VOL. 46 | NO. 19 | Friday, May 13, 2022
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
Very few people have lied one time and then ceased the practice. If they lied to you once, you can expect more falsehoods to follow.
REAL ESTATE
Top residential real estate sales, April 2022, for Davidson County, as compiled by the Nashville Ledger.
April 2022 real estate trends for Davidson County, as compiled by the Nashville Ledger.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates edged up again this week, with interest on the key 30-year loan at its highest level since 2009.
NEWSMAKERS
Judge James G. Martin III will be honored next month with the Tennessee Bar Association’s Justice Frank F. Drowota III Award.
BRIEFS
AllianceBernstein LP, a research and global investment management firm, has officially unveiled its corporate headquarters in Nashville.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Upgrading from a compact to a midsize SUV doesn’t need to include a third row. Small families and empty nesters who want a bit more versatility can enjoy a midsize crossover’s cabin volume without the need to stow or store unused seats.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
Your backside barely fits. There’s not much wiggle room, but you’re grateful for the seat.
CAREER CORNER
This is a big month. Graduates are emerging from college after spending more than two years in a pandemic. Can you imagine what it would have been like to spend your junior and senior years of college being isolated and learning via Zoom? I can’t. Hats off to the graduates who have pulled through this tough time.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
My family didn’t travel much when I was a kid, but when we did, my parents jumped through hoops to cut costs.
PERSONAL FINANCE
Before the pandemic, entrepreneurs Liz Eddy and Alyssa Ruderman had trouble getting venture capitalists to invest Lantern, their end-of-life planning app. Potential business partners were skeptical, as well.
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans have agreed to terms on a multi-year contract with the 18th pick overall in wide receiver Treylon Burks.
SPORTS
The U.S. Soccer Federation reached milestone agreements to pay its men's and women's teams equally, making the American national governing body the first in the sport to promise both sexes matching money.
The U.S. Soccer Federation agreed to landmark collective bargaining agreements with its men's and women's teams, equalizing compensation for the first time.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NEW YORK (AP) — Taylor Swift has Grammys galore and now she has a new title — "doctor."
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's highest court ruled Wednesday that Republican Gov. Bill Lee's school voucher program does not violate the state's constitution, clearing the path for families to soon use taxpayer dollars on private schools.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday struck down Tennessee's first-of-its-kind law requiring businesses to post special signs if they allow transgender people to use the bathroom of their choice.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Officials with the Tennessee Democratic Party say they will host three gubernatorial debates ahead of the upcoming August primary election.
EAST TENNESSEE
LOUISVILLE (AP) — Four members of the Tennessee National Guard were honored recently for a lifesaving medical evacuation in the Smokies.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department sued longtime Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn on Tuesday to compel him to register as a foreign agent because of lobbying work it says he performed at the behest of the Chinese government during the Trump administration.
MEMPHIS (AP) — A former pastor in Tennessee and Indiana faces up to life in prison after he pleaded guilty to federal child sex abuse charges, prosecutors said.
MEDIA
In what was essentially a public debut on Wednesday, leaders of the new Warner Bros. Discovery portrayed the media giant as effectively a fifth U.S. broadcast television network, with even bigger aspirations.
LONDON (AP) — Google says its Russian subsidiary is planning to file for bankruptcy because it can't pay staff and suppliers.
ENVIRONMENT
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Four European Union countries plan to speed up the continent's green transition and help wean it off Russian energy imports through a large new project to build wind farms in the North Sea, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Wednesday.
A new study blames pollution of all types for 9 million deaths a year globally, with the death toll attributed to dirty air from cars, trucks and industry rising 55% since 2000.
TRANSPORTATION
WASHINGTON (AP) — The largest union for U.S. flight attendants threw its support Tuesday behind Frontier Airlines' proposal to buy Spirit Airlines after it reached a deal with Frontier on how to combine cabin crews at the two carriers.
