VOL. 47 | NO. 45 | Friday, November 3, 2023
TENNESSEE TITANS
Levis: ‘Baseball was my first love’
In the Bruce Springsteen classic “Glory Days,” the singer reminisces on his time as a high school baseball player.
There will likely be rough waters ahead for Will Levis as a rookie quarterback.
One unfortunate play set off a chain reaction that likely ruined Malik Willis’ day Sunday against the Falcons.
NEWSMAKERS
The Nature Conservancy has elected five to its Tennessee board of trustees, including two from Nashville: Aaron Barrett and Lisa Calfee. They are joined by Matt Jernigan of Tullahoma, Philip Fieler of Memphis and Larry Blythe of Robbinsville, North Carolina.
BRIEFS
ChildcareTennessee, a Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee statewide initiative, in partnership with the Tennessee Department of Human Services, is offering a new grant to enhance safety and security in licensed child care programs across Tennessee.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
If you’re thinking about buying a new car but don’t need one right away, this could be a great time to show a little patience. Waiting just a few months this time of year can often coincide with the arrival of an all-new 2024 vehicle at dealerships.
PERSONAL FINANCE
Many companies offer 401(k)s, company matches and automatic enrollment to encourage their employees to save for retirement.
CAREER CORNER
Hiring can be tough, often similar to online dating. The hiring manager is often flooded with applicants. There are more potential employees (and in the case of dating, more singles) than anyone could ever truly sort through.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
Retailers thrive on tantalizing shoppers ahead of the post-Thanksgiving event, keeping them guessing about how exactly the experience will unfold. But economic conditions, past sales and other factors can provide clues about what’s to come.
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Blake Coleman scored the go-ahead goal and the Calgary Flames rallied for three in the third period of a 4-2 comeback victory over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night.
NASHVILLE SC
NASHVILLE (AP) — Iván Angulo scored in the sixth minute to help second-seeded Orlando City advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals with a 1-0 victory over Nashville on Tuesday night.
VANDERBILT SPORTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Crosby James scored all 11 of his points in about two minutes midway through the second half to help spark Presbyterian to a 68-62 victory over Vanderbilt on Tuesday night in a season opener for both teams.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — The CMA Awards are back Wednesday to honor the top artists in country music, with Lainey Wilson, Jelly Roll, Ashley McBryde and Morgan Wallen among the acts hitting the stage.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Nashville district attorney on Wednesday called for the Tennessee legislature to make it easier to commit someone to a mental institution after a man who was previously released for incompetence to stand trial was accused of shooting an 18-year-old college student in the head.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Four California men linked to the "Three Percenters" militia movement have been convicted charges including conspiracy and obstruction for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
NEW YORK (AP) — Ivanka Trump testified Wednesday that she had no role in her father's personal financial statements, echoing her adult brothers about documents central to the civil fraud trial that could reshape Donald Trump's family business.
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump went off. Again and again. Making the witness stand at his civil fraud trial his podium, the former president laid into the judge who'll decide the case and the New York attorney general who's suing him.
HEALTH CARE
A new version of the popular diabetes treatment Mounjaro can be sold as a weight-loss drug, U.S. regulators announced Wednesday.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors' Cruise autonomous vehicle unit is recalling all 950 of its cars to update software after one of them dragged a pedestrian to the side of a San Francisco street in early October.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Thursday will meet in Belvidere, Illinois, with the head of the United Auto Workers union, and the two leaders are expected to highlight plans to reopen an auto factory that Stellantis wanted to close.
Electric vehicle maker Rivian said Tuesday that it will allow other companies to purchase its fleet of delivery vans, ending an exclusive agreement with Amazon.
TRAVEL
Airbnb will highlight rental listings that have received top scores from guests, information that the company's CEO says will help bring hotel-like reliability to booking a house or room on the site.
BANKING
NEW YORK (AP) — Citigroup intentionally discriminated against Armenian Americans when they applied for credit cards, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Wednesday.
ECONOMY
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank and other policymakers across Europe need to keep interest rates at current elevated levels until they're sure inflation is under control despite sluggish growth, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday, warning against "premature celebration" as inflation declines from its peak.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks were largely stuck in place Wednesday as Wall Street continues to recalibrate following its sharp recent swings.
