VOL. 47 | NO. 11 | Friday, March 10, 2023
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
At least 43 Davidson County residents are among the 35,000 nationwide who have had MV Realty file a memorandum of agreement on their respective properties. These memoranda are part of the “homeowner benefits agreements” that have the states of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Florida and Ohio filing lawsuits questioning the legality of the practice.
REAL ESTATE
The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate rose for the fifth straight week to its highest level since breaching 7% in November, just as the spring buying season gets ready to kick off.
NEWSMAKERS
Maja A. Hartzell (labor & employment), K. Brianne Kerbyson (trusts & estates) Anna Kaufman Looney (real estate & debt financing transactions) and Adam Pfeiffer (corporate & securities) have joined Bass Berry & Sims as associates in Nashville.
BRIEFS
Tennessee started 2023 with continued low unemployment, according to the latest data released by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. The rate for January 2023 came in at 3.5%, the fourth consecutive month the state’s jobless number remained at that level.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
The push for new, appealing electric vehicles has gained considerable momentum recently. The next few years will see a rollout of EVs in every popular automotive segment, increasing competition and decreasing prices.
CAREER CORNER
One of the biggest misconceptions we have about job interviews is that they’re fair.
PERSONAL FINANCE
Katja Rivera, 64, is a massage therapist and theater director in Berkeley, California, who says she’s never earned more than about $30,000 a year. When her two daughters were small, she sometimes earned much less.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
In the past year, the Federal Reserve has employed several interest rate hikes in an effort to stabilize the U.S. economy. Depending on your situation and financial institution, your debt may have gotten more expensive or your savings might have grown.
VANDERBILT SPORTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tyrin Lawrence scored a career-high 25 points, Ezra Manjon added 18 points and Vanderbilt beat Yale 71-62 on Tuesday night in the NIT.
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans placed second-round tenders Wednesday on a pair of restricted free agents in offensive lineman Aaron Brewer and defensive tackle Teair Tart.
The Tennessee Titans have agreed on a $21 million, three-year contract with defensive end Arden Key, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Kiefer Sherwood had a goal and an assist, Juuse Saros made 28 saves and the Nashville Predators beat the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 on Tuesday night.
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) — Porn actor Stormy Daniels met Wednesday with prosecutors who are investigating hush money paid to her on former President Donald Trump's behalf, her lawyer said Wednesday.
In a case that hinged on the definition of "beer," a federal jury ruled Wednesday that Constellation Brands can still sell Corona and Modelo hard seltzers in the U.S.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge heard arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit that poses a threat to the nationwide availability of a popular abortion medication. The hearing comes as a conservative Christian group seeks to reverse federal approval of the drug mifepristone.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Texas judge hearing a case that could throw into jeopardy access to the nation's most common method of abortion is a former attorney for a Christian legal group who critics say is being sought out by conservative litigants because they believe he'll be sympathetic to their causes.
NEW YORK (AP) — The New York grand jury investigating Donald Trump was hearing more testimony Wednesday from Michael Cohen, who paid off a porn star in 2016 to keep her from going public about a claimed sexual encounter with Trump a decade before he was elected president.
NEW YORK (AP) — A business tycoon long sought by the government of China and known for cultivating ties to Trump administration figures including Steve Bannon was arrested Wednesday in New York on charges that he oversaw a $1 billion fraud conspiracy.
REAL ESTATE
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Homeownership is likely to remain a pipe dream for many Americans this spring homebuying season.
AUTO INDUSTRY
JACKSON, Miss (AP) — Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed a bill Tuesday restricting electric car manufacturers from selling vehicles in person unless they open franchised dealerships.
TRANSPORTATION
The first major railroad merger in more than two decades, one that would link the United States, Canada and Mexico, was approved by federal regulators Wednesday.
BANKING
NEW YORK (AP) — A bank run conjures images of "It's a Wonderful Life," with anxious customers crammed shoulder to shoulder, desperately pleading with a harried George Bailey to hand over their money.
