AP National Business

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka has paid $500 million due on sovereign bonds from its badly depleted foreign reserves despite calls by experts to defer it and use the sum to import essential food and medicine. The Indian ocean island nation is in its worst crisis in decades,

By LAUREN SCHWAHN of NerdWallet Paying for gifts, travel, entertaining and other holiday expenses has caused many of us to start off the new year in debt. The sooner you create a plan, the sooner you can leave that debt behind. Here’s what experts say you can do to get a handle on your holiday

GENEVA (AP) — A U.N.-backed group says it has signed agreements with more than two dozen generic drug makers to produce versions of Merck’s coronavirus pill to supply 105 developing countries. In a statement on Thursday, the Medicines Patent Pool said the deals would allow drug companies to make both the raw ingredients for molnupiravir

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s central bank has kept a key interest rate unchanged, halting a string of rate cuts that triggered a currency crisis and sent prices skyrocketing. The bank’s Monetary Policy Committee said Thursday that it has decided to keep its policy rate “constant” at 14%. The moves puts on hold a rate-cutting

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s police chief says he has ordered an extensive investigation into a newspaper’s claims that the force had used controversial Israeli spyware to hack the phones of protesters, mayors and other citizens under investigation without proper authorization. Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai said Thursday that immediately following the report’s publication, police launched “a

By KELVIN CHAN AP Business Writer LONDON (AP) — European Union lawmakers have approved proposed rules that would require online companies to ramp up efforts to keep harmful content off their platforms and take other steps to protect users. The 27-nation bloc has gained a reputation as a trendsetter in the growing global push to

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Long-haul carrier Emirates says it will resume its Boeing 777 flights to the U.S. after halting its use of the aircraft there over concerns new 5G services in America could interfere with airplane technology that measures altitude. International carriers that rely heavily on the

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russia has accused the West of plotting “provocations” in Ukraine even as it blames Moscow of planning aggressive military action in the neighboring country. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova alleged Thursday that Ukrainian and Western claims of an imminent Russian attack on Ukraine were a “cover

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s health minister expects the number of coronavirus infections in the country to keep rising for several weeks reaching hundreds of thousands of cases a day. Karl Lauterbach told German public broadcaster ZDF late Wednesday that “the wave will reach its peak roughly in mid-February.” Lauterbach warned that while hospitalization rates are

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has signed a three billion euro ($3.4 billion) deal to buy three cutting edge submarines from Germany, the defense ministry announced. The Dakar-class diesel-electric submarines will be produced by German manufacturer Thyssenkrupp and are expected to be delivered within nine years, the ministry said Thursday. Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Long-haul carrier Emirates says it will resume its Boeing 777 flights to the U.S. amid an ongoing dispute over the rollout of new 5G services there. Emirates said Thursday its Boeing 777 service to Chicago, Dallas Fort Worth, Miami, Newark, Orlando and Seattle would

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Global stocks are mixed after China cut interest rates and President Joe Biden said “we’re not there yet” on lowering punitive tariffs on Chinese goods. London and Tokyo gained while Shanghai and Frankfurt declined. Wall Street futures were higher a day after the benchmark S&P 500

By DAVID RISING Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — As the massive undersea Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted on Saturday, Tongans from around the world gazed on as their relatives livestreamed images of the billowing clouds of ash, gas and steam emerged from beneath the depths. Then darkness. The eruption severed Tonga’s single fiber-optic cable,

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon says it plans to open a clothing store in a Southern California mall later this year, a first for the online behemoth and a fresh challenge for already struggling traditional retailers. Amazon said Thursday that the store will sell women’s and men’s clothing, as

By ERIKA KINETZ Associated Press At some of the world’s most sensitive spots, authorities have installed security screening devices made by a single Chinese company with deep ties to China’s military and the highest levels of the ruling Communist Party. The company, Nuctech, has been frozen out of the U.S. for years due to national

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s exports and imports both reached record highs in December, largely because of surging oil prices and a weaker yen. Japan’s imports last month surged 41% from the same month a year earlier. Exports rose 17.5% from the previous year, on stronger shipments of autos and

By MICHAEL PHILLIS Associated Press ST. LOUIS (AP) — The U.S. Army Corps will spend $732 million to expand a congested lock and dam in Missouri. Federal officials said adding a second lock in Winfield, Missouri, will reduce travel time for barges and allow for two-way traffic. Funding for the lock’s construction was part of

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets are higher after China cut interest rates to shore up flagging economic growth and Japan reported a double-digit rise in exports. Benchmarks in Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul advanced. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index fell 1% as investors tried to figure

By AAMER MADHANI and MATTHEW LEE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden says he thinks Russia will invade Ukraine and is warning President Vladimir Putin that his country would pay a “dear price” in lives lost and a possible cutoff from the global banking system if it does. Biden also said a “minor

By DON THOMPSON Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Disability rights activists and advocates for Britney Spears are backing a California proposal to provide more protections for those under court-ordered conservatorships, while promoting less-restrictive alternatives. Their move came as the volatile Spears case again boiled over Wednesday in a Los Angeles County courtroom. The advocacy