AP National Business

By JAMEY KEATEN and MUNIR AHMED Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — Dozens of countries and international institutions have pledged more than $9 billion to help Pakistan recover and rebuild from this summer’s devastating floods. That’s to help the country through what the U.N. chief called “a climate disaster of monumental scale.” The flooding killed more

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Stock markets were mixed Tuesday ahead of a U.S. inflation update that traders hope will encourage the Federal Reserve to ease off plans for more interest rate hikes. Shanghai and Tokyo rose. Hong Kong and Sydney retreated. Oil prices declined. Traders worry repeated rate hikes by

FARMINGTON, Pa. (AP) — Joseph Hardy III, founder of the 84 Lumber chain of building materials stores and developer of the Nemacolin resort, has died. He was 100. A family statement provided by the company says the family had lost its “patriarch and all-around great man” who died Saturday on his 100th birthday at his

By JOVANA GEC Associated Press BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia’s president says NATO-led peacekeepers in Kosovo have rejected its demand for Serbian security forces be allowed to return to the breakaway province amid ongoing tensions. President Aleksandar Vucic said on Sunday that KFOR peacekeepers said in their response that there is no need for the

By HALELUYA HADERO and RIO YAMAT Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — Is the metaverse closer than we think? It depends on who you ask at CES, where companies are showing off innovations that could immerse us deeper into virtual reality, otherwise known as VR. The metaverse — essentially a buzzword for three-dimensional virtual communities

By KEN SWEET AP Business Writer NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — Dressed in a canary blue suit on a warm December night, sweat dripping from his brow, Bishop Lawrence Rolle belts out the lyrics to his latest hit song for the hundreds of children and adults gathered to celebrate Christmas. “FTX!,” he sings, bent over and

By HANNA ARHIROVA Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The Russian military claimed Sunday to have carried out deadly missile strikes on barracks used by Ukrainian troops in retaliation for the deaths of dozens of Russian soldiers in a rocket attack a week ago. Ukrainian officials denied there were any casualties. The Russian Defense Ministry

By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press LE PECQ, France (AP) — The question for France’s president about his teenage romance with a teacher at his high school was so close to the bone, so eye-popping in a country where politicians largely keep their private lives to themselves, that the interviewer couldn’t quite rustle up the courage

By FRANK JORDANS Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Climate activists are pledging to defend a tiny village in western Germany from being bulldozed for the expansion of a nearby coal mine. The site has become a battleground between the government and environmental campaigners. Hundreds of people from across Germany gathered for protest training and a

More than 1,000 striking CNH Industrial workers in Iowa and Wisconsin have rejected the “final offer” from the maker of construction and agricultural equipment, extending their eight-month stoppage. The United Auto Workers union announced the vote by members who work for CNH in a statement Saturday night. It said the union’s bargaining committee “will meet

By ASHOK SHARMA Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian police have arrested an unruly airline passenger following a complaint by a woman aboard an Air India flight from New York that he urinated on her in business class. Police spokesperson Suman Nalva said Sunday the passenger, Shankar Mishra, was picked up by police in

BEIJING (AP) — After years of separation from his wife in mainland China, Hong Kong resident Cheung Seng-bun made sure to be among the first in line following the reopening Sunday of border crossing points. The ability of residents of the semi-autonomous southern Chinese city to cross over is one of the most visible signs

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Elon Musk has urged a federal judge to shift a trial in a shareholder lawsuit out of San Francisco because he says negative local media coverage has biased potential jurors against him. Instead, in a filing submitted late Friday — less than two weeks before the

NEW YORK (AP) — The union representing a group of nurses at a New York City hospital has reached a tentative contract agreement with its management. But close to 9,000 nurses at several other major hospitals are still preparing to go on strike. The New York State Nurses Association and BronxCare Health System say a

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 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 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