Beyond Meat's revenue fell nearly 9% in the third quarter as higher sales of its plant-based meat in Europe failed to make up for plummeting demand in the U.S.
ELECTION 2024
WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters threw their support behind abortion rights in Ohio, Virginia and elsewhere as Democrats look to springboard off those wins by using the issue to drive turnout and shape next year's races for the White House, Congress and other elections.
MIAMI (AP) — Foreign policy and the Israel-Hamas war are expected to be prominent in Wednesday's third Republican primary debate, as a narrowing field of candidates seeks to cut into Donald Trump's lead without being able to challenge the former president in person.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Facebook and Instagram will require political ads running on their platforms to disclose if they were created using artificial intelligence, their parent company announced on Wednesday.
HIALEAH, Fla. (AP) — A City Council candidate in the Miami suburb of Hialeah used Donald Trump 's image on campaign signs. At one polling station this week, many people wore red "Make America Great Again" hats or drove pickup trucks with flags bearing the former president's name.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans will issue subpoenas on Wednesday to members of President Joe Biden's family, taking their most aggressive step yet in an impeachment inquiry bitterly opposed by Democrats that is testing the reach of congressional oversight powers.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats had plenty of good news to celebrate in Tuesday's off-year elections and more evidence that they can win races centered on the national debate over abortion.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear won reelection to Kentucky's highest office Tuesday by improving upon the path to victory he carved in his successful 2019 bid.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A proposal to enshrine abortion rights in Ohio's Constitution was approved in a statewide election Tuesday, with a significant number of Republicans joining with Democrats to ensure the measure's passage.
BRUSSELS (AP) — Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia received positive news on Wednesday about their quests to join the European Union, but countries in the volatile Balkans region that have waited years longer to become members of the world's biggest trading bloc appeared to slip back in the queue.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville said he's open to negotiating an end to his blockade of almost 400 military nominees after meeting with fellow Republican senators on Tuesday, signaling a shift after he has dug in on his protest of a Pentagon abortion policy for more than nine months.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House voted late Tuesday to censure Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan — the only Palestinian American in Congress — an extraordinary rebuke of her rhetoric about the Israel-Hamas war.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Rookie Will Levis needed all of two starts to earn the starting quarterback job for the Tennessee Titans.
UT SPORTS
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Dalton Knecht scored 17 points and No. 9 Tennessee's defense was in midseason form as the Volunteers opened the season by beating Tennessee Tech 80-42 on Monday night.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Nashville Police Chief John Drake says he's "disturbed" over the unauthorized release of writings from the shooter who killed six people, including three children, at The Covenant School in March.
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) — A defiant Donald Trump sparred with a New York judge and slammed the state attorney general suing him Monday, using the witness stand at his civil fraud trial to defend his riches and lash out at a case that imperils his real estate empire.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court seemed likely Tuesday to preserve a federal law that prohibits people under domestic violence restraining orders from having guns.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — One of Puerto Rico's biggest distributors of pharmaceutical drugs was ordered to pay $12 million after being accused of not reporting hundreds of suspicious orders for controlled substances, the U.S. Justice Department said Monday.
EDUCATION
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is warning U.S. schools and colleges that they must take immediate action to stop antisemitism and Islamophobia on their campuses, citing an "alarming rise" in threats and harassment.
MEDIA
On the same day whistleblower Frances Haugen was testifying before Congress about the harms of Facebook and Instagram to children in the fall of 2021, a former engineering director at the social media giant who had rejoined the company as a consultant sent an alarming email to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg about the same topic.
NEW YORK (AP) — Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows is being sued by his publisher for contradicting his book's claim about the the 2020 election.
YOUR MONEY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Taxpayers will be able to submit all sorts of tax documents and other communications to the IRS digitally months earlier than originally planned under a new timetable for paperless taxpayer communications announced Tuesday by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
MILITARY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Air Force's vast fields of underground nuclear missile silos are rarely disturbed by more than the occasional wandering cow or floating spy balloon. But the service is now asking Congress to help with another unexpected danger: towering wind turbines, which are growing in number and size and are edging closer to the sites each year.
BANKING
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A processing glitch in the network that processes electronic transfers between nearly all U.S. bank accounts led to delays in settling deposits, some of which remain stalled, according to the private company that operates the system.
