VOL. 45 | NO. 20 | Friday, May 14, 2021
REAL ESTATE
Top residential real estate sales, April 2021, for Davidson County, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Mortgage rates declined this week, marking their fourth consecutive week below 3% and further evidence of the strength in the economy's recovery from the pandemic recession.
NEWSMAKERS
Robert Zeglarksi, known for his work with clients in the technology, financial and entertainment industries, has joined Frost Brown Todd’s Nashville office as a member in the firm’s securities and corporate governance practice group.
BRIEFS
The 2021 Bridge to Completion report from the Nashville Public Education Foundation and the Tennessee College Access and Success Network finds unique challenges and inequities for Nashville public school graduates due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
It’s no surprise that trucks and SUVs continue to dominate the U.S. vehicle market. But in a further move, automakers are increasingly building more SUVs and trucks that are specifically designed for off-road driving.
PERSONAL FINANCE
The latest coronavirus relief package did more than dole out $1,400 checks. The law also made health insurance free for millions more people and reduced costs for others – at least for now.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
Every morning, it’s the same argument. Two adult human beings, one at a time in front of your desk, complaining about the other over some office war that’s gone on too long. Both think they’re right. Neither will give up. You don’t know how this ridiculousness started but you know it’ll end because you’re going to end it.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
The credit card you pluck out of your wallet can make as much of a statement as the purse or pants in which you carry it.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — After signing two bills into law targeting transgender people over the past week, Tennessee's Gov. Bill Lee has approved legislation that bans gender-confirming treatment for young minors despite objections that the series of bills unfairly discriminate against an already vulnerable population.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee comptroller's office has brought former U.S. Attorney Mike Dunavant on board to serve as chief investigative counsel.
STATEWIDE
MEMPHIS (AP) — An inspection of the Interstate 55 bridge connecting Tennessee and Arkansas began Tuesday, a week after the span became the states' primary Mississippi River crossing when a cracked steel beam prompted the indefinite closure of the nearby Interstate 40 bridge.
COURTS
KNOXVILLE (AP) — The white former president of Pilot Co., the nation's largest fuel retailer, wants a Black federal judge to recuse himself from overseeing the retrial of a fraud case against him.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed last fall against the Metro Nashville Public Schools and a teacher over an elementary school assignment called "Let's Make a Slave."
SAN RAMON, Calif (AP) — Apple CEO Tim Cook will take the witness stand this Friday in a high-stakes courtroom battle over the lucrative commissions the iPhone maker has been raking in from its mobile app store.
NEW YORK (AP) — The New York attorney general's office said Tuesday that it is conducting a criminal investigation into former President Donald Trump's business empire, expanding what had previously been a civil probe.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and progressive Democrats have proposed to lower Medicare's eligibility age to 60, to help older adults get affordable coverage. But a new study finds that Medicare can be more expensive than other options, particularly for many people of modest means.
REAL ESTATE
American homeowners were given more opportunity to hit pause on their mortgage payments because of the financial ravages of the pandemic, but that relief is slowly coming to an end.
ENVIRONMENT
BERLIN (AP) — Germany's only state governor from the rising Green party on Wednesday announced ambitious new climate targets that includes boosting new technologies so that "Tesla will soon only see our tail lights."
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon said Tuesday that it will extend its ban on police use of its face-recognition technology beyond the one-year pause it announced last year.
TRANSPORTATION
DALLAS (AP) — Southwest Airlines said Wednesday that bookings are improving and leisure-travel fares for June are approaching pre-pandemic levels, further signs that the airline industry is recovering from a deep slump.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union took a step toward relaxing travel rules for tourists from outside the 27-nation bloc Wednesday when EU ambassadors agreed on measures to allow in fully vaccinated visitors.
NEW YORK (AP) — More than a year after coronavirus shutdowns sent "the city that never sleeps" into a fitful slumber, New York could be wide awake again this summer.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks closed broadly lower on Wall Street Wednesday, extending the market's downturn to a third day.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy's faster-than-expected awakening from its pandemic-induced slumber had some Federal Reserve officials last month discussing whether it might be time to start planning for easing back on one of the central bank's levers for keeping interest rates low.
