VOL. 46 | NO. 3 | Friday, January 21, 2022
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates continued to rise this week. The rate on the benchmark 30-year loan breached 3.5%.
TENNESSEE TITANS
Old-school attack vs. talented young quarterbacks
The Tennessee Titans are a different breed – an outlier, if you will.
The Titans are in the playoffs with the No. 1 seed, meaning they won’t have to leave Nissan Stadium until the Super Bowl if they take care of business.
The NFL is done with Wild Card Weekend and on to the final eight teams vying for spots in this year's Super Bowl:
UT SPORTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee linebacker Bud Dupree feels as good as he's been all season and possibly is as healthy as he's been in well over a year.
Team, coach reminding many in the sport of prior Summits
As Rae Burrell limped off the court in the Tennessee women’s basketball season opener, many expected the team’s chances of a strong start to also be sidelined. But not only did the Lady Vols still win games, they reclaimed an identity and vaulted back into the national consciousness while climbing the rankings.
Tennessee girl shares limb difference with new friend
The gift came in the mail at just the right time.
NEWSMAKERS
William “Jay” J. Harbison II, Erik C. Lybeck and Mozianio “Trey” S. Reliford III have been elected partners at Neal & Harwell, PLC.
BRIEFS
The Lodge at Fall Creek Falls was recently recognized with a Citation Award for exceptional work in architecture by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Middle Tennessee chapter.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
2021 was an unusual year for the automotive industry. While customer demand for new cars rebounded from the economic uncertainty of 2020, automakers found themselves unable to meet that demand because of semiconductor chip shortages and supply chain problems.
PERSONAL FINANCE
We might think spending money on ourselves will make us happier than spending it on someone else. That belief can make it hard to carve money out of our budgets to give to good causes.
CAREER CORNER
One of the hot topics in the news right now is pay. It’s about time, right? There are many people who have been making the same pay for years. Employers believe we’re lucky to have a job at all. We’re told we should be happy to receive 2% each year.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
At least the commute is better. That’s what you tell yourself every morning: 15 steps from bed to office is better than 15 miles. You’ve been working from home now for nearly two years and you’re waffling. Will it be like this forever and, if so, is that good?
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Titans outside linebacker Harold Landry is replacing Joey Bosa of the Los Angeles Chargers at the Pro Bowl because of an injury.
PREDATORS
SEATTLE (AP) — Mattias Ekholm scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period and the Nashville Predators beat the Seattle Kraken 4-2 on Tuesday night.
UT SPORTS
KNOXVILLE (AP) — The fourth-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols will be without center Keyen Green for the rest of the season after she tore an ACL in a win over Georgia.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Democratic Rep. Jim Cooper of Tennessee said Tuesday that he will retire after more than 30 years in elected office, declaring there was "no way" for him to retain his seat under a new congressional map drawn up by state Republicans.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Republican lawmakers in Tennessee passed their state House map on Wednesday, finishing the final task in their once-a-decade state legislative and congressional redistricting work.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee officials are launching their push to recruit poll workers for this year's elections.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The first month back at the state Capitol has felt frustratingly familiar for Black lawmakers in Tennessee's majority-white Legislature.
MIDSTATE
MAUMELLE, Ark. (AP) — Brentwood-based Tractor Supply Co. has announced plans for a new distribution center in central Arkansas that is expected to create 450 jobs by the end of next year.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Liberal Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is retiring, giving President Joe Biden an opening he has pledged to fill by naming the first Black woman to the high court.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats who have played defense for the last three Supreme Court vacancies plan to move swiftly to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, using the rapid 2020 confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett as a new standard.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has already narrowed the field for his first Supreme Court pick.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is nominating six lawyers to run U.S. attorney's offices across the country, a diverse group of candidates in the latest picks for the top law enforcement positions.