COVID-19
WASHINGTON (AP) — COVID-19 cases are increasing in the United States – and could get even worse over the coming months, federal health officials warned Wednesday in urging areas hardest hit to consider reissuing calls for indoor masking.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank more than 1,100 points and the S&P 500 had its biggest drop in nearly two years Wednesday, as big earnings misses by Target and other major retailers stoked investors' fears that surging inflation could cut deeply into corporate profits.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations on Wednesday significantly lowered its forecast for global economic growth this year from 4% to 3.1%, saying the war in Ukraine has triggered increasing global food and commodity prices and exacerbated inflationary pressures, upending the fragile recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
NEW YORK (AP) — The pandemic vastly changed the way Americans spend money and now as they return to pre-pandemic behavior, they're tripping up retailers again.
LONDON (AP) — Britain's inflation rate rose to the highest level in 40 years last month as Russia's war in Ukraine fueled further increases in food and fuel prices.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional bargainers announced Wednesday that they have reached a deal on legislation to boost health care services and disability benefits for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan.
WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Joe Biden embarks for Asia on Thursday, he's facing a new risk at home for the economy and his Democratic Party: a global slowdown caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the pandemic shutting down Chinese cities and factories.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Homeland Security paused its new disinformation governance board Wednesday and the board's director will resign, following weeks of criticism from Republicans and questions about whether the board would impinge on free speech rights.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump's influence was enough to elevate his Senate candidate to victory in North Carolina on Tuesday, while his pick in Pennsylvania remained in a tough fight in that state's Senate primary.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol is rejecting a request from the Justice Department for access to the committee's interviews, for now.
BONN, Germany (AP) — The U.S., several global development banks and other groups unveiled a multi-billion dollar plan Wednesday meant to address a worldwide food security crisis exacerbated by Russia's war in Ukraine.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union's executive arm moved Wednesday to jump-start plans for the 27-nation bloc to abandon Russian energy amid the Kremlin's war in Ukraine, proposing a nearly 300 billion-euro ($315 billion) package that includes more efficient use of fuels and faster rollout of renewable power.
While Europeans bask in the warmth of spring, governments are in a race against winter.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A government watchdog says decisions by Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden to pull all U.S. troops out of Afghanistan were the key factors in the collapse of that nation's military.
UKRAINE
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Mariupol appeared on the verge of falling to the Russians on Tuesday as Ukraine moved to abandon the steel plant where hundreds of its fighters had held out for months under relentless bombardment in the last bastion of resistance in the devastated city.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia said Wednesday that nearly 1,000 Ukrainian troops at a giant steelworks in Mariupol have surrendered, abandoning their dogged defense of a site that became a symbol of their country's resistance, as the battle in the strategic port city appeared all but over.
TUESDAY, MAY 17
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Jerry Lee Lewis, the late country singer Keith Whitley and music executive Joe Galante will join the Country Music Hall of Fame.
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans have signed veteran defensive lineman DeMarcus Walker and cornerback Kenneth George.
PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Nashville Predators have signed Iaroslav Askarov to a three-year entry level contract, two years after making him the sixth Russian-born goalie taken in the NHL draft first round at No. 11 overall.
UT SPORTS
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Tennessee has signed forward Julian Phillips, the fourth high school All-American and seventh five-star prospect to join the Volunteers under men's basketball coach Rick Barnes.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee State University won a $1.9 million grant for its College of Agriculture to lead a group of historically Black schools in research around sustainable agriculture and environmental conservation, the college announced on Monday.
TRANSPORTATION
DETROIT (AP) — Nearly 43,000 people were killed on U.S. roads last year, the highest number in 16 years as Americans returned to the roads after the coronavirus pandemic forced many to stay at home.
COVID-19
U.S. regulators on Tuesday authorized a COVID-19 booster shot for healthy 5- to 11-year-olds, hoping an extra vaccine dose will enhance their protection as infections once again creep upward.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government website for people to request free COVID-19 at-home tests from the U.S. government is now accepting a third round of orders.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Tesla CEO Elon Musk promised that taking over Twitter would enable him to rid the social media platform of its annoying "spam bots." Now he's arguing — without presenting any evidence — that there might be just too many of those automated accounts for the $44 billion deal to move ahead.
