National Business - The Morning Sun

The sun sets over the Badger-Two Medicine area Friday, March 25, 2016 near Browning, Mont. U.S. Attorneys for an oil and gas company are asking a federal judge to reinstate a drilling lease in the area that is considered sacred to Native American tribes in the U.S. and Canada. (Greg Lindstrom/Flathead Beacon via AP, File)

Judge restores oil lease on land sacred to US, Canada tribes

A federal judge has ordered the Biden administration to reinstate a drilling lease that has been in dispute for decades on land near the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. The energy lease in the … more

By MATTHEW BROWN | 9/9/22

FILE - Ukrainian servicemen prepare to fire at Russian positions from a U.S.-supplied M777 howitzer in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, July 14, 2022. Supplies of Western weapons, including U.S. HIMARS multiple rocket launchers, has significantly boosted the Ukrainian military's capability, allowing it to target Russian munitions deports, bridges and other key facilities with precision and impunity. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File)

Allies push for US weaponry after seeing impact in Ukraine

Defense officials say that as other nations see the impact of U.S. weapons in the Ukraine war, the Pentagon is getting more requests for them. That includes the high-tech, multiple-launch rocket … more

By LOLITA C. BALDOR | 9/9/22

A dog rides through the Foresthill community in Placer County, Calif., as the Mosquito Fire burns on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Storm's fierce winds complicate California wildfire fight

A tropical storm nearing Southern California has brought fierce mountain winds, high humidity, rain and the threat of flooding to a region already dealing with wildfires and an extraordinary heat … more

By JULIE WATSON and JOHN ANTCZAK | 9/9/22

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, right, presents Wolfspeed CEO Gregg Lowe with a piece of pottery as a gift during an economic development announcement ceremony at the Executive Mansion Friday, Sept. 9, 2022, in Raleigh, N.C. Wolfspeed, a Durham silicon chip manufacturer, will build a new factory in Chatham County promising 1,800 new jobs. (Travis Long/The News & Observer via AP)

North Carolina wins Wolfspeed semiconductor materials plant

A North Carolina-based semiconductor company says it will build a $5 billion manufacturing plant in its home state to produce silicon carbide wafers. Wolfspeed Inc. announced on Friday that it plans … more

By GARY D. ROBERTSON | 9/9/22

FILE - The entrance of the LyondellBasell facility in La Porte, Texas, is shown on July 27, 2021. A new report by the Environmental Protection Agency’s inspector general says the federal agency that investigates chemical accidents, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, is hindered by a lack of staffing, leadership disputes and a backlog of investigations that threaten its ability to protect people and the environment. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board completed one investigation in 2020, three in 2021, including at the LyondellBasell facility, and three so far this year, the report said. (Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle via AP, File)

Watchdog: Chemical safety agency impeded by staff shortage

A new report says the federal agency that investigates chemical accidents is hindered by a lack of staffing, leadership disputes and a backlog of investigations that threaten its ability to protect … more

By MATTHEW DALY | 9/9/22

Burger King investing $400m in U.S. revamp to boost sales

Burger King plans to invest $400 million in its U.S. restaurants over the next two years to update its stores and boost flagging sales. The burger chain said Friday the investment includes $250 … more

By DEE-ANN DURBIN | 9/9/22

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, and Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki shake hands during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Sept. 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Poland says Ukraine ready to offer power as coal alternative

Poland's prime minister says neighboring Ukraine is ready to supply his country with electricity and help reduce the use of coal for power generation in light of an anticipated energy crisis. … more

9/9/22

FILE - Alek Skarlatos, at the Douglas County Republican Party headquarters in Roseburg, Ore., May 15, 2018. Alek Skarlatos, a Republican nominee for Congress in Oregon, was cleared this week of violating campaign finance law. The development came months after a Democratic-aligned group filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, alleging he improperly funded his campaign with money from a nonprofit he also controlled. The use of the money was detailed in an Associated Press story last year, which formed the basis of the complaint filed by a Democrat-aligned group. Skarlatos campaign says he feels vindicated.  (Michael Sullivan/The News-Review via AP, File)

GOP nominee from Oregon cleared of campaign cash violation

Alek Skarlatos, a Republican nominee for Congress in Oregon, was cleared this week of violating campaign finance law. The development came months after a Democratic-aligned group filed a complaint … more

By BRIAN SLODYSKO | 9/9/22

A tree with yellow and brown leaves, center, stands near a statue Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022, in Concord, Mass. This summer's drought is expected to cause a patchy array of fall color in the leaf-peeping haven of New England. Experts predict that it will be more spread out this year with some trees changing earlier or even browning and dropping leaves because of the drought. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Spotty fall colors likely in New England amid drought

This summer’s drought is expected to cause a patchy array of fall color in the leaf-peeping haven of New England. At the other end of the country in drought-stricken southern states the conditions … more

By LISA RATHKE | 9/9/22

FILE - Ulf Allhoff-Cramer, farmer, stands in a rye field in front of his tractor in Detmold, Germany, on May 18, 2022. Environmentalists claimed a small legal victory Friday, Sept. 9, 2022, after a court in Germany said it would continue hearing a case brought by a local farmer seeking to force automaker Volkswagen to the sale of combustion engine vehicles. The plaintiff, Ulf Allhoff-Cramer, says drier soil and heavier rains due to climate change are harming his fields, cattle and commercial forests. (Lino Mirgeler/dpa via AP)

