VOL. 48 | NO. 6 | Friday, February 9, 2024
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
There are changes coming to zoning in Nashville, spearheaded in part by newly elected at-large council member Quin Evans Segall. She notes the bill “would repeal the 1984 duplex rules countywide and then allow duplexes within the USD in residential zones subject to a few design restrictions.”
REAL ESTATE
Top Davidson County residential real estate sales for January 2024, as compiled by the Nashville Ledger.
TENNESSEE TITANS
As new Titans head coach Brian Callahan puts together his first staff, the early opinions have been extremely positive.
As Brian Callahan fills out his first staff in Tennessee, the lack of holdovers from the previous staff is noteworthy.
Like them or not, the Kansas City Chiefs find a way. You might be tired of seeing Patrick Mahomes, and you might be over the whole Travis Kelce/Taylor Swift saga, but there is no denying that the Chiefs are building a dynasty of sorts.
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
In a grueling stretch of games leading up to the combination All-Star break and bye week, the Predators stumbled as they traversed the North American continent playing eight games in 17 days spanning all four time zones.
Filip Forsberg teaming up once again with Mattias Ekholm in a game that counts? Roman Josi trying to blast a slap shot past Juuse Saros in another game that counts?
It’s back to the grind for the Predators. After closing their pre-All-Star break and bye week schedule with seven of nine on the road, the Predators play three straight at Bridgestone Arena coming out of the break.
NEWSMAKERS
Paige Bernick and Michael Holder of Lewis Thomason’s Nashville office have been named shareholders at the firm, which has offices in Nashville, Knoxville and Memphis.
BRIEFS
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 children attend private schools, a big tax break for businesses, and growth of state parks and natural areas.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
As a big winter storm rolled across the United States in mid-January, many news outlets reported on drivers of electric vehicles dealing with dramatically reduced range and multi-hour waits at public charging stations.
PERSONAL FINANCE
Getting married when you’re an older adult comes with complications: You and your spouse may have assets from years of working, and you may have children from previous relationships.
CAREER CORNER
What does the job market have in store for us this year? The answer seems to be mixed.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
Whether it’s a 5% increase or a 20% bump, a pay raise at work is an opportunity to take charge of your financial priorities. A small raise might not seem like much when it’s broken down into a biweekly paycheck, but over time that difference in income could provide a boost to your lifestyle or be put toward other financial goals.
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Nico Hischier scored twice to lead the New Jersey Devils to a 4-2 victory over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night.
AUTO RACING
IndyCar will move its September season-ending championship finale from the downtown streets of Nashville to the superspeedway in Lebanon because of construction surrounding the Tennessee Titans' new stadium, organizers announced Wednesday.
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans and coach Brian Callahan are closer to filling out his first staff — a group featuring his father, Bill, that also brings back three former assistants to this franchise.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee would be the latest state to make it illegal for an adult to help a minor get an abortion without parental consent under legislation that advanced Tuesday inside the GOP-controlled Statehouse.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Less than a year after Tennessee Republicans attempted to expel her from the state House, Democrat Gloria Johnson is seeking another term there while simultaneously waging an uphill campaign for U.S. Senate.
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is expected in court Thursday for an important hearing in his New York hush-money criminal case, which now appears increasingly likely to go to trial next month.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Cybersecurity experts are warning that hospitals around the country are at risk for attacks like the one that is crippling operations at a premier Midwestern children's hospital, and that the U.S. government is doing too little prevent such breaches.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors is adding about 350,000 miles (563,000 kilometers) of roadways in the U.S and Canada to the area where drivers can use the company's "Super Cruise" partially automated driving system.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — A few months ago, Derek Carrier started seeing someone and became infatuated.
MEDIA
ESPN and the College Football Playoff have agreed to a six-year deal worth $1.3 billion annually that allows the network to keep exclusive rights to the 12-team playoff through the 2031 season, two people with knowledge of the agreement told The Associated Press.
MILITARY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was released from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Tuesday, ending his second stay since surgery to treat prostate cancer, and he has resumed his full duties, the Pentagon said.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks recovered much of their sharp losses from a day before, triggered by worries that interest rates will stay high for months longer than hoped.
Thousands of ride-hailing and delivery workers in the U.S. and the U.K. went on strike on Valentine's Day, calling for higher pay and other changes to their working conditions.
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican regulators have ordered online retailers Amazon and Mercado Libre to reveal their algorithms and to wall off TV streaming to avoid stifling competition.
