epidemics

SINGAPORE—China’s trade with the rest of the world withered in April as Covid-19 lockdowns shut factories and crippled supply chains, adding to signs of a broad slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy. The pullback also reflects softening foreign demand as high inflation eats into consumer spending in the U.S. and Europe, economists say, underscoring the wider loss of momentum in a global economy grappling with rising interest rates and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. SINGAPORE—China’s trade with the rest of the…

Shoppers in a San Francisco grocery store earlier this month. Economists forecast that year-over-year readings for the consumer-price index started to ease in April. Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg News…

The summer blockbuster is back.After two years of delays, cancellations and false starts because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2022 summer movie season started strongly as fans packed cinemas to see “Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” a superhero thriller starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Xochitl Gomez and Elizabeth Olsen. The film, produced by Walt Disney Co. DIS -2.06% ’s Marvel Studios and distributed by Disney, raked in $450 million at the global box office on…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating 109 cases of severe hepatitis in children, including five deaths, to determine a cause, with adenovirus infection as a primary line of inquiry, the public health agency said Friday.More than 90% of the children were hospitalized and 14% required liver transplants, according to the CDC. The cases under investigation occurred over the past seven months across 25 states and territories. A majority of the patients have fully recovered and have been discharged…

There are two ways for the job market to cool off. One is for hiring to slow considerably. The other is for more people to enter the labor force. The latter is obviously preferable, but it isn’t clear how much of the latter the U.S. is going to get. The Labor Department on Friday reported that the economy added a seasonally adjusted 428,000 jobs in April—equal with March’s gain and showing employment is growing at a heady clip. The unemployment rate, which is based off a separate survey,…

Moderna Inc. is trying to fend off rival companies’ claims that its Covid-19 vaccine infringes their patents, arguing that the companies may only pursue their claims seeking royalties from the federal government.Moderna on Friday filed a motion to dismiss some of the patent-infringement claims in the lawsuit, which was filed in February by two small biotechnology companies, Arbutus Biopharma Corp. and Genevant Sciences GmbH, in federal court in Delaware. ModernaInc. is trying to fend off rival companies’ claims that…

DoorDash Inc.’s DASH -1.42% revenue rose last quarter, showing that consumers stuck to getting food and household essentials delivered even as more restaurants and stores reopened.Revenue for the three months ended March grew 35% to $1.46 billion from a year earlier, when fresh Covid-19 concerns caused people to hunker down. Analysts surveyed by FactSet on average had predicted $1.38 billion in revenue. The rate of growth for the quarter marked a sharp slowdown. The…

Bill Gates said that he isn’t sure of Elon Musk’s motives in buying Twitter Inc. TWTR 0.39% and that social media must play a role in curbing the spread of misinformation.“He actually could make it worse,” Mr. Gates said of Mr. Musk’s potential impact on the platform, speaking Wednesday at The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit. But, he said, “That’s not his track record.” “How does he feel about…

SINGAPORE—China is preparing to hit pause on its monthslong campaign against technology companies, according to people familiar with the matter, as officials seek to arrest a rapid deterioration in the country’s economic outlook.China’s top internet regulator is set to meet next week with the country’s embattled tech giants to discuss the regulatory campaign, according to the people, who described the meeting as a sign that officials acknowledge the toll the regulations have had on the private sector at a time when…

Suppliers to Apple Inc. AAPL -3.66% are among the businesses taking precedence in local governments’ efforts to restart factories in the Shanghai region as the U.S. tech giant, facing supply constraints, warned that the pandemic’s resurgence in China could dent sales.Covid-19 outbreaks have hit Shanghai and the neighboring provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang over the last month—a region with one of the highest concentrations of Apple’s top suppliers, according to the…