LONDON (AP) — Chipmaker Intel scored a decisive legal victory Wednesday in a long-running battle against European Union competition watchdogs after a court reversed itself and threw out a billion euro antitrust fine issued more than a decade ago.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Shining a light on key markers for nursing home quality, Medicare said Wednesday it is now posting details on staff turnover and weekend nurse coverage on its "Care Compare" website, where families can research a facility.
REAL ESTATE
SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — Sales of new single family homes in December rose to their highest level in 10 months as buyers snapped up cheaper homes in anticipation of higher interest rates.
TRENDS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans' faith in science is falling as Democrats rely on it even more, with a trust gap in science and medicine widening substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic, new survey data shows.
Professionals have a major piece of advice for those who traded cryptocurrency for the first time last year: Take your tax prep seriously.
NEW YORK (AP) — The pandemic forced 30-year-old Stephanie Harnen to twice postpone her wedding. When she finally did get married, in June last year, she settled for a Thursday because her venue was fully booked on weekends.
ENVIRONMENT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency is taking a series of enforcement actions to address air pollution, unsafe drinking water and other problems afflicting minority communities in three Gulf Coast states, following a "Journey to Justice" tour by Administrator Michael Regan last fall.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — There are more than 8,000 new technical job openings at General Motors, and the automaker plans to fill them during a hiring spree this year.
DETROIT (AP) — Nissan is recalling more than 793,000 small SUVs in the U.S. and Canada because water can get into wiring which, in rare cases, could start a fire.
LONDON (AP) — Luxury automaker Bentley said Wednesday it is pouring billions into upgrading manufacturing to accelerate its electric vehicle development plan, joining other auto brands shifting away from gasoline engines.
TRANSPORTATION
Boeing reported a $4.16 billion loss for the fourth quarter as the financial fallout of production flaws in one of its best-selling planes, the 787 Dreamliner, grew much worse.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Navy said Tuesday that it has discharged 23 active duty sailors for refusing the coronavirus vaccine, marking the first time it has thrown currently serving sailors out of the military over the mandatory shots. It comes as the number of service members being discharged across the services due to the vaccine begins to climb.
BERLIN (AP) — Germany's parliament is set to hold its first debate Wednesday on a possible wide-ranging coronavirus vaccine mandate, with three options emerging: obligatory vaccinations for all adults or for everyone above 50, or no mandate at all.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday secured the blessing of several business leaders on his economic agenda that has stalled in the Senate, part of an effort to restart some momentum for the nearly $2 trillion in spending and tax increases that he's proposed.
An early market rally gave way to a broad slide for stocks and a surge in bond yields Wednesday after the Federal Reserve signaled it plans to begin raising interest rates "soon" to fight a spike in inflation that the central bank says is probably getting worse.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that it will "soon" be time to start raising interest rates, a key step in reversing pandemic-era policies that have fueled hiring and growth but also high inflation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Will mortgage rates go up? How about car loans? Credit cards?
WASHINGTON (AP) — Below is the statement the Fed released Wednesday after its policy meeting ended:
BERLIN (AP) — The German government on Wednesday cut its growth forecast for this year, but said that Europe's biggest economy remains "robust" and will return to its pre-pandemic size in 2022.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration and NATO told Russia on Wednesday there will be no U.S. or NATO concessions on Moscow's main demands to resolve the crisis over Ukraine.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden's effort to rally support, both at home and abroad, ahead of a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine is just the latest big test of his ability to bridge ideological gaps and balance competing interests to build effective coalitions.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Tuesday approved a massive $2.5 billion arms sale to Egypt despite ongoing concerns over human rights.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 25
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans have taken big steps in four seasons with coach Mike Vrabel reaching an AFC championship game and earning back-to-back AFC South titles along with a No. 1 seed.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Republican lawmakers in Tennessee on Monday completed their rapid passage of a new U.S. House map that splits booming, Democratic-tilted Nashville and its Black voters three ways, leaving it up to the governor to sign off on the new congressional lines.