Airbnb said Tuesday that it lost $349 million in the fourth quarter due to an income tax settlement with Italy, but bookings and revenue rose, and the short-term rental giant said demand remains strong.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi's winning back his Long Island House seat could provide a blueprint for Democrat Joe Biden 's reelection campaign heading into November, demonstrating his party's strength in competitive suburban territory that also happened to be where Donald Trump grew up.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican head of the House Intelligence Committee urged the Biden administration on Wednesday to declassify information about what he called a serious national security threat.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday the U.S. House will not feel "rushed" to pass the $95.3 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other allies, signaling a further stall over sending military hardware and munitions Kyiv badly needs to fight Russia.
BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that European allies and Canada have ramped up defense spending to record levels, as he warned that former U.S. President Donald Trump was undermining their security by calling into question the U.S. commitment to its allies.
NEW YORK (AP) — Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's former White House adviser and his son-in-law, defended on Tuesday his business dealings after leaving government with the Saudi crown prince who was implicated in the 2018 killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. House voted Tuesday to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, with the Republican majority determined to punish the Biden administration over its handling of the U.S-Mexico border after failing last week in a politically embarrassing setback.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-controlled House voted Tuesday to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over the Biden administration's handling of the U.S.-Mexico border.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Arrests for illegal crossings on the U.S. border with Mexico fell by half in January from record highs in December to the third lowest month of Joe Biden's presidency, authorities said Tuesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In pushing Michael Whatley as the next leader of the Republican National Committee, Donald Trump zeroed in on the North Carolina GOP chairman's dedication to "election integrity," baselessly suggesting he would ensure the 2024 race "can't be stolen."
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers on Tuesday honored the official charged with maintaining order in the House during two of the chamber's most tumultuous moments — the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and last year's longest race for House speaker since before the Civil War.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13
SPORTS
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A former basketball coach at Sewanee violated NCAA rules by placing more than $93,000 in bets on college and professional sports while serving as an assistant for the men's team and head coach for the women's team, the association announced Tuesday while handing down sanctions.
UT SPORTS
A federal judge said Tuesday he will rule "in short order" on a preliminary injunction requested by the states of Tennessee and Virginia to stop the NCAA from enforcing its rules governing name, image and likeness compensation for athletes as part of an antitrust lawsuit.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to extend the delay in his election interference trial, saying he is immune from prosecution on charges he plotted to overturn his 2020 election loss.
ELECTION 2024
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday said Donald Trump's comments calling into question the U.S. commitment to defend its NATO allies from attack were "dangerous" and "un-American," seizing on the former president's comments that sowed fresh fears among U.S. partners about its dependability on the global stage.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump's claim that he once told a NATO ally that he would encourage Russia "to do whatever the hell they want" to "delinquent" members of the group sent shockwaves through Europe over the weekend.
TECHNOLOGY
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The CEO of ChatGPT-maker OpenAI said Tuesday that the dangers that keep him awake at night regarding artificial intelligence are the "very subtle societal misalignments" that could make the systems wreak havoc.
TRANSPORTATION
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal accident investigators are pushing to retrofit current aircraft with better cockpit voice recorders, citing the loss of evidence during last month's blowout of a door panel on a jetliner flying over Oregon.
Three separate unions representing flight attendants at major U.S. airlines are picketing and holding rallies at 30 airports on Tuesday as they push for new contracts and higher wages.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Federal safety officials said Monday they are investigating an incident in which an American Airlines jet had a braking problem and ran off the end of the runway after landing at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
ECONOMY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumer inflation in the United States cooled last month yet remained elevated in the latest sign that the pandemic-fueled price surge is only gradually and fitfully coming under control.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks fell sharply after disappointing data on inflation made investors confront the bitter possibility that interest rates will stay high for months longer than they were hoping.
Workers who help bring Disneyland's beloved characters to life — including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Cinderella — are looking to unionize.
Shares of JetBlue are up more than 18% in Tuesday afternoon trading as activist investor Carl Icahn took an almost 10% stake in the airline.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is rolling out new recordkeeping rules for U.S. investment advisers in its continued effort to clamp down on money laundering, illicit finance and fraud in the American financial system.
Coca-Cola reported higher-than-expected revenue in the fourth quarter as growth in Mexico, Germany and other markets offset lower sales in the U.S.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday called for House Republicans to urgently bring a $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan to a vote, warning that refusal to take up the bill, passed by the Senate in the morning, would be "playing into Putin's hands."
