VOL. 47 | NO. 14 | Friday, March 31, 2023
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
As John Lennon might have said: “I read the news last week, oh boy. The U.S. Fed had slightly raised the rates. And while the news was rather sad, I just had to laugh. I saw the charts and graphs.”
REAL ESTATE
The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate inched down this week to its lowest level in six weeks, just as the spring buying season gets underway.
UT SPORTS
The 2022-23 season for the Tennessee men’s and women’s basketball programs proved to be Sweet, but not Elite.
NEWSMAKERS
McGlinchey Stafford has selected attorney Shaun Ramey to co-chair of the firm’s national financial services litigation practice group. Ramey also serves as managing member of the firm’s Nashville office and on McGlinchey’s executive Policy Committee.
BRIEFS
Nashville’s Planning Department has released two maps of potential new representation maps, a process brought about by new state law that could slice the size of the Metro Council in half.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Electric vehicles had their bestselling year in 2022 with market share surpassing 5% Edmunds data reports, which is nearly double than 2021. EV sales should continue to soar in 2023. But more importantly for consumers, there also will be a larger selection of models to choose from, including electric sedans, SUVs and luxury models.
PERSONAL FINANCE
If inflation has eaten away at your budget the way waves erode a beach, then your tax refund might just provide a much-needed protective barrier.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
For millennials with chronic medical conditions – or those raising children with chronic conditions – health care can be an enormous monthly expense. About 44% of older millennials born between 1981 and 1988 have at least one chronic health condition, including migraines, major depression and asthma, reports a 2021 survey of over 4,000 adults conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of CNBC Make It. And many millennials are also caring for children with complicated medical needs.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
Every year has its challenges. A few years ago, it was COVID-19. The economy influences your business constantly. Customer acquisition is a big issue, but you’re also laser-focusing on staffing. You’re determined to make a change in the people you hire and the workplace you offer them so let these two books be your guides:
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Nashville coach John Hynes took a timeout in overtime to give his young Nashville Predators options for their ensuing man advantage.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Mike Hill, a 61-year-old custodian who was among the six people killed in last week's attack at a Nashville elementary school, was remembered Tuesday for his loving nature, his culinary skills and his faith.
MIDSTATE
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) — Investigators recovered "black boxes" from two U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopters that crashed last week in Kentucky, killing all nine soldiers aboard, the military announced Tuesday.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's GOP-dominant Senate gave final approval Wednesday to legislation that would add a narrow exemption to one of the strictest abortion bans in the United States, with it now heading to Gov. Bill Lee's desk for his approval.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma Republicans removed the state's only nonbinary legislator from House committees after the lawmaker provided refuge to a transgender rights activist. In Florida, two Democratic leaders were arrested for participating in a protest over abortion restrictions. And in Tennessee, three Democratic House members are facing expulsion for using a bullhorn in the House chamber to show support for demonstrators demanding gun control.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A growing chorus is pushing back against Tennessee Republicans seeking to oust three House Democrats for using a bullhorn to shout support for pro-gun control protesters in the House chamber, while the GOP has previously resisted removing its own members even when weighing criminal allegations.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A spokesman for Mike Pence said Wednesday that the former vice president will not appeal a judge's order compelling him to testify in the Justice Department's investigation into efforts by Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
WASHINGTON (AP) — An online marketplace that trafficked in stolen login credentials, email user names and passwords, bank account data and other sensitive information has been dismantled, law enforcement officials in the United States and Europe announced Wednesday.
NEW YORK (AP) — A stone-faced Donald Trump made a momentous courtroom appearance Tuesday when he was confronted with a 34-count felony indictment charging him in a scheme to bury allegations of extramarital affairs that arose during his first White House campaign.
NEW YORK (AP) — The cover-up is worse than the crime, the expression goes. And in the hush money case against Donald Trump, prosecutors say the cover-up made the crime worse.
WASHINGTON (AP) — For the most devoted Trump conspiracy theorists, there are no coincidences and timing is everything.
NEW YORK (AP) — For the first time in history, a former U.S. president has appeared in court as a criminal defendant.
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump staring directly at the camera in a black T-shirt. Giving a side-eye in a suit and striped tie. Scowling in an orange jumpsuit.