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rose steadily throughout the day and ended with broad gains as traders got back to buying again after a mostly miserable few weeks on Wall Street.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday underscored the Federal Reserve's determination to keep raising interest rates until there is clear evidence inflation is steadily falling — a high-stakes effort that carries the risk of causing an eventual recession.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. retail sales rose 0.9% in April, a solid increase that underscores Americans' ability to keep ramping up spending even as inflation persists at nearly a 40-year high.
BEIJING (AP) — Elon Musk's ties to China through his role as electric car brand Tesla's biggest shareholder could add complexity to his bid to buy Twitter.
DETROIT (AP) — Tesla CEO Elon Musk gave the strongest hint yet Monday that he would like to pay less for Twitter than his $44 billion offer made last month.
NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart reported stronger sales for the first quarter, but its profit took a beating as the nation's largest retailer grappled with surging inflation on food and fuel and higher costs from a snarled global supply chain.
Home Depot's first-quarter sales improved despite a slow spring start and the home improvement chain raised its full-year guidance.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Warren Buffett's company on Monday revealed all the investment moves it made in the first quarter, when it spent more than $51 billion on stocks.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats unveiled a $28 million emergency spending bill Tuesday to address the shortage of infant formula in the United States.
LONDON (AP) — The British government dramatically escalated a fight with the European Union on Tuesday by saying it will pass a law to scrap parts of the trade treaty signed by the two sides less than two years ago.
BRUSSELS (AP) — Even as Western allies grapple with how to counter Russia's assault on Ukraine, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Tuesday that they also must take a wary and united approach to checking China and its business practices.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Signs of Republican resistance are mounting over a $40 billion aid package to Ukraine, a reemergence of the Trump-led isolationist wing of the GOP that's coming at a crucial moment as the war against the Russian invasion deepens.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Election Commission has decided not to take action against former President Donald Trump after commissioners deadlocked over whether his campaign broke the law by masking how it was spending cash during the 2020 campaign.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration says it will expand flights to Cuba, take steps to loosen restrictions on U.S. travelers to the island, and lift Trump-era restrictions on remittances that immigrants can send to people on the island.
UKRAINE
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Hundreds of Ukrainian fighters defending the last holdout in Mariupol were evacuated to areas controlled by Russian-backed separatists and officials worked Tuesday to get the rest out, signaling the beginning of the end of a siege that became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — As she lay buried under the rubble, her legs broken and eyes blinded by blood and thick clouds of dust, all Inna Levchenko could hear was screams. It was 12:15 p.m. on March 3, and moments earlier a blast had pulverized the school where she'd taught for 30 years.
MONDAY, MAY 16
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Brandi Carlile, Allison Russell and Yola are the leading nominees for the 2022 Americana Honors and Awards, with each one up for album of the year, artist of the year and song of the year.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Naomi Judd was celebrated with words and soaring music at a public memorial service Sunday that ended with her daughter Wynonna announcing that a tour planned for later this year would go on.
MIDSTATE
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) — Some soldiers at Fort Campbell on the Kentucky-Tennessee border are preparing to deploy to Europe.
TOURISM
KNOXVILLE (AP) — In its quest to redefine tourism at the gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains, The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has inked a deal to bring an international entertainment company to the United States for the first time.
COURTS
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Los Angeles judge has ruled that California's landmark law requiring women on corporate boards is unconstitutional.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A sharply divided Supreme Court on Monday ruled that federal courts are powerless to review immigration officials' decisions in some deportation cases, even when they have made what a dissenting justice called "egregious factual mistakes."
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court's conservative majority sided Monday with Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and struck down a provision of federal campaign finance law, a ruling that a dissenting justice said runs the risk of causing "further disrepute" to American politics.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jury selection got underway Monday in the trial of a lawyer for the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign who is accused of lying to the FBI as it investigated potential ties between Donald Trump and Russia in 2016.
