AP National Business

BERLIN (AP) — The International Atomic Energy Agency said Friday that Japan is making “significant progress” on its plans to release treated radioactive wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant next year. A team of experts from the U.N. agency visited the plant in February and met with officials from the operator and the government.

BRUSSELS (AP) — Inflation has hit a new record for the 19 countries that use the euro. The record comes as skyrocketing fuel prices boosted by the war in Ukraine add new burdens to household finances and weigh on a slowing economic recovery from the latest outbreaks of COVID-19. Annual inflation hit 7.5% for April,

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer World stocks advanced Friday after Chinese leaders pledged to do more to support the slowing economy as the country weathers its worst outbreaks of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Germany’s DAX gained 1% to 14,120.47 while the CAC 40 in Paris added 0.9% to 6,567.01. Britain’s FTSE 100 climbed

By DEREK GATOPOULOS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Mountainous and remote, the Greek-Bulgaria border once formed the southern corner of the Iron Curtain. Today, it’s where the European Union is redrawing the region’s energy map to ease its heavy reliance on Russian natural gas. A new pipeline — built during the COVID-19 pandemic, tested

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer Asian stocks advanced Friday after Chinese leaders pledged to step up efforts to support the economy as the country weathers its worst outbreaks of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Oil prices also rose while U.S. futures were mixed. Chinese state media reported that the ruling Communist Party’s powerful Politburo

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer Stocks were mostly higher in Asia on Friday after a rally on Wall Street led by technology companies. U.S. futures and oil prices were mixed as investors await signals on Chinese economic policy from a meeting of the ruling Communist Party’s powerful Politburo. Analysts said the meeting, expected Friday,

By ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL AP Science Writer NEW DELHI (AP) — India is in the throes of a record-shattering heat wave that is stunting wheat production. Lower yields likely mean the government will buy less wheat for its reserves this year than last. India had been hoping to plug shortfalls due to Russia’s war in Ukraine

By WILLIAM J. KOLE and ROSS D. FRANKLIN Associated Press GILBERT, Ariz. (AP) — As Forrest Gump in the Oscar-winning 1994 film of the same name, lead actor Tom Hanks abruptly trots to a halt after more than three years of nonstop running and tells his followers: “I’m pretty tired — I think I’ll go

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) — Apple on Thursday reported strong quarterly results despite supply shortages, but warned that its growth slowdown is likely to deepen. The big issues: its struggle to get enough chips to meet demand and COVID-related shutdowns at factories in China that make iPhones and other

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nevada casinos reported near-record March house winnings, while the airport in Las Vegas reported passenger traffic almost as heavy as pre-pandemic levels and tourism officials marked another big jump in visitor volume. The state Gaming Control Board reported Thursday the $1.35 billion that casinos statewide reaped was just shy of the

By FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A new government watchdog report finds that while most Americans are eligible to file their taxes for free, only a fraction use the services provided through the government. Instead, many taxpayers utilized other methods, “which they may have paid to use,” according to a new U.S. Government

By KEITH RIDLER Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Bell Semiconductor has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against computer chipmaker Micron Technology. The lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court contends Boise, Idaho-based Micron is using without authorization a process for making semiconductor devices developed and patented by Bethlehem, Pennsylvania-based Bell Semiconductor. The patent has

By REBECCA SANTANA Associated Press EDGARD, La. (AP) — Descendants of slaves who lived in southeastern Louisiana have won a key ruling allowing their legal opposition to a grain elevator to be built along the Mississippi River to go forward. But a lawyer for the company building the grain elevator said they would likely appeal.

By HALELUYA HADERO AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon reported its first quarterly loss since 2015 on Thursday, its money-making juggernaut stalled by a slowdown in pandemic-induced online shopping and a huge write-down of its investment in an electric-vehicle startup. The Seattle-based e-commerce giant’s stock fell 9% in after-hours trading. Amazon reported a

By DON THOMPSON Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s attorney general on Thursday subpoenaed ExxonMobil as part of what he called a first-of-its-kind broader investigation into the petroleum industry for its alleged role in causing a global plastic pollution crisis, allegations that the company called meritless. Attorney General Rob Bonta said the industry for

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) — Apple on Thursday reported quarterly results that topped analysts’ profit projections despite supply shortages, economic fallout from the Russia-Ukraine war and a growth slowdown from the huge sales lift that technology products and service got from pandemic restrictions. The results for the January-March period