VOL. 48 | NO. 11 | Friday, March 15, 2024
NEWSMAKERS
National plaintiffs’ law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, has hired Wesley J. Dozier for its Nashville office.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Buying a hybrid vehicle can be a smart way to help save money on gas and reduce your carbon footprint compared to a conventional gasoline-only vehicle.
BRIEFS
Tennessee consumers’ improved outlook last fall about their financial prospects dropped noticeably over the winter heading into the spring, though higher income earners are a bit more optimistic than others, the latest statewide survey by Middle Tennessee State University found.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
You know what happens next week? Of course you do. Just thinking about it now makes your palms sweat and your blood pressure soar.
PERSONAL FINANCE
When it comes to parents and children, money stress can be contagious.
More than 75 million student loan borrowers have enrolled in the U.S. government’s newest repayment plan since it launched in August.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
Now that retirement spans more years than ever, you might need to rethink how you’re envisioning that stage of your life. Although Americans are retiring a little later than they did 30 years ago, they’re also living longer. Retirement isn’t a blip on the life radar – it’s a significant chunk of time.
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans are re-signing veteran kicker Nick Folk after he made an NFL-leading, career-best 96.7% of his kicks last season.
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Michael McCarron scored two goals, Roman Josi and Filip Forsberg each had a goal and two assists and the Nashville Predators pulled away in the third period for an 8-2 win over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night, extending the team's point streak to a franchise record-tying 15 games.
STATE GOVERNMENT
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Biden administration plan to promote diversity and equity in workplace apprenticeship programs is facing pushback from Republican attorneys general in two dozen states who assert it amounts to race-based discrimination.
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) — New York state lawyers urged an appeals court Wednesday not to buy former President Donald Trump's claims that it's impossible to post a bond fully covering a $454 million civil fraud judgment while he appeals.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for Donald Trump urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to dismiss an indictment charging the former president with conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election, renewing their arguments that he is immune from prosecution for official acts taken in the White House.
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump is hurtling toward a critical deadline in his most costly legal battle to date. If the former president doesn't come up with a financial guarantee by Monday, New York's attorney general can start the process of collecting on the more than $454 million Trump owes the state in a civil fraud lawsuit.
ELECTION 2024
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has reached an agreement to provide Intel with up to $8.5 billion in direct funding and $11 billion in loans for computer chip plants in Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico and Oregon.
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump suggested Tuesday that he'd support a national ban on abortions around 15 weeks of pregnancy, voicing for the first time support for a specific limit on the procedure.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Warnings about deepfakes and disinformation fueled by artificial intelligence. Concerns about campaigns and candidates using social media to spread lies about elections. Fears that tech companies will fail to address these issues as their platforms are used to undermine democracy ahead of pivotal elections.
CRIME
WASHINGTON (AP) — New FBI statistics show overall violent crime in the U.S. dropped again last year, continuing a downward trend after a pandemic-era spike.
ENVIRONMENT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new rule requiring companies to disclose some emissions and climate-related information was barely passed before the agency was being hauled to court.
MEDIA
NEW YORK (AP) — The Gannett and McClatchy news chains, publishers of more than 230 outlets including USA Today and the Miami Herald, have said they will stop using journalism from The Associated Press amid continued financial pressures for the news industry.
PARIS (AP) — France's competition watchdog hit Google on Wednesday with another big fine tied to a long-running dispute over payments to French publishers for their news.
AUTO INDUSTRY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration announced new automobile emissions standards Wednesday that officials called the most ambitious plan ever to cut planet-warming emissions from passenger vehicles.
NEW YORK (AP) — Two men are accused of starting a business in China using battery manufacturing technology pilfered from Tesla and trying to sell the proprietary information, federal prosecutors in New York said Tuesday.
TRAVEL
JetBlue Airways will end service at several cities and reduce flying out of Los Angeles in a move to retrench and focus on stronger markets after years of losing money.
YOUR MONEY
WASHINGTON (AP) — IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel has a message for high-wealth tax cheats who are wrongly deducting private jet travel and otherwise shorting the government on their taxes: Pay your fair share so "others aren't shouldering the burden of funding our government."
