebrity interruptions. Paris Fashion Week shows continued in vibrant form to present the final trends for fall-winter 2023-2024. The once-street and urban Matthew M. Williams uttered a word not often heard describing his Givenchy designs: Elegant. Williams went back to

By COLLEEN BARRY Associated Press MILAN (AP) — Italian prosecutors have closed a COVID-19 investigation that accuses officials of wrongdoing for failing to extend a lockdown zone in the early days of the pandemic to the northern city of Bergamo and adjacent industrial valleys. Prosecutor Antonio Chiappani told Radio 24 on Thursday that “our aim

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria’s opposition has renewed calls for the election result to be overturned a day after the country announced its new president-elect. Third-place Labour Party candidate Peter Obi said at a news conference in the capital on Thursday that “we won the election and we will prove

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Greenpeace environmental group says that wastewater discharge from Poland’s coal mines was most likely responsible for the 2022 massive fish die-off in the Oder River. Greenpeace Poland also warned that the situation may reoccur this year and also hit Poland’s largest river the Vistula if the government and the coalmining industry

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate hit a three-month high this week, reflecting higher Treasury yields and expectations that the Federal Reserve will continue to raise its benchmark rate and keep it there until inflation recedes. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average on the benchmark 30-year

By CARLA BRIDI and DAVID BILLER Associated Press BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazil’s economy contracted in the fourth quarter for the first time in over a year, according to data released Thursday by the country’s statistics institute. That represented the continuation of a downturn that is expected to complicate President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s

By JOSH BOAK and KEVIN FREKING Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican senators says the Biden administration is taking $39 billion in federal money that’s meant to build computer chip factories and using it to further “woke” ideas such as requiring some recipients to offer child care and encouraging the use of union labor. The

By SYLVIE CORBET Associated Press PARIS (AP) — French senators have started debating President Emmanuel Macron’s contested pension plan. The centrist government hopes to find a compromise with conservatives members of the upper house of parliament to be able to push the bill through. Macron has vowed to go ahead with legislation  that aims to

PADUA, Italy — Stevanato: Q4 Earnings Snapshot