VOL. 46 | NO. 2 | Friday, January 14, 2022
REAL ESTATE
2021 real estate trends for Davidson County, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
December 2021 real estate trends for Davidson County, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
TENNESSEE TITANS
When the Tennessee Titans lost at home six weeks ago to the Houston Texans, there was growing concern that Ryan Tannehill might not have what it takes to lead a team to a title.
The Tennessee Titans have the top seed in the AFC, so now what? For a team that used a record number of players this season – the number reached 91 during Sunday’s win in Houston, with three new Titans making their debuts – a little rest and relaxation are in order.
The NFL playoffs begin this weekend. Here's a look at the matchups and predictions for outcomes.
UT SPORTS
Santiago Vescovi doesn’t really care how anyone pronounces his name. He’s more concerned about the quality of his game.
NEWSMAKERS
McGlinchey Stafford has named three new members, including Lynette Hotchkiss in its Nashville office.
BRIEFS
The Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville is seeking applicants for the 2022 class of Periscope: Artist Entrepreneur Training, an annual business development intensive that empowers working artists to see their creative practice through an entrepreneurial lens.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Most people are aware that automakers have felt the brunt of the worldwide microchip shortage, resulting in understocked dealerships at a time when consumer demand is high. But there’s another less well-known trend that can further complicate the process of buying a new vehicle.
CAREER CORNER
I recently heard a famous comedian talking about her career and how she got where she is today. When it comes to her work, she said, she’s always tried to bet on herself, and that other people should bet on themselves, too. What a novel idea.
PERSONAL FINANCE
Years ago, a friend who needed cash sold me a $100 Nordstrom gift card. I wish I knew where the heck I put it.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
This one goes out to all you lovebirds who got engaged over the holidays and are now left planning a wedding with zero event-planning experience.
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Derrick Henry, the man who literally ran the Tennessee Titans to the AFC championship game two years ago, is ready to play again.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Ryan Tannehill disputes the idea he ever lost his mojo as the Tennessee Titans quarterback.
VANDERBILT SPORTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Uros Plavsic's short jumper with 55 seconds left broke a tie at 60, and 24th-ranked Tennessee scored the final eight points holding off in-state rival Vanderbilt 68-60 Tuesday night for the Vols' ninth straight win in this series.
PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Thatcher Demko made 31 saves to lead the Vancouver Canucks over the skidding Nashville Predators 3-1 on Tuesday night.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Democrats and voting rights organizations have blasted Tennessee Republicans for what they say is a brazen effort to dilute the state's Black vote by carving up booming Nashville into three likely GOP-controlled congressional districts. But their legal path for getting the new Republican-authored U.S. House map altered faces significant obstacles.
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) — After investigating former President Donald Trump for several years, New York Attorney General Letitia James used a court filing Tuesday to outline much of the evidence her investigators have gathered so far. The legal memo claimed the Republican's company used "fraudulent or misleading" valuations of its assets while seeking loans and tax breaks.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of the Supreme Court's conservative majority on Wednesday seemed sympathetic to Sen. Ted Cruz in a challenge the Texas Republican brought to a provision of campaign finance law limiting the repayment of federal candidates' loans to their campaigns.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two Supreme Court justices say a media report that they were at odds over the wearing of masks in court during the recent surge in coronavirus cases is false.
REAL ESTATE
SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — Construction of new homes in the U.S. rose for the third consecutive month in December and data released Wednesday suggests that the frantic pace of building will continue this year.
AUTO INDUSTRY
WASHINGTON (AP) — With traffic fatalities spiking higher, the nation's top safety investigator says a widely cited government statistic that 94% of serious crashes are solely due to driver error is misleading and that the Transportation Department should stop using it.
ENVIRONMENT
Construction will soon begin on the second commercial-scale, offshore wind energy project to gain approval in the United States, the developers said.
BANKING
NEW YORK (AP) — Bank of America said its profits rose 28% last quarter from a year earlier, but the bank faced the same wage inflation as its Wall Street counterparts.