NEW YORK (AP) — The operator of the nation's largest fuel pipeline confirmed it paid $4.4 million to a gang of hackers who broke into its computer systems.
NEW YORK (AP) — The price of Bitcoin fell as much as 29% Wednesday after the China Banking Association warned member banks of risks associated with digital currencies. Other digital currencies suffered sharp declines as well.
Broken furniture. Flashlights with leaking batteries. Disfigured Barbie dolls.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday reinstated an Obama-era pilot program that aims to aid minority and disadvantaged people by ensuring local hiring for public works construction projects, reversing a decision by the Trump administration.
NEW YORK (AP) — Target's sales and profits surged in the first quarter as its customers, emerging from the pandemic, returned in big numbers for dresses, cosmetics and luggage.
SEATTLE (AP) — Despite damaging allegations suggesting Bill Gates pursued women who worked for him, don't expect changes to his roles at the two iconic institutions he co-founded, Microsoft and his namesake philanthropic foundation.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank says risks to the stability of companies, banks and financial markets remain "elevated" due to the uneven impact of the pandemic on the economy, warning that the eventual removal of relief measures could lead to a surge in bankruptcies.
LONDON (AP) — Britain's inflation rate more than doubled in April as energy prices soared and clothing retailers hiked prices as the country's coronavirus lockdown was eased, official statistics showed Wednesday.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are rebelling against the requirement that they wear a mask on the House floor, stoking tensions with majority Democrats who are refusing to change the rules despite updated guidance from federal health officials.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Top Republicans in Congress are working to stop the formation of an independent commission into the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, aligning themselves with former President Donald Trump ahead of a Wednesday House vote on the proposal.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans trying to drive a wedge between Democrats and chip away at President Joe Biden's support are zeroing in on the violence in the Middle East, laying blame on his administration and aiming to make his liberal critics the face of the party heading into the midterm elections.
TUESDAY, MAY 18
PREDATORS
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Hurricanes had a building full of rowdy fans again, players back from injury and a strong showing from their captain to help break open a close game.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee will become the first state in the United States to require businesses and government facilities open to the public to post a sign if they let transgender people use multiperson bathrooms, locker rooms or changing rooms associated with their gender identity.
REGION
NASHVILLE (AP) — A federal utility is spending $7.3 million to train personnel in 160 public schools across seven states on how to reduce energy use and save money.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Abortion. Guns. Religion. A Trump-fortified conservative majority is making its presence felt at the Supreme Court by quickly wading into high-profile social issues that have been a goal of the right for decades.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee man who harassed two teenage Muslim girls and then swung a knife and attacked their father has pleaded guilty to a federal hate crime.
DETROIT (AP) — President Joe Biden plans to take executive action Tuesday to ensure minorities, low-income Americans and others have better access to quality legal representation after services dwindled during the Trump administration.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In agreeing to hear a potentially groundbreaking abortion case, the Supreme Court has energized activists on both sides of the long-running debate who are now girding to make abortion access a major issue in next year's midterm elections.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. home construction fell surprisingly sharply in April though that is follows the biggest jump in 15 years.
ENVIRONMENT
BERLIN (AP) — U.S. special envoy for climate John Kerry said Tuesday that Washington is looking into the possibility of introducing a fee on imports from countries that don't tax heavy polluters, but cautioned that such a move could carry risks "downstream."
BERLIN (AP) — A report by the International Energy Agency says immediate action is needed to reshape the world's energy sector in order to meet ambitious climate goals by 2050, including ending investments in new coal mines, oil and gas wells.
AUTO INDUSTRY
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is putting the spotlight Tuesday on the electric vehicle future he envisions for the United States, as a way to tackle climate change and create jobs.
