AP National Business

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. home construction rebounded a better-than-expected 3.9% in August with the strength coming in apartment construction. The August increase left home construction at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.62 million units, 17.4% above the pace of a year ago, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Housing

By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer McDonald’s plans to “drastically” reduce the plastic in its Happy Meal toys worldwide by 2025. The company, which sells more than 1 billion toys each year, says the new goal will reduce its use of virgin plastic by 90%. The burger giant said Tuesday it’s working with toy companies

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch king outlined a pared-back government plan for the coming year on Tuesday in his traditional speech opening the new parliamentary term that came amid drawn-out negotiations to form a new ruling coalition. With the government of Prime Minister Mark Rutte in caretaker mode

LONDON (AP) — Johnson & Johnson said Tuesday that a booster of its one-shot coronavirus vaccine provides a stronger immune response months after people receive a first dose. J&J said in statement that an extra dose — given either two months or six months after the initial shot — revved up protection. The results haven’t

By KELSEY SHEEHY of NerdWallet The pandemic isn’t crushing the entrepreneurial spirit. It’s fueling it. People normally tied to a desk or working double shifts used lockdown to launch side hustles, and some have turned those side gigs into full-fledged businesses. Entrepreneurs hoping to do the same need to plan carefully to give their new

By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Energy officials from Qatar and Turkey, two long-standing foes of the United Arab Emirates, have descended on Dubai along with hundreds of other executives. In a scene that would have been unthinkable just a year ago, the ministers shared a stage on Tuesday at

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The British government agreed Tuesday to support an American-owned firm that produces much of the U.K.’s carbon dioxide, a deal designed to avert shortages of meat, poultry and packaged foods amid a crisis triggered by soaring energy costs. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said the government would provide

By ZENEL ZHINIPOTOKU and LLAZAR SEMINI Associated Press PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — The Kosovo-Serbia border was blocked again Tuesday by ethnic Kosovo Serbs protesting a decision by Kosovo authorities to start removing Serbian license plates from cars entering the country. The traffic chaos raised fears that it may unleash much deeper tensions between the two

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer Asian shares were mostly lower on Wednesday after major indexes ended mixed on Wall Street. Benchmarks fell in Tokyo, Shanghai and Taiwan but rose in Sydney. Markets in South Korea and Hong Kong were closed for holidays. The Bank of Japan kept its ultra-supportive monetary policy unchanged, as expected.

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Global investors are watching nervously as one of China’s biggest real estate developers struggles to avoid defaulting on tens of billions of dollars of debt, fueling fears of possible wider shock waves for the financial system. Chinese regulators have yet to say what they might do

By ZEKE MILLER and DAVID KOENIG Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is rolling out new international travel policies affecting Americans and noncitizens alike who want to fly into the U.S. The goal is to restore more normal air travel after 18 months of disruption caused by COVID-19. The across-the-board rules, which will

By JULIE WATSON, JUAN A. LOZANO and ELLIOT SPAGAT Associated Press TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — The route for Haitian migrants camped under a bridge in a small Texas border town goes through South America. Many flew to Brazil or Chile and, after jobs dried up, made an arduous journey to the U.S. border to wait

By JOE McDONALD and HUIZHONG WU Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — The Beizhong International Travel Agency in the eastern city of Tianjin has had only one customer since coronavirus outbreaks that began in July prompted Chinese leaders to renew city lockdowns and travel controls. Most of China is virus-free, but the abrupt, severe response to

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s cancellation of a French submarine contract will complicate and delay negotiations on an Australian-European Union free trade deal, a European trade official said Tuesday. Australia’s decision to end the 90 billion Australian dollar ($66 billion) deal was “kind of an attack against European interests,” said

By SHEIKH SAALIQ and ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — India, the world’s largest vaccine producer, will resume exports and donations of surplus coronavirus vaccines in October after halting them during a devastating surge in domestic infections in April, the health minister said Monday. Mansukh Mandaviya said the surplus vaccines will be used

By FRANK BAJAK AP Technology Writer A ransomware attack has forced a cooperative of Iowa corn and soy farmers to take their computer systems offline. But a person close to the New Cooperative says it has created workarounds to receive grain and distribute feed. The cooperative said in a statement that the attack was “successfully

By JANET McCONNAUGHEY Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A lawsuit alleges that Louisiana’s largest electric utility used a “bubble gum and super glue” approach to maintenance and construction that left customers sweltering in the dark after Hurricane Ida. The lawsuit was filed Saturday against Entergy Louisiana and Entergy New Orleans, which provide power to

By EVENS SANON and DÁNICA COTO Associated Press PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Claile Bazile doesn’t know where she and her 2-year-old son will stay once they leave the hotel where officials temporarily set aside rooms for some of the hundreds of people streaming into Haiti after being expelled from the U.S. in the past couple

The Associated Press U.S. stocks had their biggest drop since May as traders worried about potential ripple effects if a debt-laden Chinese real estate company defaults and the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will signal that it will pull back its supports for markets and the economy.

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes Monday: Chevron, D.R. Horton fall; Pfizer, Brooks Automation rise.