AP National Business

By ADRIANA MORGA, JAMES BROOKS and RIO YAMAT Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — Tech companies are showing off their latest products at CES, formerly known as the Consumer Electronics show. Innovations include a bartending robot making boba tea and a digital device from L’Oreal to quickly paint on eyebrow makeup. Meanwhile, BMW is betting

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 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

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.

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 has had his Twitter account reinstated 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. Flynn

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

The Associated Press Benchmark U.S. crude oil for February delivery rose 10 cents to $73.77 a barrel Friday. Brent crude for March delivery fell 12 cents to $78.57 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline for February delivery fell 3 cents to $2.24 a gallon. February heating oil rose 3 cents to $3 a gallon. February natural gas

By MATT O’BRIEN AP Technology Writer Ask the new artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT to write an essay about the cause of the American Civil War and you can watch it churn out a persuasive term paper in a matter of seconds. That’s one reason why New York City school officials this week started blocking the

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

By MATT O’BRIEN AP Technology Writer Flying cars and self-driving vehicles always get attention at the CES gadget show in Las Vegas, but this year the boats are making bigger waves. Swedish company Candela on Thursday unveiled a 28-foot (8.5-meter) electric-powered hydrofoil speedboat that can cruise for over two hours at 20 knots. California startup

By BARBARA ORTUTAY AP Technology Writer Personal emails linked to 235 million Twitter accounts hacked some time ago have been exposed according to Israeli security researcher Alon Gal — making millions vulnerable to having their accounts compromised or identities exposed if they have used the site anonymously to criticize oppressive governments, for instance. Gal, co-founder

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writer Vince McMahon is rejoining the board of WWE several months after he retired from the sports entertainment company during an investigation into alleged misconduct. WWE said Friday that McMahon, the founder and majority shareholder of WWE, would return as executive chairman. It also announced a board shakeup. Shares surged

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal officials have appointed a group of experts to examine safety practices at Boeing, including an aerospace engineer whose sister was killed in one of the crashes involving Boeing 737 Max jets. The Federal Aviation Administration said the panel – required under a 2020 law passed by Congress — includes people from