AP National Business

By ULIANA PAVLOVA Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — A Moscow court has fined Google nearly $100 million and Facebook’s parent company Meta $27 million over their failure to delete content banned by local law. The Tagansky District Court ruled on Friday that Google repeatedly neglected to remove the banned content, and ordered the company to

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Global stocks were mixed in quiet trading on Friday, with many markets closed or ending early in observance of Christmas. Stocks slipped in Paris and Tokyo, inched higher in Seoul and Hong Kong and were nearly unchanged in London. Financial markets took the day off in

By ASHRAF KHALIL Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. will lift travel restrictions on eight southern African countries that it imposed to try to blunt the spread of the COVID omicron variant. The White House says the temporary travel bans bought scientists necessary time to study the new virus variant first discovered in South

By MATTHEW PERRONE AP Health Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Two antiviral pills are the latest additions to the handful of therapies to treat COVID-19 in the U.S. The Food and Drug Administration authorized the drugs from Merck and Pfizer as the first treatments that patients can take at home to treat mild-to-moderate symptoms. The drugs

By ASHRAF KHALIL Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says the U.S. will lift travel restrictions to eight southern African countries on New Year’s Eve. The restrictions imposed last month were meant to blunt the spread of the COVID omicron variant The Nov. 29 ban barred nearly all non-U.S. citizens who had recently

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey has frozen the assets of 770 Turkish nationals and a Chicago-based foundation it accuses of having links to terror groups. A list published Friday in the country’s official gazette includes 454 people with alleged links to Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in the United States. The Turkish government accuses Gulen

By DAVID McHUGH Associated Press FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — At least three major airlines say they have canceled dozens of flights because illnesses largely tied to the omicron variant of COVID-19 have taken a toll on flight crew numbers during the busy holiday travel season. Germany-based Lufthansa said Friday that it was canceling a dozen

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s Central Group and Signa of Austria have confirmed plans to buy luxury British department store chain Selfridges. The deal, reportedly worth 4 billion pounds ($5.4 billion), adds to Central and Signa’s collection of posh retailers that includes Rinascente in Italy, Illum in Denmark, Switzerland’s Globus and The KaDeWe Group in Germany

PARIS (AP) — Protesters angry over virus and vaccine rules have occupied Guadeloupe’s regional legislature because of stalled negotiations over their grievances about management of the French Caribbean island. Officials in Guadeloupe and Paris denounced Thursday’s incursion as unacceptable and a threat to the democratically elected Regional Council. Officials posted images online that showed a

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Cabinet has approved a record 5.4 trillion yen ($47 billion) defense budget for fiscal 2022 that includes funding for research and development of a new fighter jet and other “game-changing” weapons as Japan bolsters its defense capabilities in response to China’s growing military might and its

By PHILIP MARCELO, ANNE D’INNOCENZIO and BOBBY CAINA CALVAN Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — The surge in coronavirus cases driven by the new omicron variant is the latest blow to hospitals, police departments, supermarkets and other critical operations struggling to maintain staffing levels. COVID-19 absences among workers at London hospitals tripled this month, and nearly

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets are mixed after Wall Street hit a new high as fears of the coronavirus’s omicron variant eased. London opened higher while Tokyo and Shanghai declined. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index rose 0.6% on Thursday in the last U.S. trading session before Christmas.

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets have risen after Wall Street hit a new high as fears of the coronavirus’s omicron variant eased. Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney advanced. Shanghai declined. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index rose 0.6% on Thursday in the last U.S. trading session before Christmas.

By JANIE HAR Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is meeting to consider an emergency order the mayor wants to tackle an opioid epidemic in its troubled Tenderloin district. The emergency order is part of Mayor London Breed’s plan to crack down on drug use and drug dealing in