AP National Business

Tech giant HP has won a multibillion-dollar lawsuit against a British businessmen it accused of fraud after purchasing his software company Autonomy a decade ago. The decision by the U.K.’s High Court also removes a hurdle for the potential extradition to the U.S. of Autonomy’s founder, British entrepreneur Michael Lynch. HP Inc. bought Autonomy for

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippines has signed a $378 million contract with India to acquire his country’s first shore-based anti-ship missile system. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana says the supersonic missiles would be used to defend the country’s sovereignty especially in the disputed South China Sea. Despite financial constraints and the coronavirus pandemic, the Philippines

By COLLEEN BARRY AP Business Writer MILAN (AP) — Moves by carmaker Stellantis to consolidate its position in fast-growing China seem to be off to a rocky start after one of its joint venture partners said it hadn’t been consulted before an announcement of plans to grab a controlling stake.  Stellantis, formed a year ago

By VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland (AP) — High-stakes diplomacy continues to try to avert a war in Eastern Europe. The urgent efforts come as 100,000 Russian troops are massed near Ukraine’s border and the Biden administration worries that Russian President Vladimir Putin will mount some sort of invasion in the next several weeks.

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writer Caterpillar’s sales surged in the final quarter of the year despite ongoing disruptions in the global supply chain that have hit almost every sector of the economy. Sales climbed 23% to $13.8 billion, the construction machinery company said Friday, topping Wall Street expectations of $13.36 billion. Construction industry sales

BEIJING (AP) — Hong Kong’s economy grew by 6.4% last year after activity weakened as anti-coronavirus controls were tightened. Government data show economic output expanded by 4.8% over a year earlier in the three months ending in December, down from the previous quarter’s 5.5%. Growth in consumption and investment weakened. The government has tightened controls

BERLIN (AP) — Official figures show that the German economy shrank by 0.7% in last year’s fourth quarter amid a resurgence in coronavirus infections and new restrictions. The quarter-on-quarter decline reported on Friday by the Federal Statistical Office followed two quarters of solid gains that came despite persistent supply bottlenecks. Gross domestic product grew 2.8%

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — The International Labor Organization says about 1.6 million jobs were lost in Myanmar in 2021, with women suffering the biggest setbacks as work in factories, tourism and construction dwindled amid the pandemic and a military takeover. In a report issued Friday, the ILO said the country

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Swedish low-cost fashion brand Hennes & Mauritz AB says its net sales in local currencies have increased by 8% in the fourth quarter of 2021 to $6 billion, back at pre-pandemic level, with the full year net sales increasing by 6% to $21 billion. The Stockholm-based group said its Q4 gross profit

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea plans to add hundreds of small neighborhood hospitals and clinics to treat the thousands more people expected to get COVID-19 during a developing omicron surge. South Korea’s daily cases reached a new high for a fourth straight day Friday. The 16,000 new infections

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Major global stock markets are mixed ahead of data on U.S. employment costs that might influence Federal Reserve decisions on interest rate hikes to cool inflation. London and Frankfurt opened lower. Tokyo advanced while Shanghai and Hong Kong declined. Wall Street futures were mixed after U.S.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s AirAsia Group has changed the name of its listed holding company to Capital A to reflect the diversity of its business portfolio as it seeks to grow its non-airline revenue. Capital A CEO Tony Fernandes said the COVID-19 pandemic has allowed the group to accelerate plans to grow beyond

BERLIN (AP) — Official figures show that German exports to the U.K. dropped another 2.5% last year, the first full year of Brexit, following a huge decline in 2020 in the first stage of the coronavirus pandemic. Preliminary figures Friday from the Federal Statistical Office showed that exports from Germany, which has Europe’s biggest economy,

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Marcelo Claure, who joined SoftBank Group after turning around one of its key investments, office-sharing business WeWork, is leaving. Claure was long seen as a close aide to SoftBank Chief Executive Masayoshi Son, forging a partnership spanning nine years and overseeing a sprawling investment portfolio. Tokyo-based

NEW DELHI (AP) — Google plans to invest up to $1 billion in partnership with India’s Airtel for providing affordable access to smartphones to over a billion Indians and accelerating the cloud ecosystem for businesses. The two companies said on Friday the investment will especially help India’s small businesses adopt digital tools that can accelerate

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea plans to add hundreds of small neighborhood hospitals and clinics to treat the thousands more people expected to get COVID-19 during a developing omicron surge. The plans were announced as South Korea’s daily cases reached a new high for a fourth straight day.

By SAMYA KULLAB Associated Press IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — A Chinese language school in northern Iraq is attracting students who hope to land jobs with a growing number of Chinese companies in the oil, infrastructure, construction, and telecommunications sectors in the region. Anchored in energy, China’s interest in Iraq is expanding. Beijing is building power

By SCOTT SONNER Associated Press RENO, Nev. (AP) — A federal judge is considering temporarily suspending the capture of wild horses in Nevada where their advocates say the federal government is  “needlessly and recklessly” killing free-roaming mustangs in violation of U.S. laws. The judge in Reno says she expects to rule by Monday, maybe sooner,

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets are higher as traders look ahead to data on U.S. employment costs that might influence Federal Reserve decisions on planned interest rate hikes. Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul gained while Hong Kong declined. Wall Street fell for a third day after the U.S. government