VOL. 42 | NO. 28 | Friday, July 13, 2018
SAM STOCKARD: VIEW FROM THE HILL
Using what could be the political acronym of the year, two Republican state lawmakers with expertise in pain treatment are playing on the popularity of President Donald Trump to pass medical pot legislation.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
There were 4,036 closings in June, Greater Nashville Realtors sales information reveals, a slight increase from 3,887 closings last June. Of note is that the 3,887 closings last year left an inventory of 8,842, while this June’s closings had 11,087 homes remaining on the market, a number more than last month’s 9,511.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates edged higher this week, marking their first increase since early June.
PREDATORS
By the time the Predators made their first selection of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft last month, 110 prospects had already been chosen by rival teams.
ELECTION 2018
For many Tennesseans, the pain and financial loss of the Great Recession have faded.
Like most of America, Tennessee’s metropolitan areas have prospered during the last eight years, while the rural areas have lagged in almost every measure. The state has 19 of its 95 counties classified as “distressed.” What can and should we do to give every Tennessean a chance to succeed?
NEWSMAKERS
Green & Little, L.P., real estate investment and development firm based in Gallatin, has named Anderson Green as vice president. Green oversees day-to-day business operations at the asset management level and will be more involved in the overall strategic direction for Green & Little. He has been with the company since 2014.
BRIEFS
Mill Point Capital has reached an agreement to acquire Franklin-based Affinion Insurance Solutions.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
The 2019 model year marks the start of a new cycle for some of America’s top trucks, led by redesigned pickups from Chevrolet and Ram. Ford’s top-selling F-150 had updates in 2018, and more may be in the offing for 2019. Typically, Japanese truck makers Nissan and Toyota aren’t far behind with their own updates. Edmunds breaks down what you need to know about today’s crop of full-size pickups.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
You’ve handed in your keys. It was a bittersweet moment, that pass-along. Cleaning out your workspace was no big deal, a last trip to the lunchroom felt like any other day. But those keys… that part really got to you. “Retirement Reinvention” by Robin Ryan will help when your next thought is, “Well, now what?”
CAREER CORNER
It’s often said that employees quit bosses, not jobs. Can you relate?
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for possessing the gun authorities say a toddler used to fatally shoot a 7-year-old.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Gay-rights supporters who thronged the Supreme Court plaza after justices declared same-sex marriage a constitutional right expect to have little to celebrate if Brett Kavanaugh replaces Justice Anthony Kennedy, the author of all the court's major gay-rights rulings.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Philadelphia's tax on soda and other sweetened drinks was upheld on Wednesday when the state's highest court rejected a challenge by merchants and the beverage industry.
AUTO INDUSTRY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Automakers, dealers and suppliers are united in opposition to President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs on imported cars, trucks and auto parts.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Imposing a 25 percent tariff on auto imports would raise the price of the typical new car sold in the United States (now about $35,000) by $4,400 — $2,270 for U.S.-built cars and $6,875 for imported cars and trucks, according to a study released Thursday by the Center for Automotive Research.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union says it is already preparing measures to retaliate against the United States if President Donald Trump puts tariffs on imported cars and auto parts.
BERLIN (AP) — Audi's chief executive is seeking his release from jail during an ongoing investigation of suspected fraud as part of parent company Volkswagen's diesel emissions scandal.
TECHNOLOGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says the European Union's record $5 billion fine against tech giant Google proves his point that the EU is taking advantage of the U.S.
NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is clarifying his stance pertaining to Holocaust deniers after getting some blowback on social media.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are falling Thursday morning as weak results from banks and consumer products companies pull major indexes lower. Online retailer eBay plunged after its second-quarter sales fell short of Wall Street projections. Comcast rose after ending its bid to buy most of Twenty-First Century Fox.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union's executive arm is urging member states to prepare for all possible Brexit scenarios including one where Britain leaves the bloc in a disorderly fashion, and without a deal with Brussels outlining future relations or trade arrangements.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Target will begin rolling out speedy service for thousands of products by the end of the month in New York, less than a year after spending $550 million to acquire the same-day delivery company Shipt.
