AP National Business

By GILLIAN FLACCUS and BRITTANY PETERSON Associated Press MADRAS, Ore. (AP) — Phil Fine stands in a parched field and watches a harvester gnaw through his carrot seed crop, spitting clouds of dust in its wake. Cracked dirt lines empty irrigation canals, and dust devils and tumbleweeds punctuate a landscape in shades of brown. Across

By KATHERINE ROTH Associated Press Gas-powered home lawn-care machines for mowing, trimming and blowing have generally been accompanied by deafening roars and fumes. There’s now a lower-decibel lawn-care revolution going on. Quieter, zero- to low-emissions electric lawn-care tools now have better batteries that last longer. The changes so far seem more popular among homeowners than

By ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ Associated Press HAVANA (AP) — Opening a small business is a bureaucratic headache in many parts of the world. In Cuba, it’s an adventure in largely unknown territory. Most sorts of private businesses have been banned for more than 50 years, even if hundreds of thousands of Cubans in recent years have

By MATT O’BRIEN AP Technology Writer Most Americans don’t believe their personal information is secure online and aren’t satisfied with the federal government’s efforts to protect it, according to a poll. The poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and MeriTalk shows that 64% of Americans say their social media activity is

By JOSEPH PISANI AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Americans continued to spend at a brisk pace last month in the face of rising COVID-19 infections, though much of it was done online and not at restaurants or other sectors in the U.S. economy beleaguered by the arrival of the delta variant. Retail sales

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits moved up last week to 332,000 from a pandemic low, a sign that the spread of the delta variant may have slightly increased layoffs. Applications for jobless aid rose from 312,000 the week before, the Labor Department said Thursday.

By DAMIAN J. TROISE AP Business Writer The gulf between record job openings and a lack of people taking those jobs is forcing Wall Street to reassess the pace of the economic recovery. Jobs were gutted during the pandemic and employment growth has been a closely watched gauge for investors. Increasing employment eventually results in

By RAF CASERT Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union said Thursday that it will fund its new health preparedness and rapid response agency to the tune of 30 billion euros ($35 billion) over the next six years, even pushing it higher if individual efforts from the member nations and private sector are taken

LONDON (AP) — British retailer Marks & Spencer said Thursday that it will close 11 of its stores in France, mainly in Paris, as a result of fresh and chilled food supply issues related to Britain’s departure from the European Union. The group blamed Brexit disruption to exports to Europe for its decision to shut

By FARAI MUTSAKA Associated Press HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe’s government has ordered all its employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or they won’t be allowed to come to work. The Public Service Commission, which is in charge of employment conditions for government workers, issued an internal notice Wednesday ordering employees to get vaccinated. “All

By JERRY HARMER Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Taxi fleets in Thailand are giving new meaning to the term “rooftop garden,” as they utilize the roofs of cabs idled by the coronavirus crisis to serve as small vegetable plots. Workers from two taxi cooperatives assembled the miniature gardens this week using black plastic garbage bags

By VESELIN TOSHKOV Associated Press SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgarian President Rumen Radev on Thursday reappointed a retired general as interim prime minister to lead a new caretaker government until the next early election is held in November. The Balkan country, which is the European Union’s poorest member, is gearing up for its third parliamentary

LONDON (AP) — Irish airline Ryanair said Thursday that it’s planning to create 5,000 jobs over the next five years as part of its recovery from the shock of the coronavirus pandemic. The additional pilots, cabin crew and engineers will mean that the company will have more than recouped the 3,000 jobs it got rid

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin says dozens of his staff have been infected with the coronavirus and that he will continue his self-isolation because of the outbreak. The Kremlin announced earlier this week that he would self-isolate after someone in his inner circle was infected although Putin had tested negative for the virus

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s biggest rail operator, Deutsche Bahn, and a labor union representing train drivers said Thursday they have agreed on a pay raise to end a series of strikes that had caused chaos for commuters and vacationers over the summer. The GDL union said it secured assurances over pensions, a raise of about

By NINIEK KARMINI Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — An Indonesian court ruled Thursday that President Joko Widodo and six other top officials have neglected citizens’ rights to clean air and ordered them to improve the poor air quality in the capital. A three-judge panel at the Central Jakarta District Court notched a victory for

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer Asian shares were mixed on Friday after a hodge-podge of economic data led Wall Street to close mostly lower. Benchmarks rose in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul but fell in Shanghai and Sydney. Across the region, concerns over prolonged outbreak of coronavirus have weighed on sentiment. “Overall, the mood

Japan’s exports rose 26% in August from a year earlier, preliminary data released Thursday showed, below analysts’ forecasts, as supply chain disruptions hit manufacturers. The 6.6 trillion yen ($60 billion) in exports compared with 5.2 trillion yen a year earlier, when the economy was just beginning to recover from the initial impact of the coronavirus

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is considering requiring vaccinations against COVID-19 and contact tracing of international visitors after the U.S. revamps current broad restrictions that bar many foreigners from traveling to the U.S., a top White House adviser said Wednesday. Jeffrey Zients, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said that because of the recent

By STEFANIE DAZIO Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Public health officials in Los Angeles County will begin requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination for patrons and workers at indoor bars, wineries, breweries, lounges and nightclubs next month. The new initiative in the nation’s most populous county begins Oct. 7, with proof of at least one