AP National Business

By FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Tens of millions of small U.S. companies will soon be required to submit details on their owners and others who benefit from them. Under a new regulation finalized Thursday, the Treasury Department will create a database containing personal information on the owners of at least 32 million

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Battered by surging consumer prices and rising interest rates, the U.S. economy shrank at a 0.6% annual rate from April through June, the government announced Thursday, unchanged from its previous second-quarter estimate. It marked the second consecutive quarter of economic contraction, one informal rule of thumb

By SYLVIE CORBET The Associated Press PARIS (AP) — European Union nations are continuing to import and export nuclear fuel that is not under EU sanctions on Russia. The Ukrainian government and environmental activists want the ongoing trade to end. A ship carrying uranium that departed from France was heading toward the Russian port of

By JON GAMBRELL and ADAM SCHRECK Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia on Friday will formally annex parts of Ukraine where separation “referendums” received approval, the Kremlin’s spokesman said, confirming the expectations of Ukrainian and Western officials who have denounced the Moscow-managed votes as illegal, forced and rigged. Four regions of Ukraine — Luhansk,

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits dropped last week, a sign that few companies are cutting jobs despite high inflation and a weak economy. Applications for unemployment benefits for the week ending Sept. 24 fell by 16,000 to 193,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

BERLIN (AP) — Germany plans to spend up to 200 billion euros helping consumers and businesses cope with the surge in energy prices. Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Thursday that the government is reactivating an economic stabilizing fund previously used during the global financial crisis and the coronavirus pandemic. Scholz said Russia’s decision to cut back

By VESELIN TOSHKOV Associated Press SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgarians will go to the polls for the fourth time in less than two years in a general election overshadowed this time by the war in Ukraine, rising energy costs and galloping inflation. Pollsters expect that voters’ fatigue and disillusionment with the political system will result

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan says it will end mandatory COVID-19 quarantines for people arriving from overseas beginning Oct. 13. The Central Epidemic Command Center announced Thursday that the previous weeklong requirement will be replaced with a seven-day self-monitoring period. A rapid antigen test will still be required upon arrival, but those showing no symptoms

By JON GAMBRELL and ADAM SCHRECK Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia confirmed on Thursday it will formally annex parts of Ukraine where occupied areas held Kremlin-orchestrated “referendums” on living under Moscow’s rule that the Ukrainian government and the West denounced as illegal and rigged. Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend a ceremony on

By DAVID McHUGH AP Business Writer FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Shares in luxury automaker Porsche have risen on their first day of public trading. The maker of the 911 sports car made its market debut Thursday on the Frankfurt stock exchange. Parent company Volkswagen carried out an initial public offering that is one of the

By The Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin says that the four regions of Ukraine that held referendums on joining Russia will be incorporated into the country on Friday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend a ceremony in the Kremlin at which they will be officially folded into

By FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will host a forum to highlight how coronavirus pandemic relief dollars have helped support Black- and minority-owned businesses. The Treasury Department says the importance of making sure the community finance system supports minority businesses will be “front and

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — European stocks tumbled Thursday and Asian markets were mixed after British Prime Minister Liz Truss defended a tax-cut plan that rattled investors. London’s market benchmark plunged 2.3% and Frankfurt lost 1.9% in early trading. Shanghai and Hong Kong also declined. Tokyo and Seoul advanced. The future

By STEPHEN McGRATH and JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Doreen Bogdan-Martin of the United States has been elected to head the U.N.’s telecommunications agency. She won a U.S.-Russia face-off for the leadership of a global agency that sets guideposts for radio, internet, satellite and television communications. The result on Thursday ended a

HELSINKI (AP) — Finland’s future NATO membership will make the Nordic country a more interesting target for Russian intelligence and influencing operations, and Moscow may seek to acquire NATO-related intelligence through its neighbor, the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service said on Thursday. In its national security review, the agency known by the abbreviation SUPO said

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — European stocks tumbled Thursday and Asian markets were mixed after British Prime Minister Liz Truss defended a tax-cut plan that rattled investors. London’s market benchmark plunged 2.3% and Frankfurt lost 1.9% in early trading. Shanghai and Hong Kong also declined. Tokyo and Seoul advanced. The future

By JILL LAWLESS and DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Liz Truss has defended her economic plan that roiled financial markets, saying she’s willing to make “difficult decisions” to get the economy growing. Truss gave her first public comments Thursday since her government last week announced billions in unfunded tax cuts

By STEPHEN McGRATH Associated Press SIGHISOARA, Romania (AP) — In a dingy basement, chinchillas bred to provide the fashion industry with their fur bite the wire of cages that are stacked floor-to-ceiling with no natural light, as their babies struggle across the wire-mesh floors. The scene captured on video is among the findings from an

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets followed Wall Street higher Thursday after Britain’s central bank moved forcefully to stop a budding financial crisis. Market benchmarks in Hong Kong, Seoul and Sydney added more than 1%. Shanghai and Tokyo also rose. Oil prices edged lower after jumping by more than

By AMY FORLITI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Chinese billionaire, one of the richest people in the world, is heading to trial in Minneapolis to defend himself against allegations that he raped a former University of Minnesota student after a night of dinner and drinks in 2018. Richard Liu, the founder and former CEO