AP National Business

By FRANCES D’EMILIO and COLLEEN BARRY Associated Press ROME (AP) — With special pandemic precautions, voting for Italy’s next president has begun without a clear slate of candidates following three-time ex-Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s reluctant withdrawal. Party leaders on Monday kept huddling to find consensus even as the Grand Electors began casting ballots in a joint

By DAMIAN J. TROISE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 1,000 points Monday as financial markets buckled in anticipation of inflation-fighting measures from the Federal Reserve and fretted over the possibility of conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Stocks extended their three-week decline on Wall Street and

By ELENA BECATOROS and NICHOLAS PAPHITIS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A severe snowstorm has disrupted air and road traffic in the Greek capital of Athens and in neighboring Turkey’s largest city of Istanbul. It also has blanketed most of Greece and Turkey, including several Aegean islands. The Greek government declared a holiday for

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ordered an investigation into a Conservative lawmaker’s claim that she was fired from a government job in part because of her Muslim faith. Former Transport Minister Nusrat Ghani says that a government whip said her “Muslimness” was “making colleagues uncomfortable” when

By THOMAS ADAMSON AP Fashion Writer PARIS (AP) — The atelier — the workshop of hands — took the Dior center stage on Monday to produce a refined show on the first day of Paris couture shows, which aim to elevate the house’s savoir-faire expertise of its seamstresses. The stars came out in droves to

By CATHY BUSSEWITZ AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Anyone who’s bought food, paid rent or looked for a used car recently has come up against the billowing inflation that has engulfed the U.S. economy. And, with surging oil prices keeping gasoline high, so has anyone who’s filled up a car. Energy costs have

By DAMIAN J. TROISE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The Dow Jones Industrial Average has dropped more than 1,000 points Monday as financial markets buckled in anticipation of inflation-fighting measures from the Federal Reserve and the possibility of conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Stocks extended their three-week decline on Wall Street and put

By JOSH FUNK AP Business Writer OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Newspaper publisher Lee Enterprises is asking its shareholders to help it fight off a hostile takeover offer from “vulture hedge fund” Alden Global Capital. The publisher of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Buffalo News and dozens of other newspapers, including nearly every daily newspaper in

MADRID (AP) — The body representing Catholic bishops in Spain has acknowledged that nearly 1,000 real estate properties across the country were registered as possessions of the church despite having no proof of ownership or clearly belonging to others. The Catholic Church will now begin a process to “regularize” those properties. Dioceses and individual parishes

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — With inflation punishing consumers and threatening the economy, the Federal Reserve will likely signal its intent this week to begin raising interest rates in March for the first time in three years. The Fed’s challenges will get only harder from there. Among Fed officials, there is

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization has warned that conditions remain ideal for more coronavirus variants to emerge and says it’s dangerous to assume omicron is the last one or that “we are in the endgame.” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said Monday that the acute phase

BRUSSELS (AP) — A European Union watchdog has warned that the EU faces much bigger economic and security threats unless member countries step up cooperation. The European Court of Auditors has a two-pronged clarion call. It said Monday that Europe is falling behind North America and Asia in the rollout of 5G networks and the

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says his government will remove coronavirus testing requirements for vaccinated people arriving in England. Johnson said travelers will no longer have to take tests if they have been double vaccinated. Currently, travelers who have had at least two vaccine doses must take

By DAMIAN J. TROISE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks sank in morning trading on Wall Street Monday, putting the benchmark S&P 500 on track for what the market considers a correction _ a drop of 10% or more from its most recent high. The S&P 500 fell 2.5% to 4,287.22 as of

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO The Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Kohl’s is confirming that it has been approached about a possible sale of the department store chain, sending shares up more than 30% in early trading. The company said that it would not comment further, but its confirmation Monday follows media reports that the private

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writer Activist investor Blackwells Capital is asking Peloton to remove CEO John Foley and consider selling the company just a few days after a media report said the exercise and treadmill company was temporarily halting production of its connected fitness products amid waning consumer demand. Blackwells also said Peloton should

AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are sliding at the open on Wall Street Monday, extending a recent run of losses that have left the S&P 500 at 6-month lows. The benchmark index is down 1.5% in the opening minutes of trading, while the Nasdaq Composite is down 1.7% and the Dow Jones