AP National Business

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s parliament has gave final clearance to a plan that will allow people to use local transport across the country for just 9 euros ($9.50) per month this summer, a plan that has drawn praise but also plenty of criticism. The government also plans a three-month cut in fuel taxes. Parliament’s upper

By AAMER MADHANI and JOSH BOAK Associated Press PYEONGTAEK, South Korea (AP) — President Joe Biden is opening his trip to Asia with a focus on the computer chip shortage that has bedeviled the world economy, touring a Samsung computer chip plant that will serve as model for a $17 billion semiconductor factory that the

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets rose Friday after Wall Street fell closer to bear territory, China cut a key interest rate and Japanese inflation edged higher. London opened higher while Frankfurt retreated. Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney gained. Oil prices declined. Wall Street futures were higher after

By FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press KOENIGSWINTER, Germany (AP) — Germany’s finance minister says the Group of Seven leading economies are set to agree on more than $18 billion in aid for Ukrainian defense efforts. German Finance Minister Christian Lindner told Bloomberg Television in an interview Friday that “it’s a very good signal that the G-7

By FRANK JORDANS Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — A German court is set to begin hearing a case brought against Volkswagen by a farmer who claims the automaker is partly responsible for the impact that global warming is having on his family business. The plaintiff wants VW to end production of combustion engine vehicles by

BERLIN (AP) — The European Union’s law enforcement agency says authorities in six countries have worked with music streaming service SoundCloud to detect and delete hundreds of files containing extremist propaganda. Europol said Friday that the plan was initiated by Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office and the EU Internet Referral Unit, and that authorities in

By COLLEEN BARRY AP Business Writer MILAN (AP) — Edoardo Ronzoni inspects a construction site near Milan that he shut down in March as costs for materials skyrocketed. He can’t complete a half-built roundabout at an intersection known for fender-benders because asphalt, cast-iron pipes and concrete are too expensive — prices exacerbated by Russia’s war

By OLEKSANDR STASHEVSKYI and CIARAN McQUILLAN Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — With the number of defenders left holed up in a Mariupol steel factory dwindling, Russian commanders will be coming under increasing pressure to reallocate troops from the strategic southern port city to bolster their offensive in eastern Ukraine, Britain’s Defense Ministry said Friday.

COMPTON, Calif. (AP) — A judge says a driver who used a Tesla on autopilot must stand trial for a crash near Los Angeles that killed two people. The judge ruled Thursday that there’s enough evidence to try 27-year-old Kevin Riad for manslaughter. He’s pleaded not guilty to the charges. Prosecutors say Riad’s Tesla Model

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI, KRUTIKA PATHI and JOE McDONALD Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — China says its initiative to build ports and other infrastructure across Asia and Africa, paid for with Chinese loans, will boost trade. But Sri Lanka’s multibillion-dollar debt to Beijing threatens to hold back efforts to resolve a financial crisis so

By RUSS BYNUM, JEFF AMY and AAMER MADHANI Associated Press SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is heading to an industrial site outside Savannah to make what his office calls a “special economic development announcement.” Sources in Washington and Georgia have told The Associated Press the project is a $7 billion plant where

By AAMER MADHANI and JOSH BOAK Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — President Joe Biden will open his trip to Asia with a focus on the U.S. tech sector, touring a Samsung computer chip plant on Friday that will serve as model for a $17 billion semiconductor factory that the Korean electronics company is

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lankan authorities closed schools and asked public officials not to come to work in a desperate move to prepare for an acute fuel shortage that is expected to last days amid the nation’s worst economic crisis in decades. The Public Administration Ministry asked the

By AMANDA SEITZ Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Nina Jankowicz, like so many millennials, was excited to share a social media post announcing her new job on Twitter late last month when she was named executive director for a new disinformation board established by the Department of Homeland Security. But instead of well-wishes, Jankowicz’s tweet

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets rose Friday after Wall Street fell closer to bear territory, China cut a key interest rate and Japanese inflation edged higher. Market benchmarks in Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney advanced. Oil prices fell more than $1 per barrel. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P

By OLEKSANDR STASHEVSKYI and CIARAN McQUILLAN Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Amid fear of Russian reprisals, hundreds of Ukrainian fighters who surrendered after enduring the merciless assault on Mariupol’s steel factory were registered as prisoners of war, and the Ukrainian president vowed to seek international help to save them. The International Committee of the

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea says that nearly 10% of its 26 million people have fallen ill and 65 people have died amid its first COVID-19 outbreak. Outside experts question the validity of its reported fatalities and worry about a possible humanitarian crisis. Some observers say North Korea

By JOSH FUNK AP Business Writer OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The mining company that wants to extract a rare heat-resistant element from the ground under southeast Nebraska says a new report shows the deposit it plans to mine holds a significant amount of other rare elements. NioCorp Developments said Thursday the latest analysis shows the

By BOB CHRISTIE Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — An attorney for an Arizona real estate developer who was referred to the Department of Justice for a criminal investigation by congressional Democrats wants to publicly rebut the allegations. Lawyer Lanny Davis said Thursday that Arizona developer Michael Ingram and former Trump administration Cabinet member David Bernhardt

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Boeing’s crew capsule has blasted off on a repeat test flight to the International Space Station. Only a test dummy was on board for Thursday’s launch from Cape Canaveral. It’s Boeing’s third shot at the flight demo. Two previous attempts were marred by software