HEALTH CARE
Starbucks said Monday it will pay the travel expenses for U.S. employees to access abortion and gender-confirmation procedures if those services aren't available within 100 milof a worker's home.
TRANSPORTATION
WASHINGTON (AP) — With upcoming data showing traffic deaths soaring, the Biden administration is steering $5 billion in federal aid to cities and localities to address the growing crisis by slowing down cars, carving out bike paths and wider sidewalks and nudging commuters to public transit.
JetBlue is going hostile in its bid for Spirit Airlines and asking shareholders of the low-cost carrier to reject a proposed acquisition by Frontier Airlines.
AUTO INDUSTRY
Russia will take control of French car manufacturer Renault's operations in the country and resurrect a Soviet-era auto brand, officials said Monday, marking the first major nationalization of a foreign business since the war in Ukraine began.
ENVIRONMENT
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Government budgets are booming in New Mexico: Teacher salaries are up, residents can go to an in-state college tuition-free, moms will get medical care for a year after childbirth, and criminal justice initiatives are being funded to reduce urban violence.
NONPROFITS
NEW YORK (AP) — The co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, Brian Chesky, has donated $100 million to the Obama Foundation to fund scholarships for students pursuing careers in public service and includes multiple stipends for travel.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks ended another wobbly day mostly lower on Wall Street Monday, extending a losing streak for markets.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jeff Bezos this weekend became the latest centibillionaire to launch a political fight on Twitter by denouncing a tweet from President Joe Biden about corporate taxes as "disinformation" and "misdirection."
WASHINGTON (AP) — Under fire from parents and politicians, President Joe Biden's administration on Monday is expected to announce an agreement to reopen the largest domestic manufacturing plant of infant formula and to ease import rules to allow supplies in from overseas, amid a nationwide shortage spurred by the Michigan plant's shutdown earlier this year over safety issues.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Six months after the signing of President Joe Biden's $1 trillion infrastructure package, the government said Monday there are 4,300 projects underway with more than $110 billion in funding announced — milestones the administration is publicly heralding as midterm politics intensify.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has slashed its forecasts for economic growth in the 27-nation bloc amid the prospect of a drawn-out Russian war in Ukraine and disruptions to energy supplies.
McDonald's said Monday that it has started the process of selling its Russian business, which includes 850 restaurants that employ 62,000 people, making it the latest major Western corporation to exit Russia since it invaded Ukraine in February.
BEIJING (AP) — China's factory and consumer activity fell even more than expected in April under anti-virus controls, official data showed Monday, but a Cabinet official said the economy is reviving as anti-virus curbs ease and its commercial capital of Shanghai reopens.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — When Joe Biden talks about his decision to run against President Donald Trump in 2020, the story always starts with Charlottesville. He says it was the men with torches shouting bigoted slogans that drove him to join what he calls the "battle for the soul of America."
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden urged unity Sunday to address the "hate that remains a stain on the soul of America" after a deadly mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, while state officials pleaded for federal action to end the "uniquely American phenomenon" of mass shootings.
UKRAINE
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Europe pushed Monday to sharpen and expand its response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with Sweden poised to follow Finland in seeking membership of NATO and European Union officials working to rescue proposed sanctions that would target Russian oil exports helping the Kremlin finance its war.
STOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden on Monday decided to join neighboring Finland in seeking NATO membership, ending more than two centuries of military nonalignment in a historic shift prompted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union's efforts to impose a new round of sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine appeared to be bogged down on Monday, as a small group of countries opposed a ban on imports of Russian oil.
FRIDAY, MAY 13
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans have agreed to terms on multi-year contracts with four of their nine draft picks.
VANDERBILT SPORTS
TROY, N.Y. (AP) — Right-hander Kumar Rocker agreed Friday to a contract with the independent Tri-City ValleyCats after failing to sign with the New York Mets last summer.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — A former Tennessee nurse whose medication error killed a patient was sentenced to three years of probation Friday as hundreds of health care workers rallied outside the courthouse, warning that criminalizing such mistakes will lead to more deaths in hospitals.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Hundreds of health care workers gathered outside a Nashville courthouse Friday to protest the sentencing of a former Tennessee nurse facing the possibility of years in prison for mistakenly causing the death of a patient.