STATEWIDE
MEMPHIS (AP) — Security officers at Tennessee's major airports found more than 280 guns in passengers' carry-on luggage in 2021, a significant increase from prior years, officials said.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee officials say people in 12 counties whose jobs were impacted by tornadoes last month can now apply for disaster unemployment assistance.
COURTS
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — The Supreme Court has agreed to review a challenge to the consideration of race in college admission decisions, often known as affirmative action. With three new conservative justices on the court since its last review, the practice may be facing its greatest threat yet.
AUTO INDUSTRY
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — General Motors is making the largest investment in company history in its home state of Michigan, announcing plans to spend nearly $7 billion to convert a factory to make electric pickup trucks and to build a new battery cell plant.
TRANSPORTATION
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is suing to block Lockheed Martin Corp.'s $4.4 billion bid for Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, saying it would limit competition and drive up prices for components used in missiles that Lockheed and other defense contractors build for the Pentagon.
MILAN (AP) — The parent group of MSC Cruises is partnering with Lufthansa in a bid for a majority stake in Italy's ITA Airways, the company created from the ashes of former Italian flagship airline Alitalia.
HEALTH CARE
Johnson & Johnson edged past Wall Street's fourth quarter earnings expectations, helped by growing pharmaceutical sales, but revenue fell short.
ENVIRONMENT
Rihanna is backing her belief that climate change is a social-justice issue by pledging $15 million to the movement through her Clara Lionel Foundation.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
The Biden administration has officially withdrawn a rule that would have required workers at big companies to get vaccinated or face regular COVID testing requirements.
NEW YORK (AP) — The COVID-19 booster drive in the U.S. is losing steam, worrying health experts who have pleaded with Americans to get an extra shot to shore up their protection against the highly contagious omicron variant.
World health officials are offering hope that the ebbing of the omicron wave could give way to a new, more manageable phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, even as they warn of difficult weeks ahead and the possibility of another, more dangerous variant arising.
Pfizer is enrolling healthy adults to test a reformulated COVID-19 vaccine that matches the hugely contagious omicron variant, to see how it compares with the original shots.
WASHINGTON (AP) — COVID-19 antibody drugs from Regeneron and Eli Lilly should no longer be used because they don't work against the omicron variant that now accounts for nearly all U.S. infections, U.S. health regulators said Monday.
BEIJING (AP) — Beijing residents are coping with abrupt local lockdowns and sweeping COVID-19 testing requirements as the Chinese capital seeks to prevent a coronavirus outbreak ahead of the Winter Olympics that opens in less than two weeks.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks are closing lower on Wall Street Tuesday after another volatile day of trading.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. supply of computer chips has fallen to alarmingly low levels, raising the prospect of factory shutdowns, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.
SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — U.S. consumer confidence declined this month as persistent inflation and the highly-contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus dinged the optimism of Americans.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The International Monetary Fund is downgrading its forecast for the world economy this year, citing the spread of COVID-19's omicron variant, higher energy prices, an uptick in inflation and a deteriorating outlook for the world's two biggest economies — the United States and China.
BERLIN (AP) — Most countries have made little to no progress in bringing down corruption levels over the past decade, and authorities' response to the COVID-19 pandemic in many places has weighed on accountability, a closely watched study by an anti-graft organization found Tuesday.
BERLIN (AP) — Business confidence in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, has picked up unexpectedly after a six-month slide, a closely watched survey showed Tuesday.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A congressional ethics watchdog has concluded that U.S. Reps. Marie Newman of Illinois and Doug Lamborn of Colorado may have violated federal law, prompting reviews from the House Ethics Committee.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden responded to a question about inflation on Monday by calling a Fox News reporter a vulgarity.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The financial options being considered to punish President Vladimir Putin if Russia invades Ukraine range from the sweeping to the acutely personal — from cutting Russia off from U.S. dollars and international banking to slapping sanctions on a former Olympic gymnast reported to be Putin's girlfriend.
