VOL. 48 | NO. 5 | Friday, February 2, 2024
TENNESSEE TITANS
Owners cold on Vrabel, Belichick
When the Titans fired Mike Vrabel Jan. 9, the national – and, to a lesser extent, local – opinion was that he wouldn’t be unemployed for long.
When Brian Callahan was introduced as the Tennessee Titans new head coach last week, it was no surprise that he was excited to work with Will Levis, who will enter his first full offseason as the team’s starting quarterback.
We will wait until next week to reveal our Super Bowl prediction, but the matchup is certainly an interesting one.
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
Needs to return to pre-injury form in Milwaukee
Although it’s still relatively early in Andrew Brunette’s coaching career, he’s clearly well on his way to becoming someone who is considered a players’ coach. After playing more than 1,100 NHL games, he transitioned to the coaching side of the business and is in his second season as a head coach, his first with the Predators.
At the conclusion of a recent practice at Nashville’s Centennial Sportsplex, Predators forward Cole Smith took a hot lap around the ice as his teammates rhythmically banged their sticks on the ice in recognition of the gritty forward.
The NHL takes its All-Star break Feb. 1-3, then the Predators have their bye week immediately following. They don’t return to game action until Saturday, Feb. 10 at Bridgestone Arena against the Arizona Coyotes.
NEWSMAKERS
Ogletree Deakins, a labor and employment law firm, has elected Nashville’s Liz Washko as its managing shareholder, effective immediately. Washko is the firm’s sixth managing shareholder and the first woman to serve in the role.
BRIEFS
Country music artists Eric Church and Morgan Wallen, along with a group of experienced brand builders, announced the acquisition and relaunch of Field & Stream, the preeminent outdoor lifestyle brand with origins back to 1871.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Edmunds experts put their heads together each year to determine the best new vehicles on sale. The annual Edmunds Top Rated Awards are given to the cars, trucks and SUVs that rank at the top of their class according to Edmunds’ vehicle testing program.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
You were a bit pressed for time last night and you missed the city council meeting.
PERSONAL FINANCE
Valentine’s Day might put you in the mood to look for love online. Unfortunately, criminals are also on the hunt, but for victims, not romance.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
Only one-third of men correctly estimated how long a 60-year-old man in the U.S. could expect to live, a 2022 TIAA Institute survey found. And fewer than half of women got it right for a 60-year-old woman.
UT SPORTS
A judge on Tuesday kept in place for now the NCAA's rules prohibiting name, image and likeness compensation from being used as a recruiting inducement, denying a request for a temporary restraining order by the states of Tennessee and Virginia.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee legislative staffer has been placed on leave after Democratic state Rep. Justin Jones says the staffer yelled at him in a hallway.
MIDSTATE
A Tennessee militia member who told an undercover federal agent that the U.S. is "being invaded" by migrants was planning to travel to the southern border with a stockpile of weapons and commit acts of violence against federal border agents, according to a criminal complaint.
REGION
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Fifteen years ago, bourbon barons poured whiskey out on the steps of the Kentucky Capitol to protest a looming tax increase on the spirits industry. On Tuesday, industry leaders reassembled with a bipartisan group of Kentucky leaders to toast the bourbon sector's record growth.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The fate of former President Donald Trump's attempt to return to the White House is in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In Donald Trump's federal 2020 election interference case, all eyes are on the Supreme Court, whose next moves could determine whether the former president stands trial in Washington ahead of the November election.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has scheduled a special session to hear arguments over whether former President Donald Trump is ineligible to be president again and can be kept off the ballot.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — A couple of blocks from the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, Electrify America is about to open an indoor charging station that lets drivers relax in a lounge while their electric vehicle batteries are being filled up.
General Motors' troubled robotaxi service Cruise on Tuesday endured a public lashing from a California judge who compared the company to the devious TV character Eddie Haskell for its behavior following a ghastly collision that wrecked its ambitious expansion plans.
DETROIT (AP) — Honda is recalling more than three quarters of a million vehicles in the U.S. because a faulty sensor may cause the front passenger air bags to inflate when they're not supposed to in a crash.