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration announced Tuesday that it is expanding a program to help rural communities with serious sewage problems get technical help to plan improvements and apply for funding.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate early Tuesday passed an emergency spending package that would provide military aid to Ukraine and Israel; replenish U.S. weapons systems; and provide food, water, and other humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate early Tuesday passed a $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, pushing ahead after months of difficult negotiations and growing political divisions in the Republican Party over the role of the United States abroad.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Having failed to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas the first time, House Republicans are determined to try again Tuesday, but it's not at all certain the do-over vote will produce a better tally after last week's politically embarrassing setback.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-controlled House is set to vote Tuesday on whether to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over the Biden administration's handling of the U.S.-Mexico border.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Declaring that "every innocent life lost in Gaza is a tragedy," President Joe Biden welcomed Jordan's King Abdullah II to the White House Monday for talks on how to end the months-long war and plan for what comes afterward.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Monday launched a task force aimed at addressing the "systemic" problem of mishandling classified information during presidential transitions, days after a Justice Department special counsel's sharply critical report said he had done just that.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to extend the delay in his election interference trial, saying he is immune from prosecution on charges he plotted to overturn his 2020 election loss.
FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — Seeking to turn legal problems into political gain, former President Donald Trump arrived Monday to a crowd of supporters at a federal courthouse in Florida for a closed hearing in the criminal case charging him with mishandling classified documents.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A judge has ordered Elon Musk to testify for a third time as part of the Securities and Exchange Commission's investigation into his $44 billion purchase of Twitter, now called X, in 2022.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson late Monday sharply criticized a $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other countries, casting serious doubts about the future of the package just as Senate leaders were slowly muscling it toward a final vote.
ELECTION 2024
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Donald Trump, the front-runner in the U.S. for the Republican Party's nomination this year, says he once warned that he would allow Russia to do whatever it wants to NATO member nations that are "delinquent" in devoting 2% of their gross domestic product to defense.
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The head of the NATO military alliance warned Sunday that Donald Trump was putting the safety of U.S. troops and their allies at risk after the Republican presidential front-runner said Russia should be able to do "whatever the hell they want" to NATO members who don't meet their defense spending targets.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nikki Haley is challenging Donald Trump to debate. Trump is challenging Joe Biden to debate. And Biden is laughing Trump off, at least publicly.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden's 2024 campaign is now on TikTok, even though he has expressed national security concerns over the platform and banned it on federal devices.
MEDIA
NEW YORK (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs were crowned victorious over the San Francisco 49ers in this year's Super Bowl — and, off the field, big-name advertisers competed for viewers' attention with celebrity-filled, glitzy messages.
ENVIRONMENT
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — It's a beloved century-old Carnival season tradition in New Orleans — masked riders on lavish floats fling strings of colorful beads or other trinkets to parade watchers clamoring with outstretched arms.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly half of the world's migratory species are in decline, according to a new United Nations report released Monday.
ENERGY
Diamondback Energy will attempt to buy rival Endeavor Energy Resources to create an energy giant in the Southwestern United States worth more than $50 billion.
MILITARY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has canceled his trip to Brussels to meet with NATO ministers and work on Ukraine military aid as he remains hospitalized while dealing with further health issues following prostate cancer surgery, the Pentagon said Monday.
ECONOMY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Just a quarter of business economists and analysts expect the United States to fall into recession this year. And any downturn would likely result from an external shock — such as a conflict involving China — rather than from domestic economic factors such as higher interest rates.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street held relatively steady Monday following its latest record-setting week.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Online betting on the Super Bowl surged this year, with many gamblers waiting until right before the kickoff to place their wagers, according to a company that tracks the location of internet gamblers.
NEW YORK (AP) — How much choice is too much? Apparently for Coca-Cola, it's about 400 different types of drinks.
SEATTLE (AP) — Jeff Bezos filed a statement with federal regulators indicating his sale of nearly 12 million shares of Amazon stock worth more than $2 billion.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden welcomed Jordan's King Abdullah II to the White House on Monday for talks set to cover the effort to free hostages held in Gaza and growing concern over a possible Israeli military operation in the border city of Rafah.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are critical of diversity and inclusion programs within the federal government and elsewhere, but they see recruiting women and minority candidates, along with veterans, as key to expanding their slim majority in November.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel's finance minister on Sunday slammed the decision by financial ratings agency Moody's to downgrade Israel's credit rating, saying the announcement is a "political manifesto" that "did not include serious economic claims."
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9
SPORTS
BIRMINGHAM, Ala (AP) — The Southeastern Conference announced Thursday it distributed an average of $51.3 million — up $1.4 million from last year — to its 14 member schools for the fiscal year that ended last August.
