AP National Business

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s Cabinet has approved a plan to lift the country’s minimum wage to 12 euros ($13.60) per hour in October. The increase was a key pledge in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s election campaign last year. Germany has had a national minimum wage since 2015. It started off at 8.50 euros per hour but

By ANDY ROSEN of NerdWallet As the income tax filing deadline approaches, taxpayers will be facing unexpected tax situations brought about by the turbulent events of last year. Some taxpayers might get refunds and breaks they didn’t anticipate, while others could be paying more than they set aside. Whether you were part of the Great

By MATT O’BRIEN AP Technology Writer Driving a rugged Subaru through snowy weather is a rite of passage for some New Englanders, whose region is a top market for the Japanese automaker. So it was a surprise when Massachusetts dealerships started selling Subaru’s line of 2022 vehicles without a key ingredient: in-car wireless technology that

By JOSEPH WILSON Associated Press BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The leader of Spain’s main opposition party is set to meet fellow conservative heavyweights with his future at risk amid an ugly clash with a Popular Party rival. The meeting scheduled late Wednesday comes a day after the party’s secretary general stepped down and the calls

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Automaker Stellantis says it made a solid 13.4 billion euros in its first year. That’s three times the profit from the two separate companies that combined to make Stellantis at the start of the 2021. The company said Wednesday that the merger of Fiat Chrysler and PSA Group paid off in

PARIS (AP) — The International Energy Agency says emissions of planet-warming methane from oil, gas and coal production are significantly higher than governments claims. The Paris-based agency said Wednesday that its analysis shows emissions are 70% higher than the official figure provided by governments worldwide. It says that if all leaks were plugged, the methane

By HOPE YEN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Clogged U.S. ports are being given access to nearly $450 million in federal money from President Joe Biden’s infrastructure law. It’s part of the Biden administration’s recent stepped-up efforts aiming to ease supply chain congestion and lower prices for American consumers. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday

AMSTERDAM (AP) — Police say that an armed man who held a hostage for hours in the Apple Store in Amsterdam demanded a ransom of 200 million euros (more than $226 million) in cryptocurrencies before he was run over by police as he chased his hostage out of the shop. The tense standoff paralyzed one

By LAETITIA BEZAIN Associated Press ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AP) — Cyclone Emnati has crashed into the southeastern coast of Madagascar and ripped roofs off houses and raised fears of flooding and food shortages. It’s a region still recovering from the destruction caused by another tropical storm just weeks ago. More than 30,000 people were moved to

BERLIN (AP) — Climate activists have blocked roads leading to Germany’s three biggest airports. They glued themselves to the ground before police arrived Wednesday. Members of the group Uprising of the Last Generation said they wanted to disrupt cargo and passenger traffic at the airports in Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin. The group has demanded that

By LAETITIA BEZAIN Associated Press ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AP) — Cyclone Emnati has crashed into the southeastern coast of Madagascar and ripped roofs off houses and raised fears of flooding and food shortages. It’s a region still recovering from the destruction caused by another tropical storm just weeks ago. More than 30,000 people were moved to

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Global stocks have rebounded from jitters over Western sanctions imposed on Russia in response to President Vladimir Putin’s authorization to send soldiers into eastern Ukraine. London and Frankfurt opened higher. Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul rose. Oil prices edged higher on concern about possible disruption to

By MARIA GRAZIA MURRU Associated Press FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — The Italian city regarded as the birthplace of the Renaissance is concerned with more mundane matters these days. Paying the bills has become harder in Florence amid soaring energy costs. The local government has teamed up with a local nonprofit to help fixed-income retirees keep

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer Phil Mickelson is apologizing for comments he made about the Saudis and the financing of a rival league. Mickelson claims the comments golf writer Alan Shipnuck posted were off the record. Shipnuck wrote that was never the case. Mickelson says he regrets what he said and that his comments

By RONALD BLUM AP Baseball Writer JUPITER, Fla. (AP) — Sometime soon, lockout costs become real: Max Scherzer would forfeit $232,975 for each regular-season day lost, and Gerrit Cole $193,548. Based on last year’s base salaries that totaled just over $3.8 billion, major league players would combine to lose $20.5 million for each day wiped

By FOSTER KLUG Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — World leaders are backing up their condemnation of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine with action, announcing financial sanctions, banning trade with Ukrainian separatist regions and halting Russian bond distribution. But even as they imposed penalties on Wednesday meant to pressure Moscow to seek diplomacy over war, nations in

By LORI HINNANT Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The threat of war has shredded Ukraine’s economy, and many Ukrainians are asking why they are the ones suffering instead of Russia. The pressure from Russian troops has closed international offices, canceled flights and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in investment to dry up within

By LAURIE KELLMAN Associated Press LOD, Israel (AP) — As the airline industry struggles, Israel’s state-owned aerospace company is flying high. Israel Aerospace Industries is cashing in on the growth of e-commerce by converting grounded passenger planes into cargo jets for global giants like Amazon and DHL. Analysts say the work lines up with pandemic-driven