AP National Business

By DAMIAN J. TROISE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks wavered in morning trading on Wall Street as investors received another dire readout on inflation. The S&P 500 fell 0.4% as of 10:26 a.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 142 points, or 0.5%, to 31,814 and the Nasdaq was little changed%.

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Commission is proposing to help Ukraine move its critical grain supplies to parts of the world at risk of food insecurity. The plan released Thursday by the European Union’s executive arm urges rail, road and river routes to get around a Russian blockade of Black

By ALI ZERDIN Associated Press LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) — Officials say an explosion and fire at a chemical plant in southeast Slovenia has left at least four people missing and feared dead. Emergency officials said another two people were hospitalized in critical condition with severe burns after the blast, which was reported around 8.30 a.m.

By OLEKSANDR STASHEVSKYI Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Finland’s leaders Thursday came out in favor of applying to join NATO, and Sweden could do the same within days, in a historic realignment on the continent 2 1/2 months after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine sent a shiver of fear through Moscow’s neighbors.

By JOSH FUNK Associated Press OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — At the height of the pandemic, the meat processing industry worked closely with political appointees in the Trump administration to stave off health restrictions and keep slaughterhouses open even as COVID-19 spread rapidly among workers, according to a Congressional report released Thursday. The report by the

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates edged up again this week, with interest on the key 30-year loan at its highest level since 2009. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the 30-year rate ticked up to 5.3% from 5.27% last week. By contrast, the average rate

By KRISHAN FRANCIS and BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Five-time former Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has been reappointed in an effort to bring stability to the island nation that’s engulfed in a political and economic crisis. Wickremesinghe is a contentious choice by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and took his oath

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are off to another weak start on Wall Street Thursday as more declines in big technology companies weighed on the broader market. Investors got another dire readout on inflation as the government reported that wholesale prices soared 11% in April from a year earlier. The report on the producer price

By ANDREW MELDRUM and MARIA CHENG Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The first factory to produce COVID-19 vaccines in Africa has announced that it has not received enough orders and is planning to stop production within a few weeks, in what a senior World Health Organization official described as a “failure” in efforts to achieve

By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Bonds are supposed to be the safe part of any nest egg, but they’re on pace for one of the worst years in history. The worst off investors are those who invest conservatively, favoring bonds instead of stocks in hopes of securing historically steady returns.

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar has announced it will resume issuing visas for visitors in an effort to help its moribund tourism industry, devastated by the coronavirus pandemic and violent political unrest. Starting on Sunday, tourist “e-Visas” will be provided online in a move also intended to harmonize tourism with neighboring countries. Visitors need a certificate

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. producer prices soared 11% in April from a year earlier, a hefty gain that indicates high inflation will remain a burden for consumers and businesses in the months ahead. The Labor Department said Thursday that its producer price index — which measures inflation before it

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for jobless aid ticked up slightly last week but the total number of Americans collecting benefits remained at its lowest level in more than five decades. Applications for unemployment benefits rose by 1,000 to 203,000 for the week ending May 7,

By SYLVIA HUI Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Britain’s foreign secretary warned the European Union on Thursday that the U.K. will have “no choice but to act” to revoke parts of a Brexit agreement on Northern Ireland if the EU does not show flexibility. Post-Brexit arrangements for border and customs checks in Northern Ireland have

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street pointed toward another down day when markets open Thursday following the release of more evidence of stubborn inflation that has already led to sell-offs in Asia and Europe. Futures for the S&P 500 were 0.5% lower and the Dow industrials lost 0.3% a day after a U.S.

By OLEKSANDR STASHEVSKYI Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces pounded areas in Ukraine’s east on Thursday, including the last pocket of resistance in besieged Mariupol, as a war that is redrawing Europe’s security map pushed Russia’s neighbor Finland closer to joining NATO. Even as the globe-shaking repercussions of the invasion spread, the conflict

By RANDA KRISS of NerdWallet Compared with larger companies, many small businesses have fewer resources to dedicate to cybersecurity, leaving them vulnerable to the ever-evolving tactics of cybercriminals. To protect themselves from cyberthreats, business owners should evaluate their online systems to understand where their data lives and what information needs to be kept safe. Small

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece says it’s extending a bilateral military agreement with the United States for five years. Officials from Greece’s center-right government argued that enhanced alliances within NATO will help stabilize the region rattled by Russia’s war in Ukraine and tension in the eastern Mediterranean. The agreement announced Thursday needs to be ratified

By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel, has handled over 13.6 million passengers in the first three months of 2022 — more than double last year’s number in a clear sign that a long-awaited travel revival has come to the global aviation