AP National Business

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO The Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Retailers are expected to usher in the unofficial start to the holiday shopping season Friday with bigger crowds than last year in a closer step toward normalcy. But the fallout from the pandemic continues to weigh on businesses and shoppers’ minds. Buoyed by solid hiring,

CALAIS, France (AP) — French fishing crews are threatening to block French ports and traffic under the English Channel on Friday to disrupt the flow of goods to the U.K. It’s the latest tension point between the neighboring countries. French fishermen are angry at the British government for not granting more licenses to fish in

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets have declined as traders weigh the impact of a surge in coronavirus cases in Europe and anti-disease controls that threaten to disrupt trade and travel. Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney declined. Austria has imposed a nationwide lockdown, while Italy imposed curbs on

By DARIA LITVINOVA and VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russian officials say 52 miners and rescuers have died after a devastating blast in a Siberian coal mine about 250 meters (820 feet) underground. Hours after a methane gas explosion and fire filled the mine with toxic fumes, rescuers found 14 bodies but then

By DARIA LITVINOVA and VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russian news reports say that 52 miners and rescuers have died in a a devastating fire that rushed through a Siberian coal mine about 250 meters (820 feet) underground. Hours after a methane gas explosion and fire filled the mine with toxic fumes, rescuers

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has drawn up plans to help people better understand when they are seeing political ads online and who is responsible for them. The proposals are aimed at ensuring fair and transparent polls or referendums. They would ban political targeting and methods used to reach

By DARIA LITVINOVA Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russian news agencies say a fire at a Siberian coal mine has killed 52 miners and rescuers. Officials previously said that rescuers found 14 bodies and the search for 38 people missing was halted for safety reasons Thursday, because of a buildup of explosive methane gas and

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s economy slowed in the third quarter, posting a slight contraction compared to the previous three months, though it was still well above the same quarter a year earlier. Data released Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography showed Mexico experienced a 0.4% quarterly contraction. The director of Moody’s

By DARIA LITVINOVA Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities have called off a search for dozens of people still missing about 250 meters (820 feet) underground, following a coal mine fire in Siberia that killed at least 14 miners and rescuers. Rescue teams were rushed out of the mine for safety reasons Thursday because

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) — Turkmenistan’s autocratic president has put his only son in charge of the Central Asian nation’s energy sector. The move further expands his clout in a move seen as laying the foundations for a political dynasty. According to a report Thursday by the official daily Neutral Turkmenistan, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov told his

MADRID (AP) — Metalworkers in the southern Spanish province of Cadiz are returning to work after trade unions reached a pay agreement with employers. The agreement was approved by workers in a ballot Thursday. The open-ended strike began Nov. 16, with street protests at times turning violent as riot police clashed with strikers and their

By NINIEK KARMINI Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s top court has ruled that the country’s widely criticized Job Creation Law is unconstitutional and ordered the government to amend it within two years. The law, passed last year, triggered days of protests in many cities that turned violent as thousands of enraged students and

By FRANK JORDANS Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke of “a very sad day” as her country became the latest to surpass 100,000 deaths from COVID-19 since the pandemic began. The national disease control agency said Thursday it recorded 351 additional deaths over the past 24 hours, taking the total COVID-19

SOCHI, Russia (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow will continue providing natural gas to Serbia on terms favorable to its ally. Putin voiced confidence Thursday that a new contract for gas supplies to Serbia would be signed quickly to replace the current one that expires at year-end.  Putin said at the start of

By SARAH RANKIN Associated Press ABINGDON, Va. (AP) — A Virginia man is fighting to hang on to $9,000 in unemployment benefits that the state gave him when his compressor plant closed in 2018. The Virginia Employment Commission is trying to get those benefits back. Ernest Ray’s attorney says the case illustrates a radically dysfunctional

By SUSAN HAIGH Associated Press HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — While many workers deemed essential in their respective states have already received pandemic hazard pay or hero pay, there are thousands more still waiting for the same financial pat-on-the-back. Many work in places like Connecticut, Minnesota and cities around the country that are still trying to

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s prime minister says that starting in December the government will cut tax on fuels and on energy and will offer bonuses next year to counter inflation that has reached it highest level since 2001. Premier Mateusz Morawiecki said Thursday that the so-called “anti-inflation shield” will cost the government some 10

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press ROME (AP) — Pope Francis says he’s praying that God will help Lebanon “get up” and get back on its feet following an unprecedented economic crisis that has thrown three quarters of the country’s 6 million people including a million Syrian refugees into poverty. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati met