AP National Business

The Associated Press Stocks were slightly lower in thin trading Friday, closing out what has turned out to be another banner year for Wall Street. Energy and banks were among the biggest gainers, a common occurrence for the last month. The S&P 500, which hit its latest record high on Wednesday, is heading for a

The Associated Press Stocks are inching higher in early trading Friday, the final day of what turned out to be another big year on Wall Street. The S&P 500 was up 0.1% in the early going. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq were also up 0.1%. The S&P 500, which hit its latest

By BRITTANY PETERSON, PATTY NIEBERG and COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press/Report for America SUPERIOR, Colo. (AP) — Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle says Friday at least 500 homes were likely destroyed and there were no known deaths in a wind-fueled wildfire outside Denver. Tens of thousands of Coloradans driven from their neighborhoods by wind-whipped wildfires are

By SYLVIE CORBET Associated Press PARIS (AP) — French customers will be encouraged to adopt more environmentally friendly habits under a series of new regulations to take effect in 2022. Beginning Saturday, leeks and carrots, tomatoes and potatoes, apples and pears and about 30 other items will no longer be sold in plastic. Starting in

By SYLVIA HUI Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Officials have warned revellers in Scotland and Wales to think twice before travelling to England to ring in the new year, highlighting how the four parts of the U.K. are again taking starkly different approaches to coronavirus restrictions amid record high infections and soaring hospitalizations. Prime Minister

By FRANK JORDANS Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Germany has shut down half of the six nuclear plants it still has in operation. It comes a year before the country draws the final curtain on its decades-long use of atomic power. The decision to phase out nuclear power and shift from fossil fuels to renewable

By DAVID McHUGH AP Business Writer FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — This New Year’s the European Central Bank is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the euro’s notes and coins. The physical euro was introduced on January 1, 2002, three years after the euro was adopted for noncash purposes by fixing its exchange rate to legacy national

BERLIN (AP) — Germany is shutting down half of the six nuclear plants it still has in operation. It comes a year before the country draws the final curtain on its decades-long use of atomic power. The decision to phase out nuclear power and shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy was first taken by

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Global shares are mixed after a late slide pulled major indexes into the red on Wall Street, leaving the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slightly below record highs they set a day earlier. Paris and London were lower while Hong Kong and Shanghai

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airlines is suspending cargo flights for a week due to stricter quarantine requirements for air crews, potentially adding to strain on global supply chains. The airline says long-haul flights to Europe, across the Pacific and to Riyadh and Dubai are suspended through Jan. 6. On Friday, Hong

BEIJING (AP) — A survey shows Chinese factory activity edged higher in December as supply disruptions eased and export demand weakened. The monthly purchasing managers’ index issued by the national statistics agency and an industry group gained to 50.3 from November’s 50.1 on a 100-point scale on which numbers above 50 show activity accelerating. Chinese

By PATTY NIEBERG, BRADY McCOMBS and COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press/Report for America DENVER (AP) — Late season wildfires fueled by strong winds have burned hundreds of homes, a hotel and a shopping center outside Denver. The fires have forced thousands of people to flee their homes. At least one first responder and six others have

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Asian countries are looking to a China-centered trade bloc encompassing about a third of world trade and business activity to help power recoveries from the pandemic. The Regional and Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, takes effect on Jan. 1. It includes China, Japan, South Korea and

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Shares are mixed in Asia after a late slide pulled major indexes into the red on Wall Street, leaving the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slightly below record highs they set a day earlier. Hong Kong jumped in New Year’s Eve trading and

By COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press DENVER (AP) — Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has shortened the prison sentence of a truck driver convicted in a deadly explosive crash to 10 years, drastically reducing his original 110-year term that drew widespread outrage. The decision Thursday on Rogel Aguilera-Mederos’ sentence was among several end-of-the-year commutations and pardons issued

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — In a story published December 29, 2021, about California’s Medicaid overhaul, The Associated Press erroneously reported that Medicaid services will now for the first time formally include substance abuse treatment, including short-term residential treatment when needed. In fact, those services were already included.

By COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press DENVER (AP) — Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has shortened the prison sentence of a truck driver convicted in a deadly explosive crash to 10 years, drastically reducing his original 110-year term that drew widespread outrage. The decision Thursday on Rogel Aguilera-Mederos’ sentence was among several end-of-the-year commutations and pardons issued

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Chancellor Olaf Scholz is urging Germans to pull together to defeat the coronavirus in 2022 and promising to react “quickly and decisively” to the advance of the omicron variant. In his first televised New Year message since taking over from longtime leader Angela Merkel three weeks ago,

By MALLIKA SEN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — With a guilty verdict in the sex-trafficking trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, here’s a look at what the once high-flying Jeffrey Epstein confidante was accused of and what’s next for her. The 60-year-old Maxwell was convicted of all but one count on Wednesday and faces the possibility