AP National Business

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency have asked Japan for full and detailed information about a plan to release treated but still radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean. The three-member team, which is assisting Japan with the planned release, met with

PARIS (AP) — Police in Paris have arrested two suspects following a Bulgari jewelry heist on the posh Place Vendome. Police say one suspect was shot in the leg by an officer before being arrested. Police told The Associated Press that they were alerted to the robbery around noon on Tuesday as officers seized two

By ALEXANDRA OLSON and MAE ANDERSON AP Business Writers NEW YORK (AP) — The early months of the coronavirus pandemic shined a spotlight on essential workers. Strict shutdowns left the hardest-hit U.S. cities desolate, except for those fulfilling society’s basic needs. The virus has since spread, evolved and unleashed new challenges. The arrival of vaccines

By DAVID CRARY AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The board of directors of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ-rights organization, has fired its president because of developments related to the sexual harassment case that prompted Andrew Cuomo’s resignation as governor of New York. The ousted president, Alphonso David, responded with an

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The U.K. has opened a public inquiry into plans for the country’s first new deep coal mine in three decades amid complaints that permitting the project would send the wrong message as the government seeks to persuade other countries to give up coal. Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick

Environmental activists  protesting car culture have disrupted traffic on several highways around Munich ahead of the opening of a leading auto show in the German city. Demonstrators unfurled banners with slogans such as “Block IAA” and in some cases abseiling from highway bridges to do so. They pasted over a highway sign at one location

By MELISSA LAMBARENA of NerdWallet With fewer pandemic-related restrictions this year, the option to do more can result in the urge to spend. You’ve likely had familiar expenses return to your budget like back-to-work or back-to-school wardrobe essentials, or experiences like travel or dining out. But when the nonessentials pile up and creep into your

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union wants Europe’s top court to impose daily fines on Poland for failing to take action to protect the independence of the country’s justice system In a rare move, the European Commission said Tuesday that it wants the European Court of Justice to “impose financial

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel has painted a rosy picture of her government’s record and assailed the possibility of a future left-wing administration. She sought to boost her struggling party’s candidate on Tuesday as she addressed what is expected to be the German parliament’s last session before the

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a tax increase to pay for the rocketing cost of long-term care for Britain’s growing older population. Johnson told lawmakers in the House of Commons on Tuesday that he had made the “difficult but responsible” decision to hike taxes in

By TARIK EL BARAKAH Associated Press RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Politicians from dozens of political parties were campaigning for a final day Tuesday, trying to reach out to millions of Moroccans despite social distancing measures a day before pivotal legislative, regional and local elections. A moderate Islamist party hopes to remain at the helm of

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese prosecutors have dropped a case against a former Alibaba manager accused of sexual assault by a female colleague, weeks after the case caused a backlash against the e-commerce firm for how it handles alleged sexual misconduct. The former manager, whose last name is Wang, was detained by police in August after

BERLIN (AP) — Official figures show that German industrial production increased in July after three consecutive months of declines that have reflected supply chain problems. The Economy Ministry said Tuesday that overall production increased by 1% compared with the previous month. In June, it had dropped 1%. There were bigger increases in the production of

By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers Stocks are mixed in Asia after shares closed mostly lower on Wall Street as traders returned from the Labor Day holiday. Shares were higher in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai but fell in Seoul and Sydney. On Tuesday, gains for some Big Tech companies nudged

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — China’s import and export growth accelerated in August despite disruptions due to the spread of the coronavirus’s delta variant. Customs data reported Tuesday show exports rose 25.6% to $294.3 billion, up from July’s 18.9% growth. Imports rose 33.1% to $236 billion, up from the previous month’s

By FRANK BAJAK AP Technology Writer BOSTON (AP) — Over two decades, the United States and its allies spent hundreds of millions of dollars building databases for the Afghan people. The nobly stated goal was to promote law and order and government accountability, and to modernize a war-ravaged land.  But in the Taliban’s lightning seizure

