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FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — For months after Ukraine's Western allies limited sales of Russian oil to $60 per barrel, the price cap was still largely symbolic. Most of Moscow's crude — its main moneymaker — cost less than that. But the cap was there in case oil prices rose — and would keep the Kremlin from pocketing extra profits to fund its war in Ukraine. That time has now come, putting the price cap to its most serious test so far and underlining its weaknesses. Russia's benchmark oil — often exported with Western ships required to obey sancti...
Russia's ruble has fallen a long way in recent months, and the country's central bank has stepped in to try to halt the slide. Until now, the government stood aside as the declining ruble helped its budget. But a weaker currency also poses the threat of higher prices for everyday people in Russia — and the government has finally moved to halt the drop. Here are key things to know: WHY IS THE RUBLE FALLING? Russia is selling less abroad — mainly reflected in falling revenue from oil and natural gas — and it's importing more. People or compa...
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Shares in Deutsche Bank fell sharply Friday, dragging down other major European banks and leading German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to express confidence in the country's largest lender after fears about the global financial system sent fresh shudders through the market. Deutsche Bank shares closed down 8.5% on the German stock exchange after falling as much as 14%. That followed a steep rise in the cost to insure bondholders against the bank defaulting on its debts, known as credit default swaps. Rising costs on i...
GENEVA (AP) — Fears about the world banking system spread to Europe on Wednesday as shares in the globally connected Swiss bank Credit Suisse plunged and dragged down other major European lenders in the wake of bank failures in the United States. At one point, Credit Suisse shares lost more than a quarter of their value, hitting a record low after the bank's biggest shareholder — the Saudi National Bank — told news outlets that it would not put more money into the Swiss lender, which was beset by problems long before the U.S. banks colla...
BRUSSELS (AP) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Friday that industrialized countries in the Group of Seven are imposing a price cap on refined Russian oil products such as diesel and kerosene, as part of a coalition that includes Australia and a tentative agreement from the European Union. The cap follows similar price limits put on Russian oil exports, with the goal of reducing the financial resources Russian President Vladimir Putin has to wage the nearly year-long war in Ukraine. "Today's agreement builds on the price cap on R...
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Inflation in the European countries using the euro currency has broken into double digits as prices for electricity and natural gas soar, signaling a looming winter recession for one of the globe's major economies as higher prices undermine consumers' spending power. Consumer prices in the 19-country eurozone rose a record 10% in September from a year earlier, up from an annual 9.1% in August, EU statistics agency Eurostat reported Friday. Only a year ago, inflation was as low as 3.4%. Price increases were beyond w...
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — U.S. President Joe Biden has threatened to block the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline if Russia invades Ukraine. The undersea pipeline directly links Russian gas to Europe via Germany and is complete but not yet operating. It has become a major target as Western governments try to deter a Russian attack on its neighbor. In the past, it has been a source of tension between the U.S., which opposed the project, and Germany. Chancellor Olaf Scholz said all options were on the table but avoided mentioning Nord Stream 2 s...
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Fears are rising about what would happen to Europe's energy supply if Russia were to invade Ukraine and then shut off natural gas exports in retaliation for U.S. and European sanctions. The tensions show the risk of Europe's reliance on Russia for energy, which supplies about a third of the continent's natural gas. And Europe's stockpile is already low. While the U.S. has pledged to help by boosting exports of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, there's only so much it can produce at once. It leaves Europe in a potential cr...
NEW YORK (AP) — Airlines canceled hundreds of flights as the omicron variant jumbled schedules and drew down staffing levels at some carriers during the busy holiday travel season. Delta Air Lines and United Airlines together canceled more than 600 flights on Friday and Saturday. As of early evening Friday, Delta canceled had 149 flights on Friday and 188 for Christmas Day, according to FlightAware. (Other factors, such as weather, are also causing cancellations.) United called off 189 flights on Friday, about 10% of its schedule, and 140 on S...
ROME (AP) — Leaders of the world's biggest economies on Saturday endorsed a global minimum tax on corporations, a linchpin of new international tax rules aimed at blunting the edge of fiscal paradises amid skyrocketing profits of some multinational businesses. The move by the Group of 20 summit in Rome was hailed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen as benefiting American businesses and workers. G-20 finance ministers in July had already agreed on a 15% minimum tax. It awaited formal endorsement at the summit Saturday in Rome of the w...
Power shortages are turning out streetlights and shutting down factories in China. The poor in Brazil are choosing between paying for food or electricity. German corn and wheat farmers can't find fertilizer, made using natural gas. And fears are rising that Europe will have to ration electricity if it's a cold winter. The world is gripped by an energy crunch — a fierce squeeze on some of the key markets for natural gas, oil and other fuels that keep the global economy running and the lights and heat on in homes. Heading into winter, that has m...
STOCKHOLM (AP) — A U.S.-based economist won the Nobel prize in economics Monday for pioneering research that transformed widely held ideas about the labor force, showing how an increase in the minimum wage doesn't hinder hiring and immigrants don't lower pay for native-born workers. Two others shared the award for developing ways to study these types of societal issues. Canadian-born David Card of the University of California, Berkeley, was awarded half of the prize for his research on how the minimum wage, immigration and education affect t...
