National Business

HONG KONG — Outspoken Hong Kong pro-democracy advocate and media tycoon Jimmy Lai was refused bail on Thursday on a fraud charge amid a growing crackdown on dissent in the semi-autonomous city.

DALLAS — American Airlines is taking its long-grounded Boeing 737 Max jets out of storage, updating key flight-control software, and flying the planes in preparation for the first flights with paying passengers later this month.

WASHINGTON — A Federal Reserve survey of business conditions around the country found that economic activity in several regions slowed in November as coronavirus cases surged.

CALGARY — Baytex Energy Corp. says its is budgeting for capital spending of between $225 million and $275 million next year, a reduction at the midpoint from what it expects to spend this year.

NEW YORK — The dramatic conclusion to “The Undoing,” HBO's whodunit starring Hugh Grant and Nicole Kidman, proved how it's still possible to bring people together in today's fragmented television world.

TORONTO — Some of the most active companies traded Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange: Toronto Stock Exchange (17,358.21, up 61.28 points.) BlackBerry Ltd. (TSX:BB). Technology. Up 50 cents, or 5.51 per cent, to $9.58 on 23.3 million shares.

VIENNA — Austria will allow skiing to start on Dec. 24, but will limit the capacity of ski lifts and keep restaurants, bars and hotels largely closed until early January, officials said Wednesday.

TORONTO — Canada's main stock index rose with help from energy sector while the loonie hit a two-year high. The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 61.28 points to 17,358.21. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 59.

Discovery is joining the increasingly crowded streaming fray with its own reality-focused service Discovery Plus that will include shows from the Food Network, HGTV, TLC and its other networks. It launches Jan 4.

LONDON — Britain became the first country in the world to authorize a rigorously tested COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday and could be dispensing shots within days — a historic step toward eventually ending the outbreak that has killed more than 1.