AP National Business

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria’s health authorities say the country’s top leaders are self-isolating after being in contact with the parliamentary speaker who tested positive for the coronavirus. Officials said Tuesday that Speaker Nikola Minchev felt unwell and later tested positive for COVID-19. Minchev was present at a six-hour meeting of the country’s National Security

MADRID (AP) — A spat over factory farming is causing tension in Spain’s left-of-center coalition government. The farm minister on Tuesday described the consumer minister’s criticism of the country’s livestock industry as “very unfortunate.” Consumer Minister Alberto Garzón told British newspaper The Guardian in an interview last month that intensive cattle production is “unsustainable,” damages

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — A report based on U.S. trade data shows American companies are still importing teak from Myanmar despite sanctions imposed after the military seized power. Teak is one of the most valuable hardwoods, used in yachts, home flooring and in expensive furniture. U.S. importers were still receiving

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — European benchmarks have risen after Asian shares mostly declined following a retreat on Wall Street. Oil prices and U.S. futures advanced on Tuesday. Investors are keeping an eye on rising numbers of coronavirus cases, especially in China, where a third city has locked down its residents

By KELVIN CHAN AP Business Writer LONDON (AP) — The World Economic Forum says cyberthreats and the growing space race are emerging risks to the global economy, on top of existing challenges posed by climate change and the coronavirus pandemic. The Global Risks Report released Tuesday usually comes out ahead of the annual elite winter

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares have mostly declined in cautious trading following a retreat on Wall Street. Investors are keeping an eye on rising numbers of coronavirus cases, especially in China. Benchmarks fell Tuesday in Tokyo, Sydney and Shanghai but rose in South Korea and Hong Kong. A third

By SOPHIA TAREEN Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago scrapped classes for days in a confusing standoff with the teachers’ union over COVID-19 safety measures in the nation’s third-largest school district. From remote instruction to testing, both sides have been negotiating nearly a dozen complex points of a safety plan that has cast a shadow

By SOPHIA TAREEN Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Students in the nation’s third-largest school district will resume classes this week after leaders of the Chicago Teachers Union accepted a proposal with the district over COVID-19 safety protocols. Both sides had been locked in an increasingly bitter standoff that canceled classes for five days in the

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares are sinking in cautious trading following a decline on Wall Street amid continuing worries about the omicron coronavirus variant, especially rising cases in China. Benchmarks are lower in Japan, Australia, South Korea and China. Asian markets also have their eyes on the U.S. Federal

By ADAM BEAM Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to make California the first state to cover all low-income state residents under its Medicaid plan regardless of their immigration status. He’s also attempting to aid consumers and businesses hard hit by the pandemic and rising costs. The proposals Monday address what

By SOPHIA TAREEN and KATHLEEN FOODY Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — The standoff between Chicago school leaders and the teachers’ union over COVID-19 safety protocols stretched into a second week. rhetoric between the two sides became nastier, schools began notifying families of more class cancellations and families’ frustrations grew. Chicago Teachers Union President Jesse Sharkey

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — High inflation is taking a toll on American families. That acknowledgment comes from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell in remarks to be delivered at a Tuesday congressional hearing, where he is sure to face tough questions on the subject. The Senate Banking Committee will hold a

By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer A second Starbucks store near Buffalo, New York, has voted to unionize. It’s one of a growing number of the chain’s stores seeking to organize workers. Workers at the suburban Buffalo store voted 15-9 in favor of representation by Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union.

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States Mint said Monday it has begun shipping quarters featuring the image of poet Maya Angelou, the first coins in its American Women Quarters Program. Angelou, an American author, poet and Civil Rights activist, rose to prominence with the publication of “I Know Why

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Vice Chair Richard Clarida said he will step down on Friday, the third Fed official to resign in the wake of a trading scandal at the central bank. The announcement followed new revelations around Clarida’s trading in a stock fund in February 2020, when

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Vice Chair Richard Clarida said he will step down on Friday, the third Fed official to resign in the wake of a trading scandal at the central bank. The announcement followed new revelations around Clarida’s trading in a stock fund in February 2020, when

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes Monday: Take-Two, Lululemon fall; Jazz, BioMarin rise.

By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers Stocks ended slightly lower on Wall Street Monday after recouping much of an early slide. Technology stocks bounced back after leading the market lower in the morning. Losses for industrial companies and banks were partly offset by gains in health care companies. The S&P 500

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — A man arrested in Alabama is accused of using a phone app in an attempt to hire someone to kidnap and rape a woman in Wisconsin. Federal court documents show 22-year-old Matthias Jacob Edward Mann was arrested last week in the north Alabama town of Hartselle. He’s charged with attempted kidnapping

By MATTHEW BARAKAT Associated Press FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that gruyere cheese does not have to come from the Gruyere region of Europe to be sold under the gruyere name. A consortium of Swiss and French cheesemakers from the region around Gruyeres, Switzerland, sued in U.S. District Court in