The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission have launched investigations into the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Mike Pence and Bernie Sanders are hardly political allies.
WASHINGTON (AP) — After the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, California Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters started furiously working the phones to find out what was going on with the failed lender — and what would happen to its panicked depositors.
ENVIRONMENT
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new "good neighbor" rule issued by the Environmental Protection Agency will restrict smokestack emissions from power plants and other industrial sources that burden downwind areas with smog-causing pollution they can't control. Nearly two dozen states will have to cut harmful industrial emissions of nitrogen oxide and other pollutants to improve air quality for millions of people living in downwind communities.
ASPEN, Colorado (AP) — Snow falls thick as skiers shed their gear and duck into the Sundeck Restaurant, one of the first certified energy efficient buildings in the U.S. – this one at 11,200 feet (3,413 meters) above sea level atop Aspen Mountain in Colorado. Skiers in brightly colored helmets jockey for a spot at the bar, their bodies warmed by thick, insulated walls and highly efficient condensing boilers.
TECHNOLOGY
LONDON (AP) — The company behind the ChatGPT chatbot has rolled out its latest artificial intelligence model, GPT-4, in the next step for a technology that's caught the world's attention.
MEDIA
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kevin Hart will keep his comedic candor going with SiriusXM. But this time he'll bring along more recognizable figures from outside the comedy realm.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks fell amid fresh worries about the banking sector, although Wall Street more than halved its losses by the closing bell.
NEW YORK (AP) — America's consumers trimmed their spending in February after a buying burst in January, underscoring the volatility of the economic environment.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Wholesale price increases in the United States slowed sharply last month as food and energy costs declined, a sign that inflationary pressures may be easing as the Federal Reserve considers whether to keep raising interest rates to fight higher prices.
LONDON (AP) — The U.K. is likely to avoid a recession this year, Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt said Wednesday, adding a bit of surprise to what had been billed as a boring budget meant to restore confidence and stability in the nation's finances.
Diamond Sports Group, the largest owner of regional sports networks, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday. The move came after it missed a $140 million interest payment last month.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union moved closer to ending a trade dispute with U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday following months of wrangling over the billions of America-first incentives in his clean technology plans and said it would ramp up a similar subsidy-laden effort at home.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
LAS VEGAS (AP) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday said his administration was focused "intensely" on lowering health care costs and took aim at "MAGA" Republicans who he said are intent on dialing back Medicare coverage for millions of Americans.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti was confirmed Wednesday by a divided Senate as the nation's next ambassador to India, 20 months after he was first nominated by President Joe Biden and after weathering doubts about his truthfulness in a sexual harassment scandal involving a top adviser during his time at City Hall.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he spoke to his Russian counterpart on Wednesday about the destruction of a U.S. drone over the Black Sea, which had brought the two countries closest to direct conflict since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine a year ago. It was the first call between Austin and Defense Secretary Sergei Shoigu since October.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — President Joe Biden will highlight the stark differences in how Democrats are tackling skyrocketing drug prices compared to their Republican counterparts as he gears up for an expected reelection announcement.
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to host Syrian leader Bashar Assad for talks in the Kremlin on Wednesday that are expected to focus on rebuilding Syria after a devastating civil war.
WASHINGTON (AP) — When a Russian fighter jet collided with a large U.S. surveillance drone over the Black Sea, it was a rare but serious incident that triggered a U.S. diplomatic protest and raised concerns about the possibility Russia could recover sensitive technology.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Twenty years after the U.S. invaded Iraq — in blinding explosions of shock and awe — American forces remain in the country in what has become a small but consistent presence to ensure an ongoing relationship with a key military and diplomatic partner in the Middle East.
TUESDAY, MARCH 14
TENNESSEE TITANS
The Tennessee Titans and offensive lineman Andre Dillard agreed to a three-year, $29 million contract on Monday, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Transgender people in Tennessee would be prevented from changing their driver's licenses and birth certificates under legislation approved by Republican senators Monday.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Lt. Gov. Randy McNally announced Monday that he is "pausing" all social media activity after revelations that he repeatedly commented on posts of nearly nude photos of a young gay model and other LGBTQ personalities.