ECONOMY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve officials signaled Wednesday that they still expect to cut their key interest rate three times in 2024 despite signs that inflation was surprisingly high at the start of the year. Yet they foresee fewer rate cuts in 2025, and they slightly raised their inflation forecasts.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Below is the statement the Federal Reserve released Wednesday after its latest policy meeting ended:
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday that it expects the federal government to be awash in debt over the next 30 years, but the outlook has improved over the past year due to increased immigration and agreements to reduce spending.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two weeks ago, Chair Jerome Powell suggested that the Federal Reserve was "not far" from gaining the confidence it needed that inflation was headed sustainably toward its 2% target level, which would allow it to start cutting its benchmark interest rate.
LONDON (AP) — Price rises in the U.K. eased more than anticipated in February, official figures showed Wednesday, raising expectations that with the cost-of-living crisis abating, the Bank of England may start cutting interest rates in the next few months.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rallied to more records after the Federal Reserve indicated it's still likely to deliver the cuts to interest rates this year that Wall Street craves.
NEW YORK (AP) — The largest U.S. retail trade group is forecasting that the country's retail sales will increase anywhere between 2.5% and 3.5% this year, a solid but still slower pace than the 3.6% seen last year.
NEW YORK (AP) — In a rare move on Wall Street, Chipotle Mexican Grill's board has approved a 50-for-1 stock split.
LONDON (AP) — Microsoft has hired Mustafa Suleyman to head up its consumer artificial intelligence business, adding another influential figure to its pool of talent leading the charge to build a technology that Suleyman views as both as a boon and threat to humanity.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Dubai sovereign wealth fund that's the single-largest shareholder in the Nasdaq stock index plans to sell a third of its shares in the exchange, a deal potentially worth some $1.6 billion that saw the value of the firm fall in aftermarket trading Wednesday.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden is at a crossroad, lacking the political appetite from within the Republican ranks to go forward with an actual impeachment, but facing political pressure to deliver after months of work.
TUESDAY, MARCH 19
UT SPORTS
For the second straight year, Purdue's Zach Edey is the unanimous headliner for The Associated Press men's college basketball All-America team.
WEST TENNESSEE
MEMPHIS (AP) — A Tennessee nurse practitioner who called himself the "Rock Doc" has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for illegally prescribing thousands of doses of opioids including oxycodone and fentanyl in return for money and sex, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Michigan attorney who unsuccessfully sued to overturn former President Donald Trump's 2020 loss in that state was released from custody in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday after promising to drive back home and turn herself in on an outstanding warrant.
NEW YORK (AP) — A judge has denied Apple's motion to dismiss a class-action lawsuit claiming that stalkers are using its AirTag devices to track victims — and that the tech giant hasn't done enough to prevent them.
A divided Supreme Court on Tuesday lifted a stay on a Texas law that gives police broad powers to arrest migrants suspected of crossing the border illegally, while a legal battle over immigration authority plays out.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Federal prosecutors on Monday painted one-time British tech star Mike Lynch as the ruthless mastermind of an $11 billion deal that defrauded Silicon Valley pioneer Hewlett Packard.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday refused to halt a prison sentence for former Trump White House official Peter Navarro as he appeals his contempt of Congress conviction.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court justices appeared receptive Monday to National Rifle Association claims that a former New York state official violated its free-speech rights by pressuring banks and insurance companies to blacklist the group after the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
NEW YORK (AP) — The infamous "Access Hollywood" video in which Donald Trump bragged about grabbing women sexually without asking permission will not be shown to jurors at the former president's hush-money criminal trial, a New York judge ruled Monday.
ELECTION 2024
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Donald Trump has launched his general election campaign not merely rewriting the history of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, but positioning the violent siege and its failed attempt to overturn the 2020 election as a cornerstone of his bid to return to the White House.
NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump on Monday charged that Jews who vote for Democrats "hate Israel" and hate "their religion," igniting a firestorm of criticism from the White House and Jewish leaders.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is embarking on a three-day campaign swing aimed at shoring up his standing in the Sun Belt as part of an aggressive play to reenergize vital parts of his 2020 electoral coalition.
MEDIA
The College Football Playoff and ESPN announced a $7.8 billion deal Tuesday that will give the network exclusive rights to the expanded postseason through the 2031 season, with the national championship game moving to ABC starting in 2026.
AUTO INDUSTRY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration this week is expected to announce new automobile emissions standards that relax proposed limits for three years but eventually reach the same strict standards proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency.
MEDIA
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Spotify paid out $9 billion in streaming royalties last year, the streaming giant said Tuesday in its latest "Loud and Clear" report.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street notched another record high as traders wait to hear what the Federal Reserve will do with interest rates.
NEW YORK (AP) — Inflation remains small businesses' chief worry, according to a new survey showing their optimism fell in February.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Reddit, that vast, lively and sometimes chaotic repository of internet discussion, is expected to carry a valuation up to $6.4 billion when it conducts its initial public offering on the stock market.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Former CNN reporter Don Lemon mixed it up with Tesla CEO Elon Musk in an interview Lemon posted on Musk's X social network Monday. The interview was supposed to kick off Lemon's new talk show on X, formerly known as Twitter, at least until Musk canceled the show shortly after the interview was recorded.
NEW YORK (AP) — The average Wall Street bonus fell slightly last year to $176,500 as the industry added employees and took a "more cautious approach" to compensation, New York state's comptroller reported Tuesday.
LONDON (AP) — Unilever, the company that makes Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Dove soaps and Vaseline, said Tuesday that it is cutting 7,500 jobs and spinning off its ice cream business to reduce costs and boost profits.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The top two U.S. generals who oversaw the evacuation of Afghanistan as it fell to the Taliban in August 2021 blamed the Biden administration for the chaotic departure, telling lawmakers Tuesday that it inadequately planned for the evacuation and did not order it in time.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union is pressing ahead with a plan to use the profits generated from billions of euros of Russian assets frozen in Europe to help provide weapons and other funds for Ukraine, a senior official said Tuesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and congressional leaders announced Tuesday that they have reached an agreement on this fiscal year's final set of spending bills. Now, the question is how fast lawmakers can get the bills passed to avoid a partial government shutdown.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will host Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for a White House summit next month amid growing concerns about North Korea's nuclear program, provocative Chinese action in the South China Sea and differences over a Japanese company's plan to buy an iconic American steel company.
MONDAY, MARCH 18
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — James Burton, John Anderson and Toby Keith on Monday became the newest members to join the Country Music Hall of Fame.
SPORTS
People in North Carolina may have a little more riding on this year's NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments, as they will be able to legally bet on the games through their smartphone apps and computers for the first time.
Anyone watching the NCAA Tournament exclusively to get a closer look at the top prospects in the upcoming NBA draft is in for a disappointment.
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Former Philadelphia Flyers star Wayne Simmonds announced his retirement Monday, ending a 15-year career that included NHL All-Star Game MVP honors.
SEATTLE (AP) — Throughout its current points streak, different stars for Nashville have taken their turns carrying the Predators on a given night.
COURTS
A conservative social media influencer has been charged with storming the U.S. Capitol and passing a stolen table out of a broken window, allowing other rioters to use it as a weapon against police, according to court records unsealed on Monday.
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump's lawyers told a New York appellate court Monday that it's impossible for him to post a bond covering the full amount of a $454 million civil fraud judgment while he appeals.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from a former New Mexico county commissioner who was kicked out of office over his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
NEW YORK (AP) — Judge Juan M. Merchan looked across his high-ceilinged courtroom, facing the defendant in a complicated case.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court seemed likely Monday to side with the Biden administration in a dispute with Republican-led states over how far the federal government can go to combat controversial social media posts on topics including COVID-19 and election security in a case that could set standards for free speech in the digital age.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — An $11 billion acquisition that backfired on Silicon Valley pioneer Hewlett Packard more than a decade ago will be resurrected Monday during a trial that will explore whether the deal was an illegal rip-off or a case of botched management.
