ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Google announced plans Thursday to expand its cloud services infrastructure to Greece, promising to create nearly 20,000 jobs through direct investment and partnerships by the end of the decade. The move follows plans by Microsoft, announced two years ago, to invest $1 billion to create data centers near Athens, as well…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates rose this week for the sixth straight week, marking new highs not seen in 15 years, before a crash in the housing market triggered the Great Recession. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average on the key 30-year rate climbed to 6.70% from 6.29% last…
FELDHEIM, Germany (AP) — Europeans are opening their energy bills with trepidation these days, bracing for hefty price hikes as utility companies pass on the surging cost of natural gas, oil and electricity tied to Russia’s war in Ukraine. Many are trying to conserve by turning down the heat and shutting off lights this winter….
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The NATO military alliance warned Thursday it would retaliate for any attacks on the critical infrastructure of its 30 member countries and joined other Western officials in citing sabotage as the likely cause of damage to two natural gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea. The warning came as the Swedish coast…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits dropped last week, a sign that few companies are cutting jobs despite high inflation and a weak economy. Applications for unemployment benefits for the week ending Sept. 24 fell by 16,000 to 193,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That is the lowest level of…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Battered by surging consumer prices and rising interest rates, the U.S. economy shrank at a 0.6% annual rate from April through June, the government announced Thursday, unchanged from its previous second-quarter estimate. It marked the second consecutive quarter of economic contraction, one informal rule of thumb for a recession. Most economists, citing…
PARIS (AP) — While the European Union agreed to curtail its use of Russian oil and gas, its member nations continue to import and export nuclear fuel that is not under EU sanctions – to the chagrin of the Ukrainian government and environmental activists. A cargo ship carrying uranium that departed from the French port…
BERLIN (AP) — Germany plans to spend up to 200 billion euros ($195 billion) helping consumers and businesses as surging energy prices due to the war in Ukraine are pushing Europe’s largest economy into a looming recession. Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Thursday that the government was reactivating an economic stabilizing fund previously used during the…
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia confirmed on Thursday it will formally annex parts of Ukraine where occupied areas held Kremlin-orchestrated “referendums” on living under Moscow’s rule that the Ukrainian government and the West denounced as illegal and rigged. Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend a ceremony on Friday in the Kremlin when four regions of…
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Liz Truss on Thursday defended her divisive economic plan and shrugged off the turmoil it has stirred in financial markets, saying she’s willing to make “controversial and difficult decisions” to get the U.K. economy growing. In her first public comments since her Conservative government announced billions in unfunded tax…