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump turned his head toward photographers as he sat, stone-faced with shoulders rounded, at the defense table in a downtown Manhattan courtroom. "Not guilty," he said in a firm voice during a historic appearance before a judge. Trump became the first U.S. president — former or current — to be charged with a crime.
In the currency of today's attention economy, Donald Trump is the world's richest man.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Stormy Daniels must pay nearly $122,000 of Donald Trump's legal fees that were racked up in connection with the porn actor's failed defamation lawsuit, an appeals court ruled Tuesday.
AUTO INDUSTRY
As fossil fuel emissions continue warming Earth's atmosphere, the Biden administration is turning to hydrogen as an energy source for vehicles, manufacturing and generating electricity.
DETROIT (AP) — An electric Ram pickup truck with up to 500 miles of range per charge and a battery-powered people-hauling Kia SUV are among the new vehicles being introduced Wednesday at the New York International Auto Show.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Two trailblazing ride-hailing services are heading toward uncharted territory as they seek regulatory approval to transport passengers around the clock throughout one of the most densely populated U.S. cities in vehicles that will have no one sitting in the driver's seat.
ENVIRONMENT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency is tightening rules that limit emissions of mercury and other harmful pollutants from coal-fired power plants, updating standards imposed more than a decade ago.
HEALTH CARE
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) — Johnson & Johnson is earmarking nearly $9 billion to cover allegations that its baby power containing talc caused cancer, more than quadrupling the amount that the company had previously set aside to pay for its potential liability.
BANKING
GENEVA (AP) — The Swiss government says it's ordered cuts to the bonuses of top executives of Credit Suisse, with nearly 1,000 managers being "deprived" of tens of millions combined as the troubled bank heads toward a forced merger with rival UBS.
GENEVA (AP) — The UBS chairman voiced confidence Wednesday that the Swiss bank will succeed in a government-engineered takeover of hobbled rival Credit Suisse, pledging the deal will reduce costs, benefit shareholders and buttress Swiss finance despite "huge" risks in knitting the global lenders together.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks closed lower on Wall Street Wednesday and Treasury yields fell following the latest signals that the U.S. economy is slowing.
NEW YORK (AP) — FedEx will combine almost all of its ground, air and other operations by next year as part of a $4 billion cost cutting plan.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
NEW YORK (AP) — When Donald Trump stepped into a Manhattan courthouse Tuesday afternoon, his usual bravado was replaced with palpable anger and notable silence as the former president was reduced to a criminal defendant in custody.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Tuesday it remains to be seen if artificial intelligence is dangerous, but that he believes technology companies must ensure their products are safe before releasing them to the public.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is pressing its case for a new approach to global trade, arguing that America's traditional reliance on promoting free trade pacts failed to anticipate China's brass-knuckled brand of capitalism and the possibility a major power like Russia would go to war against one of its trading partners.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will travel to the United Kingdom and Ireland next week in part to help mark the the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday accord, a U.S.-brokered agreement that helped end decades of deadly sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The moment will be historic — a U.S. House speaker meeting with the president of Taiwan for a rare visit on American soil, a high-profile encounter designed to boost support for the island government but already drawing blowback from an enraged China.
WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady Jill Biden will represent the U.S. at the coronation of King Charles III next month, President Joe Biden told the royal during a Tuesday call, the White House said.
TUESDAY, APRIL 4
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
DALLAS (AP) — Jason Robertson became the first Dallas player with a 100-point season with another big-scoring night as the Stars clinched a playoff spot.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Mike Hill, a 61-year-old custodian who was among the six people killed in last week's attack at a Nashville elementary school, was remembered Tuesday for his loving nature, his culinary skills and his faith.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Republican lawmakers took the first steps Monday to expel three Democratic members from the GOP-dominant House for their role in a recent gun control protest at the state Capitol.
EAST TENNESSEE
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — The three-week manhunt for a former top aide to Maryland's governor ended in his death after public corruption charges cut his tenure short and ultimately sent him on the run from federal agents when he skipped a court appearance.
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) — A judge has warned former President Donald Trump to refrain from rhetoric that could inflame or cause civil unrest.