MONDAY, JANUARY 24
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans had the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage along with Derrick Henry making a return just in time for the postseason.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee State University plans to use a $284,000 grant to prepare students with intellectual and developmental disabilities for jobs.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee transportation officials are launching a plan to use all available staff to patch potholes carved out by back-to-back winter storms.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has rejected a challenge from House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy to the proxy voting system that Democrats put in place in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
ENVIRONMENT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has issued its first clean energy loan guarantee, reviving an Obama-era program that helped launch the country's first utility-scale wind and solar farms a decade ago but has largely gone dormant in recent years.
TECHNOLOGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The District of Columbia and three states are suing Google for allegedly deceiving consumers and invading their privacy by making it nearly impossible for them to stop their location from being tracked.
BRUSSELS (AP) — As the United States grapples with the 5G rollout affecting airlines, a European Union watchdog warned on Monday the EU faces much bigger economic and security threats unless member countries step up cooperation.
MEDIA
NEW YORK (AP) — CBS News says it is retooling its streaming service to better incorporate programs and personalities from the television network.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Some conservatives are taking aim at policies that allow doctors to consider race as a risk factor when allocating scarce COVID-19 treatments, saying the protocols discriminate against white people.
People who aren't vaccinated against COVID-19 are no longer allowed in France's restaurants, bars, tourist sites and sports venues unless they recently recovered from the virus.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks recovered from big early losses Monday as investors jumped in before the closing bell.
NEW YORK (AP) — Anyone who's bought food, paid rent or looked for a used car recently has come up against the billowing inflation that has engulfed the U.S. economy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — With inflation punishing consumers and threatening the economy, the Federal Reserve this week will likely signal its intent to begin raising interest rates in March for the first time in three years. The Fed's challenges will get only harder from there.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — At President Joe Biden's direction, the Pentagon is putting about 8,500 U.S.-based troops on heightened alert for potential deployment to Europe to reassure allies amid rising fears of a possible Russian military move on Ukraine.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Count 30-year-old Ethan Miller among that subset of Americans who are actually eager to file their taxes once income tax filing season opens on Monday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — As winter deepens, a grim situation in Afghanistan is getting worse. Freezing temperatures are compounding misery from the downward spiral that has come with the fall of the U.S.-backed government and the Taliban takeover.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 21
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans will have Derrick Henry on the field for their AFC divisional game with Cincinnati after moving the NFL's 2019 and 2020 rushing leader from injured reserve to the active roster.
PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Ryan Johansen and Mikael Granlund each scored a goal and assisted on another to lead the Nashville Predators over the Winnipeg Jets 5-2 on Thursday night.
TOURISM
GATLINBURG (AP) — Great Smoky Mountains National Park saw 14.1 million visits in 2021, topping the record from 2019 by 1.5 million.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of anti-abortion protesters were in a celebratory mood Friday as they rallied in the nation's capital and marched to the Supreme Court with a growing sense of optimism that their goal was finally in reach: a sweeping rollback of abortion rights.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court agreed Friday to consider limiting a recent decision about Indian land in Oklahoma that the state says has produced chaos in its courts.
KNOXVILLE (AP) — A Knoxville couple is suing the Tennessee Department of Children's Services, saying a state-sponsored Christian adoption agency refused to help them because they are Jewish.
WASHINGTON (AP) — "Whom have I helped today?" That's the question Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor tells kids she asks herself every night before she goes to sleep.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In the latest setback for abortion rights in Texas, the Supreme Court on Thursday refused to speed up the ongoing court case over the state's ban on most abortions.
REAL ESTATE
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Fourth-generation corn and soybean farmer Jeff Frank doesn't feel rich, but simply based on the skyrocketing value of his land in northwest Iowa, it's an apt way to describe him, even if he laughs at the idea.
AUTO INDUSTRY
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — General Motors is poised to announce next week major electric-vehicle investments in Michigan, with plans to spend $6.5 billion and create up to 4,000 new jobs at two plants.
