AP National Business

By SALLY FRENCH of NerdWallet Airline and hotel elite status extensions due to the COVID-19 pandemic are expiring this year, and the companies are raising the requirements to earn status. In fact, one prediction says about 1 million Americans will lose airline status in 2023. As a small consolation, loyalty programs have introduced some nominal

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME and GERALD IMRAY Associated Press PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen watched Ford cars and pickup trucks being assembled at a plant in South Africa and cited it as an example of cooperation between Washington and Africa as she begins the Biden administration’s big push to reengage with

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Cash-strapped Pakistan’s currency has plunged against the dollar after the government indicated it was ready to comply with tough conditions set by the International Monetary Fund. Pakistan is seeking a crucial installment of a $1.1 billion loan from the fund, part of its $6 billion bailout package, to avoid default. The rupee

By JARI TANNER Associated Press HELSINKI (AP) — Wireless and fixed-network equipment maker Nokia is reporting strong fourth-quarter results on the back of robust demand for 5G technology and an improved product portfolio. The Espoo, Finland-based company reported net profit of 929 million euros ($1 billion) for the October-December period on Thursday, 27% more than

BERLIN (AP) — Germany-based software company SAP says it’s cutting up to 3,000 jobs worldwide, or about 2.5% of its workforce. The announcement on Thursday came as the company reported a sharp drop in profits and amid a broader wave of technology industry job cuts. Google, Amazon, Microsoft and other tech giants announced mass layoffs

By TIA GOLDENBERG Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s tech industry has long been the driving force behind the country’s economy. Now, as Israel’s new government pushes ahead with its far-right agenda, the industry is flexing its muscle and speaking out in unprecedented criticism against policies it fears will drive away investors and

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares advanced Friday, tracking a rally on Wall Street following reports suggesting the economy and corporate profits may be doing better than feared. In Tokyo, data showed the core consumer price index was up 4.3%, slightly higher than expected at 4.2%, and higher than the

By SCOTT SONNER Associated Press SPARKS, Nev. (AP) — Tesla says it intends to invest $3.6 billion to expand manufacturing capabilities in Nevada and is confident growing software-related profits will keep margins higher than any other automaker. The company confirmed it plans to produce high volumes of semi-trucks and make enough cell batteries for 2

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy expanded at a 2.9% annual pace from October through December, ending 2022 with momentum despite the pressure of high interest rates and widespread fears of a looming recession. Thursday’s estimate from the Commerce Department showed that the nation’s gross domestic product — the

By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer DALLAS (AP) — The federal government is investigating whether Southwest Airlines knowingly scheduling more flights than it could handle in December, when it ended up canceling nearly 17,000 flights. The Transportation Department says scheduling too many flights would violate federal laws against deceptive practices. The department said Wednesday it’s

By JOSH FUNK AP Business Writer OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — CSX railroad says it hauled in 9% more fourth-quarter profit even though it carried less cargo because it received more money for fuel surcharges and higher shipping rates. The Jacksonville, Florida-based railroad said Wednesday that it earned $1.02 billion, or 49 cents per share. That

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s impulsive and sometimes inflammatory usage of Twitter has taken center stage in a trial focused on whether he misled investors with his 2018 tweets indicating he had lined up financing to take the electric automaker private, a proposal that rapidly unraveled.

By TOM KRISHER AP Auto Writer DETROIT (AP) — Tesla has posted record net income for the fourth quarter of last year, and the company predicted that additional software-related profits will keep its margins higher than any other automaker. The Austin, Texas, maker of electric vehicles and solar panels said it made $3.69 billion from

NEW YORK (AP) — Justin Bieber’s record-breaking pop hits from “Baby” to “Sorry” are no longer his after the superstar sold the rights to all his early career music. The Canadian-American pop star’s six albums, including his most recent album “Justice,” are part of the massive catalog sale deal with Hipgnosis, a U.K-based music investment

The Associated Press Stocks shook off an early slide and wound up little changed as worries about corporate profits weighed on the market. The S&P 500 ended barely lower and the Dow ended barely higher. The Nasdaq fell. The mixed finish came after the S&P 500 roared back from a morning loss of 1.7%. Big