Donald Trump sat solemnly in a New York City courtroom Tuesday as prosecutors charged him with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a hush money investigation. The first former president to be charged with crimes pleaded not guilty on all counts.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal jury has awarded nearly $3.2 million in damages to a Black former worker at a Tesla factory in California that has been at the epicenter of racial discrimination allegations hanging over the automaker run by billionaire Elon Musk.
NEW YORK (AP) — A small park built on a site that was once a swampy, sewage-filled pond was ground zero for the frenzy surrounding former President Donald Trump's surrender Tuesday at a courthouse in Lower Manhattan.
Ahead of former President Donald Trump's expected booking and arraignment in New York City on Tuesday, social media users are accusing Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, of having poor prosecutorial judgment in other cases.
NEW YORK (AP) — The founder of Frank, a student loan assistance startup company that J.P. Morgan Chase acquired for $175 million two years ago, has been arrested on charges that she duped the financial giant by dramatically inflating the number of customers her company had, authorities said Tuesday.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The manufacturer of eyedrops recently linked to deaths and injuries lacked measures to assure sterility at its factory in India, according to U.S. health inspectors.
NEW YORK (AP) — The sons of cosmetics giant Estée Lauder, along with her four grandchildren, pledged $200 million Tuesday to the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, a nonprofit the family founded to support research into finding a cure for the disease.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors rode strong first-quarter sales of the Chevrolet Bolt to bump crosstown rival Ford out of second place in the U.S. electric vehicle sales race.
DETROIT (AP) — U.S. new-vehicle sales rose 7.5% in the first quarter as supplies improved and sky-high prices eased a bit while the global shortage of computer chips started to wane.
TECHNOLOGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday will meet with his council of advisers on science and technology about the " risks and opportunities " that rapid advancements in artificial intelligence development pose for individual users and national security.
MEDIA
Britain's privacy watchdog hit TikTok with a multimillion-dollar penalty on Tuesday for a slew of data protection breaches, including misusing children's data.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia has become the last of the "Five Eyes" security partners to ban the Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok from its federal government's devices.
Elon Musk had promised to take away all of Twitter's blue check marks doled out to Hollywood stars, professional athletes, business leaders, authors and journalists unless they start buying a monthly subscription to the social media service.
ENERGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden's administration is making $450 million available for solar farms and other clean energy projects across the country at the site of current or former coal mines, part of his efforts to combat climate change.
BANKING
NEW YORK (AP) — JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said the U.S. and the banking industry should amend regulations following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank last month, saying that the financial system needs to be adjusted so that one bank's failure does not "cause undue panic and financial harm."
ZURICH (AP) — Credit Suisse shareholders on Tuesday upbraided the Swiss bank's leaders for years of mismanagement, scandal and obfuscation that sent its stock price into the gutter, while executives apologized and insisted that the only way forward for the once-venerable lender was a government-engineered takeover by rival UBS.
ECONOMY
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. job openings slipped to 9.9 million in February, fewest since May 2021 and a sign that the job market may be starting to cool, which would be welcome news for the inflation fighters at the Federal Reserve.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks fell on Wall Street Tuesday following a pair of weaker-than-expected economic reports.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — New IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel delivered a tax-season pledge Tuesday that the agency will use an $80 billion infusion of cash to become faster, more tech-savvy and provide "real-world improvements" to taxpayers.
FRIDLEY, Minn. (AP) — President Joe Biden ventured to suburban Minneapolis on Monday to talk about factory jobs and contrast his agenda with "the last guy who had this job." The "last guy," as Biden calls Donald Trump, was simultaneously touching down in New York to become the first former president to be arrested.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. will send Ukraine about $500 million in ammunition and equipment and spend more than $2 billion to buy an array of munitions, radar and other weapons for that country in the future, the White House announced Tuesday, as Ukrainian troops prepare for a spring offensive against Russian forces.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Berger Action Fund is a nondescript name for a group with a rather specific purpose: steering the wealth of Hansjörg Wyss, a Swiss billionaire, into the world of American politics and policy.
MONDAY, APRIL 3
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Grammy winners Tanya Tucker and Patty Loveless, along with hit country songwriter Bob McDill, will be the newest members of the Country Music Hall of Fame.