MILAN (AP) — Carmaker Stellantis and Taiwan's Foxconn on Tuesday announced plans to develop a jointly operated automotive supplier focusing on technology to make vehicles more connected, including artificial intelligence-based applications and 5-G communications.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — California's Department of Motor Vehicles is reviewing whether Tesla is violating a state regulation by advertising its vehicles as being fully autonomous without meeting the legal definition of self-driving.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
WASHINGTON (AP) — A top White House aide made his pitch for young people to get vaccinated personal, sharing the struggles his own son has dealt with on an ongoing basis since contracting COVID-19 last fall.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
An afternoon drop led by big technology stocks left major market indexes broadly lower on Wall Street Tuesday.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Biden administration said Tuesday it will repeal changes made by the Trump administration to a law aimed at stopping banks from discriminating against racial minorities and the poor.
NEW YORK (AP) — Looking to draw in the next generation of investors, Fidelity Investments is launching a new type of account for teenagers to save, spend and invest their money.
NEW YORK (AP) — At Walmart, sales of teeth whitener are popping as customers take their masks off. So are travel items. Macy's says that special occasion dressing like prom dresses are on the upswing as well as luggage, men's tailored clothing, and dressy sandals.
Macy's emerged from an unprecedented year with a surprising swing back into the profit column and it boosted its guidance for all of 2021.
NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart blew past Wall Street projections in the first quarter with U.S. stimulus payments to Americans helping to boost sales and the company raised its expectations for the year.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Investor Warren Buffett's company pared back its holdings in financial firms further during the first quarter and also halved its new investment in Chevron.
TOKYO (AP) — The Japanese economy contracted at an annual rate of 5.1% in January-March, slammed by a plunge in spending over the coronavirus pandemic, according to government data released Tuesday.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy said Tuesday that he won't support a proposal to form an independent, bipartisan commission to study the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, almost certainly eroding GOP support ahead of a vote and positioning his party as opposed to investigations of the attack.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and House Republicans alike are revising history when asserting that the new administration set records in U.S. job creation — either the best ever or among the worst, depending on the vantage point. The truth is in between.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Val Demings is planning to challenge Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, giving Democrats a boost in a competitive 2022 race that could decide control of the Senate, according to two people with knowledge of the plans.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Colorado Rep. Jason Crow, a former Army Ranger who served three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, says it took time for him to stop constantly scanning his environment for threats when he returned from war 15 years ago. But after the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, he says he's picked the habit up again.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden restored a long-standing presidential tradition Monday by releasing his tax returns, showing that 25.9% of the first couple's income went to the federal government in 2020. The average federal income tax rate is just over 14%.
MONDAY, MAY 17
PREDATORS
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Hurricanes have gone from being mired in a nearly decade-long playoff drought to a division champion armed with postseason experience and success.
UT SPORTS
The NCAA named Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee as host schools for softball regionals on Sunday, bringing its postseason tournament to three states that have passed laws requiring athletes to compete in interscholastic sports according to their sex at birth.
STATEWIDE
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — An inspector who failed to discover a crack in the Interstate 40 bridge linking Arkansas and Tennessee that prompted the span's closure has been fired, Arkansas transportation officials said Monday.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has signed legislation that puts public schools and their districts at risk of losing civil lawsuits if they let transgender students or employees use multi-person bathrooms or locker rooms that do not reflect their gender at birth.
OOLTEWAH (AP) — Mike Carter, a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, has died of pancreatic cancer at age 67.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court agreed Monday to a showdown over abortion in a case that could dramatically alter nearly 50 years of rulings on abortion rights.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is declining to hear a case that would have let the justices decide whether a single use of the N-word in the workplace can create a hostile work environment.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled Monday that prisoners who were convicted by non-unanimous juries before the high court barred the practice a year ago don't need to be retried.
TRANSPORTATION
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal regulators are continuing to pursue large penalties against a few airline passengers accused of disrupting flights.
AUTO INDUSTRY
SMYRNA, Tenn. (AP) — Nissan has started producing its new Pathfinder at its assembly plant in Smyrna.
