Liberty Mutual completes purchase of Ohio insurer

FINTECH

Stavvy moves downtown

Fintech startup Stavvy has moved its offices from Newton to a 19,000-square-foot location at 101 Federal St. in Boston’s Financial District. The company, which provides online notarization and electronic documentation services for real estate transactions, now employs 100 people, up from fewer than 20 at the start of 2021; most of the employees will be based in Boston. The firm was founded by Kosta Ligris, its CEO, and Josh Feinblum, and raised $40 million in venture funding last May. — JON CHESTO

TECHNOLOGY

Apple stops selling products in Russia

Apple said Tuesday that it had paused the sales of its products in Russia and taken several other steps in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The company said it had removed two Russian state-run media platforms, Russia Today and Sputnik, from the Apple App Store outside Russia, stopped all exports into its Russian sales channel last week, and disabled traffic and live incident features in its Apple Maps app in Ukraine “as a safety and precautionary measure for Ukrainian citizens.” Apple said it had also “limited” the use of Apple Pay “and other services” in Russia. — NEW YORK TIMES

RETAIL

Target to spend $5b this year on stores, online sales

Target will invest up to $5 billion this year in physical stores, remodels, new brands, and expanding its online fulfilment as the discounter continues to drive sales growth and differentiate itself from rivals. The plans, announced Tuesday at its annual investor meeting held in New York, include opening 30 new stores, from midsize locations in dense suburban areas to small stores in cities like Charleston, S.C. It also plans to remodel 200 of its existing stores, reaching more than half of its 1,900 stores this year. The Minneapolis retailer also aims to rollout brand partnerships including opening 250 more Ulta Beauty shops in its stores, with plans to eventually operate 800 shops. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

INTERNATIONAL

Vatican tribunal refuses to dismiss financial fraud case

The Vatican’s criminal tribunal on Tuesday resoundingly rejected defense motions to dismiss a landmark financial fraud case and ruled the trial will go ahead with the questioning of a cardinal scheduled for later this month. Judge Giuseppe Pignatone read aloud his rejection of two-dozen defense arguments from the past seven months that sought to have the charges dropped against the 10 defendants. The case involves the Holy See’s bungled 350 million-euro (US$390 million) investment in a London property, though it has grown to involve other unrelated financial charges. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

METALS

With aluminum shortage, scrap becomes a hot commodity

As deepening shortages push aluminum to record highs, a London-based startup is raising cash to boost production of the critical industrial metal from untapped reserves of scrap in Africa’s biggest cities. Founded in 2015 by Raymond Onovwigun, a 31-year-old former plumber, Romco Metals has raised $6.2 million via a private share sale, valuing the recycler at $180 million. After developing a taste for trading scrap from job sites around the UK capital, Onovwigun now employs more than 500 people in Africa and expects growth to accelerate as the company taps the rapidly growing quantities of waste metal across the continent. On Tuesday, Alcoa CEO Roy Harvey said the company has no plans to add capacity by building or restarting aluminum smelters. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

INTERNATIONAL

Mastercard and Visa block some Russian activity

Mastercard and Visa have blocked certain Russian activity from their payment networks to comply with international sanctions. The US companies did not name the affected customers, but cited efforts around the world to isolate Russia from the financial system in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine. The United States, European Union, and UK are among those deploying sweeping sanctions against Russia’s economy and wealthy individuals in response to its invasion of Ukraine. They include excluding some Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system that facilitates trillions of dollars worth of transactions. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

SHIPPING

Transit fees hiked for ships passing through Suez Canal

Cash-strapped Egypt increased transit fees Tuesday for ships passing through the Suez Canal, one of the world’s most crucial waterways, with hikes of up to 10 percent, officials said. The Suez Canal Authority said on its website the increases were “in line with the significant growth in global trade’’ and cited the canal’s “development and enhancement of the transit service.” According to a statement, transit fees for liquefied petroleum gas, chemical tankers, and other liquid bulk tankers increased by 10 percent. Vessels carrying vehicles, natural gas, and general cargo, as well as multipurpose vessels, will see an increase of 7 percent, while a 5 percent increase will be imposed on oil and crude tankers and dry bulk vessels, it said. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

ENERGY

French energy giant doesn’t sever ties with Russia, unlike competitors

TotalEnergies didn’t follow its peers by exiting its Russian operations, even as the French company condemned the invasion of Ukraine. The energy producer will no longer provide capital for new projects in Russia, but didn’t go as far as other oil majors in responding to political pressure to economically isolate the country. BP and Shell have said they will leave Russia, potentially losing tens of billions of dollars in assets. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

MEDIA

DirectTV drops Russian RT network

DirecTV, one of the largest US pay-TV providers, is pulling the Russian-government-controlled RT network from its service, citing its invasion of Ukraine. An agreement between DirecTV and RT was set to expire in the second half of 2022, but the invasion pushed the company to act sooner to end the arrangement, a spokesman said Tuesday. RT has been losing reach on TV for a few years now. Comcast and Charter Communications Inc. both dropped RT a few years ago. RT also disappeared in the Washington, D.C., area in 2018 after a public broadcast station that carried its programming went off the air. In January, DirecTV dropped conservative channel One America News Network after public criticism for spreading misinformation. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

ATHLETIC SHOES

New owner of Reebok to add clothing, NFTs

Authentic Brands, the owner of marketing rights to names like David Beckham and Juicy Couture, plans to expand clothing offerings and add NFTs and crypto payments to kickstart Reebok following its purchase of the brand. With acquisition of the athleticwear brand complete, Authentic on Tuesday said it signed about a dozen distribution partners operating in more than 80 countries, including Foot Locker, New Guards Group, and luxury goods maker Falic Group. The $2.5 billion purchase of Reebok is Authentic’s largest yet, and chief executive Jamie Salter has comparably big plans. He expects Reebok to exceed $5 billion in global retail sales next year, up from $3.7 billion to $4 billion currently. About 4,000 people work for Reebok, including about 450 in Boston. — BLOOMBERG NEWS