COURTS
A federal judge overseeing a high-stakes case that could threaten access to medication abortion across the nation told lawyers not to publicize upcoming arguments in the lawsuit, in a move experts say is outside the norm in the U.S. judicial system.
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump's former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen testified Monday before a Manhattan grand jury investigating hush money payments made on the former president's behalf.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A judge is set to hear arguments this week in a lawsuit that poses a threat to the nationwide availability of medication abortion. The upcoming hearing became public Monday after reporting raised concerns that the case with major implications could unfold with little public oversight.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — App-based ride hailing and delivery companies like Uber and Lyft can continue to treat their California drivers as independent contractors, a state appeals court ruled Monday, allowing the tech giants to bypass other state laws requiring worker protections and benefits.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A coalition representing the Maine lobster industry is suing an aquarium on the other side of the country for recommending that seafood customers avoid buying a variety of lobster mostly harvested in their state.
BANKING
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve is facing stinging criticism for missing what observers say were clear signs that Silicon Valley Bank was at high risk of collapsing into the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history.
NEW YORK (AP) — The recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, which catered mostly to the tech industry, may have you worried about your money. They were the second- and third-biggest bank failures in U.S. history.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In 2016, Vice President Joe Biden warned against efforts to unravel banking regulations that Democrats had fought to implement following the nation's financial crisis, just as the emerging Trump administration was determined to loosen those strict banking rules.
A regulatory takeover of a New York-based bank was intended to send a message to U.S. banks to stay away from the cryptocurrency business, a former member of Congress who was on the bank's board says.
AUTO INDUSTRY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government on Tuesday announced $2.5 billion in new grants for the construction of electric vehicle charging stations and alternative fueling infrastructure, aiming in part at increasing access in underserved neighborhoods and communities.
ECONOMY
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer price increases eased slightly from January to February but still pointed to an elevated inflation rate that is posing a challenge for the Federal Reserve at a delicate moment for the financial system.
MEDIA
Microsoft said Tuesday that it has struck a deal to make Xbox PC video games available on the Boosteroid cloud gaming platform, its latest move to appease antitrust regulators scrutinizing its purchase of game maker Activision Blizzard.
ENVIRONMENT
WASHINGTON (AP) — A closely watched rule from the Securities and Exchange Commission that would require public companies to say much more to shareholders about how their operations affect the climate has generated more public comment than many recent regulations from the agency, attorneys and industry experts say.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday proposed the first federal limits on harmful "forever chemicals" in drinking water, a long-awaited protection the agency said will save thousands of lives and prevent serious illnesses, including cancer.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks ended broadly higher on Wall Street Tuesday, as some of the most breathtaking moves from a manic Monday reversed course.
Two Saudi Arabian airlines said Tuesday they will order 78 jetliners from Boeing and take options to buy 43 more in a major boost for the American aircraft manufacturer.
Facebook parent Meta is slashing another 10,000 jobs and will not fill 5,000 open positions as the social media pioneer cuts costs.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. Pat Schroeder, a pioneer for women's and family rights in Congress, has died. She was 82.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon intends to load up on advanced missiles, space defense and modern jets in its largest defense request in decades in order to meet the threat it perceives from China. The spending path would put the military's annual budget over the $1 trillion threshold in just a matter of years, its chief financial officer said Monday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell was released from the hospital Monday after treatment for a concussion and will continue to recover in an inpatient rehabilitation facility, a spokesman said.
MONDAY, MARCH 13
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Tommy Novak and the Nashville Predators needed to go beyond regulation for the second straight night, but they were able to cap off a successful road trip with a win.
