AP National Business

By JOSEF FEDERMAN Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s foreign minister has played down criticism of the country’s regulation of the cyberespionage firm NSO Group. But he vowed Wednesday to step up efforts to ensure the company’s controversial spyware doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. Speaking to foreign journalists, Yair Lapid said the government has

By JOSH FUNK AP Business Writer OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A planned shareholder vote on Canadian National’s $33.6 billion offer has been delayed after regulators rejected a key part of the plan, so now Kansas City Southern railroad can consider all of its options, including a competing $31 billion offer from Canadian Pacific Railway. While

By JOSEPH PISANI AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon is going on another hiring spree. The company said Wednesday that it plans to hire 55,000 people around the world, with about 40,000 of those roles in the U.S. The open roles are for tech jobs and corporate positions. While other companies laid off

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s finance minister says the country has raised 2.5 billion euros, or $3 billion, through two bond issues. He said the 5-year and 30-year bonds attracted high demand among investors on Wednesday and carried “historically low” interest rates. He said the 5-year bond had an “almost zero” rate, while the 30-year

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Growth in U.S. manufacturing accelerated in August despite the fact that companies were still struggling with supply chain problems. The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, said Wednesday that its index of manufacturing activity rose 0.4 percentage point in August to 59.9.

Entergy said Wednesday that it is slowly adding power back to New Orleans, and the pace of that work will determine how quickly the region’s important oil refineries can restart operations that were shut down by Hurricane Ida. The company said an unspecified number of customers in eastern New Orleans had power turned back on.

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s central bank says it has been inundated with more than 50 million euros’ ($59 million) worth of damaged bank notes after deadly floods that hit part of the country in July. The Bundesbank said Wednesday that individuals and banks have handed in notes that were soaked in the floods and often

By ALEXANDER TURNBULL and SYLVIE CORBET Associated Press PARIS (AP) — France has started administering booster shots of COVID-19 vaccine to people over 65 and those with underlying health conditions. People can get the shot on condition a minimum six-month period has passed since they got fully vaccinated with the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. France

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin regulators have backed down on requirements that operators of a startup that allows private homeowners to rent their swimming pools by the hour said would kill their business. Wisconsin regulators told Swimply in April that pools offered for rent would have to be treated the

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Julie Pace, a longtime Washington journalist who managed coverage of the U.S. government during a period of historic tumult, has been named as the executive editor and senior vice president of The Associated Press. Her appointment was announced Wednesday by outgoing AP President and CEO

By TOM KRISHER AP Auto Writer DETROIT (AP) — The U.S. government’s highway safety agency wants detailed information on how Tesla’s Autopilot system detects and responds to emergency vehicles that are handling traffic crashes. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration made the request in an 11-page letter to the electric car maker that was dated

MADRID (AP) — Europol says that over 100 people were arrested when police in Spain busted an illegal drug ring earlier this summer. The European policing authority said Wednesday that the arrests occurred in July when Spanish police detained 107 individuals during 42 raids in Barcelona and three smaller cities in Spain’s northeast. The people

By RONALD MONTOYA Edmunds If this were a normal year, Labor Day would traditionally kick off the start of end-of-model-year vehicle clearance sales. Consumers can often find good deals as dealerships are eager to sell their remaining inventory to make room for next year’s models. But this hasn’t been a normal year in the car

PARIS (AP) — Google is appealing a 500 million euro ($591 million) fine issued by French regulators over its handling of negotiations with publishers in a dispute over copyright. The dispute is part of a larger battle by authorities in Europe and elsewhere to force Google and other tech companies to compensate publishers for content.

By NerdWallet staff If you’ve been affected by a natural disaster like Hurricane Ida, you have several options for finding immediate help from government and aid agencies. Beyond that, though, you’ll have a financial recovery to begin. FEMA offers many types of help, and you can get additional guidance from Project Porchlight. Don’t wait to

By JOSH BOAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — White House officials are outlining plans to build and restore more than 2 million homes. It’s a response to the volcanic rise in housing prices over the past year. Millions of Americans are getting priced out of ownership or stuck spending the bulk of their income on

By TASSANEE VEJPONGSA Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Shopping malls, restaurants, parks and schools have reopened in Thailand’s capital after the government eased restrictions intended to slow the spread of the coronavirus. A surge that began in April sent new cases and deaths soaring, and department stores, restaurants, parks and other gathering places in Bangkok

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets are higher as investors waited for U.S. jobs data that might influence when the Federal Reserve starts to wind down its stimulus. Shanghai and Hong Kong advanced. Tokyo, South Korea and Sydney declined. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index added 0.1%, pushed up

By GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press A federal bankruptcy judge has approved with conditions a historic opioid settlement between Purdue Pharma and thousands of local and state governments. The agreement accepted Wednesday caps a long-running legal drama involving a company that had come to symbolize the corporate culpability behind an epidemic that has claimed more than

By ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL and RISHABH R. JAIN Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — India has dramatically increased COVID-19 vaccination rates in its vast rural hinterland, where around 65% of its nearly 1.4 billion people live in villages served by fragile health care systems. A blend of innovative strategies tailored for villages, alongside a communication strategy