By MATTHEW DALY and HOPE YEN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers from both parties say haunting images of surging rivers, flooded roads and tornado damage caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida show the need to upgrade the nation’s aging infrastructure network. As the deadly storm moved from the Gulf Coast through the Northeast

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets have risen as investors watch for decisions from central banks in Europe and elsewhere about when they might start to wind down economic stimulus. Shares advanced in Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong, which are the bulk of Asia’s market capitalization. Seoul and Sydney

By KEN SWEET AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Two critical jobless benefit programs have expired, leaving only a handful of economic options for millions who are still financially impacted by the year-and-a-half-old coronavirus pandemic. One program provided jobless aid to self-employed and gig workers and another provided benefits to those who have been

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Britain says it is postponing the start of post-Brexit border checks on goods going to Northern Ireland, as it seeks breathing space in its tense standoff with the European Union over trade rules. Brexit Minister David Frost said Monday that the government would continue to trade “on

By SAMYA KULLAB Associated Press BAGHDAD (AP) — French energy giant Total has signed mega contracts with Iraq worth $27 billion to develop oil fields, natural gas and a crucial water project. Officials say Monday they will be key for oil-rich Iraq to maintain crude output. The deals were inked Sunday with Prime Minister Mustafa

By CHRISTINA PACIOLLA Associated Press The morning after one of the most intense tornadoes recorded in New Jersey history all but demolished the largest dairy farm in the state, owners Marianne and Wally Eachus looked at each other and just cried. An EF3 tornado ripped through Mullica Hill, a suburb of Philadelphia, and nearly demolished

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities have blocked access to a website affiliated with imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny that advises voters on how to undermine the dominant pro-Kremlin party in this month’s parliamentary election. The move by the state communications overseer on Monday continues months of efforts to neutralize Navalny and his supporters. A Russian

By BEN FINLEY and TOM KRISHER Associated Press NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — When negotiations failed to produce a new contract at a Volvo plant in Virginia this spring, its 2,900 workers went on strike. The company soon dangled what looked like a tempting offer: Pay raises. Signing bonuses. Lower-priced health care. Yet the workers overwhelmingly

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — An International Atomic Energy Agency mission has arrived in Japan to help prepare for a decades-long release into the ocean of treated but still radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant. The three-member team will meet with officials in Tokyo and travel to the Fukushima Daiichi

By PAUL WISEMAN and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers Joe Sobol, owner of Big Easy Construction in New Orleans, has bad news for homeowners who’ve been calling about roofs damaged by Hurricane Ida. The job will cost a lot more than usual — and take much longer, too. Ida slammed into the Gulf Coast —

By GISELA SALOMON, MARCOS ALEMAN and CLAUDIA TORRENS The Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — Several countries have dabbled in cryptocurrencies, but none has gone so far as El Salvador. It’s adopting Bitcoin as an official currency on Tuesday. The Central American nation is betting it will spur the economy and increase money sent home by

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — The German Foreign Ministry says Berlin has protested to Russia over attempts to steal data from lawmakers that it suspects may have been in preparation to spread disinformation before the upcoming German election. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Andrea Sasse said Monday that a hacker outfit called Ghostwriter has

By DEREK GATOPOULOS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s center-right government has created a new ministry to address the impact of climate change. The government has named former European Union commissioner Christos Stylianides as minister. Stilianides served as commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management between 2014 and 2019. He was named to his

By MATTHEW DALY and HOPE YEN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers from both parties say haunting images of surging rivers, flooded roads and tornado damage caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida show the need to upgrade the nation’s aging infrastructure network. As the deadly storm moved from the Gulf Coast through the Northeast

By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer DALLAS (AP) — Ask anyone old enough to remember travel before Sept. 11, 2001, and you’re likely to get a gauzy recollection of what flying was like. There was security screening, but it wasn’t intrusive. There were no long checkpoint lines. Passengers and their families could walk right to