VANDERBILT SPORTS
The Vanderbilt Commodores will take on the Yale Bulldogs at home Tuesday in the National Invitation Tournament.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Nashville officials on Monday sued over a new Tennessee law that will cut the Democratic-leaning city's Metro Council in half, a move that follows the council's rejection of efforts to host the 2024 Republican National Convention in Music City.
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump's former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen is expected to testify Monday before a Manhattan grand jury investigating hush money payments he arranged and made on the former president's behalf.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Officials who oversee Saudi Arabia's tens of billions of dollars in U.S. investments haven't been shy about flaunting their ties with top American business and political figures, down to wearing MAGA caps as they swing golf clubs alongside former President Donald Trump. But they've been silent about many of the details of these relationships.
HEALTH CARE
Pfizer is spending about $43 billion to reach deeper into new cancer treatments that target tumor cells while sparing surrounding healthy tissue.
BANKING
NEW YORK (AP) — Depositors withdrew savings and investors broadly sold off bank shares Monday as the federal government raced to reassure Americans that the banking system was secure after two bank failures fed fears that more financial institutions could fall.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two large banks that cater to the tech industry have collapsed after a bank run, government agencies are taking emergency measures to backstop the financial system, and President Joe Biden is reassuring Americans that the money they have in banks is safe.
NEW YORK (AP) — Governments in the U.S. and Britain are taking extraordinary steps to prevent a potential banking crisis after the failure of California-based Silicon Valley Bank prompted fears of a broader upheaval.
ENERGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Monday it is approving the huge Willow oil-drilling project on Alaska's petroleum-rich North Slope, a major climate move by President Joe Biden that drew quick condemnation from environmentalists who said it flies in the face of the Democratic president's pledges.
ECONOMY
Western sanctions have hit Russian banks, wealthy individuals and technology imports. But after a year of far-reaching restrictions aimed at degrading Moscow's war chest, economic life for ordinary Russians doesn't look all that different than it did before the invasion of Ukraine.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Bank stocks tumbled on worries about what's next to break, following the second- and third-largest bank failures in U.S. history.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. has begun an aggressive new push to inflict pain on Russia's economy and specifically its oligarchs with the intent of thwarting the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is set to meet with two of America's closest allies to announce that Australia will purchase U.S.-manufactured, nuclear-powered attack submarines to modernize its fleet, amid growing concerns about China's influence in the Indo-Pacific region.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris will spend a week in Africa at the end of March as the United States deepens its outreach to the continent amid global competition, notably with China.
FRIDAY, MARCH 10
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans continued the renovation of their offensive line Friday, releasing 11-year veteran center Ben Jones a year after signing him to a two-year extension.
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Ivan Prosvetov had some time on his hands before the Tucson Roadrunners were leaving for Milwaukee, so he started working on his bike.
SPORTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tyrin Lawrence had 22 points, Jordan Wright scored 15 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and Vanderbilt rolled to a 77-68 victory over LSU on Thursday night in the second round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Camryn Weston led Middle Tennessee with 22 points and sealed the victory with a 3-pointer with 19 seconds remaining as the Blue Raiders took down Charlotte 66-65 on Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA tournament.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Josiah-Jordan James had game-highs of 20 points and seven rebounds, leading No. 17 Tennessee past Mississippi 70-55 Thursday in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's Republican lieutenant governor has apologized after revelations that he interacted on social media to nearly nude photos of a young gay model as well as other posts by the man and other LGBTQ personalities, even as the lawmaker has led a Senate that has passed bills targeting the LGBTQ community.
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump has been invited to testify before a New York grand jury that has been investigating hush money payments made on his behalf during his 2016 presidential campaign, according to one of his lawyers.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors are employing an unusual strategy to prove leaders of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group orchestrated a violent plot to keep President Joe Biden out of the White House, even though some of the defendants didn't carry out the violence themselves.
NEW YORK (AP) — A former Fox executive was convicted Thursday of paying tens of millions of dollars in bribes to nab broadcasting rights to the World Cup and other top soccer matches. A second ex-executive was acquitted.