TECHNOLOGY
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Less than a year into its meteoric rise, the company behind ChatGPT unveiled the future it has in mind for its artificial intelligence technology on Monday, launching a new line of chatbot products that can be customized to a variety of tasks.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks ticked higher on Wall Street as markets continue to absorb the big swings that have shaken them in recent weeks.
Nearly 1 million chickens on a Minnesota egg farm will be slaughtered to help limit the spread of the highly contagious bird flu after it was confirmed there, officials said Monday.
GENEVA (AP) — UBS reported Tuesday a $255 million pre-tax loss as the giant Swiss bank shed some 4,000 jobs globally, cut costs faster than expected, and reaped billions in asset inflows in the third quarter while moving forward with its government-orchestrated merger with rival Credit Suisse.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called Republicans' most recent round of proposed funding cuts to the IRS "damaging and irresponsible" during an event Tuesday meant to commemorate new customer service improvements to the agency.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Tuesday imposed sanctions on 13 members of Mexico's powerful Sinaloa cartel and four Sonora, Mexico-based firms accused of trafficking fentanyl and other drugs into the United States.
WASHINGTON (AP) — After more than a week of public pressure from the U.S. for "humanitarian pauses" in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday allowed that his government might be open to only "little pauses" in its assault on Hamas. The Israeli leader sought to play down differences with his country's most vocal backer on the world stage at a time of rising scrutiny of the sharply rising civilian toll of fighting.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The prosecutor overseeing the Hunter Biden investigation testified Tuesday that he had the ultimate authority in the yearslong case as he made an unprecedented appearance before Congress to rebut Republicans' explosive claims that the probe has been plagued with interference.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans have released a sweeping set of U.S. border security proposals as a condition for sending more aid to Ukraine, laying out a draft plan to resume construction on parts of the U.S.-Mexico border wall, curtail humanitarian parole for people who cross into the United States and make it more difficult for migrants to qualify for asylum.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 6
UT SPORTS
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Fans of the Tennessee Lady Vols never forget where someone played college, especially not a player that beat their beloved team.
WEST TENNESSEE
MEMPHIS (AP) — A judge has set an August trial date for four former Memphis police officers charged in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols after a traffic stop in January.
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump defended his wealth and business on Monday, tangling from the witness stand with the judge overseeing his civil fraud trial and denouncing as a "political witch hunt" a lawsuit accusing him of dramatically inflating his net worth.
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump has testified in court as a football owner, casino builder and airline buyer. He bragged in a deposition that he saved "millions of lives" by deterring nuclear war as president. Another time, he fretted about the dangers of flung fruit.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ruth Glenn knows from harrowing personal experience the danger of putting a gun in the hands of a violent spouse or partner, the issue at the heart of a case before the Supreme Court.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — As U.S. doctors scale back their use of opioid painkillers, a new option for hard-to-treat pain is taking root: ketamine, the decades-old surgical drug that is now a trendy psychedelic therapy.
TECHNOLOGY
Former social worker Thea Ramirez has developed an artificial intelligence -powered tool that she says helps social service agencies find the best adoptive parents for some of the nation's most vulnerable kids.
MEDIA
NEW YORK (AP) — The Washington Post has named veteran media executive Will Lewis to serve as its new CEO and publisher, hoping to turn around a recent slump that has seen job cuts and a declining audience.
TRANSPORTATION
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden — perhaps the nation's biggest Amtrak fan — is set to promote new federal investments for trains on the heavily trafficked Northeast Corridor.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks drifted to a mixed close as Wall Street's wild recent moves calm a bit.
Starbucks is increasing pay and benefits for most of its U.S. hourly workers after ending its fiscal year with record sales.
WASHINGTON (AP) — As incomes in China have grown in the last decade, so has China's appetite for beef. No longer out of reach for China's middle class, beef now sizzles in home woks and restaurant kitchens.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Morale and trust within the Walt Disney World government has deteriorated since allies of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took it over earlier this year, according to many employees who have departed in recent months saying the governing district has been politicized and cronyism now permeates the organization.
NEW YORK (AP) — Trading in shares of WeWork were halted Monday as rumors swirl that the office sharing company, once valued as high as $47 billion, will seek bankruptcy protection.