ELECTION 2024
VANDALIA, Ohio (AP) — Former President Donald Trump claimed that he — not President Joe Biden — will protect Social Security and warned of a "bloodbath" if he loses in November as he campaigned for Senate candidate Bernie Moreno in Ohio.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The big news this week, President Joe Biden said at a weekend Washington roast, was that two candidates had clinched their party's nomination for president. But one was too old, too mentally unfit for the job, he said.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden's campaign has amassed $155 million in cash on hand for the 2024 election, far exceeding the in-hand total for his Republican opponent, Donald Trump.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden signed an executive order Monday aimed at advancing the study of women's health by strengthening data collection and providing better funding opportunities for biomedical research while chiding Republicans for having "no clue about the power of women" but saying they're "about to find out" come November's election.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday announced a comprehensive ban on asbestos, a carcinogen that kills tens of thousands of Americans every year but is still used in some chlorine bleach, brake pads and other products.
WASHINGTON (AP) — An array of advanced tests found no brain injuries or degeneration among U.S. diplomats and other government employees who suffer mysterious health problems once dubbed "Havana syndrome, " researchers reported Monday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — As Salvatore LoGrande fought cancer and all the pain that came with it, his daughters promised to keep him in the white, pitched roof house he worked so hard to buy all those decades ago.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Volkswagen's factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is likely to be the first test of the United Auto Workers' effort to organize nonunion automobile plants across the nation.
MEDIA
Sports Illustrated will continue operations after the company that owns the brand agreed with a new publisher for its print and digital products.
TRAVEL
The CEO of United Airlines says that a slew of recent incidents ranging from a panel that fell off a plane to another jet losing a wheel on takeoff will cause the airline to review its safety training for employees.
ECONOMY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Across the United States, many people are eagerly anticipating the Federal Reserve's first cut to its benchmark interest rate this year: Prospective home buyers hope for lower mortgage rates. Wall Street traders envision higher stock prices. Consumers are looking for a break on credit card debt at record-high interest rates.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rose ahead of a busy week for central banks around the world that could dictate where interest rates go next.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York will evaluate its troubled recreational marijuana licensing program after lawsuits and bureaucratic stumbles severely hampered the legal market and allowed black-market sellers to flourish, Gov. Kathy Hochul ordered Monday.
NEW YORK (AP) — Fabric and crafts retailer Joann has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, as consumers continue to cut back on discretionary spending and some pandemic-era hobbies.
NEW YORK (AP) — How much does it cost to feel special? At Chuck E- Cheese, the family entertainment and pizza chain, the price is $7.99, $11.99 or $29.99 per month. At the other end of the spectrum, the founder of a shopping app called Long Story Short wants to charge members $1,000 monthly for anonymous access to such hard-to-get goods as a rare Keith Haring artwork.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday agreed to send a team of Israeli officials to Washington to discuss with Biden administration officials a prospective Rafah operation, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.
FRIDAY, MARCH 15
UT SPORTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Cameron Matthews and Josh Hubbard each scored 18 points and ninth-seeded Mississippi State dominated fifth-ranked Tennessee 73-56 Friday in the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals.
COURTS
ATLANTA (AP) — A special prosecutor who had a romantic relationship with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis formally withdrew Friday from the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump after a judge ruled one of them had to leave for the case to move forward.
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prosecutors asked a New York judge on Friday to sentence FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried to between 40 and 50 years in prison for cryptocurrency crimes they described as a "historic fraud."
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday rejected an emergency appeal from a student group that has been blocked from staging a drag show at a public university in Texas.
FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday rejected one bid by Donald Trump to throw out out his classified documents criminal case, and appeared skeptical during hours of arguments of a separate effort to scuttle the prosecution ahead of trial.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans took aim Thursday at a new federal courts policy trying to curb "judge shopping," a practice that gained national attention in a major abortion medication case.