DETROIT (AP) — Ford Motor Co. on Tuesday reported that it swung to a net loss in the fourth quarter due to a large accounting charge on pension plans and the effects of a six-week strike at multiple factories by the United Auto Workers union.
MEDIA
ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery announced plans on Tuesday to launch a sports streaming platform in the fall that will include offerings from at least 15 networks and all four major professional sports leagues.
Bluesky, a Twitter-like social network championed by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, has emerged from its cocoon and is now allowing anyone to create an account and join the service.
TECHNOLOGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Wednesday plans to name a top White House aide as the director of the newly established safety institute for artificial intelligence, according to an administration official who insisted on anonymity to discuss the position.
ENERGY
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Missiles and drones are flying in the Red Sea, disrupting one of the world's key trade arteries and a chokepoint for energy shipments headed for Europe.
ECONOMY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday that it expects the federal budget deficit to drop by $188 billion this fiscal year to $1.5 trillion, a short-lived dip as the annual shortfall is likely to rise over the next nine years.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Bartender Catey Regis had a pricey misadventure buying a used car recently — an experience that speaks to why voters are worrying about the U.S. economy going into this year's presidential election.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — The S&P 500 neared the 5,000 level for the first time as Ford Motor, Chipotle Mexican Grill and other big stocks climbed following their latest earnings reports.
WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first time in more than two decades, Mexico last year surpassed China as the leading source of goods imported to the United States. The shift reflects the growing tensions between Washington and Beijing as well as U.S. efforts to import from countries that are friendlier and closer to home.
Uber posted its first full-year profit since going public in 2019 and its stock hit an all-time high Wednesday as strong bookings in the final quarter of the year pushed profit and revenue beyond Wall Street expectations.
CVS Health's fourth-quarter profit fell as the drugstore chain and pharmacy benefits manager dealt with increased operating costs. Still, its adjusted profit and revenue beat Wall Street's estimates.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans blocked a bipartisan border package Wednesday, scuttling months of negotiations with Democrats on legislation intended to cut back record numbers of illegal border crossings.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is dispatching senior aides to Michigan on Thursday to meet with Arab American and Muslim leaders, according to three people familiar with the matter, as his administration's handling of the Israel-Hamas war frustrates members of a key constituency in a 2024 battleground state.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is setting tougher standards for deadly soot pollution, saying that reducing fine particle matter from tailpipes, smokestacks and other industrial sources could prevent thousands of premature deaths a year.
BANGKOK (AP) — Chinese and U.S. officials have met in Beijing for talks on tough issues dividing the two largest economies, as trade and tariffs increasingly draw attention in the runup to the U.S. presidential election.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-controlled House has failed to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over the Biden administration's handling of the U.S.-Mexico border.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A bill to provide Israel with more military aid went down to defeat Tuesday in the House, spoiling Speaker Mike Johnson's attempt to separate Israel from other national security priorities, including helping Ukraine defend itself from Russia's military invasion and deterring crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans have coach Brian Callahan 's first additions to his coaching staff with Nick Holz as his offensive coordinator and Dennard Wilson as defensive coordinator.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
Red Solo cups – a staple of barbecues and beer pong – are usually synonymous with good times.
Toby Keith, a hit country crafter of pro-American anthems who both riled up critics and was loved by millions of fans, has died. He was 62.
Fellow country artists and fans react to the death of singer-songwriter Toby Keith, who died Monday at 62.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Nearly five years after narrowly convincing lawmakers to allow a select number of families to use tax dollars for private schooling, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Monday stood before the GOP-dominant Legislature with a much more ambitious pitch: Make school vouchers universal throughout the state.
NASHVILLE (AP) — As Tennessee's recent boom years fade with slower tax revenues, Gov. Bill Lee is forging ahead on some big-ticket items in his state budget proposal — among them, a dramatic expansion of taxpayer-funded vouchers to help kids attend private schools, a big tax break for businesses, and growth of state parks and natural areas.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals panel ruled Tuesday that Donald Trump can face trial on charges that he plotted to overturn the results of the 2020 election, sharply rejecting the former president's claims that he is immune from prosecution while setting the stage for additional challenges that could further delay the case.
NEW YORK (AP) — The judge in Donald Trump's civil fraud trial is demanding more information after a key witness was reported to be in negotiations to plead guilty to perjury in connection with his testimony in the lawsuit.