BERLIN (AP) — The German government says it supports plans for a North Sea spaceport that would be used to launch small satellites into space from Europe. Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said Monday the government would act as an “anchor customer” for the floating launch site off the German coast. Altmaier said the governments wants

By IDYLI TSAKIRI Associated Press ARCHANES, Greece (AP) — Greece has begun administering vaccinations for COVID-19 outside churches. It’s a pilot program that was recently announced by the government as a means of encouraging more people to get the shots. Mobile National Health Organization units began administering shots Monday in a church yard in the

By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The Middle East now has its first completely automated cashier-less store. Retail giant Carrefour on Monday rolled out its vision for the future of the industry in a cavernous Dubai mall. The Carrefour mini-market tucked between sprawling storefronts looks like any ordinary convenience store.

By KIMBERLY PALMER of NerdWallet Autumn is a good time to review finances. There’s still enough time to make a quick course correction if needed before you close the books on the year. The continuing pandemic and economic uncertainty make it both trickier and more important to assess where you are now and where you

By FRANK JORDANS Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — A major maritime industry association has backed plans for a global surcharge on carbon emissions from shipping to help fund the sector’s shift toward climate-friendly fuels. The International Chamber of Shipping said Monday that all vessels trading globally above a certain size should pay a set amount

BEIJING (AP) — A former member of popular K-pop band EXO says he’s cutting ties with a Swiss luxury watch brand, after its CEO referred to Taiwan as a country in an interview. China claims Taiwan as its territory, and objects to any reference to the self-governing island as a country. Chinese singer and actor

The Associated Press The Federal Reserve issues its latest monthly tally of U.S. consumer borrowing Wednesday. Dave & Buster’s Entertainment reports quarterly results Thursday. The Labor Department delivers its August index of U.S. wholesale prices Friday.

By MEAD GRUVER Associated Press SARATOGA, Wyo. (AP) — The North Platte River in southern Wyoming is flowing low, slow and warm — not great conditions for trout fishing. After two dry summers in a row, low water and hot weather have spelled trouble for trout streams in the Rocky Mountain west. Warm water, especially,

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets are higher after weak U.S. hiring in August fueled expectations the Federal Reserve might postpone withdrawal of economic stimulus that has boosted stock prices. Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong advanced. Seoul and Sydney retreated. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index fell 0.1% after

By LISA RATHKE and MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press The destruction left by the remnants of Hurricane Ida have officials and experts agreeing that infrastructure including roads, sewers and housing in New York and New Jersey must be quickly improved. The Northeast is still recovering from torrential rains that brought about deadly flooding on Wednesday

By BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Wildfires burning in the U.S. this summer have upended plans for countless outdoor adventures. Campers, hikers, rafters and other outdoor enthusiasts have had to scrap or change trips or endure thick smoke. One retired attorney and teacher from the Philadelphia area has twice canceled plans because

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel says “it will take a long time” until the regions damaged by devastating floods in July will be fully rebuilt. Merkel toured the flood-hit town of Hagen and the Sauerland region of North Rhine-Westphalia state on Sunday. The chancellor visited a bridge in Hagen that was destroyed but

By MARCY GORDON AP Business Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Policymakers in Washington are focusing closely on consolidation in agriculture and the dominance of major companies, and its impact on small-scale farmers and ranchers. It was a key theme in President Joe Biden’s executive order issued this summer on competition in U.S. industries. Rob Larew is

By HUIZHONG WU Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The parent company of a defunct pro-democracy paper in Hong Kong, Apple Daily, is liquidating its assets and the board is stepping down. Next Digital, a publicly traded company, said in an announcement that all members of its board would resign, and that they hoped to

By MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press WATFORD CITY, N.D. (AP) — The fastest-growing county in the U.S. is in the oil fields of North Dakota. That’s according to new figures from the Census Bureau. The first newcomers to arrive in McKenzie County were oil workers drawn by the drilling boom. Soon they brought families who needed

By TOM KRISHER AP Auto Writer TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A shortage of computer chips that sent auto prices soaring had appeared, finally, to be easing back in the spring. Some relief for consumers seemed to be in sight. That hope has now dimmed. A surge in COVID-19 cases from the delta variant in several