NEW YORK (AP) — In a battle among media giants for control of Twenty-First Century Fox's entertainment business, Comcast has blinked.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Kathy Kraninger, President Donald Trump's nominee to take over the nation's watchdog for banks, credit cards and payday lenders, made her public debut in front of the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, where she is facing extremely hostile questioning from Senate Democrats.
WASHINGTON (AP) — So which Democrat would President Donald Trump most like to run against in 2020?
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump spent a second day managing the political fallout from his widely criticized meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin, shifting stances and mopping up what the White House said were misstatements.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump accused the news media Thursday of trying to provoke a confrontation with Russia that could lead to war, as he continues to push back against criticism of his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
WASHINGTON (AP) — More than a month after North Korea pledged to immediately return some American war dead, the promise is unfulfilled.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 18
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Ex-state economic development commissioner Randy Boyd is waging his first attacks on businessman Bill Lee in Tennessee's four-way Republican gubernatorial primary.
DUNLAP (AP) — Robert Kwasnik has a zipper problem — and it has come to the attention of the highest levels of the U.S. government.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Metro council has asked a city board to stop investing money from its employee pension fund in privately-operated prisons.
ENVIRONMENT
DENVER (AP) — The Trump administration on Wednesday eased rules for handling toxic coal ash from more than 400 U.S. coal-fired power plants after utilities pushed back against regulations adopted under former President Barack Obama.
AUTO INDUSTRY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Having started a trade war with China and enraged U.S. allies with steel tariffs, President Donald Trump is primed for his next fight. He is targeting a product at the heart of the American experience: cars.
DETROIT (AP) — In March of 2016, Keith Reynolds flew from California to Atlanta so he could claim his spot in line at 4 a.m., and get a three-hour head start on his West Coast competitors.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. homebuilders sharply curtailed the pace of construction in June as housing starts plummeted 12.3 percent.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Big gains for banks and transportation companies like airlines and railroads took U.S. stock indexes slightly higher Wednesday. Other parts of the market didn't move much.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers are losing patience with the Trump administration's reliance on tariffs to win trade disputes and are talking increasingly about legislative action to protect U.S. jobs.
NEW YORK (AP) — Investment bank Morgan Stanley said its second-quarter profits rose by 39 percent from a year ago, driven by another strong performance in trading and investment banking, as well as a lower tax bill.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union fined Google a record $5 billion Wednesday for forcing cellphone makers that use the company's hugely popular Android operating system to install Google apps.
DETROIT (AP) — Marriott International plans to remove plastic straws and drink stirrers from all of its 6,500 hotels and resorts worldwide by next year.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday denied Russia is still targeting the United States, a claim sharply at odds with recent warnings from his top intelligence chief about ongoing threats to election security.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is taking another jab at NATO, questioning whether the alliance's mutual defense pact might conceivably let tiny Montenegro's "very aggressive people" start World War III.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Taking to Twitter early Wednesday, President Donald Trump defended anew his much-criticized performance at the Helsinki summit, promising "big results" from better relations with Russia and hitting back at "haters."
WASHINGTON (AP) — James Comey, the FBI director who was fired last year by President Donald Trump, is urging voters to support Democrats in November's midterm elections.
TUESDAY, JULY 17
SPORTS
ATLANTA (AP) — Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey says the Supreme Court ruling that struck down a federal law barring gambling on sports could cause the league to require schools to issue weekly reports that list the status of injured or ineligible players.
UT SPORTS
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Former Tennessee football players A.J. Johnson and Michael Williams are going on trial to face aggravated rape charges nearly 3 ½ years after both men were indicted.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Republican debate in the Tennessee governor's race is canceled after three of four leading candidates dropped out.
A new seven-days-a-week news outlet called The Daily Memphian will make its debut this fall, with many of the biggest names in Memphis journalism and a unique not-for-profit funding model. The ambitious effort’s goal is to become the city’s definitive news source with reporting of, by and for Memphis.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's Republican senators and two Senate candidates are speaking out against President Donald Trump's refusal to condemn Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.
COURTS
LAS VEGAS (AP) — MGM Resorts International has sued hundreds of victims of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history in a bid to avoid liability for the gunfire that rained down from its Mandalay Bay casino-resort in Las Vegas.