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes Wednesday: Boeing Co., up 70 cents to $212.68. The aerospace-defense giant reported a big fourth-quarter loss, but said it is sticking with plans to increase jet production. AT&T Inc., up $1.26 to $20.42. The telecommunications company reported strong fourth-quarter earnings. News Corp.,

By STEVE LeBLANC Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — When U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss decided to deliver a speech on a bill that would create a U.S.-Israel artificial intelligence center, he opted to let the AI do the talking. The brief two-paragragh speech read by the Massachusetts Democrat on the floor of the U.S. House on

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — For decades, work on a massive rail project has been grinding 15 stories below the shuffling footsteps of millions of New Yorkers and beneath the East Hudson River and Manhattan skyscrapers. After years of delays and massive cost overruns, the enormously expensive railway project shuttled

By KAREN MATTHEWS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s attorney general has warned Madison Square Garden that it may be violating anti-bias laws with its practice of barring lawyers from firms involved in litigation against MSG from its venues including Radio City Music Hall and the Garden itself. The attorney general’s office says

WASHINGTON (AP) — A system that sends alerts to pilots, and broke down earlier this month, is causing delays for some users again. But federal officials say this time it’s not affecting any flights. The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday that that the system was online and operational, but some users were reporting slower response

By KEN SWEET AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Goldman Sachs spent eight years attempting to expand its business beyond corporations and the wealthy. But in recent months, the storied investment bank has signaled a partial retreat from those efforts by scrapping plans for a checking account broadly available to the public and mothballing

By DÁNICA COTO Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico privatized its electricity production on Wednesday. The government chose Genera PR to take over the operation and maintenance of state power generation units in the U.S. territory as part of an initial $22.5 million annual contract. Genera is a subsidiary of New

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations is forecasting that global economic growth will fall significantly to 1.9% this year. That’s due to factors including the food and energy crisis sparked by the war in Ukraine, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, persistently high inflation and the climate emergency.

By THALIA BEATY and GLENN GAMBOA Associated Press Amazon’s surprise decision to shut down its AmazonSmile donation program has left thousands of its nonprofit beneficiaries disappointed and concerned about finding ways to replace the funding. The e-commerce giant had launched AmazonSmile in 2013, contributing 0.5% of every purchase made by participating customers to the charity

By AMANDA SEITZ Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The government says a record 16.3 million people sought health insurance through the Affordable Care Act this year. That’s double the number covered when the marketplaces first launched nearly a decade ago. More than 3 million new members have joined the marketplace, which is also known as

By MATTHEW DALY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin is trying to delay new tax credits for electric vehicles, a key feature of President Joe Biden’s landmark climate law. Manchin says Treasury Department guidelines allow manufacturers in Europe and other countries to bypass requirements that significant portions of EV batteries be produced

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Space Agency chief says he wants to rebuild Europe’s access to space following the botched launch of a European rocket carrying two Earth observation satellites last year and the delayed introduction of the Ariane 6 launcher. In an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday,

By BERT WILKINSON The Associated Press GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — The former leader of Guyana’s Environmental Protection Agency is criticizing the government’s plan to use satellites to monitor oil spills in the South American nation’s waters. The agency announced that it will use Colorado-based MAXAR Technologies to watch its oil fields from space. But Vincent

By KELVIN CHAN Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Amazon warehouse workers went on strike for the first time in Britain on Wednesday because of a dispute over pay and working conditions, adding to a wave of industrial labor action across the country fueled by the soaring cost of living. Union members voted to walk off

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Debt-stricken Sri Lanka’s Central Bank chief says the country is making good progress in talks with its creditors to obtain financial assurances for debt restructuring, an important step toward finalizing an International Monetary Fund rescue plan. Sri Lanka is bankrupt and has suspended repayment of

By DAVID McHUGH AP Business Writer FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The economic outlook has brightened in Europe’s largest economy. The German government on Wednesday raised its estimate for growth next year to an 0.2% expansion from a 0.4% contraction as the country manages its energy divorce from Russia and shells out support for consumers and

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s Adani Group has protested allegations by short-selling firm Hindenburg Research that caused shares in its companies to plunge by as much as 8%. Hindenburg issued a report late Tuesday saying it was betting against shares in companies within the Adani empire. Asia’s richest man, coal magnate Gautam Adani, made a

By KAREEM CHEHAYEB Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — The United States is rerouting $72 million of America’s assistance to Lebanon to help the cash-strapped government boost wages of its soldiers and police officers. Washington is a key donor of the Lebanese Army and its 80,000 members, providing over $3 billion in military aid since 2006.