By ASHRAF KHALIL and LISA MASCARO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Labor Day 2021 represents a perilous crossroads for millions of Americans. Two primary anchors of the government’s COVID protection package are ending or have recently ended. The $300 weekly jobless benefit boost will stop Monday, affecting an estimated 8.9 million people. A federal eviction

LONDON (AP) — A former close aide to Prince Charles has stepped down temporarily from his role as chief executive of a royal charity amid reports that he helped secure an honor for a Saudi donor. The Sunday Times and Mail on Sunday newspapers reported that Michael Fawcett coordinated support for an honor for Saudi

By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates has announced a major plan to stimulate its economy and liberalize residency for expatriates, as the country seeks to overhaul its finances and attract foreign capital and residents. The country’s government Sunday pledged to pour some $13.6 billion into the

By MATT O’BRIEN and PAUL WISEMAN AP Business Writers The pandemic didn’t just threaten Americans’ health when it slammed the U.S. in 2020. It may also have created a long-term threat to many of their jobs. Faced with worker shortages and higher labor costs, companies are starting to automate service sector jobs that economists once

By GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press Four companies say they’ll move ahead with a $26 billion settlement of lawsuits over the opioid crisis. An announcement from drug distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson came Saturday. That was the deadline for the companies to decide whether to move ahead with the proposed deal. Drugmaker Johnson & Johnson

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Times reports Facebook has apologized for putting a “primates” label on a video of Black men. The newspaper says the video was posted by a tabloid in June and showed Black men in altercations with white civilians and police officers. The Times reports that after the video ended,

By MICHAEL BIESECKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard said Saturday that cleanup crews are responding to a sizable oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico following Hurricane Ida. The spill, which is ongoing, appears to be coming from a source underwater at an offshore drilling lease about two miles south of

FARMINGTON, Utah (AP) — A paraplegic man who was injured on a roller coaster is now suing a Utah amusement park, saying his paralyzed leg wasn’t properly secured and his foot was shredded. The Salt Lake Tribune reports Matthew Christensen filed the lawsuit against Lagoon Amusement Park on Thursday in Davis County’s 3rd District Court.

By PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Brexit minister has warned of a long-term chill in relations between the U.K. and the European Union if previously agreed trading arrangements governing Northern Ireland are not resolved. David Frost said in a speech at the British-Irish Association in Oxford that the Northern Ireland Protocol needed

FLAT ROCK, Mich. (AP) — Ford and Michigan environmental officials say one of the automaker’s plants is the source of benzene vapor in sewers that forced the evacuation of 10 homes and a school in the Detroit suburb of Flat Rock. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy confirmed Friday that a fuel

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Experts call it “warning fatigue,” and no one can be sure what role it might have played in a tragedy that killed at least 49 people when the remnants of Hurricane Ida swept through the northeast. Cellphones across New York and New Jersey pulsed with

By GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press The end of the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy case has left a bitter taste for those who wanted to see more accountability for members of the Sackler family. A federal judge this week gave preliminary approval to a plan that settles some 3,000 lawsuits against the maker of the painkiller OxyContin.

By ROXANA HEGEMAN Associated Press BELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) — It’s one of the nation’s most iconic marketing slogans, but today the checkoff program that created the “Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner” campaign is under attack by cattle producers who fund it. The beef checkoff program forces ranchers to pay $1 per head of cattle

By JEFF AMY Associated Press The dismal state of power in Hurricane Ida’s wake is a distressingly familiar scenario for Entergy Corp. Louisiana’s largest electrical utility has grappled with other widespread outages after numerous previous hurricanes. Other Louisiana and Gulf Coast utilities have faced similar disasters, sometimes needing to rebuild entire networks. If anything, power

By The Associated Press LOGAN, W.Va. (AP) — When a mine industry conflict a hundred years ago sparked the largest armed uprising in the United States since the Civil War, The Associated Press was there, sending multiple bulletins each day with updates on each development. Thousands of coal miners had marched to unionize, fed up

By PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — One of the U.K.’s largest suppliers of seasonal influenza vaccines warns there could be delivery delays of up to two weeks as a result of a shortage of truck drivers. In a statement that has accentuated concerns about the potential scale of this winter’s flu outbreak, vaccine

The Associated Press TEHRAN — Iran’s president is calling for elections in Afghanistan to determine the future of the country, where he hopes peace will return after Western troops have left and the Taliban have seized control. Speaking on state TV on Saturday, Ebrahim Raisi said that the Afghan people should vote to determine their

By CLAUDIA TORRENS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — An extraordinary number of Ecuadorians has been coming to the United States — often to New York. They surpassed El Salvadorans as the fourth-largest nationality encountered by U.S. authorities on the Mexican border, behind Mexicans, Guatemalans and Hondurans. That also has led to increasing numbers of

NEW YORK (AP) — Ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft say they will cover the legal fees of any driver who is sued under the new law prohibiting most abortions in Texas. The Texas law bans abortions once medical professionals can detect cardiac activity, usually around six weeks and often before women know they’re pregnant. Rather

By MOHAMED IBRAHIM Associated Press/Report for America MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar and her progressive congressional allies have urged President Joe Biden to stop construction on Enbridge Energy’s much-contested Line 3 project. Omar and three other congresswomen said the pipeline project would worsen climate change and violate Native American treaty rights. But Enbridge

By KEITH RIDLER Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — U.S. wildfire managers have started shifting from seasonal to full-time firefighting crews to deal with what has become a year-round wildfire season as climate change makes the American West warmer and drier. The crews also could remove brush and other hazardous fuels when not battling blazes.

The Associated Press Stocks closed mostly lower on Wall Street Friday following a weak jobs report, but gains for a handful of Big Tech companies allowed the Nasdaq composite to sneak in another record high. The benchmark S&P 500 ended down less than 0.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.2% and the Nasdaq rose

Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes Friday: MongoDB, PagerDuty, DocuSign rise; Yext falls

NEW YORK (AP) — The chief executive of Tinder-owner Match Group has sharply criticized a new law prohibiting most abortions in Texas. She is setting up a fund to help any Texas-based employees who need to seek an abortion outside the states. Match Group says CEO Shar Dubey is creating the fund on her own

By TOM KRISHER AP Auto Writer DETROIT (AP) — The U.S. government’s road safety agency has added another fatality involving a Tesla to the list of crashes it is probing due to the use of partially automated driving systems. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says an investigation team was sent to a July crash

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

VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) — A privately designed, unmanned rocket built to carry satellites into orbit exploded in a fireball off the California coast. The Alpha rocket from the company Firefly Aerospace lifted off Thursday evening at Vandenberg Space Force Base. About two-and-a-half minutes into its flight it suffered what was termed an

By ED WHITE and TOM KRISHER Associated Press DETROIT (AP) — Federal prosecutors in Detroit put a herd of UAW officials in prison. Now they’re sharing additional evidence with a court-appointed watchdog who has authority to pursue other misconduct at the union. The independent monitor, Neil Barofsky, can investigate and bring disciplinary charges inside the

By MARLON GONZÁLEZ Associated Press SAN MARCOS DE COLON, Honduras (AP) — Honduras’ push to form semi-autonomous development zones aimed at spurring investment are raising concerns among members of neighboring communities and experts. They fear the zones could operate as mini-states, with power to expropriate nearby property and impose their own laws. Those pushing the

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Growth in the services sector, where most Americans work, slowed in August after setting a record pace in July. The Institute for Supply Management reported Friday that its monthly survey of service industries decreased to a reading of 61.7 in August after hitting a record high

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE and MATT O’BRIEN AP Technology Writers BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Apple is indefinitely delaying its plans to scan iPhones in the U.S. for images of child sexual abuse. The move followed outcry from security and privacy experts who warned the technology could eventually be exploited for other surveillance purposes by hackers and