ENVIRONMENT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic lawmakers joined scores of scientists, health providers, environmental officials and activists Tuesday in denouncing an industry-backed proposal that could limit dramatically the scientific studies the Environmental Protection Agency considers in shaping protections for human health.
HEALTH CARE
UnitedHealth Group's second quarter earnings beat Wall Street expectations, helped by a surge in government-funded coverage, and the nation's largest health insurer hiked its 2018 forecast again.
U.S. regulators proposed new guidelines Tuesday to make it easier for some common medicines to be sold without a prescription — and more convenient for consumers to get them.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — Twitter suspended at least 58 million user accounts in the final three months of 2017, according to data obtained by The Associated Press. The figure highlights the company's newly aggressive stance against malicious or suspicious accounts in the wake of Russian disinformation efforts during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rallied Tuesday as retailers, technology and household goods companies all made solid gains and helped the market shake off a weak start. Netflix slumped after investors were disappointed with the streaming video company's subscriber growth.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told lawmakers Tuesday that strong economic growth will keep the central bank on a path to gradually raise interest rates. But he noted that President Donald Trump's get-tough trade policies run the risk of dampening future growth if they lead to permanently higher tariffs.
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon poked fun at the early glitches it saw with Prime Day, though it said shoppers still found plenty to buy. Analysts, meanwhile, saw other things Amazon could have done better, like discounting more fashion brands and taking more advantage of its acquisition of Whole Foods.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The NAACP is lifting its travel advisory against American Airlines, saying improvements are being made to address worries about African-Americans being subject to discrimination or unsafe conditions while flying.
BERLIN (AP) — A Dutch company that presented the world's first lab-grown beef burger five years ago said Tuesday it has received funding to pursue its plans to make and sell artificially grown meat to restaurants from 2021.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. industrial production rebounded last month after being dragged down in May by a fire at an auto parts plant.
TOKYO (AP) — The European Union and Japan signed a landmark deal on Tuesday that will eliminate nearly all tariffs on products they trade.
NEW YORK (AP) — Goldman Sachs says profits jumped 44 percent in the second quarter compared with a year ago, driven by the investment bank's core franchises: advising companies on mergers, acquisitions and other deals, and its trading business.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A House spending bill would provide $5 billion next year for building President Donald Trump's proposed border wall with Mexico.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Blistered by bipartisan condemnation of his embrace of a longtime U.S. enemy, President Donald Trump sought Tuesday to "clarify" his public undermining of American intelligence agencies, saying he had misspoken when he said he saw no reason to believe Russia had interfered in the 2016 U.S. election.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is lifting requirements that some tax-exempt groups disclose the identities of their donors to federal tax authorities.
BRUSSELS (AP) — After a week of the worst barrage of insults yet from U.S. President Donald Trump, the European Union is looking westward toward the White House less and less.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans have used a party-line vote to block a Democratic measure aimed at condemning President Donald Trump's stunning comments in Helsinki, Finland, about Russia. It was the first vote testing how Congress will react to Trump's remarks.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Unbowed by the broad condemnation of his extraordinary embrace of a longtime U.S. enemy, President Donald Trump declared Tuesday that his summit in Helsinki with Russian President Vladimir Putin went "even better" than his meeting with NATO allies last week in Brussels.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's first summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin left a wake of confusion and outrage in the U.S.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said he sees no reason why Russia would have interfered in the 2016 election. Minutes earlier, on the same platform, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered a reason, even while denying Moscow ever meddled: He wanted Trump to win.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Exactly seven months before the 2016 presidential election, Russian government hackers made it onto a Democratic committee's network.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco voters will decide in November whether to tax large businesses to pay for homeless and housing services, an issue that set off a battle in another West Coast city struggling with income inequality.
LONDON (AP) — The official group that campaigned to take Britain out of the European Union in the 2016 referendum has been fined and referred to police for breaking electoral law, Britain's electoral watchdog said Tuesday.
MONDAY, JULY 16
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Republican U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn narrowly outraised Democratic former Gov. Phil Bredesen last quarter and maintains a 2-to-1 cash advantage against him in the open U.S. Senate contest in Tennessee, according to totals released by the campaigns.
MEMPHIS (AP) — Journalists in Memphis have announced a new online news site that will publish stories daily and will be available by subscription.
PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Nashville Predators have signed goaltender Juuse Saros to a three-year contract and forward Ryan Hartman to a one-year deal.
UT SPORTS
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Tennessee has suspended defensive lineman Ryan Thaxton from team activities following his arrest on charges of false imprisonment and domestic assault.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Nashville International Airport served more than 14.9 million passengers in the fiscal year just ended.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Law enforcement and firefighters are working with the Tennessee Titans in a blood drive this week.
REGION
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia joins Alabama and three other states in a week-long speed enforcement operation beginning Monday.
COURTS
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A federal judge on Monday ordered a temporary halt to any deportations of reunited families who were separated by the Trump administration after crossing the southwest border.
EDUCATION
SEATTLE (AP) — Dollar for dollar, the beleaguered movement to bring charter schools to Washington state has had no bigger champion than billionaire Bill Gates.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Major U.S. indexes closed mostly lower Monday as investors bought banks but sold most other types of stocks, including health care and technology companies. Energy stocks sank along with oil prices.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Countries and businesses that continue to import Iranian oil could avoid penalties by making "significant reductions" as Washington re-imposes sanctions on Tehran later this year, according to top U.S. officials.
NEW YORK (AP) — The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission is raising "serious concerns" about Sinclair's $3.9 billion deal for Tribune's television stations.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Tuesday brought cases against China, the European Union, Canada, Mexico and Turkey at the World Trade Organization for retaliating against American tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The International Monetary Fund is keeping its forecast for global economic growth unchanged at 3.9 percent this year despite worries about rising trade tensions and higher oil prices. But the lending agency is downgrading the outlook for Europe and Japan.
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Theresa May Monday accepted amendments to a customs bill put forward by Brexit hardliners who oppose her plan for a "common rule book" with the European Union after the country leaves the bloc.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. retail sales rose at a solid pace last month despite higher prices and modest wage gains, a sign of underlying consumer optimism.
BEIJING (AP) — China announced it filed a World Trade Organization challenge Monday to President Donald Trump's latest tariff threat, stepping up its diplomatic efforts to counter U.S. pressure in a spiraling technology dispute.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union said Monday that Airbnb has until the end of August to address consumer complaints that the U.S. company's pricing and booking system can be misleading.
DETROIT (AP) — Most U.S. business economists expect corporate sales to grow over the next three months and hiring and pay to rise with them.
NEW YORK (AP) — Bank of America's second-quarter profits jumped 33 percent from a year earlier, the company said Monday, as like nearly all other big banks, it benefited greatly from the new tax law. The bank also benefited from the recent rise in interest rates, allowing it to charge more for customers to borrow.
BERLIN (AP) — Germany's biggest bank, Deutsche Bank, said Monday that its earnings will be considerably higher than expected in the second quarter, a fact that it said underlines the "resilience" of the company after a period of trouble.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — An international forum on financial regulation say virtual currencies such as bitcoin do not currently pose a threat to global stability but require "vigilant monitoring" as the market is changing rapidly.
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon's annual "Prime Day" promotion that starts Monday will focus on new products, bringing Whole Foods into the process and persuading subscribers that Prime membership is worth the coming price hike.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump's "America First" slogan morphed Monday into "Me First" as the president unloaded on his own intelligence community and Justice Department to portray himself as the victim of a conspiracy to deny him legitimacy. Trump also blamed American "foolishness and stupidity" for the poor state of U.S.-Russia relations, returning to themes he has repeated at political rallies around the United States.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday he sees no reason why Russia would have interfered in the 2016 election. Minutes earlier, on the same platform, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered a reason, even while denying Moscow ever meddled: He wanted Trump to win.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Key members of Congress, including some Republicans, are criticizing President Donald Trump's performance at a press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin as "bizarre," ''shameful" and a "missed opportunity" to stand up to Russia.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin privately made an "incredible offer" to help American investigators in their prosecution of 12 Russian intelligence officers accused of hacking crimes during the 2016 presidential election.
HELSINKI (AP) — Russia's Vladimir Putin said Monday he did want Donald Trump to win the 2016 U.S. presidential election but took no action during the campaign to make it happen. He said he favored the celebrity businessman because of his policies.