A federal judge has rejected former Theranos executive Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani's bid to remain free while he appeals his conviction for crimes he committed during a blood-testing scam he orchestrated with his former boss and lover, Elizabeth Holmes.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — If you get health care coverage through Medicaid, you might be at risk of losing that coverage over the next year.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A requirement that travelers to the U.S. from China present a negative COVID-19 test before boarding their flights expired Friday after more than two months as cases in China have fallen.
MEDIA
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — A judge has rejected a request from Google to transfer a federal antitrust lawsuit against it from Virginia to New York.
AUTO INDUSTRY
MADRID (AP) — Ford Motor Co. announced Friday that it will cut around 1,100 jobs at its plant in the eastern Spanish city of Valencia.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are set to outline a plan Friday that the White House hopes will turn the page on a spat between the U.S. and European Union over electric vehicle tax credits.
TRANSPORTATION
DALLAS (AP) — The CEO of American Airlines says he is ready to give pilots raises and higher retirement contributions that would average 40% over four years to match a contract recently approved by pilots at Delta Air Lines.
ECONOMY
WASHINGTON (AP) — America's employers added a substantial 311,000 jobs in February, fewer than January's huge gain but enough to keep pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates aggressively to fight inflation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The American job market has once again confounded expectations.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The humble egg has become a star performer for all the wrong reasons as inflation has hit households across the European Union extremely hard over the year.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Fear rattled Wall Street, and stocks tumbled Friday on worries about what's next to break under the weight of rising interest rates following the biggest U.S. bank failure in nearly 15 years.
The banking sector is in retreat, as it has been all week, as the effects of the Federal Reserve's fight against inflation begins to weigh heavily on a small number of banks that cater to the tech sector.
LONDON (AP) — Total pay for BP's CEO more than doubled to $12 million last year, the energy giant said Friday, as soaring energy costs allowed oil and gas companies to rake in record profits while squeezing households and small businesses.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a sign of a deepening rift among Democrats on energy issues, conservative Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin says he will not move forward on President Joe Biden's nominee to oversee oil and gas leasing at the Interior Department.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House voted unanimously Friday to declassify U.S. intelligence information about the origins of COVID-19, a sweeping show of bipartisan support near the third anniversary of the start of the deadly pandemic.
WASHINGTON (AP) — For President Joe Biden, his federal budget is a statement of values — the dollars and cents of a governing philosophy that believes the wealthy and large corporations should pay more taxes to help stem deficits and lift Americans toward middle class stability
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell was being treated Thursday for a concussion and is expected to remain in the hospital for "a few days" after he tripped and fell at a hotel dinner the night before, his spokesman said.
THURSDAY, MARCH 9
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Republican lawmakers and Tennessee's governor signed off Thursday on cutting Democratic-leaning Nashville's metro council in half, a move that follows the council's rejection of efforts to host the 2024 Republican National Convention in Music City.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee lawmakers on Thursday confirmed Dwight Tarwater to serve on the state's highest court starting this summer.
COURTS
Alex Jones' media company has proposed a plan in its bankruptcy case to pay the conspiracy theorist $520,000 a year while leaving $7 million to $10 million annually to pay off creditors, including relatives of Sandy Hook shooting victims.
MEDIA
NEW YORK (AP) — In May 2018, the nation's top Republicans needed help. So they called on the founder of Fox News, Rupert Murdoch.
AUTO INDUSTRY
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese automaker Nissan is revving up its electrification shift and slashing costs by using the same components across models and reducing use of expensive rare materials.
DETROIT (AP) — U.S. safety regulators are turning up the heat on Tesla, announcing investigations into steering wheels coming off some SUVs and a fatal crash involving a Tesla suspected of using an automated driving system when it ran into a parked firetruck in California.