MEMPHIS (AP) — High school students from three Tennessee cities have been named Presidential Scholars, the U.S. Department of Education said.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday denied a congressional hopeful's motion to reverse his removal from the GOP primary ballot.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Top Republican leaders in Tennessee say they don't have plans to ban contraceptives as they await a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court on whether the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case will be overturned.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies and Candace Parker of the Chicago Sky are among the athletes being honored with Achievement Awards by the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) — As a federal judge weighs Donald Trump's lawsuit seeking to halt a civil investigation into his business practices, a lawyer for the New York attorney general's office said Friday that evidence found throughout the three-year probe could support legal action against the former president, his company, or both.
MEDIA
DETROIT (AP) — Tesla billionaire Elon Musk has put his plan to buy Twitter on temporary hold, raising fresh doubts about whether he'll proceed with the $44 billion acquisition.
Elon Musk announced on Friday that his plan to buy Twitter in a proposed $44 billion deal is " temporarily on hold " as he tries to pinpoint the exact number of spam and fake accounts it has.
DETROIT (AP) — Shares of Tesla and Twitter have tumbled this week as investors deal with the fallout and potential legal issues surrounding Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his $44 billion bid to buy the social media platform.
TECHNOLOGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is taking the first steps to release $45 billion to ensure that every U.S. resident has access to high-speed internet by roughly 2028, inviting governors and other leaders on Friday to start the application process.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stock ended another bumpy week with a gain Friday, but not enough to keep the market from lodging its sixth weekly drop in a row, the longest such streak since 2011.
NEW YORK (AP) — It's been a wild week in crypto, even by crypto standards.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, fresh off winning Senate confirmation for a second term earlier in the day, acknowledged for the first time Thursday that high inflation and economic weakness overseas could thwart his efforts to avoid causing a recession.
BERLIN (AP) — Natural gas prices rose Friday after Russian state-owned exporter Gazprom said it would no longer send supplies to Europe via a pipeline in Poland, citing new sanctions that Moscow imposed on European energy companies. The move doesn't immediately block large amounts of natural gas to Europe but intensifies fears that the war in Ukraine will lead to wide-ranging cutoffs.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul defied leaders of both parties Thursday and single-handedly delayed until next week Senate approval of an additional $40 billion to help Ukraine and its allies withstand Russia's three-month old invasion.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Mayors, police chiefs and other local officials were invited to the White House on Friday to share with President Joe Biden how they are spending money from the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package on policing and public safety programs.
UKRAINE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoygu spoke with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday after months of refusing direct contact with his American counterpart. But officials said the call didn't appear to signal any change in Moscow's war in Ukraine.
WEISSENHAUS, Germany (AP) — The European Union is giving Ukraine another 500 million euros ($520 million) to buy heavy weapons to fend off the Russian invasion, the bloc's foreign affairs chief said Friday at a gathering in Germany of top diplomats from the Group of Seven wealthy nations.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden looked to nudge Southeast Asian leaders to be more outspoken about Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Friday, but the war is a delicate issue for many members of the region's 10-country alliance with deep ties to Moscow.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The trial of a Russian soldier accused of killing a Ukrainian civilian opened Friday, the first war crimes trial since Moscow's invasion of its neighbor.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Finland's leaders Thursday came out in favor of applying to join NATO, and Sweden could do the same within days, in a historic realignment on the continent 2 1/2 months after Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine sent a shiver of fear through Moscow's neighbors.
THURSDAY, MAY 12
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Twelve Tennessee State Parks are joining the American Canoe Association to offer low-cost kayaking instruction next week as part of National Safe Boating Week.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court's nine justices met in private Thursday for the first time since the leak of a draft opinion that would overrule Roe v. Wade and sharply curtail abortion rights in roughly half the states.