German court keeps hearing farmer's climate case against VW

Environmentalists are claiming a small legal victory after a court in Germany said it would continue hearing a case brought by a farmer seeking to force automaker Volkswagen to end the sale of … more

9/9/22

CORRECTS DATE TO JAN. 7, 2021. NOT JAN. 19 In this Jan. 7, 2021 image taken from Coffee County, Ga., security video, Cathy Latham, bottom, who was the chair of the Coffee County Republican Party at the time, greets a team of computer experts from data solutions company SullivanStrickler at the county elections office in Douglas, Ga. Records show that the team traveled to the rural south Georgia county to copy software and data from elections equipment. The Georgia secretary of state's office has said the visit was an "alleged unauthorized access" of election equipment. (Coffee County via AP)

Computer experts urge Georgia to replace voting machines

A group of computer and election security experts is urging Georgia officials to take extra security steps ahead of November’s midterm elections. They responded to what they call “serious … more

By KATE BRUMBACK | 9/9/22

Construction work is taking place on the newly built jetty dolphins for the future import terminal for liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022. An FSRU (Floating Storage and Regasification Unit) for importing liquefied natural gas to Germany is scheduled to dock at the jetty in Wilhelmshaven this winter. (Sina Schuldt/dpa via AP)

German gas importer VNG seeks help from government

German gas importer VNG is seeking help from the government after cuts to Russian gas supplies forced it to buy gas at far higher prices on the market to fulfill its supply contracts. Energy company … more

9/9/22

Shaken and stirred: Ukraine war hits James Bond's glassmaker

Iconic French tableware brand Duralex is joining a growing array of European firms that are reducing and halting production because of soaring energy costs provoked by Russia's war in Ukraine. At the … more

By JOHN LEICESTER | 9/9/22

FILE - Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Sept. 3, 2022. A key decision over whether Trump’s social media platform Truth Social will merge with a cash-rich company and get $1.3 billion to take on Twitter has been put off for another month. The potential partner, Digital World Acquisition Corp., on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022, postponed a shareholder vote to extend by a year a deadline to close its merger with Trump’s company and release funds to pay its bills. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

Trump partner in Truth Social delays key vote on merger

A key decision over whether Donald Trump’s social media platform Truth Social will merge with a cash-rich company and get $1.3 billion to take on Twitter has been put off for another month. … more

By BERNARD CONDON | 9/8/22

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stands near a damaged residential building during his visit the city of Irpin, Ukraine, Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022. (Genya Savilov, Pool Photo via AP)

Treasury sanctions Iranian firms for drone sales to Russia

The U.S. Treasury Department says that it is levying sanctions against four Iranian companies that it says were involved in sending drones to Russia last month for use in Moscow’s war against … more

By AAMER MADHANI | 9/8/22

FILE- A BNSF rail terminal worker monitors the departure of a freight train, on June 15, 2021, in Galesburg, Ill. The major freight railroads say in a new report Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022, designed to put pressure on unions and Congress, that a strike would cost the economy more than $2 billion a day and disrupt deliveries of all kinds of goods and passenger traffic nationwide if it happens after a key deadline passes next week without a contract agreement. (AP Photo/Shafkat Anowar, File)

As deadline looms, railroads say strike would cost $2B a day

The major freight railroads say in a new report designed to put pressure on unions and Congress that a strike would cost the economy more than $2 billion a day and disrupt deliveries of all kinds of … more

By JOSH FUNK | 9/8/22

Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen tours the Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center before speaking about the Biden Administration's economic agenda in Dearborn, Mich., Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Yellen pushes Biden economic plans in battleground Michigan

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has pressed the case for Democratic economic policies during a visit to Ford’s Rouge electric vehicle assembly plant in election-year battleground Michigan. After a … more

By FATIMA HUSSEIN | 9/8/22

FILE - A home with a "Sold" sign is shown, Sunday, May 2, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. Homebuyers are regaining leverage at the negotiating table as the housing market slows, new data from Redfin shows. On average, U.S. homes purchased during a four-week period in August 2022 sold for less than the asking price. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

As housing market cools, homebuyers regain leverage

Homebuyers are regaining leverage at the negotiating table as the housing market slows, new data from Redfin shows. On average, U.S. homes purchased during a four-week period in August sold for less … more

By ALEX VEIGA | 9/8/22

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg arrives for the Ukraine Conference at the U.S. Ramstein Airbase, Germany, Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022. (Boris Roessler/dpa via AP)

NATO chief warns of hard winter for Ukraine and its backers

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says Ukraine and its supporters face a tough winter. But he is urging the public in Western nations to keep faith in their efforts. Stoltenberg told The … more

By LORNE COOK | 9/8/22

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell smiles and walks after his speech at the central bank's annual symposium at Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park Friday, Aug. 26, 2022. in Moran, Wyo. (AP Photo/Amber Baesler)

Powell: Higher rates won't likely cause deep US recession

The last time the Federal Reserve faced inflation as high as it is now, in the early 1980s, it jacked up interest rates to double-digit levels — and in the process caused a deep recession and … more

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER | 9/8/22