AP National Business

By INNA VARENYTSIA, LORI HINNANT and ELLEN KNICKMEYER Associated Press ADIIVKA, Ukraine (AP) — Washington is raising the rhetoric about the buildup of Russian forces near Ukraine’s border, but the Ukrainian president is projecting calm. This sense of calm is reflected in the opinions of many in Ukraine’s east, which is as likely as any

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Honda has reported its profit dropped 32% in the last quarter as rising material costs and a shortage of computer chips hurt the Japanese automaker. Honda’s profit for the three months through December totaled 192.9 billion yen, or $1.7 billion. Quarterly sales slipped 2%. Like the

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Toyota says its profit slipped nearly 6% in the last quarter, totaling $6.9 billion. The earnings report by Japan’s top automaker highlights the headwinds global automakers are facing in a computer chips crunch caused by the pandemic. The company said quarterly sales slipped 5%. Toyota officials

By NICK PERRY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Entrepreneur Elon Musk is trying to help reconnect Tonga to the internet after a volcanic eruption and tsunami cut off the South Pacific nation more than three weeks ago, according to officials, while repairs on an undersea cable are proving more difficult than first thought.

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The foreign ministers of Australia and Lithuania have agreed to step up cooperation on strategic challenges, in particular pressures from China. Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis and his Australian counterpart Marise Payne met Wednesday at Parliament House. Australian exporters have lost tens of billions of dollars

By MATTHEW PERRONE AP Health Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the powerful Food and Drug Administration has stalled in the narrowly divided Senate. It’s an unexpected setback that could delay long-awaited decisions on everything from electronic cigarettes to prescription opioids. Biden nominated Dr. Robert Califf for the job in November

By FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of Americans who have never filed a tax return will need to do so this year in order to claim what’s coming to them under the enhanced child tax credit. Previously, only people who earned enough money to owe income taxes could qualify for the full

By COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Nearly a year after 10 people were shot and killed at a supermarket in Colorado, the redesigned store in the college town of Boulder is reopening Wednesday. The move is triggering mixed emotions. The mother of a longtime employee who was killed says having the store

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australian and Lithuanian foreign ministers have called on like-minded countries to join forces against Chinese economic coercion. Australia and Lithuania have become conspicuous examples of the economic damage that can come with raising China’s ire. Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis visited his Australian counterpart Marise Payne

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Asian stocks are higher after Wall Street rebounded as investors waited for U.S. inflation data that might influence the pace of Federal Reserve interest rate hikes. Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney advanced. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 rose 0.8%, recovering from the previous day’s slide.

By KATHLEEN RONAYNE Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The cost of California’s high-speed rail line is going up again. A business plan released Tuesday by the project’s leaders now estimates it could cost as much as $105 billion to complete the train between Los Angeles and San Francisco. That’s up about $5 billion from

By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer Starbucks has fired seven employees who were leading an effort to unionize a Memphis, Tennessee, store. The Seattle coffee giant says the employees violated company policy by reopening a store after closing time and inviting non-employees to come inside. The employees used the store to do an interview with

By ALAN FRAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has approved a bipartisan bill that would lift onerous budget requirements that have helped push the Postal Service deeply into debt. The measure would require the service to continue delivering mail six days per week. And it would have to set up an online site

By JOHN RABY Associated Press CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice has signed a bill eliminating the state’s ban on nuclear power plants. But the Republican governor cautions against jumping in to diversify the coal-dependent state’s energy offerings. Justice said in a letter Tuesday that any development or placement of nuclear technologies

NEW YORK (AP) — NBC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics in Beijing has won the week for prime-time ratings. The top four out of 20 shows last week were Olympics coverage, including more than 10.7 million viewers for the opening ceremony. CBS’ “FBI” was the fifth most popular show, earning more than 7.5 million viewers.

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes Tuesday: Pfizer, Chevron fall; Harley-Davidson, Chegg rise.

By ALAN FRAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The House is close to approving a bipartisan bill that would lift onerous budget requirements that have helped push the Postal Service deeply into debt. The measure would require the service to continue delivering mail six days per week. And it would have to set up an

By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers Technology companies and banks led stocks higher on Wall Street Tuesday, more than making up the market’s losses a day earlier. The S&P 500 rose 0.8%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1% and the Nasdaq rose 1.3%. Peloton jumped 25.3% after the exercise bike

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Officials have announced that an Australian electric vehicle charging company will establish its first U.S. manufacturing facility in Tennessee. President Joe Biden on Tuesday hailed the announcement as being a result of the federal government’s effort to build a national network of electric vehicle chargers. Tritium

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands has signed a bill to refinance more than $800 million worth of bonds following numerous attempts to save a public pension system that officials say faces collapse. Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. said Wednesday that the savings from improved interest rates will help