AP National Business

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Leading Chinese financial technology provider Ant Group has announced that its founder, e-commerce billionaire Jack Ma, will give up control of the company. In a statement posted Friday, Ant Group said that “no shareholder, alone or with other parties” will have “control over Ant Group.” The

By HANNA ARHIROVA and ANDREW MELDRUM Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s president praised the United States for including tank-killing armored vehicles in its latest multibillion-dollar package of military aid, saying they are “exactly what is needed” for Ukrainian troops locked in combat against Russian forces, even as both sides celebrated Orthodox Christmas on

By JAMES BROOKS Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — The past year has been difficult for startups everywhere, but running a company in Ukraine during the Russian invasion comes with a whole different set of challenges. Clinical psychologist Ivan Osadchyy brought his Knopka connected medical device to this year’s CES show in Las Vegas in

By TOM MURPHY AP Health Writer Joan Cohrs missed her chance to grab a prescription at her usual drugstore by about 30 seconds. Cohrs walked up to the counter of an Indianapolis CVS pharmacy shortly after a metal curtain descended, closing it for lunch. She didn’t mind. The 60-year-old said she feels compassion for people

By ANDREW MELDRUM Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s president is praising the United States for including tank-killing armored vehicles in its latest multibillion-dollar package of military aid, saying they are “exactly what is needed” for Ukrainian troops locked in combat against Russian forces. The White House announcement Friday of $3.75 billion in weapons

By ADRIANA MORGA, JAMES BROOKS and RIO YAMAT Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — Tech companies showed off their latest products this week at CES, formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show. Crowds of investors, media and tech workers have streamed into cavernous Las Vegas venues to see the latest tech from big companies and

BEIJING (AP) — China has suspended or closed the social media accounts of more than 1,000 critics of the government’s policies on the COVID-19 outbreak, as the country moves to roll back harsh anti-virus restrictions. The popular Sina Weibo social media platform said it had addressed 12,854 violations including attacks on experts, scholars and medical

By MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A Manhattan judge on Friday scolded Donald Trump’s lawyers as he denied their bid to dismiss a lawsuit accusing the former president and his company of a yearslong fraud scheme. Judge Arthur Engoron said lawyers for Trump and his Trump Organization “should have known better”

By BRITTANY PETERSON Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — Avocados can be tricky. Their ripeness window is so narrow that a slew of memes poke fun at the fine art of deciding when to eat them. Dutch entrepreneur Marco Snikkers aims to solve that problem with an avocado scanner unveiled this week at the CES

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS Associated Press JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Two agriculture businesses in the Mississippi Delta and some Black farm workers have settled the workers’ lawsuits. The suits claim the farms hired white laborers from South Africa and paid them more than the local Black employees for the same type of work. Federal court

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Macy’s is tempering its sales outlook for the fiscal fourth quarter after shoppers spent less than expected during the lull between Thanksgiving weekend and the final days before Christmas. The New York-based department store chain, which also operates upscale Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury stores, said Friday

By JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Negotiations to keep about 10,000 nurses from walking off the job are heading into a final weekend. Some major New York City hospitals already are bracing for a potential strike by sending ambulances elsewhere and transferring some patients, including vulnerable newborns. The walkout could start early

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes Friday: Costco Wholesale Corp., up $32.68 to $482.87. The warehouse club operator gave investors an encouraging sales update. World Wrestling Entertainment Inc., up $12.23 to $84.27. Vince McMahon is returning to the producer of professional wrestling events as executive chairman of the

The Associated Press Wall Street rallied amid hopes inflation may continue to cool and the Federal Reserve may ease up on its interest rate hikes following some mixed readings on the U.S. economy. The S&P 500 shook off a shaky start and closed 2.3% higher Friday, marking its first winning week in the last five.

By STAN CHOE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers Stocks rallied after a shaky start and closed with broad gains Friday as some mixed readings on the U.S. economy stoked hope on Wall Street that inflation may keep cooling and the Federal Reserve may ease up on its interest rate hikes. The S&P 500 rose

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Former North Carolina U.S. Sen. Richard Burr says the investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission into investment sales early in the coronavirus pandemic has concluded with “no action.” An attorney for Burr’s brother-in-law also said on Friday the SEC probe of his client is over with no insider trading found.

By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE Associated Press TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida lawmakers say they will move to increase state control of Walt Disney World’s private government. The Republican-controlled legislature announced its intention in a notice Friday, the latest development in a feud over the law that critics have dubbed “Don’t Say Gay.” Lawmakers note that they

By MICHELLE R. SMITH Associated Press PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Former national security adviser Michael Flynn had his Twitter account reinstated on Friday as the United States marked the two-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection. Twitter suspended the account of the retired Army lieutenant general two days after the violent assault on the capitol.

BOSTON (AP) — A former University of Southern California athletics department official who accepted bribes from the ringleader of a nationwide college admissions scandal to help get often unqualified students into the school as sports recruits was sentenced Friday to six months in prison. Donna Heinel was also sentenced in U.S. District Court in Boston

By MATTHEW PERRONE AP Health Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health officials on Friday approved a closely watched Alzheimer’s drug that’s been shown to modestly slow the early stages of the brain-robbing disease, albeit with potential safety risks that doctors and patients will have to carefully weigh. The drug, Leqembi, is the first that’s been