MEDIA
NEW YORK (AP) — AT&T said Monday it will combine its massive WarnerMedia media assets, which includes HBO and CNN, with Discovery Inc. to create a new media heavyweight in a $43 billion deal.
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities on Monday backed away from threats to block Twitter, saying that the social media platform deleted most of the banned content identified by Moscow and expressed "readiness and interest in building a constructive dialogue."
TECHNOLOGY
PARIS (AP) — A targeted ransomware attack hit four countries among the Asian operations of Axa Partners, the international subsidiary of Axa insurance group, with some data in Thailand accessed, Axa Partners said.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will announce Monday that the U.S. will share an additional 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines with the world in the coming six weeks, the White House said.
LONDON (AP) — Pubs and restaurants across much of the U.K. opened for indoor service for the first time since early January on Monday, even as the prime minister urged people to be cautious amid the spread of a more contagious COVID-19 variant.
ATLANTA (AP) — The immunologist who leads the COVID-19 response in the United States said Sunday that "the undeniable effects of racism" have led to unacceptable health disparities that especially hurt African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans during the pandemic.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
U.S. stocks closed modestly lower Monday, tacking more losses onto last week's stumble, as worries about inflation continue to dog Wall Street.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In Georgia, school bus-maker Blue Bird has visions of going from selling a few hundred electric buses annually to 15,000. In Michigan, Ford plans to produce an all-electric version of its F-150 pickup truck.
GENEVA (AP) — World Economic Forum organizers say they have decided to cancel their annual gathering — usually held in Davos, Switzerland each year — this year amid concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
MILAN (AP) — Luxury brands are already cashing in on promises of a 21st-century version of the "Roaring '20s" in the United States, where hefty stimulus packages and an advanced vaccine campaign are accelerating post-pandemic recovery in high-end sales, according to a new study by Bain & Co. consultancy released on Monday.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union and the United States have decided to temporarily suspend measures at the heart of a steel tariff dispute that is seen as one of the major trade issues dividing the two sides.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
Last year, for the first time in more than a quarter-century, Democrats in Virginia took control of the statehouse and the governor's mansion. Since then, one priority has become clear: expanding voting rights.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Liz Cheney, newly ousted from House Republican leadership for challenging former President Donald Trump, criticized GOP colleagues Sunday for downplaying the Jan. 6 riot and condoning Trump's lies that the 2020 election was stolen, saying they were "complicit" in undermining democracy.
The Treasury Department said Monday that 39 million families are set to receive monthly child payments beginning on July 15.
FRIDAY, MAY 14
NASHVILLE AREA
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The NCAA announced 20 potential host sites for the early rounds of its postseason baseball tournament Friday, including three states that have passed laws requiring athletes to compete in interscholastic sports according to their sex at birth.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Dr. Anthony Fauci urged Vanderbilt University graduates on Friday to get involved in public service and to help heal the country's destructive political divisiveness.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Nashville lifted its indoor public mask requirement Friday after federal counterparts relaxed guidance on the COVID-19 pandemic to advise that fully vaccinated people can stop wearing masks outdoors in crowds and in most indoor settings.
PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Goalie Juuse Saros is the biggest reason the Nashville Predators went from a potential NHL draft lottery team to their seventh straight playoff appearance.
STATEWIDE
MEMPHIS (AP) — River traffic has reopened on the Mississippi River near Memphis, Tennessee, three days after it was closed when a crack was discovered in the Interstate 40 bridge that connects Tennessee and Arkansas, the U.S. Coast Guard said Friday.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The operator of a sports betting app in Tennessee is now in "good standing" after it faced suspension over suspected debit card fraud by some users.
AUTO INDUSTRY
TOKYO (AP) — Honda swung into the black in January-March, recording a 213 billion yen ($2 billion) profit despite the lingering impact of the pandemic.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Tesla involved in a fatal crash on a Southern California freeway last week was operating on Autopilot at the time, authorities said.