MEDIA
Twitter fired two of its top managers Friday, the latest sign of internal turmoil amid Tesla billionaire Elon Musk's planned buyout of the company.
TECHNOLOGY
The federal government said Thursday that artificial intelligence technology to screen new job candidates or monitor worker productivity can unfairly discriminate against people with disabilities, sending a warning to employers that the commonly used hiring tools could violate civil rights laws.
ENVIRONMENT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration says it is canceling three oil and gas lease sales scheduled in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Alaska, removing millions of acres from possible drilling as U.S. gas prices reach record highs.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The nation's largest public utility plans to shut down a massive coal-fired power plant, but wants to replace it with natural gas. That would put the federal Tennessee Valley Authority out of step with President Joe Biden's administration goal of a carbon-pollution-free energy sector by 2035.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo pushed back forcefully Wednesday against critics — including some within the Biden administration — who say a government investigation of solar imports from Southeast Asia is hindering President Joe Biden's ambitious climate goals.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two energy companies bid a combined $315 million in an auction for the rights to produce power from wind energy in two areas off the coasts of North Carolina and South Carolina, the U.S. Department of the Interior said.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Technology companies are leading stocks broadly lower on Wall Street in afternoon trading Thursday after investors received another dire readout on inflation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, responding to the recent sharp decline in the value of cryptocurrencies, said Thursday that additional federal regulation was needed to respond to the wave of speculative investment in the currency whose secrecy is an essential part of its appeal.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Thursday confirmed Jerome Powell for a second four-year term as Federal Reserve chair, giving bipartisan backing to Powell's high-stakes efforts to curb the highest inflation in four decades.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A baby formula shortage in the United States is driving parents to swap, sell and offer leftover supplies to each other, while President Joe Biden plans to speak with manufacturers and retailers Thursday about the plight facing families.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Many parents are hunting for infant formula after a combination of short- and long-term problems hit most of the biggest U.S. brands.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. producer prices soared 11% in April from a year earlier, a hefty gain that indicates high inflation will remain a burden for consumers and businesses in the months ahead.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for jobless aid ticked up slightly last week but the total number of Americans collecting benefits remained at its lowest level in more than five decades.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Commission proposed helping Ukraine export its wheat and other grains by rail, road and river to get around a Russian blockade of Black Sea ports, which is preventing those critical supplies from reaching parts of the world at risk of food insecurity.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — At the height of the pandemic, the meat processing industry worked closely with political appointees in the Trump administration to stave off health restrictions and keep slaughterhouses open even as COVID-19 spread rapidly among workers, according to a Congressional report released Thursday.
LONDON (AP) — Britain's economy grew at the slowest pace in a year during the first quarter as retailers and manufacturers were hurt by supply disruptions and higher prices, raising concerns that the country may be headed for a recession.
SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — Cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase has lost half its value in the past week, including its biggest one-day drop 5o date on Wednesday as the famously volatile crypto market weathers yet another slump.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will meet Friday with mayors, police chiefs and local public officials to discuss how cities are using funds from the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package on policing and public safety programs.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A House panel issued subpoenas Thursday to House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and four other GOP lawmakers in its probe into the violent Jan. 6 insurrection, an extraordinary step that has little precedent and is certain to further inflame partisan tensions over the 2021 attack.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Leaders from both parties tried clearing the way for Senate passage Thursday of an additional $40 billion for Ukraine and its allies, a package of military and economic aid that underscores U.S. determination to reinforce its role in countering the Russian invasion.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Erin Houchin braced for the worst when a mysterious, well-financed group started buying television ads last month in her highly competitive southern Indiana congressional race.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden appealed to world leaders at a COVID-19 summit Thursday to reenergize a lagging international commitment to attacking the virus as he led the U.S. in marking the "tragic milestone" of 1 million deaths in America. He ordered flags lowered to half-staff and warned against complacency around the globe.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is hosting leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as his administration makes an extended effort to demonstrate that the United States has not focus on the Pacific even while dealing with Russia's invasion of Ukraine.