AP National Business

The Associated Press Stocks closed lower on Wall Street ahead of a key decision on interest rates by the Federal Reserve. The S&P 500 fell 1.1% Tuesday. The Nasdaq composite and the Dow Jones Industrial Average also lost ground. Treasury yields were mostly higher. Traders are waiting to see how high the Fed will raise

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Several thousand people have rallied in the Slovak capital of Bratislava to protest the government amid soaring energy prices. They are demanding an early election. The protest was organized by the opposition leftist Smer-Social Democracy party of former populist Prime Minister Robert Fico and included supporters of the far right. Fico

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Gap is slashing 500 corporate jobs in San Francisco and New York as it looks to reduce expenses amid languishing sales. The job cuts, confirmed by a company spokesperson, follow years of struggle at the San Francisco-based retailer, which operates its namesake stores as well

By HALELUYA HADERO AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The Federal Trade Commission is investigating Amazon’s $1.7 billion acquisition of iRobot. In a regulatory filing Tuesday, iRobot said both it and Amazon received a request for additional information in connection with an FTC review of the merger. Both companies say they will cooperate with

By KEN SWEET AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — A group of Republican attorneys general are pushing the major payment networks — Visa, Mastercard and American Express — to drop their plans to start tracking sales at gun stores, arguing the plans could infringe on consumer privacy and push legal gun sales out of

By AYA BATRAWY Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Turkey’s president used his speech at the U.N. General Assembly to shine a spotlight on Turkish maneuvering in conflicts that span from Syria to Ukraine. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s speech on Tuesday comes as Turkey is beset by staggeringly high inflation and a cost of living

BERLIN (AP) — The Defense Ministry in Berlin says Germany and Slovenia have agreed upon a deal that will see Slovenia send 28 tanks of Soviet-era design to Ukraine and get 40 modern military trucks from Germany. It said Tuesday the two countries’ defense ministers agreed to sign a letter of intent on the deal,

By AMY FORLITI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — United States authorities charged 48 people in Minnesota with conspiracy and other counts in what they said Tuesday was the largest pandemic-related fraud scheme yet, stealing $250 million from a federal program that provides meals to low-income children. Federal prosecutors say the defendants created companies that claimed

Hertz plans to order up to 175,000 Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac and BrightDrop electric vehicles from General Motors over the next five years. The deal includes electric vehicle deliveries through 2027 and will span a variety of vehicles such as SUVs, pickups and luxury automobiles. The companies anticipate that deliveries of the Chevrolet Bolt EV

By TOM HAYS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Potential jurors in a federal case against an ally of Donald Trump have been quizzed on what they think of the former president. The question came up this week during jury selection at the New York City trial of Tom Barrack. He is a wealthy Los

By The Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The expanding audio books market has a major new retailer: Spotify. On Tuesday, the music streaming service announced its long-rumored audiobook initiative, launching a store that includes more than 300,000 titles, including such popular works as Delia Owens’ “Where the Crawdads Sing,” Michelle Obama’s “Becoming” and Colleen

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss said Tuesday that she’s ready to make “unpopular decisions” such as boosting bonuses for wealthy bankers in order to get the U.K.’s sluggish economy growing. Truss spoke Tuesday before of an emergency government budget statement at the end of the week.

By TOM MURPHY AP Health Writer Walgreens is spending nearly $1.4 billion to buy the remaining stake in Shields Health Solutions it doesn’t already own and continue pushing into the fast-growing area of specialty pharmacy. The drugstore chain says it will acquire a 30% stake in a deal expected to close by the end of

By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer A top executive at plant-based food company Beyond Meat has been charged with felony battery after a fight outside a college football game in which he was accused of biting a man’s nose. Doug Ramsey was also charged with making a terroristic threat after the attack Saturday in a

Associated Press MADRID (AP) — Europol says 32 people have been arrested in Spain for alleged ties to Italy’s ‘ndrangheta mafia for large-scale drug trafficking and money laundering. The operation announce Tuesday by the European police agency was carried out Spanish and Italian police last week on the Spanish Mediterranean island of Ibiza. The criminal

By KAREN MATTHEWS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — New York City will lift its private-sector COVID-19 vaccine mandate on Nov. 1 but will continue to require city employees to be vaccinated against the virus. Mayor Eric Adams announced the relaxation of vaccine rules for private employers Tuesday. The city began requiring almost all private

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Police in the country of Georgia said Tuesday that 12 people who were held hostage for hours in a bank by a gunman have been freed and hostage-taker has been arrested.  Georgian media reported that the gunman at the bank in the city of Kutaisi had demanded $2 million, a helicopter

By MALAK HARB Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An insurance company that was ordered to pay more than a billion Dirhams in damages for a 2015 New Year’s Eve fire in Dubai has lost a civil lawsuit that it filed to try and recover the money. Two years after the massive fire

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian-controlled regions of eastern and southern Ukraine announced plans Tuesday to start voting this week to become integral parts of Russia. The Kremlin-backed efforts to swallow up four regions could set the stage for Moscow to escalate the war following Ukrainian successes on the battlefield. The

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Dubai-based shipping giant DP World says it has won another ruling in a longstanding legal battle over the operation of a strategic port in the African nation of Djibouti. DP World said an appeals court in Hong Kong agreed with its request to keep its suit against China Merchants

By DALIA RAMIREZ of NerdWallet If you’re settling into a new home, you might be looking to fill it with furniture. But after your rent or mortgage, security deposit and moving expenses, there might not be much left over for your dream couch or dining room set. Here are some ways to find high-quality furniture