TECHNOLOGY
LONDON (AP) — Facebook lost a legal battle Friday with Ireland's data privacy watchdog over a European Union privacy decision that could result in the social network being forced to stop transferring data to the U.S.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Florida politician who emerged as a central figure in the federal investigation into Rep. Matt Gaetz has agreed to cooperate with federal investigators and admits paying an underage girl to have sex with him and other men, according to court documents filed Friday.
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — A Tennessee prosecutor is defending his marriage to a subordinate in his office.
SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) — Apple seems to be prevailing in an antitrust trial examining whether its mobile app store illegally skims profits from smaller companies.
MEDIA
NEW YORK (AP) — Many of us were taught to share as kids. Now streaming services ranging from Netflix to Amazon to Disney+ want us to stop.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a major step toward returning to pre-pandemic life, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has eased mask-wearing guidance for fully vaccinated people, allowing them to stop wearing masks outdoors in crowds and in most indoor settings.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks closed higher for the second day in a row but still ended with a weekly loss after three sizable drops earlier in the week.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. industrial production increased for a second straight month in April as more factories came online after being shutdown by winter ice storms.
NEW YORK (AP) — Retail sales in the U.S. were flat in April after soaring in March, when many Americans received $1,400 stimulus checks that boosted spending.
Airbnb reported Thursday that its first-quarter loss more than tripled, to $1.17 billion, as travel remained depressed by the pandemic and the company was weighed down by costs from past borrowing.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A national terrorism alert issued Friday warns that violent extremists may take advantage of the easing of pandemic restrictions to conduct attacks.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The top Democratic and Republican members of the House Homeland Security Committee have reached an agreement on legislation to form a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The measure had stalled amid partisan differences.
WASHINGTON (AP) — After meeting at the White House, President Joe Biden and a group of Republican senators agreed to talk again early next week as negotiations intensified over a potentially bipartisan infrastructure package that could become one piece of the administration's ambitious $4 trillion public investment plan.
WASHINGTON (AP) — What insurrection?
A graphic calling the East Coast fuel supply crunch "Biden's Gas Crisis." A tweet speculating that gas stations running dry was an "INSIDE JOB." A meme depicting the president and vice president cheering about the "Green New Deal" in front of a snaking line at a fuel station.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans vaulted Rep. Elise Stefanik into the ranks of House leadership Friday, electing an ardent Donald Trump defender in hopes of calming their searing civil war over the deposed Rep. Liz Cheney's unremitting combat with the former president.
THURSDAY, MAY 13
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans have agreed to terms with first-round selection Caleb Farley and four of his fellow draft picks just before their three-day rookie minicamp.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Former NFL player Tim Tebow joined Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee at the state Capitol on Thursday to announce a multimillion-dollar partnership to fight human trafficking.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Former tourmates Miranda Lambert and Maren Morris are the leading nominees for the 2021 CMT Music Awards, celebrating the best in country music videos.
STATEWIDE
MEMPHIS (AP) — Repairs to the Interstate 40 bridge linking Arkansas and Tennessee could take months after a crack was found in the span, forcing thousands of trucks and cars to detour and shutting down shipping on a section of the Mississippi River, a transportation official said Wednesday.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has announced that Roadtec, Inc. will expand its operations in Chattanooga.
MIDSTATE
FRANKLIN (AP) — A Tennessee exterminator who posed as the relative of an 85-year-old widow with dementia has been charged with defrauding the woman out of nearly $1.7 million, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Robert Collier says that during the seven years he worked as an operating room aide at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, white nurses called him and other Black employees "boy." Management ignored two large swastikas painted on a storage room wall. And for six months, he regularly rode an elevator with the N-word carved into a wall.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A conservative legal outfit filed a lawsuit Wednesday against President Joe Biden's administration for its prioritization of restaurants and bars owned by women and certain minorities in its COVID-19 relief package, arguing white men are being "pushed to the back of the line" for aid for their eateries.
NEW YORK (AP) — Now that a judge has rejected the National Rifle Association's bankruptcy bid, blocking its plan to reincorporate in Texas, the gun rights group is back to fighting a lawsuit that threatens to put it out of business.
ENVIRONMENT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency is revoking a Trump-era rule that overhauled how the agency evaluates air pollutants, a move the Biden administration says will make it easier to enact limits on dangerous and climate-changing emissions.
TRANSPORTATION
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal regulators have approved a Boeing procedure to fix about 100 jets that have been idled for the past month because of improper electrical grounding of some components, and some of the planes could be flying again in the next few days.
AUTO INDUSTRY
Electric car maker Tesla will stop accepting Bitcoin as a payment, CEO Elon Musk tweeted on Wednesday, citing environmental concerns.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal safety regulators are sending a team to California to investigate a fatal freeway crash involving a Tesla, just after authorities near Oakland arrested a man in another Tesla rolling down a freeway with no one behind the steering wheel.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
The couple in the website videos could be hawking any number of products.
MEMPHIS (AP) — Nearly a year after requiring people to wear face masks in many public settings to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Memphis will stop enforcing the mandate on Saturday, Mayor Jim Strickland said.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a striking move to send the country back toward pre-pandemic life, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday eased indoor mask-wearing guidance for fully vaccinated people, allowing them to safely stop wearing masks inside in most places.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Wall Street put the brakes on a three-day losing streak with a broad stock market rally Thursday powered by Big Tech companies and banks.
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon is seeking to hire 75,000 people in a tight job market and is offering bonuses to attract workers, including $100 for new hires who are already vaccinated for COVID-19.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell last week to 473,000, a new pandemic low and the latest evidence that fewer employers are cutting jobs as consumers ramp up spending and more businesses reopen.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Wholesale prices, driven by escalating costs for services and food, jumped 0.6% in April, surprising economists and providing more evidence that inflation pressures are starting to mount with the country emerging from a recession brought on by the pandemic.
McDonald's is raising pay at 650 company-owned stores in the U.S. as part of its push to hire thousands of new workers in a tight labor market.
BOSTON (AP) — An outside audit three years ago of the major East Coast pipeline company hit by a cyberattack found "atrocious" information management practices and "a patchwork of poorly connected and secured systems," its author told The Associated Press.
A once-ambitious Facebook-backed digital currency project — formerly known as Libra, now called Diem — is shifting operations from Switzerland to the U.S. and said it plans to launch a cryptocurrency tied to the U.S. dollar later this year.
HONG KONG (AP) — China's commerce ministry on Thursday welcomed the removal of Xiaomi Corp. from a U.S. government blacklist, a day after the U.S. reversed a ban on U.S. investments in the smartphone maker that was imposed under former President Donald Trump.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A key figure in the federal investigation of Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz is expected to plead guilty to criminal charges next week.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — President Joe Biden signed an executive order Wednesday meant to strengthen U.S. cybersecurity defenses in response to a series of headline-grabbing hacking incidents that highlight how vulnerable the country's public and private sectors are to high-tech spies and criminals operating from half a world away.
The Biden administration swung aggressively into action after a primary gasoline pipeline fell prey to a cyberattack — understanding that the situation posed a possible series of political and economic risks.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite sharing pleasantries at the White House, Republican congressional leaders signaled no willingness Wednesday to embrace President Joe Biden's ideas for a massive infrastructure investment, insisting instead on a much smaller package and rejecting the idea of raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy to pay for it.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican leaders insisted that purging Trump critic Rep. Liz Cheney from their ranks was necessary to unify the party ahead of next year's midterm elections.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Wednesday took aim at China and a number of other countries for repressing religious freedom as it forges ahead with its aim of restoring human rights as a primary focus of American foreign policy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former White House counsel Don McGahn will answer questions in private from the House Judiciary Committee in an apparent resolution of a longstanding dispute over his testimony, according to a court document filed Wednesday evening.