Sri Lankan leader appeals for patience amid economic crisis

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s president on Wednesday appealed for patience amid the country's worst economic crisis but promised brighter times ahead. President Ranil Wickremesinghe said in a policy speech after inaugurating a new parliamentary session that he had been...

Struggling Bed Bath & Beyond closing 150 more stores

NEW YORK (AP) — Bed Bath & Beyond said Tuesday it will be shuttering 150 more stores as the beleaguered home goods chain cuts costs as it works to stay afloat. The announcement came after the company based in Union, New Jersey, said it had raised about $1 billion through...

Lebanese banks close doors to customers to protest ruling

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon's battered commercial banks on Tuesday closed their doors to customers in protest of a recent court ruling that forced one of the country's largest banks to pay out two of its depositors their trapped savings in cash. The Association of Banks in Lebanon, which...

State of the Union: Biden sees economic glow, GOP sees gloom

WASHINGTON (AP) — Going into Tuesday's State of the Union address, President Joe Biden sees a nation with its future aglow. Republicans take a far bleaker view — that the country is beset by crushing debt and that Biden is largely responsible for inflation. And the GOP now holds...

Qatar boosts influence in Lebanon amid multiple crises

BEIRUT (AP) — Most wealthy Gulf Arab nations followed Saudi Arabia’s lead in recent years and ostracized crisis-hit Lebanon because of the growing influence of the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah. The exception was Qatar. Doha has been silently expanding its influence in...

China confirms offer to Sri Lanka of debt moratorium

BEIJING (AP) — China’s government on Friday confirmed it is offering Sri Lanka a two-year moratorium on loan repayments as the Indian Ocean island nation struggles to restructure $51 billion in foreign debt that pushed it into a financial crisis. China lent to Sri Lanka as part...

Ford 4Q profit drops 90%, company says more cost cuts coming

DETROIT (AP) — Ford Motor Co. reported Thursday that its fourth-quarter net income fell 90% from a year earlier, leading company officials to say the automaker's costs are too high and to pledge more belt-tightening this year. CEO Jim Farley said Ford should have done better last...

Bank of England rate hike says 'too soon to declare victory'

LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England announced another “forceful” increase in interest rates Thursday, saying it was too soon to declare victory against inflation that has slowed slightly but is still fueling a cost-of-living crisis, public-sector strikes and fears of recession. ...

Bank of England raises interest rates by half-point to tame high inflation that's driving cost-of-living crisis

US consumer confidence lags as 2023 gets under way

American consumers are kicking off 2023 a bit less confident than they were at the end of last year as inflation and the possibility of a recession loom. The Conference Board reported Tuesday that its consumer confidence index slipped to a still-optimistic 107.1 in January, down from...