NEW YORK (AP) — AT&T management employees are entitled to caregiver leave, which gives them up to 15 days off a year to care for ailing children or other relatives without eating into their vacation or personal sick days. Paid caregiver time off is a rarity in the U.S., which has no federal law requiring employers to offer paid sick or family leave. AT&T's Vice President of Global Benefits Juli Galloway said the Dallas company decided to offer caregiver leave in 2021 to help its management employees balance their personal and professional lives in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. It doesn't apply to non-management employees because their contracts are negotiated separately with their union.
The Walt Disney Co. on Monday named 34-year PepsiCo veteran Hugh Johnston as its new chief financial officer.
Tyson Foods is recalling nearly 30,000 pounds (13,600 kilograms) of breaded chicken ""Fun Nuggets'' after consumers complained of finding metal pieces in the dinosaur-shaped patties.
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Sunday pledged to continue deepening reforms, expand free trade zones and relax market access for foreign investment while seeking to generate excitement around a largely lackluster economy.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Public opinions in 24 countries — mostly rich nations — have grown more favorable of the United States than of China, according to the latest survey by the Washington-based Pew Research Center.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The most-watched races in Tuesday's off-year general election have all been dominated by the ongoing debate over abortion rights.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans reach the halfway point of the NFL season unable to win away from home or close out close games.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Tennessee Titans rookie quarterback Will Levis needed a moment to reflect after a 20-16 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night – his first loss in the NFL.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Tennessee Titans wide receiver Treylon Burks was carted off in the final minutes against Pittsburgh on Thursday night with an injury.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers know their margin for error is impossibly thin. They know no other way.
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
SEATTLE (AP) — Philipp Grubauer made enough important saves that the Seattle Kraken goalie could be forgiven for taking his first penalty in nearly eight years.
COURTS
DENVER (AP) — Can former President Donald Trump run for his old job again after his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol? The answer may depend on the definition of insurrection.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court agreed on Friday to decide whether a Trump era-ban on bump stocks, the gun attachments that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire rapidly like machine guns, violates federal law.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday said it would hear an appeal from the National Rifle Association over comments from a former New York state official who urged banks and insurance companies to discontinue their association with gun promoting groups after the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Marine Corps veteran who served as a politically appointed State Department official in former President Donald Trump's administration was sentenced on Friday to nearly six years in prison for attacking police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
NEW YORK (AP) — With Donald Trump due on the witness stand next week, testimony from his adult sons in his civil business fraud trial wrapped up Friday with Eric Trump saying he relied completely on accountants and lawyers to assure the accuracy of financial documents key to the case.
Former President Donald Trump asked a federal appeals court on Thursday to lift a gag order restricting his speech about potential witnesses, prosecutors and court staff in the case that accuses him of scheming to overturn his 2020 election loss.
NEW YORK (AP) — Eric Trump, one of two sons entrusted to run Donald Trump's real estate empire, swore Thursday that he was never involved with financial statements that New York state lawyers say fraudulently puffed up the ex-president's wealth and the worth of the family business.
NEW YORK (AP) — FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried's spectacular rise and fall in the cryptocurrency industry — a journey that included his testimony before Congress, a Super Bowl advertisement and dreams of a future run for president — hit rock bottom Thursday when a New York jury convicted him of fraud for stealing at least $10 billion from customers and investors.
REAL ESTATE
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The CEO of the National Association of Realtors is stepping down nearly two months before his planned retirement, a move that comes just two days after the trade group was dealt a punishing judgement in federal court over its guidelines on real estate agent commissions.
MEDIA
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Dubai-based television network broadcasting across the Mideast cut substantial portions of an episode of the satiric news program "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" over references to Saudi Arabia's crown prince being implicated in the 2018 killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
TRANSPORTATION
SEATTLE (AP) — Three passengers sued Alaska Airlines on Thursday, saying they suffered emotional distress from an incident last month in which an off-duty pilot is accused of trying to shut down the engines of a plane while catching a ride in the cockpit from Washington state to San Francisco.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Transportation Department on Friday awarded $653 million in grants to upgrade and improve 41 water-based ports across the United States.
ECONOMY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation's employers slowed their hiring in October, adding a modest but still decent 150,000 jobs, a sign that the labor market may be cooling but remains resilient despite high interest rates that have made borrowing much costlier for companies and consumers.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street steamrolled even higher Friday as it closed out its best week in nearly a year.