TRANSPORTATION
WASHINGTON (AP) — Norfolk Southern's CEO earnestly apologized before Congress on Thursday for last month's fiery hazardous materials train derailment on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border and pledged millions of dollars to help the local town recover. But he stopped short of fully endorsing tougher safety regulations or specific commitments to pay for long-term health and economic harm.
EDUCATION
JACKSON (AP) — When he looked to the future, Grayson Hart always saw a college degree. He was a good student at a good high school. He wanted to be an actor, or maybe a teacher. Growing up, he believed college was the only route to a good job, stability and a happy life.
ENVIRONMENT
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Federal regulators designated two U.S. freshwater mussels as threatened on Wednesday, a further sign of trouble for native mollusks that help cleanse waters by filtering out pollutants as they feed.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is asking Congress for more than $2.8 billion in the federal budget he's sending to Capitol Hill on Thursday to help advance his cancer-fighting goals.
WASHINGTON (AP) — After years of refusing to expand Medicaid benefits for new moms, Republican officials in more than a half-dozen states are now reversing course and trumpeting that coverage as central to their conservative, anti-abortion agenda.
ECONOMY
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week jumped by the most in five months, but layoffs remain historically low as the labor market continues to be largely unaffected by the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks stumbled on Wall Street Thursday and added to the week's losses as markets remain anxious about the prospect of more aggressive action by the Federal Reserve to fight inflation.
LONDON (AP) — The pay package for Shell's CEO jumped by half last year to nearly $12 million, the fossil fuel giant said Thursday, as oil and gas companies made record profits from skyrocketing energy costs that have driven a cost-of-living crisis.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Conservative Republicans who want to thwart socially and environmentally conscious investing are now being pushed to water down their proposals after backlash from powerful business groups and fears that state pension systems could see huge losses.
TOKYO (AP) — Japan's economy grew at an annual pace of 0.1% in October-December, in a downgrade from an earlier 0.6% increase, showing how the world's third-largest economy was barely eking out growth.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — As political gridlock puts the government at risk of defaulting, President Joe Biden on Thursday is making an opening offer with a budget plan that would cut deficits by $2.9 trillion over the next decade — a proposal that Republicans already intend to reject.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Alarmed by China's success in wooing Pacific island nations, the Biden administration is proposing to spend billions to keep three of those countries in the U.S. orbit.
WASHINGTON (AP) — With Republicans in control of the House, there's no chance that President Joe Biden's new budget plan will become law as it stands. Instead, the financial blueprint that he announced Thursday in Philadelphia will serve as a political talking point for a president preparing to run for reelection.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will visit Canada later this month, the White House announced on Thursday, where he'll address the country's parliament and meet with Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Senate confirmed Daniel Werfel to serve as commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service on Thursday by a vote of 54-42.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former executive assistant to Joe Biden has agreed to sit for an interview with the House Oversight Committee as Republicans expand their probe into the president's handling of classified documents.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former White House official who helped implement Donald Trump's hardline immigration policies is breaking ranks with the former president and instead encouraging Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to pursue the presidency in 2024.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell suffered a concussion after a fall at a local hotel and remains hospitalized "for a few days of observation and treatment," a spokesman said Thursday.
BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is spearheading a new drive this week to see Finland and Sweden become members of the world's biggest military organization by the time U.S. President Joe Biden and his counterparts meet for their next summit in July.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday withdrew a $54 million contract with Walgreens after the pharmacy giant indicated it would not sell an abortion pill by mail in some conservative-led states.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House leaders say the impact of a hack of a health insurance marketplace used by members of Congress "could be extraordinary," exposing sensitive personal data of lawmakers, their employees and families. In all, thousands of people could be affected.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Active-service members and veterans provided firsthand testimony Wednesday about the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, describing in harrowing detail the carnage and death they witnessed on the ground while imploring Congress to help the allies left behind.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Legislation directing President Joe Biden to remove some 900 U.S. troops from Syria within 180 days was soundly defeated in the House on Wednesday as opponents of the measure warned that it could allow a dismantled Islamic State group to reorganize and endanger the U.S. and its allies.