NASHVILLE (AP) — "Son of a Sinner" singer Jelly Roll was the big winner at the CMT Music Awards, as the rapper-turned-country singer took home three awards on Sunday as an outsider who won over fans with his confessional songs.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — As students across Nashville walked out of class on Monday to protest gun violence at the Tennessee Capitol following a school shooting last week, police said the person who killed six people, including three 9-year-old children, had been planning the massacre for months.
FRANKLIN (AP) — It's Palm Sunday, and across the greater Nashville, Tennessee, region, many Christians headed to worship services grief-stricken and hurting for the lives stolen too soon in The Covenant School shooting.
Anti-transgender rhetoric and disinformation in the days following the shooting at a Nashville Christian school that killed six people have heightened the fears of a community already on edge amid a historic push for more restrictions on trans people's rights this year.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — In the wake of an elementary school shooting in Tennessee earlier this week that left three 9-year-olds and three adults dead, state legislatures across the country are moving forward with bills aiming to improve school safety.
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) — His caseload has featured charges against former President Donald Trump's company and some of Trump's closest associates in business and politics.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump flew from Florida on Monday toward New York and his historic booking and arraignment on hush money charges, as the nation's largest city bolstered security and warned potential protesters it was "not a playground for your misplaced anger."
Former President Donald Trump's court appearance Tuesday will kick off an intense legal battle as the 2024 Republican presidential candidate also fights to return to the White House.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The last time Secret Service agents escorted a U.S. leader to face criminal charges, they kept their mission a secret — even from their own bosses.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump faces the most urgent legal challenge of his life this week in New York, where he's set to be arraigned Tuesday on charges arising from hush money payments during his 2016 campaign.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Movie star Leonardo DiCaprio testified in federal court Monday morning as part of a trial involving international money laundering, bribery and a prominent rap artist.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal from a Louisiana death row inmate seeking a new sentencing hearing, over a dissent from the three liberal justices.
NEW YORK (AP) — His name has been plastered on this city's tabloids, bolted to its buildings and cemented to a special breed of brash New York confidence. Now, with Donald Trump due to return to the place that put him on the map, the city he loved is poised to deliver his comeuppance.
NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump will deliver remarks Tuesday night in Florida after his scheduled arraignment in New York on charges related to hush money payments, his campaign announced Sunday.
ENTERTAINMENT
WWE and the company that runs Ultimate Fighting Championship will combine to create a $21.4 billion sports entertainment company.
ENERGY
Offshore oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico are releasing far more climate-changing methane than official estimates show, according to a new study published Monday.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Major oil-producing countries led by Saudi Arabia said they're cutting supplies of crude — again. This time, the decision was a surprise and is underlining worries about where the global economy might be headed.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Nearly 43,000 people died in U.S. traffic crashes in 2021, the highest number in 16 years with deaths due to speeding and impaired or distracted driving on the rise.
DETROIT (AP) — Tesla's first-quarter vehicle sales rose 36% after the company cut prices twice in a bid to stimulate demand.
MEDIA
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Jeff Jackson of North Carolina has used it to explain the complex fight over raising the debt limit. Rep. Robert Garcia of California has used it to engage with members of the LGBTQ+ community. And Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania has used it to give an overview of Election Day results.
BANKING
GENEVA (AP) — The Swiss attorney general's office says it has opened a probe into the events surrounding embattled bank Credit Suisse, which is to be taken over by rival UBS.
ECONOMY
TOKYO (AP) — Business sentiment among big Japanese manufacturers worsened in the first quarter of this year in the fifth straight decline, according to a central bank survey released Monday.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stock markets around the world were mixed Monday, as a jump in oil prices threatens to add upward pressure on inflation.
NEW YORK (AP) — New York regulators approved 99 new provisional licenses for recreational marijuana dispensaries Monday as they try to speed up the rollout of a legal market that had been impeded by a court ruling.
McDonald's has closed its U.S. offices through Wednesday and told its corporate staff to work remotely as it prepares to announce a round of layoffs.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Disney CEO Bob Iger on Monday said any retaliatory actions by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature against the company that threaten jobs or expansion at its Florida resort is not only "anti-business ... but anti-Florida."
