AP National Business

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Record-low mortgages below 3% are long gone. Credit card rates will likely rise. So will the cost of an auto loan. Savers may finally receive a yield high enough to top inflation. The half-point hike in its benchmark short-term rate that the Federal Reserve announced Wednesday

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The small town of Mason has announced it has reached a deal halting the threat of a takeover of its finances by the state of Tennessee. The agreement marks a victory for town officials who had argued the state was treating Mason’s majority-Black leaders differently than

By DAMIAN J. TROISE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Markets are holding relatively steady after the Federal Reserve’s widely anticipated decision to raise interest rates by double the usual amount in a bid to fight inflation. The Fed also announced details of how it will start reducing its huge holdings of Treasury debt

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve intensified its fight against the worst inflation in 40 years by raising its benchmark interest rate by a half-percentage point Wednesday — its most aggressive move since 2000 — and signaling further large rate hikes to come. The increase in the Fed’s key

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina judge has approved a second round of refunds for customers of a utility that poured billions of dollars into two nuclear power plants that never produced a watt of power. About $61 million is being set aside for Dominion Energy South Carolina after the utility sold several properties

By TOM MURPHY AP Health Writer COVID-19 vaccine sales helped Moderna triple its net income in a better-than-expected first quarter. The vaccine maker said Wednesday that revenue from its coronavirus preventive shots jumped to $5.92 billion from $1.73 billion in last year’s quarter, when the vaccines were debuting in most markets. More than 217 million

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man will be sentenced in July for his role in a hoax call that led to a fatal police shooting in 2017. Shane Gaskill pleaded guilty Tuesday to wire fraud related to a “swatting” call that ended with Wichita police shooting and killing 28-year-old Andrew Finch. In his plea

By CARLEY PETESCH Associated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Human Rights Watch has accused Russian mercenaries of executing, torturing and beating civilians in Central African Republic since 2019. Dozens of witnesses who spoke to the international rights organization outlined incidents of violence, including in July 2021 when Russian-speaking men carrying military-grade weapons set up a

By JOSH BOAK and FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday highlighted new figures showing the government’s red ink will grow less than expected this year and the national debt will shrink this quarter as he tried to counter criticism of his economic leadership amid growing dismay over inflation going

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writer Tupperware’s turnaround isn’t exactly going as planned, with inflation, COVID-19 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine all weighing on the consumer products company. Sales dropped 16% in the first quarter, with Miguel Fernandez, President and CEO of Tupperware Brands, acknowledging that the company’s turnaround still needs a lot more work.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Airbnb says it’s taking steps to prevent people from throwing parties at houses they rent for the Memorial Day and July 4 holidays. Airbnb said Wednesday it will impose special restrictions over those holidays, bringing back measures that the company claims worked last summer. Many customers will be barred from making

By TOM MURPHY AP Health Writer CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — COVID-19 vaccine sales helped Moderna triple its net income in a better-than-expected first quarter. The vaccine maker said Wednesday that revenue from its coronavirus preventive shots jumped to $5.92 billion from $1.73 billion in last year’s quarter, when the vaccines were debuting in most markets.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and high-ranking officials from the South American nation have met with the oil minister of Iran to discuss cooperation in energy matters and efforts to defeat economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. and its allies. Officials from both oil-producing nations ratified agreements in the meetings this week

NEW YORK (AP) — The company behind the TurboTax tax-filing program will pay $141 million to customers across the United States who were deceived by misleading promises of free tax-filing services, New York’s attorney general announced Wednesday. Under the terms of a settlement signed by the attorneys general of all 50 states, Mountain View, California-based

BEIJING (AP) — China’s capital on Wednesday closed 60 subway stations, more than 10% of its vast system, as an additional measure against the spread of the coronavirus. Forty stations were closed from the morning, and 20 more were added in the afternoon. The Beijing subway authority in a brief message said only that the

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The world’s biggest shipping company, Denmark’s A.P. Moeller-Maersk, says it’s delivered its “best earnings quarter ever,” driven by higher freight rates and more contracts being signed. The Copenhagen, Denmark-based company said Wednesday that its revenue for the first three months of the year came in at $19.3 billion, up from $12.4

By DAMIAN J. TROISE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks were mixed and bond yields rose Wednesday ahead of a widely expected interest rate increase from the Federal Reserve. Oil prices rose as Europe moved toward banning Russian oil. Crude oil prices rose 3.7% after Europe took a step closer to placing an

By THALIA BEATY Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The literary writer’s organization PEN America has hired a human rights advocate, Liesl Gerntholtz, to expand its support of writers around the world who face imprisonment for their work. Gerntholtz formerly led the women’s rights division at Human Rights Watch among other roles. She will direct