AP National Business

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s newly elected lawmakers are holding their first meetings on Tuesday as their parties digest the fallout of the election that reduced outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s bloc to its worst-ever result and start the process of putting together a new government. The narrow winners of Sunday’s parliamentary election, the center-left Social Democrats

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Animal rights groups have welcomed the South Korean president’s offer to look into banning consumption of dog meat. Eating dog meat is neither legal nor explicitly banned in South Korea. Restaurants that serve it are a dwindling business as younger people find it less appetizing, but some people oppose a

By DAVID KLEPPER Associated Press Days before Germany’s federal elections, Facebook took what it called an unprecedented step: the removal of a series of accounts that worked together to spread COVID-19 misinformation and encourage violent responses to COVID restrictions. The crackdown, announced Sept. 16, was the first use of Facebook’s new “coordinated social harm” policy

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Danish toy company Lego said Tuesday that it saw consumer sales soar 36%, revenue grow 46% to 23 billion kroner ($3.62 billion) and net profit going up 140% to 6.3 billion kroner ($992 million) during the first half of 2021. “I am super happy with this result,” CEO Niels B. Christiansen

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Dubai’s Expo 2020 opens this week, after being delayed for a year over the coronavirus pandemic. It will put this city-state all-in on its bet of billions of dollars that the world’s fair will boost its economy. The sheikhdom built what feels like an

BEIJING (AP) — The World Bank on Tuesday cut its economic growth forecast for developing countries in East Asia due to the impact of the coronavirus’s delta variant and called on governments to help the poor and small businesses avoid long-term damage. Excluding China’s unexpectedly strong growth, developing countries in East Asia should grow by

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares mostly fell Tuesday as concerns about China chipped away at investor optimism following a mixed finish on Wall Street. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 0.2% to finish at 30,183.96. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 1.5% to 7,275.60. South Korea’s Kospi declined 1.1% to 3,100.60. Hong

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan is set to lift all coronavirus emergency measures when they expire later this week as the infections slow and the nation tries to reactivate its economy. Officials in charge of coronavirus measures got endorsement from experts at a meeting Tuesday, on the condition easing of restrictions

Philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple founder Steve Jobs, will invest $3.5 billion within the next 10 years to address the climate crisis, a spokesperson for Emerson Collective, Jobs’ organization, said on Monday. The money will go into Waverley Street Foundation, an organization Jobs set up in 2016, and focus on “initiatives and

By ADAM BEAM Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s eviction moratorium ends Friday. But tenants with unpaid rent can still stay in their homes beyond that date if they apply for assistance from the state. California is using billions of federal dollars to pay off up to 18 months of most people’s rent dating

By DON THOMPSON Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday approved what he termed a “nation-leading” law requiring the garment industry to pay workers by the hour instead of for each piece of clothing they produce. Piece-rate compensation can be used to pay workers below the minimum wage, supporters said.

By JOE McDONALD and ZEN SOO AP Business Writers BEIJING (AP) — Global shoppers face possible shortages of smartphones and other goods ahead of Christmas after power cuts to meet official energy use targets forced Chinese factories to shut down and left some households in the dark. In the northeastern city of Liaoyang, 23 people

By AMY BETH HANSON, MARTHA BELLISLE and DAVID KOENIG Associated Press JOPLIN, Mont. (AP) — An Amtrak train that derailed in rural Montana over the weekend was going just under the speed limit at about 75 mph (121 kph) when it went off the track along a gradual curve, killing three people and possibly ejecting

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — In a rare moment of ethical controversy for the Federal Reserve, two top officials resigned Monday in the wake of revelations about their financial trading that exposed potential shortcomings in the Fed’s rules on investments. Eric Rosengren, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston,

By TOM KRISHER and BRUCE SCHREINER Associated Press GLENDALE, Ky. (AP) — Ford and a partner company say they plan to build three major electric-vehicle battery factories and an auto assembly plant by 2025 — a dramatic investment in the future of EV technology that will create an estimated 10,800 jobs and shift the automaker’s

By BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Thousands of families sickened and forced from their Los Angeles homes after the nation’s largest-known natural gas leak have reached a settlement of up to $1.8 billion with a utility, attorneys said Monday. The settlement with Southern California Gas Co. and its parent company, Sempra Energy,

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is preparing to tell Congress that the current spike in U.S. inflation has proven to be larger and more long-lasting than expected. But, in remarks prepared for delivery Tuesday, he says that if inflation does not abate, the Fed is ready

By HUIZHONG WU Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China’s Foreign Ministry said Monday that two Canadians detained in late 2019 who were allowed to return to Canada in a prisoner swap were released on bail for health reasons. A ministry spokesperson made the comment as Beijing sought to downplay the connection between their release

By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS Associated Press SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Greyhound Lines Inc. will pay $2.2 million to settle a lawsuit over the bus line’s practice of allowing U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents to board its buses in Washington state to conduct warrantless immigration sweeps, the state attorney general said Monday. The bus company