ASHOK SHARMA Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — India and Egypt have agreed to increase trade during a visit by the Egyptian president that underscores Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts to build ties with other emerging economies. Modi and President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi agreed on measures to increase two-way trade within five years to $12

LONDON (AP) — Microsoft said it’s seeing some improvement to problems with its online services including the Teams messaging platform and Outlook email system after users around the world reported outages Wednesday. In a status update, the tech company reported “service degradation” for a number of its Microsoft 365 services. Thousands of users reported problems

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA Associated Press BAGHDAD (AP) — Hundreds of protesters have gathered near the Central Bank in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, angered by the recent devaluation of the Iraqi dinar and demanding the government take action to stabilize the currency. The protesters — mainly young people — rallied amid a heavy security presence, with

BEIJING (AP) — The Chinese government says the U.S. should stop pressuring it on debt relief for Zambia and focus on averting a government default at home with possible repercussions for the global economy. Its embassy in Zambia responded Tuesday to remarks by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who said on a visit to the

By TASSANEE VEJPONGSA and ELAINE KURTENBACH Associated Press CHIANG MAI, Thailand (AP) — The beaches and temples of Asian travel hotspots like Bali and Chiang Mai are the busiest they’ve been since the pandemic struck three years ago, but they’re still relatively quiet. Chinese tourists who used to visit by the millions have yet to

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A voter initiative that would overturn a California law aimed at raising wages and improving working conditions for fast food workers has qualified for next year’s ballot. The secretary of state announced Tuesday that enough signatures were raised to place the measure on next year’s Nov. 5 ballot. The landmark law,

REDMOND, Wash. (AP) — Microsoft has reported a 12% drop in profit for the October-December quarter, reflecting the economic uncertainty it says led to its decision to cut 10,000 workers. The company reported quarterly profit of $16.43 billion, or $2.20 per share. Excluding one-time items, the company based in Redmond, Washington, said it earned $2.32

The Associated Press Stocks ended mixed on Wall Street after drifting between gains and losses as more big U.S. companies delivered their earnings reports for the last three months of 2022. Some of them came up short of what investors were expecting, leading to drops in their stock prices. Post-it maker 3M sank after its

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes Tuesday: Johnson & Johnson, unchanged at $168.31. The healthcare giant reported mixed financial results for the fourth-quarter. 3M Co., down $7.62 to $115. The maker of Post-it notes, industrial coatings and ceramics reported weak fourth-quarter earnings and announced job cuts. Alphabet Inc.,

The Associated Press Benchmark U.S. crude oil for March delivery fell $1.49 to $80.13 a barrel Tuesday. Brent crude for March delivery fell $2.06 to $86.13 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline for February delivery fell 5 cents to $2.65 a gallon. February heating oil fell 12 cents $3.43 a gallon. February natural gas fell 19 cents

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — When the war on marijuana came sweeping through his New York City housing project decades ago, Roland Conner found himself going in and out of jail. It’s a time he’d rather not talk about. Now, at age 50, he has opened the state’s first legal

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — University of Wisconsin System officials say they will prohibit the use of TikTok on system devices. System spokesman Mark Pitsch told The Associated Press about the move in emails on Tuesday.  Earlier this month, Gov. Tony Evers banned the use of TikTok on state phones and other devices, citing potential risks

By JULIE CARR SMYTH Associated Press CINCINNATI (AP) — A FirstEnergy Corp. executive says an arm of the utility was “bleeding cash” as it explored options for two aging nuclear plants eventually rescued by Ohio House legislation at the center of former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder’s corruption trial. Federal prosecutors allege Householder championed the

ENFIELD, Conn. (AP) — The Lego Group has announced that it will move its North American headquarters from Connecticut to Boston by the end of 2026. Skip Kodak, president of the Lego Group in the Americas, said in a release that the move supports the Denmark-based global toymaker’s growth ambitions. He said Boston is ranked

NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart said U.S. workers will get pay raises next month, increasing starting wages to between $14 and $19 an hour. Company President CEO John Furner told employees in a memo Tuesday that the pay raises will be reflected in their March 2 paychecks and will come through a combination of targeted

By JOSH BOAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says in a letter to congressional leaders that she’s suspending the reinvestment of some federal bonds in a government workers’ savings plan. That would be an additional “extraordinary” measure to buy time for President Joe Biden and Congress to raise the nation’s

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Elon Musk returned to federal court to defend himself against a class-action lawsuit that alleges he misled Tesla shareholders with a tweet about an aborted buyout that the billionaire defiantly insisted Tuesday he could have pulled off, had he wanted. Musk spent roughly three more

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER and STAN CHOE AP Business Writers WASHINGTON (AP) — Sooner or later, either Wall Street or the Federal Reserve has to blink. Nearly a year into the Fed’s drive to quash inflation by hiking interest rates at a blistering pace, investors still don’t seem to fully believe what the Fed warns is

NEW YORK (AP) — Nurses who went on strike this month at two major New York City hospitals have ratified the contracts that were hammered out to end the walkout. Their union, called the New York State Nurses Association, said Tuesday that 98% of nurses at Mount Sinai Hospital and Montefiore Medical Center voted  in

By The Associated Press U.S. accident investigators are giving more details about what they think caused a Boeing plane to crash in Ethiopia in 2019. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday that a sensor which gave false readings about the plane was damaged by striking a foreign object, most likely a bird. That

By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer Senators grilled Ticketmaster Tuesday, questioning whether the company’s dominance in the ticketing industry led to its spectacular breakdown last year during a sale of Taylor Swift concert tickets. Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee also debated possible action, including making tickets non-transferable to cut down on scalping

By DAVID KLEPPER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A popular online chatbot powered by artificial intelligence is proving to be adept at creating disinformation and propaganda. Researchers at NewsGuard asked ChatGPT to create content from the perspective of anti-vaccine activists, conspiracy theorists and foreign propaganda agencies. In most instances the chatbot quickly complied, creating content

By MAE ANDERSON AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Mars says it’s pausing using its trademark M&M’s spokescandies and has enlisted actor and comedian Maya Rudolph to star in its marketing efforts. The news comes three weeks before M&Ms is set to return to the Super Bowl with an ad after sitting it out

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writer 3M, maker of Post-it notes, industrial coatings and ceramics, is cutting about 2,500 manufacturing jobs worldwide as it looks to align itself with adjusted production volumes. The company announced last month that it will exit per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance manufacturing by the end of 2025. 3M Co. also reported

PARIS (AP) — Apparently deliberately set blazes to clusters of electrical cables have caused cascading cancellations on the Paris train network. The fires all but shut down services at one of the French capital’s busiest stations. The SNCF national rail operator said Tuesday that overnight fires damaged 48 cables that power signals for trains on

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s labor ministry has issued app-based food delivery company Glovo a new fine of 57 million euros ($62 million) for violating labor laws. The ministry said Tuesday that Glovo was being punished for not contracting its riders as employees and for giving gigs to irregular immigrants without work permits. Glovo was smacked

By DALIA RAMIREZ of NerdWallet Whether your New Year’s resolutions were to save more, spend less or pay off debt, life might already be getting in the way. Unpredictable expenses early in the year can complicate your goals, but they don’t have to knock you completely off course. Creating sustainable goals can put you in

By TOM MURPHY AP Health Writer Johnson & Johnson beat earnings expectations in the final quarter of 2022 even as a strong dollar and sinking COVID-19 vaccine sales hurt revenue. The health care giant said Tuesday that fourth-quarter earnings slipped 26% to $3.52 billion and revenue declined 4% to $23.7 billion. Adjusted earnings totaled $2.35

By LISA MASCARO AP Congressional Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — The debate around raising the debt ceiling sounds eerily similar: Newly elected House Republicans, eager to confront the Democratic president in the White House, refused to raise the debt limit without cuts to federal spending. Negotiations over the debt ceiling consumed Washington in 2011, a high-stakes

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A gold mining company says three workers have been killed after a blast in western Kenya and blamed illegal mining activities. Karebe gold mining company said in a statement that a wall built to prevent flooding and illegal incursion was blasted by illegal miners causing a blast. Three other workers were