REAL ESTATE
LOS ANGELES (AP) — More homeowners eager to sell their home are lowering their initial asking price in a bid to entice prospective buyers as the spring homebuying season gets going.
A powerful real estate trade association has agreed to pay $418 million and change its rules to settle lawsuits claiming homeowners have been unfairly forced to pay artificially inflated agent commissions when they sold their home.
ELECTION 2024
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lori Shelton can't fathom ever having the money to buy a home — and that's a major reason why so many voters feel down on the economy ahead of this year's presidential election.
WASHINGTON (AP) — For Republicans eager to regain the Senate majority this year, Ohio offers a prime opportunity to pick up a critical seat.
ENERGY
In the Arizona desert, a Danish company is building a massive solar farm that includes batteries that charge when the sun is shining and supply energy back to the electric grid when it's not.
AUTO INDUSTRY
BERLIN (AP) — Former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn is to go on trial in September on charges of fraud and market manipulation linked to the automaker's diesel emissions scandal, a German court said Friday.
TOKYO (AP) — Nissan and Honda announced Friday that they will work together in developing electric vehicles and auto intelligence technology, sectors where Japanese automakers have fallen behind.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Lyft and Uber said they will cease operations in Minneapolis after the city's council voted Thursday to override a mayoral veto and require that ride-hailing services increase driver wages to the equivalent of the local minimum wage of $15.57 an hour.
ECONOMY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumers became slightly less optimistic about the economy this month, though they continue to expect inflation to cool further, a potential sign that price increases will keep slowing.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks retreated from a record high set earlier this week on Wall Street.
Apple has agreed to pay $490 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging CEO Tim Cook misled investors about a steep downturn in iPhone's sales in China that culminated in a jarring revision to the company's revenue forecast.
LONDON (AP) — British cellphone company Vodafone confirmed Friday that it is selling its Italian business to Switzerland's Swisscom for 8 billion euros ($8.7 billion) and will hand back half of the proceeds to its shareholders through the buyback of company shares.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden expressed support Friday for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer after the senator called for new elections in Israel, the latest sign that the U.S. relationship with its closest Middle East ally is careening toward fracture over the war in Gaza.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden's top White House lawyer is encouraging House Speaker Mike Johnson to end his chamber's efforts to impeach the president over unproven claims that Biden benefited from the business dealings of his son and brother.
THURSDAY, MARCH 14
TENNESSEE TITANS
Wide receiver Calvin Ridley and the Tennessee Titans have agreed on a four-year, $92 million contract, a person with knowledge of the terms told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Gustav Nyquist had a goal and an assist and the Nashville Predators extended their points streak to 13 games with a 4-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday night.
VANDERBILT SPORTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Vanderbilt fired coach Jerry Stackhouse on Thursday after a big drop-off in his fifth season with the Commodores, going 9-23 with fans showing their apathy by staying away from historic Memorial Gym.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Khalif Battle scored seven of his 24 points in overtime and Arkansas defeated Vanderbilt 90-85 in the first round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament on Wednesday night.
SPORTS
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — With college basketball's portal season about to tip off, athletes who have transferred multiple times can compete in the next academic year if they meet conditions while a lawsuit continues against the NCAA, the organization said Wednesday.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Republican-led Tennessee House advanced a proposal Thursday that would require law enforcement agencies in the state to communicate with federal immigration authorities if they discover people are in the the country illegally, and would broadly mandate cooperation in the process of identifying, catching, detaining and deporting them.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Florida man charged with interfering with police during the Jan. 6, 2021, siege at the U.S. Capitol is connected to a "network" of supporters who have helped other Capitol riot defendants avoid capture by the FBI, prosecutors said in a court filing this week.
NEW YORK (AP) — New York prosecutors said Thursday they are open to delaying the start of Donald Trump's New York hush-money criminal trial by up to a month to give the former president's lawyers time to review evidence that was only recently turned over.
FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge appeared reluctant Thursday to dismiss the classified documents prosecution of Donald Trump after his lawyers argued for hours that the case trampled on the former president's rights.