FRIDLEY, Minn. (AP) — President Joe Biden ventured to suburban Minneapolis on Monday to talk about factory jobs and contrast his agenda with "the last guy who had this job." The "last guy," as Biden calls Donald Trump, was simultaneously touching down in New York to become the first former president to be arrested. The Biden White House, which has shied away from involvement in the legal spectacle surrounding Trump, hoped to turn the split-screen moment into a chance to showcase the president's accomplishments and relatively drama-free administration. It represented a rehash of the choice that voters made in 2020 — and might have to make again in 2024 — as both men intend to seek the White House.
NEW YORK (AP) — Chris Christie, one of the only 2016 presidential candidates to seriously consider taking on Donald Trump again, says he and his fellow Republican rivals made a strategic error in that race.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has all but announced he's running for reelection, but key questions about the 2024 campaign are unresolved: Who will manage it? Where will it be based? When will he finally make it official?
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged his Russian counterpart, in a rare phone call between the diplomats since the Ukraine war, to immediately release a Wall Street Journal reporter who was detained last week as well as another imprisoned American, Paul Whelan, the State Department said Sunday.
FRIDAY, MARCH 31
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Tristan Jarry typically speaks in a monotone, symbolic of a goaltender who when he's at his best takes a boring, almost zen-like approach to his job.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Funeral arrangements were disclosed Thursday for the six people killed in this week's school shooting in Nashville, as the grieving city mourns the victims of the horrific attack that transformed what should have been a normal day of school on a bright, sunny morning into wrenching tragedy.
Monday's shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville unfolded over approximately 15 minutes as a shooter opened fire inside, killing six people, before police arrived and fatally shot the suspect.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Authorities released 911 recordings on Thursday that capture the terror inside a Nashville elementary school during a mass shooting this week, as callers pleaded for help in hushed voices while sirens, crying and gunfire could be heard in the background.
STATE GOVERNMENT
An LGBTQ+ theater company is suing to try to block Tennessee's first-in-the-nation law that placed strict limits on drag shows, saying it violates the First Amendment.
REGION
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The military says the service members who died in a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter crash ranged in age from 23 to 36 and were from seven states.
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) — Every day, hundreds of people are taken into law enforcement custody in New York City. Former President Donald Trump will become one of them next week.
NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump will be arraigned Tuesday after his indictment in Manhattan, his formal surrender and arrest presenting the historic, shocking scene of a former U.S. commander in chief forced to stand before a judge.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The indictment against former President Donald Trump involving a 2016 hush money payment is raising concerns that it could undermine public confidence in what democracy experts view as far more important investigations.
Though far from the only U.S. president dogged by legal and ethical scandals, Donald Trump now occupies a unique place in history as the first indicted on criminal charges.
NEW YORK (AP) — If you didn't know what you were looking for, you might've missed it. Even then, it was hard to know at the moment that history was unfolding before your eyes.
The hush money case in New York that has led to criminal charges against Donald Trump is just one of a number of investigations that could pose legal problems for the former president.
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump has become the first former U.S. president to be charged with a crime, the culmination of a political rise defined by unprecedented scandal.
Donald Trump has become the first former president to be indicted in a criminal case after a grand jury investigation into hush money payments made on his behalf during the 2016 presidential campaign.
A New York grand jury that voted to indict former President Donald Trump on charges involving payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence claims of an extramarital sexual encounter has refocused attention on the Manhattan district attorney steering the case. Alvin Bragg's decision to convene the grand jury early this year led to the first criminal charge against a former U.S. president.
As Donald Trump fought his way to victory in the 2016 presidential campaign, key allies tried to smooth his bumpy path by paying off two women who had been thinking of going public with allegations of extramarital encounters with the Republican.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A founding member of the 1990s hip-hop group the Fugees was enmeshed in political conspiracies involving millions of dollars in foreign money under two different U.S. presidents, federal prosecutors said as his trial got underway with opening statements Thursday.
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump has been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury, a historic reckoning after years of investigations into his personal, political and business dealings and an abrupt jolt to his bid to retake the White House.
AUTO INDUSTRY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer new electric vehicles will qualify for a full $7,500 federal tax credit later this year, and many will get only half that, under rules proposed Friday by the U.S. Treasury Department.