WASHINGTON (AP) — From civil rights to privacy, the 14th Amendment has been a foundation for forging the norms of American law and democracy. But one of its provisions, adopted after the Civil War in 1868, has gotten almost no attention until now: That's Section 3, the part that's meant to keep former officeholders who "engaged in insurrection" from ever regaining power.
ELECTION 2024
WASHINGTON (AP) — Extreme partisanship combined with a complicated and highly decentralized voting system have led to a loss of faith in election results among some in the U.S., according to a bipartisan report released Tuesday that calls for greater transparency and steps to make voting easier.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is going small to try to win big in November.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley has requested Secret Service protection after receiving a growing number of threats during her 2024 presidential campaign, according to a report published Monday.
MAULDIN, S.C. (AP) — Hillary Clinton. Nancy Pelosi. Kamala Harris. Liz Cheney. Carly Fiorina. And for now, Nikki Haley.
PERSONAL FINANCE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS is poised to take in hundreds of billions of dollars more in overdue and unpaid taxes than previously anticipated, according to new analysis released Tuesday by the Treasury Department and the IRS.
MEDIA
Facebook and Instagram users will start seeing labels on AI-generated images that appear on their social media feeds, part of a broader tech industry initiative to sort between what's real and not.
TRANSPORTATION
Bolts that helped secure a panel to the frame of a Boeing 737 Max 9 were missing before the panel blew off the Alaska Airlines plane last month, according to accident investigators.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration is warning Congress not to raise the mandatory retirement age for airline pilots until the agency can study whether older pilots would raise safety risks.
The new chief of the Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday that his agency is midway through a review of manufacturing at Boeing, but he already knows that changes must be made in how the government oversees the aircraft manufacturer.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Most of Wall Street ticked higher as the bond market calmed down following some sharp swings.
LONDON (AP) — One of the enduring mysteries of the cryptocurrency industry took center stage Tuesday in a London court where a trial could finally settle the debate over the identity of bitcoin's founder.
Eli Lilly rode soaring demand for diabetes and weight-loss treatments to a better-than-expected finish in 2023, and the drugmaker expects momentum to carry into the new year.
NEW YORK (AP) — Adam Neumann, the ousted co-founder of WeWork, is exploring a deal to buy back the office sharing company after expressing dismay over its bankruptcy process.
NEW YORK (AP) — Is it a good time to sell your small business — or maybe buy one?
NEW YORK (AP) — GoFundMe crowdfunding campaigns have generated $30 billion since 2010, the fundraising platform announced Tuesday, as younger generations look beyond institutions to make their donations.
LONDON (AP) — Oil and natural gas giant BP beat expectations on Tuesday with earnings of $3 billion in the last three months of 2023, bringing last year's total to half its record 2022 profit as energy prices have fallen since spiking after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
GENEVA (AP) — UBS on Tuesday reported a fourth-quarter pretax loss of more than $750 million as the Swiss banking giant continued to integrate its longtime rival Credit Suisse after a government-orchestrated merger.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Build more wall. Reinstate Trump-era immigration policies. Or simply shut down the U.S.-Mexico border.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday urged Congress to "show some spine" and stand up to Donald Trump even as a Senate deal on border enforcement measures and Ukraine aid rapidly collapsed.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. House has opened debate ready to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Tuesday over border security, a deeply partisan and highly unusual attack on a Cabinet official that has drawn concerns from constitutional scholars and rebuke from Democrats.
WASHINGTON (AP) — It's one of the most hard-fought provisions in the bipartisan border security package, and one that Democrats had to be persuaded to include: a new authority for the U.S. government to block migrants from entering the country.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 5
UT SPORTS
In reply to the NCAA claiming college sports would be thrown into "disarray" if rules banning name, image and likeness compensation being used as an recruiting inducements were lifted by court order, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said in a Sunday filing the association is defending "a world that doesn't exist."
STATE GOVERNMENT
EAGLE PASS, Texas (AP) — As more than a dozen Republican governors gathered Sunday on the Texas border, Kyle Willis was across the river in Mexico considering his next move to enter the U.S.