WEST TENNESSEE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Authorities have exhumed the body of the wife of a famed former Tennessee sheriff more than a half-century after she was fatally shot in a still-unsolved killing.
MEMPHIS (AP) — A judge on Thursday pushed back for four months the federal court trial of four former Memphis police officers charged with civil rights violations in the beating death of Tyre Nichols.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A jury on Thursday awarded $1 million to climate scientist Michael Mann who sued a pair of conservative writers 12 years ago after they compared his depictions of global warming to a convicted child molester.
ELECTION 2024
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Democratic National Committee on Friday filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission, accusing presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. of a "ballot access scheme" that it argues constitutes illegal coordination with a super PAC supporting his independent bid for the White House.
MEDIA
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Meta has removed Instagram and Facebook accounts run on behalf of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after criticism over his support for Hamas after its Oct. 7 attack on Israel that sparked the monthslong war still raging in the Gaza Strip, the company confirmed Friday.
NEW YORK (AP) — Big name advertisers will be pulling out all the stops on Super Bowl Sunday — enlisting high-profile actors, investing in dazzling special effects and, they hope, going for laughs as they seek to win over viewers during game breaks.
TECHNOLOGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Friday announced the investment of $5 billion in a newly established public-private consortium aimed at supporting research and development in advanced computer chips.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — More gains for U.S. stocks on Friday sent Wall Street to its latest record, milestone and winning week.
PepsiCo got a bump to fourth quarter profits thanks in part to lower charges and continued price hikes, but higher prices have weakened consumer demand for the company's snacks and drinks.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Friday that a Republican holdup on sending new U.S. aid to Ukraine for its war with Russia was "close to criminal neglect" as he huddled with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz about U.S. and Europe's efforts to maintain support for Kyiv.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is moving toward a final vote on an emergency spending package that would provide military aid to Ukraine and Israel; replenish U.S. weapons systems; and provide food, water, and other humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza.
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has imposed financial restrictions on the main U.N. agency providing aid in the Gaza Strip, a measure which prevented a shipment of food for 1.1 million Palestinians from reaching the war-battered enclave, the agency's director said Friday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A special counsel report released Thursday found evidence that President Joe Biden willfully retained and shared highly classified information when he was a private citizen, including about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan, but concluded that criminal charges were not warranted.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The longstanding concerns about President Joe Biden's age and memory intensified on Thursday after the release of a special counsel's report investigating his possession of classified documents.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Special Counsel Robert Hur on Thursday released his long-awaited report on President Joe Biden's handling of classified documents, and it's not great news for the president on multiple fronts. The report concludes that no criminal charges against Biden are warranted, a key difference from Donald Trump's situation. But it also says there was evidence that Biden "willfully" retained and disclosed highly classified materials when he was a private citizen. And it highlights his confusion and "significantly limited" recall of events related to the documents.
WASHINGTON (AP) — After months of negotiations and delays, the Senate on Thursday voted to move forward on legislation that would provide wartime aid to Ukraine and Israel. While far from a final vote, it was a momentary victory for Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, a strong supporter of the aid for Ukraine, in particular, despite a growing number in his party who have opposed it.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden welcomes German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for talks Friday at a time of mounting anxiety in Europe over the White House's ability to break an impasse in Congress that is blocking new aid to Ukraine for its war with Russia.
BANGKOK (AP) — A Nasdaq-listed Chinese technology company that makes parts for self-driving vehicles is threatening to sue the U.S. government after it was included in a list of companies the Pentagon says have links to the Chinese military.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Legislation requiring that schools determine the cause of a fire alarm being triggered before instructing children leave a classroom was advanced unanimously by the Tennessee House on Thursday.
MIDSTATE
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee city must pay $500,000 as part of a settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups over an ordinance designed to ban drag performances from taking place on public property, attorneys announced Wednesday.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court seems poised to reject attempts to kick former President Donald Trump off the 2024 ballot, with conservative and liberal justices in apparent agreement in a case that puts them at the heart of a presidential election.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday heard two hours of historic arguments in a Colorado case to remove former President Donald Trump from the ballot. The justices sounded highly skeptical of the effort.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden "willfully" retained and disclosed highly classified materials when he was a private citizen, including documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan and other sensitive national security matters, according to a Justice Department report that nonetheless says no criminal charges are warranted for him or anyone else.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday denied Trump White House official Peter Navarro's bid to remain out of prison while he appeals his contempt of Congress conviction for refusing to cooperate with an investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court hears arguments Thursday over whether former President Donald Trump can be kept off the 2024 ballot because of his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, culminating in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
NEW YORK (AP) — Lawyers in Donald Trump's civil fraud trial told the judge Wednesday they had no information to share regarding a key witness reportedly negotiating to plead guilty to perjury in connection with his testimony in the case.