TRANSPORTATION
Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit is letting go of almost its entire work force with the satellite launch company finding it difficult to secure funding three months after a failed mission.
MEDIA
WASHINGTON (AP) — Under pressure from the U.S. government, TikTok is now facing the music with the possibility of a nationwide ban if it defies a government order to sell to an American company — unless the popular social media app can convince a high-powered panel that its data security restructuring plan sufficiently guards against national security concerns.
BANKING
BEIJING (AP) — A former chairman of Bank of China Ltd., one of the country's four major state-owned lenders, is under investigation by the ruling Communist Party's anti-corruption agency, state TV reported Friday, adding to a string of high-level financial figures ensnared in a marathon crackdown.
ECONOMY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve's favored inflation gauge slowed sharply last month, an encouraging sign in the Fed's yearlong effort to cool price pressures through steadily higher interest rates.
LONDON (AP) — Inflation in the 20 countries that use the euro currency slowed to the lowest level in a year as energy prices dropped, but food costs were still on the rise, keeping pressure on the European Central Bank to hike interest rates further.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rallied on Wall Street and closed out a winning March despite a long list of worries for investors.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration has awarded Verizon Communications a contract potentially worth $2.4 billion to upgrade the agency's technology systems.
LONDON (AP) — The U.K. has agreed to join an Asia-Pacific trade pact that includes Japan, Mexico and Australia — the biggest new trade deal Britain has struck since leaving the European Union three years ago.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The financial safety nets millions of older Americans rely on — and millions more young people are counting on — will run short of money to pay full benefits within the next decade, the annual Social Security and Medicare trustees report released Friday warns.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Does President Joe Biden have any reaction to the indictment of former President Donald Trump? Is he concerned about possible protests or that the unprecedented indictment could further divide the nation? What does the indictment mean for the rule of law in the United States?
WASHINGTON (AP) — A celebrity and insatiable publicity hound long before he was president, Donald Trump has been photographed countless times. But never like this.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Friday urged Russia to release Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested on espionage charges — allegations the newspaper denies.
NEW YORK (AP) — The historic indictment of former President Donald Trump thrust the 2024 presidential election into uncharted territory, raising the remarkable prospect that the leading contender for the Republican nomination will seek the White House while also facing trial for criminal charges in New York.
NEW YORK (AP) — Conservative media figures leaped to Donald Trump's defense with apocalyptic language Thursday, claiming the former president was being unfairly persecuted by a Manhattan grand jury's indictment and predicting his 2024 bid for the White House would get a boost from his perceived martyrdom.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Friday will visit a Mississippi town ravaged by a deadly tornado even as a new series of severe storms threatens to rip across the Midwest and the South.
THURSDAY, MARCH 30
NASHVILLE AREA
Moments after the assailant who killed six people at a Nashville private school was identified as transgender, a baseless narrative emerged: that there has been an incredible rise in transgender or nonbinary mass shooters in recent years.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Hundreds of protesters gathered at the Tennessee Capitol on Thursday as the state's Republican-dominated Legislature began taking up bills for the first time since a mass shooting at a Christian school in Nashville in which three children and three adults were killed.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Hundreds gathered Wednesday at a candlelight vigil in Nashville to honor and mourn the three children and three adults who were killed in a shooting at a Christian school this week.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Details from the rich, full lives of the three adults killed Monday at a Nashville elementary school have emerged quickly in the aftermath, but information on the three 9-year-old children — whose lives ended tragically young — has been slower to publicly surface from a community buried in grief.
Monday's shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville unfolded over approximately 15 minutes as a shooter opened fire inside, killing six people, before police arrived and fatally shot the suspect.
A spate of threats and false reports of shooters have been pouring into schools and colleges across the country for months, raising concerns among law enforcement and elected leaders.
REGION
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) — Nine people were killed in a crash involving two Army Black Hawk medical evacuation helicopters conducting a nighttime training exercise in Kentucky, Army officials said Thursday.
COURTS
A lawyer for Donald Trump said Thursday he's been told that the former president has been indicted in New York on charges involving payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence claims of an extramarital sexual encounter.