COURTS
DENVER (AP) — In the summer of 2020, Gerard Magliocca, like many during the coronavirus pandemic, found himself stuck inside with time on his hands.
WASHINGTON (AP) — While sentencing a North Carolina man to prison for his role in the U.S. Capitol riot, a Republican-appointed judge issued a stark warning: Efforts to portray the mob of Donald Trump's supporters as heroes and play down the violence that unfolded on Jan. 6, 2021, pose a serious threat to the nation.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court on Monday acquitted Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong of financial crimes involving a contentious merger between Samsung affiliates in 2015 that tightened his grip over South Korea's biggest company.
ELECTION 2024
NEW YORK (AP) — An oversight board is criticizing Facebook owner Meta's policies regarding manipulated media as "incoherent" and insufficient to address the flood of online disinformation that already has begun to target elections across the globe this year.
PERSONAL FINANCE
NEW YORK (AP) — While the U.S. economy is broadly healthy, pockets of Americans have run through their savings and run up their credit card balances after battling inflation for more than two years.
AUTO INDUSTRY
PARIS (AP) — Parisians voted Sunday to muscle SUVs off the French capital's streets by making them much more expensive to park from fall, the latest leg in a drive by Socialist Mayor Anne Hidalgo to make the host city for this year's Olympic Games greener and friendlier for pedestrians and cyclists.
TRANSPORTATION
Boeing discovered another problem in some of its 737 Max fuselages that may delay deliveries of about 50 planes in the latest quality gaffe to plague the giant aircraft manufacturer.
TECHNOLOGY
LOS ANGELES (AP) — President Joe Biden recently traveled to North Carolina to promote his goal of affordable internet access for all Americans, but the promise for 23 million families across the U.S. is on shaky ground.
ECONOMY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Chair Jerome Powell said in an interview broadcast Sunday night that the Federal Reserve remains on track to cut interest rates three times this year, a move that's expected to begin as early as May.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks slipped following the latest evidence that the economy remains strong, which could delay the cuts to interest rates that Wall Street wants.
The owner of Snapchat is cutting approximately 10% of its worldwide workforce, or about 530 employees, the latest tech company to announce layoffs.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Blockbuster job growth in the past several months has coincided with high-profile layoff announcements by a number of large companies.
After three years of exceptional sales growth, McDonald's appears to be returning to Earth.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration announced Monday it is rolling out a new policy that will allow it to impose visa restrictions on foreign individuals involved in the misuse of commercial spyware.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The massive $118 billion Senate border bill not only contains once-in-a-decade border security legislation and wartime aid to Israel and Ukraine, but also offers a chance for the U.S. to keep its promise to Afghans who worked alongside U.S. soldiers in America's longest war.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators on Sunday released a highly anticipated $118 billion package that pairs border enforcement policy with wartime aid for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies, but it quickly ran into a wall of opposition from top House Republicans, including Speaker Mike Johnson.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators have come out with a carefully negotiated $118 billion compromise that pairs tens of billions of dollars in wartime aid for Ukraine with new border laws aimed at shrinking the historic number of people who have come to the U.S. border with Mexico to seek asylum.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans will move forward with a $17.6 billion package that provides military aid to Israel and replenish U.S. weapons, but leaves out more help for Ukraine, underscoring the challenges facing supporters of a comprehensive national security package that would also include billions of dollars for immigration enforcement.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley poked fun at herself over a campaign misstep, but her primary target during a "Saturday Night Live" appearance was Donald Trump, joining in a skit that mocked a stand-in for the former president over his refusal to debate her and questioned his mental fitness.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2
UT SPORTS
A judge on Feb. 13 will hear a request by the attorneys general of Tennessee and Virginia for a preliminary injunction that would put on hold NCAA rules banning recruiting inducements and pay-for-play, the court posted Friday.
SPORTS
The Big Ten and Southeastern Conference are formally trying to find solutions to the issues facing college sports.
TENNESSEE TITANS
CLEVELAND (AP) — There are now two Callahans with the Titans.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee only plans to participate for one year in a federal program that gives low-income families $40 per child per month to pay for food while school is out, the governor's office said Friday.
NASHVILLE (AP) — After begrudgingly agreeing to tweak Tennessee's strict abortion ban last year, the Republican-dominant Legislature is once again facing pressure to reconsider when doctors can legally offer the procedure to pregnant patients.
