Business

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — At Granny Shaffer’s restaurant in Joplin, Missouri, owner Mike Wiggins is reprinting the menus to reflect the 5, 10 or 20 cents added to each item.

A two-egg breakfast will cost an extra dime, at $7.39. The price of a three-piece fried chicken dinner will go up 20 cents, to $8.78. The reason: Missouri’s minimum wage is rising.

Wiggins said the price hikes are necessary to help offset an estimated $10,000 to $12,000 in additional annual pay to his staff as a result of a new minimum wage law taking effect Tuesday.

BELGRADE, December 30. /TASS/. Serbia does not plan to give up Russian gas for more expensive liquefied gas to please the West, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told Studio B TV channel on Saturday.

"I will not pay double for liquefied gas to please someone in the West. I will buy cheap gas so that people can live and industry can develop. Those are not my money, those are people's money, state money," Vucic said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says “big progress” is being made in talks between the U.S. and China to head off further escalation in a yearlong trade war.

Trump says Saturday that he had a “long and very good call” with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss the talks, which stemmed from their sit-down early this month in Argentina.

Trump tweets: “Deal is moving along very well. If made, it will be very comprehensive, covering all subjects, areas and points of dispute.”

BERLIN (AP) — The head of the European Union’s executive branch is urging Britain to “get your act together” and decide what exactly the country wants as Brexit looms.

Britain is due to leave the EU March 29 but its Parliament hasn’t approved the government’s divorce deal with the EU, which many lawmakers loathe. A vote is scheduled in mid-January.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The end of 2018 seemed to signal good things to come for America’s farmers. Fresh off the passage of the farm bill, which reauthorized agriculture, conservation and safety net programs, the Agriculture Department last week announced a second round of direct payments to growers hardest hit by President Donald Trump’s trade war with China.

Then parts of the government shut down.

Wall Street capped a week of volatile trading Friday with an uneven finish and the market’s first weekly gain since November.

Losses in technology, energy and industrial stocks outweighed gains in retailers and other consumer-focused companies. Stocks spent much of the day wavering between small gains and losses, ultimately unable to maintain the momentum from a two-day winning streak.

MOSCOW, December 29. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and leader of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev have discussed cooperation within the integration associations on the Eurasian space in a telephone conversation, the Kremlin press service reported.

"[The two leaders] discussed the key bilateral issues and cooperation within the integration associations on the Eurasian space," the press service said. "Some pressing international issues were raised as well."

The heads of state also exchanged warm New Year greetings, the Kremlin informed.

MOSCOW, December 29. /TASS/. Russia introduced a ban on import of wheat, sunflower oil, sweets, vegetables, fruits, beer, tractors, paper, turbines, furniture, and other goods from Ukraine.

The list of more than fifty products is in the Cabinet Decree posted on the official website of the government.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to close the southern border amid an ongoing partial government shutdown, resuming his push for the funding of a long-promised U.S.-Mexico border wall.

"We will be forced to close the Southern Border entirely if the Obstructionist Democrats do not give us the money to finish the Wall & also change the ridiculous immigration laws that our Country is saddled with," Trump tweeted Friday morning.

New Delhi, Dec 28 (PTI) Names of more than 1 lakh (100,000) companies have been struck off the official records in the current fiscal for not carrying business activities for a long time, the government said Friday.

As part of clamping down on illicit fund flows, the Corporate Affairs Ministry has been taking action against entities that are suspected to be shell companies.

Under the Companies Act, 2013, a company can be deregistered if it has not been carrying out any business for two continuous years and has also not applied for obtaining dormant status.