Business Highlights: Holiday shopping, Christmas markets | AP News

NEW YORK — Shoppers buoyed by solid hiring, healthy pay gains and substantial savings are returning to stores and splurging on all types of items. But the big question is how much will supply shortages, higher prices and staffing issues dampen shoppers’ mood this holiday season.

But that’s no sure thing after two regions in Germany shut down their markets and Austria’s closed amid a 10-day national lockdown.

BEIJING — Global stock markets are higher after Federal Reserve officials indicated they were ready to hike interest rates sooner than expected if needed to cool U.S.

A raft of economic data issued showed the economy on solid footing, with Americans’ incomes rising and jobless claims falling to a level not seen since the Beatles were still together.

Hours after a methane gas explosion and fire filled the mine with toxic fumes, rescuers found 14 bodies but then were forced to halt the search for 38 others because of a buildup of methane and a high concentration of carbon monoxide gas.

Ernest Ray’s attorney says the case illustrates a radically dysfunctional bureaucracy at the agency, which recently has come under sharp criticism for its shaky response to the surge in jobless claims during the coronavirus pandemic.

Putin said at the start of talks at his Black Sea residence in Sochi with visiting Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic that “we will find a solution that would definitely be acceptable to our Serbian friends.” Putin also noted that Russia would continue to staunchly support Serbia amid recent tensions with Kosovo.

Many work in places like Connecticut, Minnesota and cities around the country that are still trying to figure out whether and how to distribute funds to what’s become a huge pool of heroes.

…Read the full story