By GEIR MOULSON and FRANK JORDANS Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — The center-right Union bloc’s candidate to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor in Germany’s election this month is struggling to reverse a sustained downward trend in the polls. The bloc’s candidate for the chancellorship, Armin Laschet, on Friday named named eight experts to advise him

BERLIN (AP) — German automaker Daimler has dismissed a “cease and desist” demand from two environmental groups to commit to ending the sale of combustion engine vehicles by 2030. Lawyers for Greenpeace and the group Deutsche Umwelthilfe have threatened to sue Daimler, BMW and Volkswagen unless they sign a legal pledge not to put new

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. weather agency says the world and especially urban areas experienced a brief and sharp drop in emissions of air pollutants last year. It happened during lockdown measures and related travel restrictions put in place over the coronavirus pandemic. The World Meteorological Organization released its first

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union and drugmaker AstraZeneca say they reached a deal to end a damaging legal battle over the slow pace of deliveries of the company’s COVID-19 vaccines. The European Commission said Friday that AstraZeneca made a “firm commitment” to deliver a total of 300 million vaccine

The Associated Press The United Nations chief will convene a ministerial meeting in Geneva on Sept. 13 to seek a swift scale-up in funding to address the growing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, where nearly half the country’s 38 million people need assistance. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric says Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will also appeal “for full

By KEN SWEET AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Americans have become obsessed with collectibles, bidding up prices for trading cards, video games and other mementos of their youth. These include copies of trading cards such as Pokemon’s Charizard and Magic: The Gathering’s Black Lotus as well as Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. game cartridges.

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — E-commerce giant Alibaba Group says it will spend $15.5 billion to support President Xi Jinping’s campaign to spread China’s prosperity more evenly. Its announcement adds to pledges by tech companies that are under pressure to pay for the ruling Communist Party’s political initiatives. Alibaba said it

By KEN SWEET AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Americans have become obsessed with collectibles, bidding up prices for trading cards, video games and other mementos of their youth. These include copies of trading cards such as Pokemon’s Charizard and Magic: The Gathering’s Black Lotus as well as Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. game cartridges.

By FARAI MUTSAKA and ANDREW MELDRUM Associated Press HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Young people across Africa are battling an economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey of 18 to 24-year-olds in 15 African countries found that many have lost jobs or seen their educations disrupted. Preliminary findings of the second annual Africa Youth

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Britain is rushing 4 million Pfizer doses to Australia, where authorities are scrambling to bolster supplies of that COVID-19 vaccine and protect the population against a rapidly spreading outbreak of the delta variant. The swap deal announced Friday follows Australian deals with Singapore and Poland to

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer Stocks closed mostly lower on Wall Street Friday following a weak jobs report, but gains for a handful of Big Tech companies allowed the Nasdaq composite to sneak in another record high. The benchmark S&P 500 ended down less than 0.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.2% and

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Intensive care beds are full of unvaccinated coronavirus patients at a hospital in Boise, Idaho. Doctors now are bracing to have to conserve scarce resources for those most likely to survive. At St. Luke’s Boise Medical Center, the view in every direction is heartbreaking. In one

By SAM METZ and SCOTT SONNER Associated Press/Report for America STATELINE, Nev. (AP) — Some Lake Tahoe residents who fled a raging wildfire burning toward the California-Nevada border have encountered an unexpected obstacle: price gouging. Evacuees this week reported rideshare companies offering trips from area ski resorts to the Reno, Nevada, airport at eight times

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE and MATT O’BRIEN AP Technology Writers Apple has recently eased some longstanding restrictions that helped make its App Store into a big moneymaker for the company. The company has long required app developers to pay high commissions on the sales of paid apps as well as purchases of subscriptions or digital items

By HALELUYA HADERO and GLENN GAMBOA AP Business Writers Following Hurricane Ida, mutual aid networks sprang into action to supplement the more established relief services from federal and local governments, and charities. The networks, where community members pool their resources and distribute donations to take care of one another, exploded in popularity during the COVID-19