TOKYO (AP) — The shortage of parts caused by the coronavirus pandemic is further denting production at Toyota, Japan's top automaker.
DETROIT (AP) — Two organizations that influence many Americans' automobile buying decisions will begin rating vehicles on how well they track behavior of motorists who use partially automated driver-assist systems.
TRANSPORTATION
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States moved Friday to block 44 flights to the U.S. by Chinese airlines in retaliation for China forcing the cancellation of flights by U.S. airlines.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. crash investigators are urging the Federal Aviation Administration to require private planes to be equipped with carbon monoxide detectors, citing deadly crashes that were attributed to poisoning by the odorless gas.
TECHNOLOGY
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Chip maker Intel said it will invest $20 billion to build a new factory in Ohio, an attempt to help alleviate a global shortage of chips powering everything from phones to cars to home appliances while also signaling the giant company's commitment to manufacturing crucial technology products in the U.S.
EDUCATION
The Biden administration on Friday announced policy changes to attract international students specializing in science, technology, engineering and math — part of the broader effort to make the U.S. economy more competitive.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. judge in Texas issued a nationwide injunction on Friday barring the federal government from enforcing President Joe Biden's requirement that federal workers without qualifying medical or religious exemptions be vaccinated for COVID-19.
BEIJING (AP) — China is limiting the torch relay for the Winter Olympics to only three days amid coronavirus worries, organizers said Friday.
TOKYO (AP) — Restaurants and bars will close early in Tokyo and a dozen other areas across Japan beginning Friday as the country widens COVID-19 restrictions due to the omicron variant, which has caused cases to surge to new highs in metropolitan areas.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks extended their losses on Wall Street Friday as major indexes finished with another weekly loss.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress has taken a new step toward reining in the market dominance of Big Tech.
GENEVA (AP) — Government and business leaders have urged cooperation on the world's biggest issues — climate change, the coronavirus pandemic and the economic recovery — at the World Economic Forum's virtual gathering.
SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) — Netflix delivered its latest quarter of disappointing subscriber growth during the final three months of last year, a trend that management foresees continuing into the new year as tougher competition is undercutting the video streaming leader.
PARIS (AP) — TotalEnergies and Chevron, two of the world's largest energy conglomerates, said Friday they were stopping all operations in Myanmar, citing rampant human rights abuses and deteriorating rule of law since the country's military overthrew the elected government.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday used their first formal meeting to discuss concerns about China's growing military assertiveness that's causing increasing disquiet in the Pacific.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden launched into his second year in office Thursday with a new focus on making fatigued Americans believe they're better off under his leadership as he embraces a pared-back agenda before the midterm elections.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats were picking up the pieces Thursday following the collapse of their top-priority voting rights legislation, with some shifting their focus to a narrower bipartisan effort to repair laws Donald Trump exploited in his bid to overturn the 2020 election.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in an interview Thursday that Democrats "made progress" toward changing the Senate's filibuster rules to advance sweeping voting legislation, despite the dramatic collapse of the package that his party says is central to protecting democracy.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — As he starts his second term as U.N. secretary-general, Antonio Guterres said Thursday the world is worse in many ways than it was five years ago because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis and geopolitical tensions that have sparked conflicts everywhere — but unlike U.S. President Joe Biden he thinks Russia will not invade Ukraine.