NEW YORK (AP) — The federal judge who presided over the jury trial that resulted in an $83 million award to writer E. Jean Carroll for her defamation claims against former President Donald Trump said Wednesday that his rejection of his lawyer's unusual midtrial mistrial request was not a close call.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will not seek any redactions in a report by the Justice Department special counsel investigating his handling of classified documents, the White House said Thursday, clearing the way for its release.
ELECTION 2024
WASHINGTON (AP) — How it began: President Joe Biden was urgently seeking more money from Congress to aid Ukraine and Israel. He took a gamble by seizing on GOP demands to simultaneously address one of his biggest political liabilities — illegal migration at the U.S.-Mexico border.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senior officials for President Joe Biden's reelection effort will meet with House Democrats on Thursday to outline in detail post-Super Tuesday campaign plans — a strategy session that marks a significant boost in efforts to coordinate with lawmakers on organizing and communicating with voters nationwide.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Self-help author and spiritual guru Marianne Williamson on Wednesday announced the end of her long-shot Democratic challenge to President Joe Biden.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration wants to make residential real estate transactions more transparent by unmasking the owners of certain all-cash purchases. It's part of an ongoing effort to combat money laundering and the movement of dirty money through the American financial system.
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.
TECHNOLOGY
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google on Thursday introduced a free artificial intelligence app that will implant the technology on smartphones, enabling people to quickly connect to a digital brain that can write for them, interpret what they're reading and seeing, in addition to helping manage their lives.
BENGALURU, India (AP) — Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella urged in a speech to more than a thousand Indian computer code developers on Thursday that they use the company's artificial intelligence tools being deployed across its products.
BANKING
NEW YORK (AP) — New York Community Bancorp tried to reassure investors Wednesday that it is financially sound, a day after the bank's credit rating got downgraded to "junk."
ECONOMY
WASHINGTON (AP) — From Wall Street traders to car dealers to home buyers, Americans are eager for the Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates and lightening the heavy burden on borrowers.
The number of Americans filing for jobless claims fell last week despite more layoff announcements from high-profile companies recently.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks ticked higher Thursday to set more records as further evidence piled up to show the job market remains remarkably solid.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Walt Disney Co. on Wednesday posted stronger-than-expected earnings for the final three months of 2023, boosted by cost cuts and growing revenue from its theme parks business.
A federal labor law judge has ordered Starbucks to reinstate a high-profile labor organizer and barista who resigned in 2022 after the coffee giant repeatedly ignored her scheduling requests.
BANGKOK (AP) — Chinese shares rose Thursday as investors appeared to welcome Beijing's choice of an industry veteran to head its securities watchdog, in its latest effort to boost confidence in ailing markets.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Overcoming a week of setbacks, the Senate on Thursday voted to begin work on a package of wartime funding for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies. But doubts remained about support from Republicans who earlier rejected a carefully negotiated compromise that also included border enforcement policies.
WASHINGTON (AP) — To hear some conservatives on cable news or on social media tell it, Taylor Swift is part of an elaborate plot to help Democrats win the November election.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Wartime aid for Ukraine was left hanging in the Senate Wednesday after Republicans blocked a bipartisan border package that had been tied to the funding, then struggled to coalesce around a plan to salvage the aid for Kyiv.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas was not, in fact, impeached by the House.
WASHINGTON (AP) — More than a dozen sports leagues and players associations, from the NFL to the PGA Tour, have promised the White House that they will provide more opportunities for people to be physically active and learn about nutrition and adopting healthy lifestyles.
WASHINGTON (AP) — They were warned that criticism of Israel's conduct during its war on Hamas in Gaza could cost them politically. But in the four months since Israel's blistering offensive was ignited by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, progressives in Congress who have called for a cease-fire are seeing record fundraising dollars as they fight to remain in office.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Just before the Senate voted Wednesday to kill the border deal he spent the last four months negotiating, Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford climbed a set of marble stairs outside the chamber and joined his wife in the visitors' gallery.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has chosen Annie Tomasini, a longtime aide and close adviser who runs his Oval Office, to be a deputy White House chief of staff.