NEW YORK (AP) — Investment bank Morgan Stanley said its fourth-quarter profits rose 9% from a year ago, helped by a big jump in fee revenue from its growing asset and wealth management business. The investment banking division also boosted results, as deal-making on Wall Street continued at a frenzied pace.
MEDIA
Five philanthropies plan to spend more than $20 million to bolster news coverage in Houston and create what they say will be one of the largest local nonprofit news organizations in the country.
Microsoft stunned the gaming industry when it announced this week it would buy game publisher Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, a deal that would immediately make it a larger video-game company than Nintendo.
HEALTH CARE
LONDON (AP) — Unilever, the maker of Vaseline skin care products and Dove soap, says it won't increase a 50 billion-pound ($68.2 billion) offer for GlaxoSmithKline's consumer healthcare unit that was rejected last week.
UnitedHealth Group's fourth-quarter profit soared as the nation's largest health insurance provider branched deeper into offering care as well as covering the bills.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first time, people across the U.S. can log on to a government website and order free, at-home COVID-19 tests. But the White House push may do little to ease the omicron surge, and experts say Washington will have to do a lot more to fix the country's long-troubled testing system.
Starbucks is no longer requiring its U.S. workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19, reversing a policy it announced earlier this month.
LONDON (AP) — Face masks will no longer be mandatory in public places and COVID-19 passports will be dropped for large events as infections level off in most parts of the country, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration will begin making 400 million N95 masks available for free to Americans starting next week, now that federal officials are emphasizing their better protection against the omicron variant of COVID-19 over cloth face coverings.
NEW YORK (AP) — Is it better to wear an N95 or cloth mask right now?
BERLIN (AP) — Police in Germany are investigating thousands of cases of suspected forgery of coronavirus vaccine certificates, the dpa news agency reported Wednesday.
BEIJING (AP) — With just over two weeks before the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics, residents of the Chinese capital say they're disappointed at not being able to attend events because of coronavirus restrictions that have seen parts of the city placed under lockdown.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks continued to fall on Wall Street Wednesday as investors review the latest corporate earnings and prepare for higher interest rates.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told a gathering of America's mayors on Wednesday that the Biden administration's coronavirus relief bill was like a vaccine preventing catastrophic economic damage that could have returned the nation to the financial woes seen at the beginning of the pandemic.
LONDON (AP) — Consumer prices in the United Kingdom have risen at the fastest pace in almost 30 years as higher costs for energy, transportation, food and furniture squeezed household incomes.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators faced off in emotional, raw debate Wednesday on voting legislation that Democrats and civil rights leaders say is vital for protecting democracy but that's almost certain to be defeated without a filibuster rules change.
WASHINGTON (AP) — At a Wednesday news conference marking his first year in office, President Joe Biden called on the Federal Reserve to do more to fight inflation by pulling back on its monetary boosting of the U.S. economy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — During his first year in office, President Joe Biden took action on a number of his key campaign promises, from rebuilding U.S. alliances globally to distributing vaccines across America and the world.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced his intention to nominate prominent Democratic fundraiser Jane Hartley to serve as ambassador to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland and major donor Alan Leventhal to serve as his envoy to Denmark.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House committee investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection issued subpoenas to Rudy Giuliani and other members of Donald Trump's legal team who filed bogus legal challenges to the 2020 election that fueled the lie that race had been stolen from the former president.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden largely has rallied European allies to pledge as one that they will take tough measures against Russia if it rolls troops into Ukraine. But when it comes to what exactly the United States and Europe are willing to do, the allies haven't looked as united.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 18
PREDATORS
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Brayden Schenn and Ivan Barbashev each had two goals and two assists as the St. Louis Blues came from behind to beat the Nashville Predators 5-3 on Monday night.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court justices seemed to have little doubt Tuesday that Boston was wrong to refuse to fly a banner described as a Christian flag outside City Hall.
TECHNOLOGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI and other federal agencies are increasingly looking to counter cyber threats through tools other than criminal indictments, the bureau's top cyber official said in an interview with The Associated Press.
MEDIA
Microsoft is paying nearly $70 billion for Activision Blizzard, the maker of Candy Crush and Call of Duty, as it seeks an edge in the fiercely competitive businesses of mobile gaming and virtual-reality technology.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Ford and security company ADT have formed a joint venture that will help businesses protect vehicles and expensive equipment they carry from theft.
DETROIT (AP) — California prosecutors have filed two counts of vehicular manslaughter against the driver of a Tesla on Autopilot who ran a red light, slammed into another car and killed two people in 2019.
TRANSPORTATION
AT&T will postpone new wireless service near some airports planned for this week after the nation's largest airlines said the service would interfere with aircraft technology and cause massive flight disruptions.
The airline industry is raising the stakes in a showdown with AT&T and Verizon over plans to launch new 5G wireless service this week, warning that thousands of flights could be grounded or delayed if the rollout takes place near major airports.
ENVIRONMENT
TOKYO (AP) — Japan will gradually phase out coal plants over the next two decades while developing new technologies to reduce, capture and utilize carbon, Environment Minister Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi said Tuesday.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Tuesday quietly launched its website for Americans to request free at-home COVID-19 tests, a day before the site was scheduled to officially go online.
GENEVA (AP) — The worst of the coronavirus pandemic — deaths, hospitalizations and lockdowns — could be over this year if huge inequities in vaccinations and medicines are addressed quickly, the head of emergencies at the World Health Organization said Tuesday.
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities are shortening the required isolation period for people infected with COVID-19 from 14 to seven days as the country faces another surge of COVID-19 cases, this time driven by the highly contagious omicron variant.
HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong authorities said Tuesday that they will kill about 2,000 small animals, including hamsters, after several tested positive for the coronavirus at a pet store where an employee was also infected.
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia reported a record high of COVID-19 deaths Tuesday, and its second-largest state declared an emergency in hospitals to cope with surging patient admissions and a staffing shortage due to the coronavirus.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks fell to a new low for the year on Wall Street Tuesday and bond yields surged amid renewed jitters the Federal Reserve will lift interest rates to tackle rising inflation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. competition regulators have mounted an effort to tighten enforcement against illegal mergers, in line with President Joe Biden's mandate for greater scrutiny to big business combinations.
NEW YORK (AP) — Goldman Sachs said its fourth-quarter profits fell by 13% from a year earlier, largely due to the bank preparing to pay out hefty pay packages to its well-compensated employees.
BEIJING (AP) — JD.com Inc., China's biggest online retailer, and Canadian e-commerce service Shopify announced a strategic cooperation Tuesday to give independent U.S. merchants access to JD.com's 550 million customers.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Voting legislation that Democrats and civil rights leaders say is vital for protecting democracy appeared headed for defeat as the Senate opened debate Tuesday, a devastating setback enabled by President Joe Biden's own party as two holdout senators refuse to support rule changes to overcome a Republican filibuster.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden put the full weight of his presidency behind voting rights action last week, heading to Capitol Hill in an effort to push Democrats to change Senate rules to pass legislation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing stark criticism from civil rights leaders, senators return to Capitol Hill under intense pressure to change their rules and break a Republican filibuster that has hopelessly stalled voting legislation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with his Russian counterpart in Switzerland this week as tensions between the U.S. and Russia escalate over a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, the State Department said Tuesday.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Grappling with pandemic difficulties and U.S.-led sanctions over his nuclear ambitions, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un could be reviving his 2017 playbook of nuclear and missile brinkmanship to wrest concessions from Washington and his neighbors.
MONDAY, JANUARY 17
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans are rested and healthier than they've been in weeks, maybe months. They also know their next opponent.
EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings interviewed Green Bay offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett for head coach and Tennessee director of player personnel Monti Ossenfort for general manager on Sunday.
REGION
ATLANTA (AP) — A dangerous winter storm combining high winds and ice swept through parts of the U.S. Southeast on Sunday, knocking out power, felling trees and fences and coating roads with a treacherous, frigid glaze.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
WASHINGTON (AP) — Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley has tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing very minor symptoms, a spokesperson said Monday. The Marine Corps said its commandant, Gen. David Berger, also has COVID-19.
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities on Monday reported a sharp spike in new coronavirus cases, apparently driven by the rapid spread of the omicron variant health officials warned about last week.
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Weary after two years of some of the harshest COVID-19 border restrictions in the world, many Australians wanted tennis star Novak Djokovic kicked out of their country for traveling to a tennis tournament without being vaccinated.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
BRUSSELS (AP) — Euro finance chiefs on Monday ventured into a high-wire political balancing act prompted by conflicting economic forces: a weaker growth outlook and stronger inflation.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — China is showing no signs of slowing its demand for American lobster this year despite disruption to the supply chain and international trade caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
GENEVA (AP) — Credit Suisse says its chairman has resigned following an internal probe that reportedly turned up that he had violated quarantine rules intended to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's top diplomat on Monday angrily rejected the U.S. allegations that it was preparing a pretext to invade Ukraine as Russian troops have remained concentrated near the border.
LONDON (AP) — Anti-poverty organization Oxfam called Monday for governments to impose a one-time 99% tax on the world's billionaires and use the money to fund expanded production of vaccines for the poor — part of an effort to combat global inequality widened by the coronavirus pandemic.
WASHINGTON (AP) — From the inaugural platform, President Joe Biden saw American sickness on two fronts — a disease of the national spirit and the one from the rampaging coronavirus — and he saw hope, because leaders always must see that.
GENEVA (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping called Monday for greater world cooperation against COVID-19 and pledged to send an additional 1 billion doses of vaccine to other countries, while urging other powers to discard a "Cold-War mentality" at a time of rising geopolitical tensions — a veiled swipe at the United States.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 14
PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Jeff Skinner scored twice and Aaron Dell made 29 saves to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 4-1 victory over the Nashville Predators on Thursday night.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — The omicron variant is sickening so many sanitation workers around the U.S. that some cities have had to delay or suspend garbage or recycling pickup, angering residents shocked that governments can't perform this most basic of functions.
REGION
ATLANTA (AP) — Weather forecasters' predictions of debilitating snow and ice as far south as Georgia sent parts of the region into a tizzy Friday with shoppers scouring store shelves for storm supplies and road crews trying to prevent a repeat of past wintertime debacles.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Middle Tennessee county can no longer require misdemeanor probationers to pay the cost of their supervision under a consent decree signed by a federal judge on Thursday.
Newly unredacted documents from a state-led antitrust lawsuit against Google accuse the search giant of colluding with rival Facebook to manipulate online advertising sales. The CEOs of both companies were aware of the deal and signed off on it, the lawsuit alleges.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors are recommending dropping charges against a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who was accused last year of hiding work he did for the Chinese government while also collecting U.S. dollars for his nanotechnology research, a person familiar with the decision said Friday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has stopped a major push by the Biden administration to boost the nation's COVID-19 vaccination rate, a requirement that employees at large businesses get a vaccine or test regularly and wear a mask on the job.
HEALTH CARE
Vanessa Akinniyi was stuck in denial about diabetes until a care manager from her health insurer coaxed her out.
MEDIA
NEW YORK (AP) — Netflix is raising prices for its video streaming customers in the U.S. and Canada, less than a year and a half since its last price increase, as competition from other streaming services increases.
TECHNOLOGY
The crowdfunding platform GoFundMe announced Thursday that it has signed a deal to acquire the nonprofit fundraising company Classy, a move that will help the largest crowdfunding site further increase its influence in the philanthropic sector.