BEIJING (AP) — China on Friday criticized Washington for imposing sanctions on Chinese companies the U.S. says exported missile technology, and accused the United States of hypocrisy for selling nuclear-capable cruise missiles.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 20
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — A plan to split fast-growing Nashville into multiple congressional seats cleared a key hurdle Thursday after state Senate Republicans signed off on the proposal despite objections from Democrats who warn the new map unfairly affects Black voters.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee plans to give his annual State of the State speech on Jan. 31.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Republican-led Tennessee Senate's ethics committee on Thursday recommended removing a Democratic senator from office because of her recent wire fraud conviction, pressing ahead over her objections that she had short notice of the hearing and is still awaiting sentencing.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former criminal defense attorney who founded a Messianic synagogue in Florida was sentenced Thursday to two months of home confinement for joining the mob that stormed the Capitol last year.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday buttressed a criminal defendant's right to cross-examine prosecution witnesses, ruling in favor of a New York man who was convicted of killing a 2-year-old boy on Easter Sunday in 2006.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a rebuff to former President Donald Trump, the Supreme Court is allowing the release of presidential documents sought by the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sales of previously occupied homes fell in December for the first time in four months as many would-be buyers were frustrated by a lack of available houses, which fell to the lowest level in more than two decades.
TRANSPORTATION
DALLAS (AP) — American Airlines lost $931 million in the fourth quarter and the omicron variant of COVID-19 is delaying its recovery from nearly two years of pandemic.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Long-haul carrier Emirates said Thursday it will resume its Boeing 777 flights to the U.S. after halting its use of the aircraft there over concerns new 5G services in America could interfere with airplane technology that measures altitude.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
MADRID (AP) — When the coronavirus pandemic was first declared, Spaniards were ordered to stay home for more than three months. For weeks, they were not allowed outside even for exercise. Children were banned from playgrounds, and the economy virtually stopped.
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Three Australian Federal Court judges on Thursday revealed their reasons for backing a government order to deport tennis star Novak Djokovic, explaining they did not consider the "merits or wisdom of the decision."
Some European countries such as Spain are making tentative plans for when they might start treating COVID-19 as an "endemic" disease, but the World Health Organization and other officials have warned that the world is nowhere close to declaring the pandemic over. A look at what endemic means and the implications for the future.
BERLIN (AP) — Germany's health minister expects the number of coronavirus infections in the country to keep rising for several weeks before peaking next month.
GENEVA (AP) — A U.N.-backed organization announced Thursday that it has signed agreements with more than two dozen generic drug makers to produce versions of Merck's COVID-19 pill to supply 105 developing countries.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks ended sharply lower on Wall Street Thursday, and the benchmark S&P 500 closed at a three-month low as corporate earnings and inflation continued to hold investors' attention.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve on Thursday released a highly anticipated report on central bank digital currencies that suggested it is leaning toward having banks and other financial firms, rather than the Fed itself, manage digital accounts for customers.
President Joe Biden is paying a steep price for high inflation — a problem that festered during his first year in office instead of fading away as he suggested it would.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose to the highest level in three months as the fast-spreading omicron variant continued to disrupt the job market.
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon says it plans to open a clothing store in a Southern California mall later this year, a first for the online behemoth and a fresh challenge for already struggling traditional retailers.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House committee investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection is asking Ivanka Trump, daughter of former President Donald Trump, to voluntarily cooperate with its probe.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden acknowledged that the pandemic has left Americans exhausted and demoralized but insisted at a news conference marking his first year in office that he has "outperformed" expectations in dealing with it.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden ends his first year in the White House with a clear majority of Americans for the first time disapproving of his handling of the presidency in the face of an unrelenting pandemic and roaring inflation, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing the potential of losing control of Congress, President Joe Biden entered the midterm election year on Wednesday pledging to connect more frequently with voters and present a starker contrast with Republicans aiming to blunt his agenda.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Voting legislation that Democrats and civil rights leaders say is vital to protecting democracy collapsed when two senators refused to join their own party in changing Senate rules to overcome a Republican filibuster after a raw, emotional debate.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a self-appraisal that didn't always fit with the facts, President Joe Biden on Wednesday made the dubious assertion that he's outperformed all expectations on the pandemic in his first year and inflated his contribution to COVID-era economic growth.
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia accused the West on Thursday of plotting "provocations" in Ukraine and disguising its alleged intentions by fomenting concerns about Moscow planning aggressive military action in the neighboring country.