Associated Press

News Agency

FDA OKs mixing COVID vaccines; backs Moderna, J&J boosters

U.S. regulators on Wednesday signed off on extending COVID-19 boosters to Americans who got the Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccine and said anyone eligible for an extra dose can get a brand different from the one they received initially. The Food and Drug Administration’s decisions mark a big step toward expanding the U.S. booster […]

Senator asks Facebook CEO to testify on Instagram and kids

The senator leading a probe of Facebook’s Instagram and its impact on young people is asking Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to testify before the panel that has heard far-reaching criticisms from a former employee of the company. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who heads the Senate Commerce subcommittee on consumer protection, called in a sharply worded […]

Trump announces launch of his very own social media site

Nine months after being expelled from social media for his role in inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, former President Donald Trump said Wednesday he’s launching a new media company with its own social media platform. Trump says his goal in launching the Trump Media & Technology Group and its “Truth Social” app is to […]

Energy crunch hits global recovery as winter approaches

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 […]

As Bitcoin goes mainstream, Wall Street looks to cash in

Love cryptocurrencies or hate the very idea of them, they’re becoming more mainstream by the day. Cryptocurrencies have surged so much that their total value has reached nearly $2.5 trillion, rivaling the world’s most valuable company, Apple, and have amassed more than 200 million users. At that size, it’s simply too big for the financial […]

Smartphone producer Foxconn announces electric car venture

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The Taiwanese company that manufactures smartphones for Apple Inc. and other global brands announced plans Monday to produce electric cars for auto brands under a similar contract model. Foxconn Technology Group will produce cars and buses for brands in China, North America, Europe and other markets, said its chairman, Young Liu. […]

Bitcoin investing could get boost from exchange-traded fund

NEW YORK (AP) — Interested in Bitcoin but don’t want to open a crypto trading account? Wall Street has something for you. ProShares said Monday it plans to launch the country’s first exchange-traded fund linked to Bitcoin. The ETF with the ticker symbol “BITO” is expected to begin trading Tuesday, barring any opposition from regulators. […]

GameStop mania severely tested market system, regulator says

The U.S. stock market certainly shook when hundreds of thousands of regular people suddenly piled into GameStop early this year, driving its price to heights that shocked professional investors. But it didn’t break. That’s one of the takeaways from a report by the Securities and Exchange Commission’s staff released Monday about January’s “meme-stock” mania. As […]

Facebook plans to hire 10,000 in Europe to build 'metaverse'

Facebook said it plans to hire 10,000 workers in the European Union over the next five years to work on a new computing platform that promises to connect people virtually but could raise concerns about privacy and the social platform gaining more control over people’s online lives. The company said in a blog post Sunday […]

Bitcoin-mining power plant raises ire of environmentalists

An obstacle to large-scale bitcoin mining is finding enough cheap energy to run the huge, power-gobbling computer arrays that create and transact cryptocurrency. One mining operation in central New York came up with a novel solution that has alarmed environmentalists. It uses its own power plant. Greenidge Generation runs a once-mothballed plant near the shore […]