NEW YORK (AP) — Jeff Bezos is leaving Seattle, where the billionaire founded Amazon out of a garage nearly three decades ago.
Amazon is saying goodbye to its clothing stores.
Apple's sales remained on a downward slope during the summer, resulting in a full year of declining revenue at the technology trendsetter with a long history of steady growth that turned it into the world's most valuable publicly traded company.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Maersk, the world's biggest shipping company, said Friday that it plans to eliminate 10,000 jobs due to what it described as a challenging environment for container trade and logistics services.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is heading to Lewiston, Maine, to mourn with a community where 18 people were killed in the deadliest mass shooting in state history. It's the type of trip that is becoming far too familiar.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House approved a nearly $14.5 billion military aid package Thursday for Israel, a muscular U.S. response to the war with Hamas but also a partisan approach by new Speaker Mike Johnson that poses a direct challenge to Democrats and President Joe Biden.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans went after the IRS — long a GOP whipping child — when they decided that emergency aid for Israel should be coupled with cuts elsewhere in the budget.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Friday welcomed government leaders from countries across the Americas to an economic summit by pledging to increase U.S. investment in the region in part to counter China's influence.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Chinese middlemen launder the proceeds of North Korean hackers' cyber heists while Chinese ships deliver sanctioned North Korean goods to Chinese ports.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2
UT SPORTS
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Joe Milton III is coming off possibly his best game this season, and now the Tennessee quarterback has a chance to prove he can carry that progress into November ahead of the games that will decide the 19th-ranked Volunteers' postseason future.
WEST TENNESSEE
MEMPHIS (AP) — A former Memphis police officer pleaded guilty Thursday in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, becoming the first of five officers charged to reverse course, with prosecutors recommending up to 15 years in prison.
COURTS
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical Thursday that states have the authority to block former President Donald Trump from the ballot, with some suggesting that Congress is best positioned to decide whether his role in the 2021 U.S. Capitol attack should prevent him from running.
NEW YORK (AP) — Gaming giant Bally's paid Donald Trump's company $60 million to buy the right to operate a public golf course in New York City, the former president's namesake son testified Thursday.
NEW YORK (AP) — In a closing argument, a prosecutor told New York jurors Wednesday to follow overwhelming evidence of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried 's "pyramid of deceit" to find him guilty of defrauding customers and investors of at least $10 billion while a defense lawyer said prosecutors were unfairly portraying an honest entrepreneur as a monster.
DENVER (AP) — The effort to ban former President Donald Trump from the ballot under the Constitution's "insurrection clause" turned to distant history on Wednesday, when a law professor testified about how the post-Civil War provision was indeed intended to apply to presidential candidates.
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump Jr. testified Wednesday that he never worked on his father's financial statements, the documents now at the heart of the civil fraud trial that threatens former President Donald Trump's real estate empire.
FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge in Florida indicated Wednesday that she may delay the start of the classified documents trial of Donald Trump, pointing to the other criminal cases the former president is facing as well as the mounds of evidence his attorneys need to review.
REAL ESTATE
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan fell slightly this week, ending a seven-week climb — modest relief for prospective homebuyers grappling with an increasingly unaffordable housing market.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A series of court challenges seek to upend longstanding real estate industry practices that determine the commissions agents receive on the sale of a home — and who foots the bill.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Autoworkers at the first Ford factory to go on strike have voted overwhelmingly in favor of a tentative contract agreement reached with the company.
DETROIT (AP) — Toyota said Wednesday it is recalling nearly 1.9 million RAV4 small SUVs in the U.S. to fix a problem with batteries that can move during forceful turns and potentially cause a fire.
YOUR MONEY
NEW YORK (AP) — "Junk fees" are just what they sound like: hidden or misleading charges that increase the total cost of concert tickets, hotel rooms, utility bills and other goods and services.
MEDIA
Walt Disney Co. said it will acquire a 33% stake in Hulu from Comcast for approximately $8.6 billion, a deal that will give Disney undisputed control of the streaming service. Disney has actually run Hulu since 2019, when Comcast ceded its authority to Disney and effectively became a silent partner.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — European officials widened a ban on Meta's "behavioral advertising" practices to most of Europe on Wednesday, setting up a broader conflict between the continent's privacy-conscious institutions and an American technology giant.
ENERGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and 22 other Democratic senators are urging federal regulators to investigate multibillion-dollar acquisitions by oil giants ExxonMobil and Chevron, saying the deals could lead to higher prices at the gas pump.
MILITARY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate confirmed three top military officers on Thursday — including the first female member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — as bipartisan frustration swirled around Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville for blocking hundreds more nominees.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican senators angrily challenged Sen. Tommy Tuberville on his blockade of almost 400 military officers Wednesday evening, taking over the Senate floor for more than four hours to call for individual confirmation votes after a monthslong stalemate.
ECONOMY
The number of Americans applying for jobless benefits inched up last week but remains low by historical standards, even with the Federal Reserve's aggressive interest rate hikes meant to cool the economy and taper lingering inflation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve kept its key short-term interest rate unchanged Wednesday for a second straight time but left the door open to further rate hikes if inflation pressures should accelerate in the months ahead.
LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England kept its main interest rate unchanged on Thursday at the 15-year high of 5.25% and indicated that borrowing costs will likely remain at these sort of elevated levels for a while, especially if oil and gas prices increase sharply in light of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street roared higher, adding to its rally from the day before on hopes the Federal Reserve may finally be done with its market-rattling hikes to interest rates.
NEW YORK (AP) — The National Retail Federation, the nation's largest retail trade group, expect shoppers will spend more this year than last year, but their pace will slow given all the economic uncertainty.
Amazon used a secret algorithm that essentially helped the company raise prices on other online sites and "destroyed" some internal communications as the Federal Trade Commission was investigating the company, according to a newly unredacted portions of the agency's antitrust lawsuit against the e-commerce giant.
Beyond Meat is cutting 19% of its non-production workforce after a weaker-than-expected third quarter.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Uber and Lyft will pay drivers in New York a combined $328 million to settle wage theft claims and have agreed to establish a minimum wage and paid sick leave for drivers across the state, Attorney General Letitia James announced Thursday.
Cedar Fair and Six Flags are merging to create an expansive amusement park operator with operations spread across 17 U.S. states and three countries.
Customers fell for Starbucks' fall menu in the fiscal fourth quarter, with Pumpkin Spice Lattes and apple croissants helping the company achieve record revenue.
DoorDash powered past sales and earnings expectations in the third quarter, saying a growing mix of stores and faster service is drawing customers in the U.S. and abroad.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Airbnb said Wednesday it earned $4.37 billion in the third quarter as it booked a large tax benefit and posted higher-than-expected revenue during the summer travel season.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House is pushing ahead Thursday toward passage of $14.5 billion in military aid for Israel, a muscular U.S. response to the war with Hamas but also a partisan approach by new Speaker Mike Johnson that poses a direct challenge to Democrats and President Joe Biden.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States on Thursday imposed a new round of sanctions on 130 firms and people from Turkey, China and the United Arab Emirates in an effort to choke off Russia's access to tools and equipment that support its invasion of Ukraine.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. George Santos easily survived a vote Wednesday to expel him from the House as most Republicans and 31 Democrats opted to withhold punishment while both his criminal trial and a House Ethics Committee investigation proceed.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is trying to increase trade with Latin America, meeting on Thursday with the heads of the Dominican Republic and Chile as part of a broader effort to disrupt China's dominance in global manufacturing.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Just weeks after a frenzied trip to the Middle East, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is returning to the region with a somewhat more nuanced message than he offered in the immediate aftermath of Hamas' bloody Oct. 7 attack on Israel and Israel's military response.
WASHINGTON (AP) — New Speaker Mike Johnson told Republican senators Wednesday that a fresh Ukraine aid package linked to U.S. border security will come quickly in the House, as soon as lawmakers wrap up the $14.5 billion Israel aid package that is heading for passage later this week.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. George Santos easily survived a vote Wednesday to expel him from the House as most Republicans and 31 Democrats opted to withhold punishment while both his criminal trial and a House Ethics Committee investigation proceed.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House late Wednesday rejected an effort to censure Democratic Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, scrapping a Republican attempt to condemn the only Palestinian-American in Congress over her recent rhetoric around the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.