RELIGION
MEMPHIS (AP) — A 16-year-old boy pleaded guilty Thursday to charges of second-degree murder and carjacking in the death of a prominent United Methodist Church leader in Tennessee.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge in Washington formally postponed Donald Trump's March trial on charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election as a key legal appeal from the former president continues to work its way through the courts.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Disney on Thursday appealed a judge's dismissal of its free speech lawsuit over what it described as Gov. Ron DeSantis' retaliatory takeover of Walt Disney World's governing district, as the Florida governor separately called any appeal "a mistake."
NEW YORK (AP) — Manhattan prosecutors are weighing a potential perjury charge against Donald Trump's former corporate finance chief in connection with testimony he gave in October at the ex-president's New York civil fraud trial, two people familiar with the matter told the Associated Press.
ELECTION 2024
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nevada again holds the coveted first-in-the-West slot in the presidential campaign calendar, but this year's showdown in the Silver State won't look like it did in previous years.
REAL ESTATE
LOS ANGELES (AP) — One of the nation's largest real estate brokerages has agreed to pay $70 million as part of a proposed settlement to resolve more than a dozen lawsuits across the country over agent commissions.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Tesla is recalling nearly all of the vehicles it has sold in the U.S. because some warning lights on the instrument panel are too small.
MEDIA
NEW YORK (AP) — On Friday, the National Press Club is offering solace — and a free meal — by giving recently laid-off journalists tacos in recognition of a brutal stretch that seems to offer bad news daily for an already struggling industry.
TRAVEL
NEW YORK (AP) — American Express rolled out several updates to its Delta SkyMiles credit cards Thursday that will give additional benefits to users, part of efforts to soothe sore Delta Air Lines customers who have considered abandoning the airline after last year's SkyMiles loyalty fiasco.
ECONOMY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation's employers delivered a stunning burst of hiring to begin 2024, adding 353,000 jobs in January in the latest sign of the economy's continuing ability to shrug off the highest interest rates in two decades.
BANGKOK (AP) — Markets in China sank Friday despite a fresh flurry of measures to help prop up the ailing property sector, as the International Monetary Fund forecast that the Chinese economy will continue to slow in coming years.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Big Tech stocks carried Wall Street to another record high, even as many stocks fell amid worries about the downside of a too-hot economy.
Exxon Mobil's fourth-quarter revenue and profits declined along with the price of oil, and the energy giant was weighed down by a hefty impairment charge tied to regulatory issues in California. Still, it posted a healthy adjusted profit and the company raised its quarterly dividend.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple snapped out of a yearlong sales funk during its holiday-season quarter, propelled by solid demand for the latest model of its iPhone and still-robust growth in a services division facing legal threats that could undermine its prospects.
Meta Platforms Inc. tripled its profit and posted sharply higher revenue in the final quarter of 2023, boosted by a rebound in digital advertising as well cost cutting and layoffs in what CEO Mark Zuckerberg called the "year of efficiency."
Amazon on Thursday reported better-than-expected revenue and profits for the fourth quarter, driven by strong consumer spending during the holiday shopping season.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department announced Friday that it was seizing more than 500,000 barrels of internationally sanctioned Iranian fuel that officials said was illegally trafficked to provide funding for the country's paramilitary force.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Half of U.S. adults say Israel's 15-week-old military campaign in Gaza has "gone too far," a finding driven mainly by growing disapproval among Republicans and political independents, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate negotiators on Friday reached a deal on a proposal to overhaul the asylum system at the U.S. border with Mexico, clearing the way for Democratic and Republican Senate leaders to begin the difficult task of convincing Congress to pass a national security package that will include tens of billions of dollars for Ukraine and immigration enforcement, as well as funding for Israel and other American allies.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Thursday issued an executive order that targets Israeli settlers in the West Bank who have been accused of attacking Palestinians and Israeli peace activists in the occupied territory, imposing financial sanctions and visa bans in an initial round against four individuals.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1
UT SPORTS
Tennessee athletic director Danny White said he is refusing to let the NCAA "irrationally" make an example of the Volunteers over name, image and likeness compensation.