NEW YORK (AP) — A lawyer for Sam Bankman-Fried signaled Thursday that the onetime cryptocurrency darling is challenging the validity of new charges added to an indictment after he agreed to be brought to the United States in December from the Bahamas rather than fight extradition.
PHOENIX (AP) — In Arizona's most populous county, elected officials are bracing for what could happen when it comes time to replace its $2 million-a-year contract for voting equipment.
WASHINGTON (AP) — An FBI informant who marched to the U.S. Capitol with fellow Proud Boys members on Jan. 6 testified on Wednesday that he didn't know of any plans for the far-right extremist group to invade the building and didn't think they inspired the violence that day.
AUTO INDUSTRY
Well, it was nice while it lasted. For nearly a year, the average used vehicle in the United States had been edging toward affordable again for millions of people. The relief felt belated and relatively slight, but it was welcome nonetheless.
ENERGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans on Thursday approved a sprawling energy package that seeks to undo virtually all of President Joe Biden's agenda to address climate change.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A federal judge has ordered the U.S. government to resume regular oil and gas lease sales on federal lands in North Dakota, even as a legal battle continues over the Biden administration's suspension of the leasing program two years ago in an effort to combat climate change.
BANKING
WASHINGTON (AP) — Weeks after the failure of two banks, President Joe Biden called Thursday for independent regulatory agencies to impose tighter rules on the financial system, telling them that they can act under current law without additional steps taken by Congress.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican lawmakers accused top bank regulators Wednesday of dawdling as Silicon Valley Bank hurtled toward the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history and questioned whether tougher regulations would have made a difference.
GENEVA (AP) — Four former bankers with the Swiss affiliate of a key Russian bank were found guilty Thursday of failing to properly check accounts opened in the name of a Russian cellist with longtime ties to President Vladimir Putin.
MEDIA
NEW YORK (AP) — CNN's leadership is preaching patience even though thousands of viewers are abandoning the network during its attempted turnaround, with no indication yet whether it will be rewarded.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley tried to force a Senate vote Wednesday on legislation that would ban TikTok from operating in the United States, but he was blocked by a fellow Republican as lawmakers in both chambers are still trying to figure out what action, if any, is appropriate against the social media app.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A year ago, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, TikTok started labeling accounts operated by Russian state propaganda agencies as a way to tell users they were being exposed to Kremlin disinformation.
ECONOMY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy maintained its resilience from October through December despite rising interest rates, growing at a 2.6% annual pace, the government said Thursday in a slight downgrade from its previous estimate. But consumer spending, which drives most of the economy's growth, was revised sharply down.
U.S. applications for jobless benefits rose last week but remain at historically low levels despite efforts by the Federal Reserve to cool the economy and the job market in its fight against inflation.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks closed higher again as more fear evaporates from Wall Street. The S&P 500 added 0.6% Thursday, its fifth gain in the last six days.
NEW YORK (AP) — Banks will need to start reporting the demographics and income of small business loan applicants under new rules published by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday.
NEW YORK (AP) — Average Wall Street bonuses dropped sharply last year to $176,700 amid lagging profits and recession fears, New York state's comptroller reported Thursday.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union must be prepared to develop measures to protect trade and investment that China might exploit for its own security and military purposes, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned on Thursday.
HONG KONG (AP) — Alibaba plans to spin off some of its sprawling e-commerce and finance empire as independent businesses to make them more flexible and maximize their value, its top executives said Thursday, as the company emerges from regulatory crackdowns that rattled Chinese tech industries.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — France's top diplomat said Thursday that she hoped the NATO applications of Sweden and Finland would be "ratified quickly" as the Turkish parliament was expected to vote soon on whether Finland should join the 30-member alliance.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — When North Carolina in 2016 banned transgender people from using the bathroom of their gender identity in public buildings, California retaliated by banning state-funded travel to that state and any other state with laws it deemed discriminatory against LGBTQ people.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate voted Wednesday to repeal the resolution that gave a green light for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, a bipartisan effort to return a basic war power to Congress 20 years after an authorization many now view as a mistake.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden won't veto a Republican-led measure to end the national COVID emergency, despite having expressed strong objections against it earlier this year, ensuring the bill is on an easy path to becoming law.