WASHINGTON (AP) — An appeals court denied Trump White House official Peter Navarro 's bid to stave off his jail sentence on contempt of Congress charges Thursday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — With the Supreme Court's approval hovering near record lows, two justices have teamed up to promote the art of disagreeing without being nasty about it.
RELIGION
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Exemptions that allow religious organizations to avoid paying Wisconsin's unemployment tax don't apply to a Catholic charitable organization because its on-the-ground operations aren't primarily religious, a divided state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
ENVIRONMENT
America's first commercial-scale offshore wind farm is officially open, a long-awaited moment that helps pave the way for a succession of large wind farms.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency is imposing stricter limits on a chemical used to sterilize medical equipment after finding a higher-than-expected cancer risk at facilities that use ethylene oxide to clean billions of devices including catheters and syringes.
Federal civil rights investigators are looking into whether protected health information was exposed in the recent cyberattack on Change Healthcare.
MEDIA
Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday that he will put together an investor group to buy TikTok after the House passed a bill that would ban the popular video app in the U.S. if its China-based owner does not sell its stake.
LONDON (AP) — European Union regulators on Thursday ratcheted up scrutiny of big tech companies including Google, Facebook and TikTok with requests for information on how they're dealing with risks from generative artificial intelligence, such as the viral spread of deepfakes.
WASHINGTON (AP) — If some U.S. lawmakers have their way, the United States and China could end up with something in common: TikTok might not be available in either country.
LONDON (AP) — The U.K. government said Wednesday it will back legislation banning foreign state ownership of British newspapers and magazines, a move that could upend a planned takeover by a United Arab Emirates-led consortium of the Telegraph Media Group.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Elon Musk abruptly canceled "The Don Lemon Show" on his social media network X after the former CNN anchor recorded an interview with the billionaire for its as-yet unaired first episode.
TECHNOLOGY
SpaceX's mega rocket blasted off on another test flight Thursday and made it farther than two previous attempts, but the spacecraft was lost as it descended back to Earth.
ECONOMY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Wholesale prices in the United States accelerated again in February, the latest sign that inflation pressures in the economy remain elevated and might not cool in the coming months as fast as the Federal Reserve or the Biden administration would like.
NEW YORK (AP) — Americans picked up their spending a bit in February after pulling back the previous month. But last month's gain was weaker than expected, and January's decline was revised even lower, suggesting that many are growing more cautious with their money.
The number of Americans applying for jobless benefits last week inched up but largely stayed at historically low levels as the labor market continues to thrive despite elevated interest rates.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks slipped away from their records following a mixed batch of economic reports.
MONTECITO, Calif. (AP) — Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has returned to Instagram to tease a new brand that records show could feature jams, household items, cookbooks and cutlery.
LONDON (AP) — Adidas said Wednesday that it's donated or is planning to give away more than $150 million to groups fighting antisemitism and other forms of hate from the sales of Yeezy shoes last year after it severed ties with Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is coming out in opposition to the planned sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel of Japan, saying in a statement to be released Thursday that the U.S. needs to "maintain strong American steel companies powered by American steel workers."
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A major deadline under the half-century-old War Powers Resolution came this week for President Joe Biden to obtain Congress' approval to keep waging his military campaign against Yemen's Houthis, in line with its sole authority under the U.S. Constitution to declare war and otherwise authorize military force.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday called on Israel to hold new elections, saying he believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has "lost his way" and is an obstacle to peace in the region amid a growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday plans to tour a Minnesota clinic that performs abortions and provides other reproductive care as Democrats play up their opposition to the rollback of abortion rights in an effort to help reelect President Joe Biden in November.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. CQ Brown is visiting U.S. weapon factories in Oklahoma and Arkansas on Thursday as the Pentagon frames the $95 billion aid package hanging in the balance on Capitol Hill as not only vital to Ukraine's survival but also critical to the U.S. economy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators from both major political parties are urging congressional leaders to ensure that more visas are made available to Afghans who worked alongside U.S. troops in America's longest war before a crucial pathway to safety in the United States abruptly closes.