Years of fighting losing battles have left the NCAA almost helpless to defend itself.
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Alex Turcotte had his first NHL goal and assist and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Nashville Predators 4-2 on Wednesday night to snap a four-game skid in the final game for both teams before the NHL All-Star break.
SPORTS
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) — The PGA Tour is getting a $3 billion investment from Strategic Sports Group in a deal announced Wednesday that would give players access to more than $1.5 billion as equity owners in the new PGA Tour Enterprises.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced Thursday that he has selected Mary L. Wagner to fill an upcoming vacancy on the state Supreme Court.
REAL ESTATE
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate eased this week, welcome news for prospective homebuyers as the spring homebuying season approaches.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — TikTok may look (or sound) a little different when you scroll through the app going forward.
MILITARY
JERUSALEM (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday it's time to further disable Iran-backed militias that have struck at U.S. forces and ships in the Middle East and the U.S. is preparing to take significant action in response to the deaths of three U.S. service members in Jordan.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States on Wednesday attributed the drone attack that killed three U.S. service members in Jordan to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias, as President Joe Biden weighs his options to respond to the strike.
ECONOMY
The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits rose last week to the highest level in 11 weeks, though layoffs remain at historically low levels.
COURTS
LONDON (AP) — A judge in London on Thursday threw out a lawsuit by former U.S. President Donald Trump that accused a former British spy of making "shocking and scandalous claims" that were false and harmed his reputation.
ELECTION 2024
DETROIT (AP) — President Joe Biden will celebrate his recent endorsement by the United Auto Workers union by visiting Michigan on Thursday, but his time in this critical battleground state with the nation's highest density of Arab Americans threatens to be overshadowed by growing anger over U.S. support for Israel's war in Gaza.
NEW YORK (AP) — At this moment in the 2024 election cycle, complaining about Fox News — even if for different reasons — may be what unites Donald Trump, Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis the most.
AUTO INDUSTRY
TOKYO (AP) — Data from a Japanese auto industry association show that China overtook Japan as the world's largest vehicle exporter last year.
Elon Musk wants Tesla investors to decide on moving the company's corporate listing to Texas after a Delaware court decided he shouldn't get a multibillion-dollar pay package.
Even when compared with other CEOs, who routinely get paid roughly 200 times more than their typical employees, Elon Musk's pay package was eye-opening.
MEDIA
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The Messenger, an ambitious online news site that billed itself as a nonpartisan digital outlet and spent some $50 million ratcheting up its business effort, abruptly shut down Wednesday after only eight months in operation.
BANKING
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Deutsche Bank said Thursday that it would cut 3,500 jobs as part of efforts to slash costs by 2.5 billion euros ($2.7 billion) through next year and boost profits even as Germany's largest lender benefits from higher global interest rates.
GENEVA (AP) — Julius Baer says its CEO is resigning and the Swiss bank is quitting the private debt business as well as setting aside more than a half-billion Swiss francs (dollars) reportedly over its exposure to bankrupt Austrian asset manager Signa.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks bounced back from their worst drop since September. The S&P 500 rose 1.2% Thursday to recover three quarters of its sharp loss from the day before.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Inflation in Europe edged lower in January to 2.8%, keeping alive speculation about quick interest rate cuts that would lower borrowing costs for businesses and consumers — and help boost the stagnating economy.
LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England kept its main interest rate at a near 16-year high Thursday as inflation remains too high for comfort, and like the U.S. Federal Reserve a day earlier, it gave no signal that it is close to cutting borrowing costs anytime soon.
LONDON (AP) — Oil giant Shell saw profits tumble by nearly a third in 2023 as a result of lower oil and natural gas prices, which had surged the year before in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
BERLIN (AP) — German beer sales dropped 4.5% last year, resuming a long-term downward trend, official figures showed Thursday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Stocks are near record highs. Growth was surprisingly strong last year. And once-hot inflation has begun to cool. But so far, U.S. adults are feeling only slightly better about the economy.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House accomplished something unusual Wednesday in passing with broad, bipartisan support a roughly $79 billion tax cut package that would enhance the child tax credit for millions of lower-income families and boost three tax breaks for businesses, a combination that gives lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle coveted policy wins.