AP National Business

By ALAN FRAM and RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A House committee has dealt an ominous if tentative blow to President Joe Biden’s social and environment package. The House Energy and Commerce Committee voted to derail a money-saving plan to let Medicare negotiate the price it pays for prescription drugs. That vote to

LONDON (AP) — TikTok is facing two EU data privacy investigations, one into its handling of children’s personal data and another over its data transfers to China. Ireland’s data privacy watchdog said Tuesday that it has started two inquiries to examine whether the popular short video app has breached stringent EU data privacy regulations. The

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — Cabbage Patch Kids touched off the first big holiday toy craze nearly 40 years ago. Now the dolls are among 12 finalists vying for induction into the National Toy Hall of Fame. The finalists were announced Wednesday at The Strong museum in Rochester, which houses the hall. The finalists also include

By JOSH FUNK AP Business Writer OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The path is now clear for Canadian Pacific’s $31 billion acquisition of Kansas City Southern railroad to move forward after Canadian National dropped out of the bidding war Wednesday. The deal could still face tough scrutiny from regulators at the federal Surface Transportation Board, which

STOCKHOLM (AP) — A Swedish court has sentenced a 47-year-old man to three years in prison for spying for Russia by handing over confidential information on the Swedish truck and bus maker Scania to a Russian diplomat in return for money several years. The man, identified as Kristian Dimitrievski, had been charged with delivering sensitive

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. industrial production slowed to a 0.4% gain in August as shutdowns of petroleum refineries and petrochemical plants caused by Hurricane Ida curbed manufacturing activity. Plant closures long the Gulf Coast as well as lost oil production during last month’s hurricane shaved 0.3 percentage points from

By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer DoorDash is suing New York City over a new law that requires delivery companies to share customer data with restaurants. The San Francisco company says the law passed by the New York City Council in late July is unconstitutional and violates customer privacy. The law requires delivery companies to

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has invited CEOs and business leaders to the White House to discuss COVID-19 mandates. The meeting Wednesday follows Biden’s announcement last week that the Labor Department is working to require that businesses with 100 or more employees order their workers to

POINT COMFORT, Texas (AP) — The U.S. Department of Justice says a Texas plastics company has agreed to pay nearly $3 million in civil penalties for violating the Clean Air Act. The DOJ says Formosa Plastics Corporation also agreed to improve its risk management program at its petrochemical plant in Point Comfort, Texas. An investigation

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden says nearly 3 million consumers took advantage of a special six-month period to sign up for subsidized health insurance coverage made more affordable by his COVID-19 relief law. He calls that number encouraging and is urging Congress to help keep the trend going by

LONDON (AP) — The European Union’s top official outlined on Tuesday ambitious plans to kickstart chipmaking capability so that the bloc can stand on its own in the face of intensifying global competition for semiconductors. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled a European Chips Act to provide official support to boost the bloc’s

By CAMERON ROGERS Edmunds Volkswagen’s redesigned 2022 Golf GTI will be arriving at dealerships this fall. It’s the latest generation of the car that pioneered the hot hatch segment when it launched in the U.S. for the 1983 model year. Nearly four decades later, the GTI still stands as a benchmark for sporty performance and

By JAMEY KEATEN and MATT O’BRIEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights chief is calling for a moratorium on the use of artificial intelligence technology that poses a serious risk to human rights, including face-scanning systems that track people in public spaces. Michelle Bachelet also says countries should expressly ban AI applications

By GEORGIA ROSE of NerdWallet A rise in freelancing, coupled with an increasing interest in flexible employment from millennial and Gen Z workers, could signal a change in how Americans build and calculate life insurance plans. For example, the group life insurance policies offered by employers are not available to self-employed workers, forcing freelancers to

By FRANK JORDANS Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Immigration is a side issue in this year’s German election campaign, but that hasn’t stopped the country’s biggest far-right party from trying to play it up. The party rattled Germany’s political establishment four years ago, when it came third in parliamentary elections after stoking anti-migrant sentiment over

By DANICA KIRKA and PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The U.K. posted the biggest jump in annual inflation on record last month as global supply shortages and rising wages magnified the scale of price increases after pandemic-related discounts a year ago. The Office for National Statistics says consumer price inflation accelerated to 3.2%

By FARAI MUTSAKA Associated Press HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — The economic ravages of COVID-19 are forcing some families in Zimbabwe to abandon the age-old tradition of taking care of their older people. Some roam the streets. The lucky ones end up at facilities for older people. They were once widely viewed by many Zimbabweans as

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — One of China’s biggest real estate developers is struggling to avoid defaulting on billions of dollars of debt, prompting concern about broader impacts and protests by apartment buyers over delays in completing projects. Rating agencies say Evergrande Group looks likely to be unable to repay all

By RAF CASERT Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union is committing 200 million more vaccine doses to Africa and low-income nations to help curb the COVID-19 pandemic on a global scale. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the new donations come on top of 250 million vaccine shots already committed and