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The OPEC oil cartel and allied countries said Thursday that they have decided to add gradually add back some 2 million barrels per barrel per day of oil production from May to July, moving cautiously in pace with the recovery of the global economy from the COVID-19 pandemic. The group is restoring production that was slashed last year to support prices as demand sagged during the worst of the pandemic recession, which sapped demand for fuel. The group will add back 350,000 barrels per day in May, 350,000 in June, a...
DETROIT (AP) — The world's major automakers have made something abundantly clear: They believe electric vehicles will dominate their industry in the years ahead. Yet for that to happen, they'll need to sell the idea to people like Steve Bock. When Bock recently replaced his family's 2013 Honda Pilot SUV, he considered — and then dismissed — the idea of buying an electric vehicle. An EV with enough room to carry his two dogs would cost too much, he decided. And he'd worry about driving long distances with too few charging stations. "I would cons...
PARIS (AP) — Christian Etchebest's Parisian bistro is a shadow of its usual bustling self. Five lunch specials sit in neat paper bags on the bar awaiting takeout customers — a tiny fraction of his normal midday business before the coronavirus. A skeleton staff rotates in daily at La Cantine du Troquet near the banks of the Seine River, just blocks from the Eiffel Tower. One day they packaged a streamlined version of his Basque menu: sausages with a celery and beetroot remoulade, mashed potatoes and a dessert of strawberries with lemon sau...
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — A clash of two oil titans - Saudi Arabia and Russia - is sending shock waves through energy markets, with wide-ranging implications for consumers and oil companies, including those in the No. 1 producing country, the United States. The spat between these vital oil suppliers comes at a critical moment; the coronavirus outbreak is squeezing economies around the globe to the point where world oil demand is forecast to shrink in 2020 for the first time since 2009. Oil prices fell Monday by the most in one day since the 1...
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — A warm winter means that, for apparently the first time in the history of German winemaking, the country's fabled vineyards will produce no ice wine — a pricey, golden nectar made from grapes that have been left to freeze on the vine. The German Wine Institute said Sunday that none of the country's wine regions saw the necessary low temperature of minus 7 degrees Celsius, or 19 degrees Fahrenheit. A succession of warm winters have cut into ice wine production recently, the institute said, noting that in 2017 only seven...
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Volkswagen is rolling out what it bills as the breakthrough electric car for the masses, the leading edge of a wave of new battery-powered vehicles about to hit the European auto market. The cars are the result of big investments in battery technology and new factories driven by environmental regulation and concerns about global warming. But it's not at all clear whether consumers are ready to buy them. Electric cars remain a niche product, with less than 2% of the market, due to higher prices and worries about a l...
BIARRITZ, France (AP) — The global economy craves a double shot of confidence right now but the best that leaders of the Group of Seven can offer is a less intoxicating cocktail: not making things worse. Sharp differences over U.S. President Donald Trump's trade conflict with China and threats to escalate trade tensions with Europe, along with Britain's impending departure from the European Union on terms yet to be decided, are making it unlikely the leaders of seven rich democracies can come up with a unified road map on how to help global g...
WASHINGTON (AP) — As global leaders gather on two continents to take account of a darkening economic outlook, this is the picture they face: Factories are slumping, many businesses are paralyzed, global growth is sputtering and the world's two mightiest economies are in the grip of a dangerous trade war. Barely a year after most of the world's major countries were enjoying an unusual moment of shared prosperity, the global economy may be at risk of returning to the rut it tumbled into after the financial crisis of 2007-2009. Worse, solutions s...
VIENNA (AP) — OPEC is extending its deal to cut production for another nine months in bid to keep oil prices from sagging as the oil cartel faces a weakening outlook for global demand. The decision among the members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries came during a meeting Monday at the cartel's headquarters in Vienna. Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said "the commitment to a nine-month extension is unequivocal, very solid, very strong" among OPEC members. He said he expected non-member producing countries s...
NEW YORK (AP) — Global oil prices are rising in the wake of President Donald Trump's decision to impose sanctions on nations that import Iranian oil and could eventually climb to levels that would impact American consumers. Analysts said Tuesday that by taking Iranian crude off the market, the price of Brent crude oil — which is traded internationally — could rise to $80 per barrel or higher, depending on what happens in other countries where supply is at risk. "That would certainly be felt by U.S. consumers, especially going into the drivi...
PARIS (AP) — European carmakers are rolling out electric vehicles like the ones on view this week at the Paris Motor Show to burnish their reputations as technology leaders and to compete with Tesla. But also because EU regulations don't leave them much choice. New emission standards mean Europe will soon see an upsurge in electric offerings, outpacing the United States, where the regulatory push has eased under the Trump administration, but still likely lagging China, where the government is mandating more e-cars. The new rules could i...
MOSCOW (AP) — One man who knows a great deal about Washington-Moscow summits is not ready to call the latest one in Helsinki a failure, despite its confused aftermath. From 1985 to 1991, across ten summits that brought the Cold War to an end and ushered in unprecedented cooperation between Washington and Moscow, Pavel Palazhchenko was a constant presence as chief interpreter for Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze. In innumerable news photos from that era, he's the guy with the dark suit and mustache d...
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel is awaiting the results of a vote by her potential coalition partner — the center-left Social Democrats — to learn if she will be able to form a new government. The Social Democrats started counting ballots Saturday night that its members cast on a proposed coalition government deal with Merkel's conservatives. Party workers were to work through the night at the party's Berlin headquarters using high-speed letter opening machines. The result is expected to be announced Sunday at aroun...