Microsoft said Thursday it is opening an inquiry into how it responds to workplace sexual harassment and gender discrimination, including its handling of allegations about co-founder Bill Gates.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal website where Americans can request free COVID-19 tests will begin accepting orders on Wednesday as the White House looks to address nationwide shortages, but supplies will be limited to just four free tests per home.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Under criticism after weeks of shortages, President Joe Biden's administration is working to make COVID-19 rapid test kits more available and accessible to Americans by boosting supply and lowering costs. A new federal website to request free test kits launches Wednesday, with the first shipments going out to Americans by the end of the month. In addition, most Americans will be able to get reimbursed for tests that they purchase starting Saturday.
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Novak Djokovic faces deportation again after the Australian government revoked his visa for a second time, the latest twist in the ongoing saga over whether the No. 1-ranked tennis player will be allowed to compete in the Australian Open despite being unvaccinated for COVID-19.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — To people watching from afar, the treatment of tennis star Novak Djokovic by Australian immigration officials might have seemed harsh.
ROME (AP) — To mask or not to mask is a question Italy settled early in the COVID-19 outbreak with a vigorous "yes." Now the onetime epicenter of the pandemic in Europe hopes even stricter mask rules will help it beat the latest infection surge.
BANKING
NEW YORK (AP) — Three of the nation's biggest banks reported blowout profits for 2021 on Friday, helped by the improving economy and consumers and businesses willing to spend and take on loans.
SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — Wells Fargo easily beat Wall Street expectations for the fourth quarter with interest rates beginning to take off, likely another boost for the nation's largest mortgage lender going forward.
NEW YORK (AP) — JPMorgan Chase says fourth-quarter profits fell 14% from a year earlier, due to a weaker performance from its trading desk and higher compensation expenses for employees.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
A late-afternoon recovery in technology stocks helped erase most of the market's losses Friday, though it wasn't enough to keep major indexes from posting their second straight losing week.
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico has seized 380,000 boxes of Corn Flakes, Special K and other Kellogg's cereals, claiming the boxes had cartoon drawings on them in violation of recently enacted laws aimed at improving children's diets.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. industrial production fell 0.1% in December, the first decline since September, with manufacturers still struggling with snarled supply chains.
NEW YORK (AP) — Americans, beset by product shortages, rising prices and the arrival of omicron, sharply cut their spending in December after a burst of early spending in the fall that helped bolster the holiday season.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Friday announced the nominations of three people for the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors, including Sarah Bloom Raskin, a former Fed and Treasury official, for the top regulatory slot and Lisa Cook, who would be the first Black woman to serve on the Fed's board.
For companies that were waiting to hear from the U.S. Supreme Court before deciding whether to require vaccinations or regular coronavirus testing for workers, the next move is up to them.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The risk of recession is looming for Germany after Europe's biggest economy shrank at the end of 2021 and as it faces a bumpy start to this year, with the rapid spread of COVID-19's omicron variant deterring people from shopping and travel and supply bottlenecks holding back manufacturers.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. intelligence officials have determined a Russian effort is underway to create a pretext for its troops to further invade Ukraine, and Moscow has already prepositioned operatives to conduct "a false-flag operation" in eastern Ukraine, according to the White House.
The Transportation Department is launching a $27 billion program to repair and upgrade roughly 15,000 highway bridges as part of the infrastructure law approved in November. The effort is being announced Friday as President Joe Biden tries to showcase how his policies are delivering for the public.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Months after requesting documents from more than a dozen social platforms, the House committee investigating the Capitol insurrection has issued subpoenas targeting Twitter, Meta, Reddit and YouTube after lawmakers said the companies' initial responses were inadequate.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The founder and leader of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group remained in jail after his first court appearance on Friday, a day after his arrest on charges he plotted with others to attack the U.S. Capitol to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's 2020 election victory.
WASHINGTON (AP) — He was supposed to break through the congressional logjam. End the pandemic. Get the economy back on track.
WASHINGTON (AP) — There was a closed-door huddle by an embattled President Joe Biden with his own party's senators, apparently for naught. An eyebrow-raising speech on the Senate floor by a recalcitrant Democrat. And a defiant news conference by the top House Republican.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 13
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — A proposed U.S. House map that carves up fast-growing, Democratic-leaning Nashville into three different congressional districts advanced another step Thursday over strenuous objections from Democrats that it unfairly dilutes Black representation in Tennessee.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has stopped the Biden administration from enforcing a requirement that employees at large businesses be vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing and wear a mask on the job.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Stewart Rhodes, the founder and leader of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group, and 10 other members or associates have been charged with seditious conspiracy in the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol, authorities said Thursday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department will begin transferring thousands of inmates out of federal prisons this week as part of a sweeping criminal justice overhaul signed by President Donald Trump more than three years ago.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has picked a Shelby County judge for an opening on the state Court of Criminal Appeals.
LONDON (AP) — U.K. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss called for Britain and the European Union to rebuild their relationship, as she and bloc's top Brexit official met Thursday for talks on a thorny dispute over Northern Ireland trade.
WASHINGTON (AP) — All but conceding defeat, President Joe Biden said Thursday he's now unsure the Democrats' major elections and voting rights legislation can pass Congress this year. He spoke at the Capitol after a key fellow Democrat, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, dramatically announced her refusal to go along with changing Senate rules to muscle the bill past a Republican filibuster.
TRANSPORTATION
Delta Air Lines lost $408 million in the final quarter of 2021, dragged down by a COVID-19 surge that rocked the airline in December, and the carrier predicted Thursday that it will suffer one more quarterly loss before travel perks up in spring and summer.
ATLANTA (AP) — Delta Air Lines said Wednesday it will extend through 2023 the window for customers to rebook credits earned when they purchased but then canceled flights during the pandemic.
MEDIA
More than 80 fact checking organizations are calling on YouTube to address what they say is rampant misinformation on the platform.
HEALTH CARE
People looking for health insurance in the grip of the omicron surge have through Saturday to sign up for taxpayer-subsidized private coverage under the Obama-era Affordable Care Act.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two brand-new COVID-19 pills that were supposed to be an important weapon against the pandemic in the U.S. are in short supply and have played little role in the fight against the omicron wave of infections.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden announced Thursday that the government will double to 1 billion the rapid, at-home COVID-19 tests to be distributed free to Americans, along with the most protective N95 masks, as he highlighted his efforts to "surge" resources to help the country weather the spike in coronavirus cases.
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Most access to a major city adjacent to Beijing was suspended Thursday as the government tried to contain an outbreak of the coronavirus's easily transmitted omicron variant ahead of next month's Winter Olympics in the Chinese capital.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Technology stocks led another decline on Wall Street Thursday, leaving the Nasdaq composite down 2.5%.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Prices at the wholesale level surged by a record 9.7% for all of 2021, setting an annual record and providing further evidence that inflation is still present at all levels of the U.S. economy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week to the highest level since mid-November.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lael Brainard, President Joe Biden's nominee for the Federal Reserve's No. 2 spot, said Thursday that combating high inflation is the central bank's top priority and said she believed the Fed could reduce it without sacrificing economic growth.
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the biggest contract manufacturer of processor chips, reported Thursday its quarterly profit rose 16.4% over a year earlier to $6 billion amid surging demand for chips for smartphones and other electronics.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican National Committee said Thursday it is planning a rules change that would force presidential candidates seeking the party's nomination to sign a pledge saying they will not participate in any debates sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is refusing a request by the House panel investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection to submit to an interview and turn over records pertaining to the deadly riot.
WASHINGTON (AP) — With Roe v. Wade facing its strongest threat in decades, a new poll finds Democrats increasingly view protecting abortion rights as a high priority for the government.