HELSINKI (AP) — With a wink and a slouch, respectively, President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin opened their summit Monday as the American president declared that "the world wants to see us get along." Trump laid out a list of topics for discussion that notably did not include Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
BEIJING (AP) — A senior European official on Monday urged U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and China to work with Europe to avoid trade wars and prevent conflict and chaos.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. lobbying firm sought to recruit the ambassadors of France, Germany and several other countries to demonstrate international support for severing Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska's control of Rusal, the aluminum manufacturing giant sanctioned by Washington.
FRIDAY, JULY 13
TENNESSEE TITANS
DeMarco Murray is retiring from the NFL.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
OWENSBORO, Ky. (AP) — The Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum has announced details of its grand opening this fall.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Twelve Russian military intelligence officers hacked into the Clinton presidential campaign and Democratic Party, releasing tens of thousands of stolen and politically damaging communications, in a sweeping conspiracy by the Kremlin to meddle in the 2016 U.S. election, according to a grand jury indictment announced days before President Donald Trump's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, was in frequent contact with top officials of pharmaceutical giant Novartis as part of a $1.2 million consulting deal, and the Swiss-based company expected him to provide access to Trump administration policymakers, according to a report Friday by a group of Senate Democrats.
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — Tennessee's biggest health insurers are cutting the premiums for individual plans under the Affordable Care Act's health care exchange market for the first time.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks wrapped up another solid week Friday as industrial and energy companies ticked higher, but corporate earnings got off to a sluggish start as reports from several major U.S. banks failed to excite investors.
The U.S. has nosed ahead of Saudi Arabia and is on pace to surpass Russia to become the world's biggest oil producer for the first time in more than four decades.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve says it expects low unemployment and rising inflation will keep it on track to raise interest rates at a gradual pace over the next two years. By late 2019, the Fed says its key policy rate should be at a level that will be slightly restrictive for growth.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Detaining immigrant children has morphed into a surging industry in the U.S. that now reaps $1 billion annually — a tenfold increase over the past decade, an Associated Press analysis finds.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Stung by a federal judge's dismissal of its objections to AT&T's megamerger with Time Warner, the Trump Justice Department is challenging the decision with a legal appeal.
NEW YORK (AP) — Papa John's, which has featured founder John Schnatter in logos and TV ads, is pulling his image from its marketing after reports he used a racial slur.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska's last two Blockbuster video stores are calling it quits, leaving just one store open in the U.S.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says the economy is in a "good place" at the moment with low unemployment and inflation rising toward the Fed's optimal range. But he says rising trade tensions and higher tariffs could end up being a drag on growth.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government recorded a $74.9 billion deficit in June, a month when the government often runs a surplus, as corporate taxes dropped sharply compared to a year ago.
SEATTLE (AP) — Seven national fast-food chains have agreed to end policies that blocked workers from changing branches — limiting wages and job opportunities — under the threat of legal action from the state.
NEW YORK (AP) — As Amazon gears up for its Prime Day promotion, other big-name retailers like Macy's and eBay are launching deals and sales of their own. But small businesses — including those that don't sell much online — shouldn't sit on the sidelines.
BEIJING (AP) — China tried to step up pressure on Washington in their growing tariff war Thursday by suggesting U.S. companies lobby American leaders, while a Korean union warned President Donald Trump's threat of higher auto import duties could lead to job losses in Alabama.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Top officials at the European Central Bank expressed confidence at their last policy meeting that the eurozone economy remains "broadly on track" but expressed concern that rising trade protectionism could dampen business confidence and blunt the recovery.
LONDON (AP) — The British government released detailed plans Thursday for what it called a "principled pragmatic and ambitious" Brexit — plans that already triggered the resignation of two top ministers and split the governing Conservative Party, and which face likely resistance from the European Union.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumer prices rose in June from a year earlier at the fastest pace in more than six years, lifted by more expensive gas, car insurance, and higher rent.
NEW YORK (AP) — Papa John's founder John Schnatter is no longer board chairman after using a racial slur, but his image is still part of the pizza chain's logo and he remains the company's largest shareholder.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration said Thursday all eligible small children who were separated from their families as a result of its zero-tolerance immigration policy have been reunited with their parents.
LONDON (AP) — London Mayor Sadiq Khan has told Sky News that it is up to President Donald Trump to explain why he keeps singling out the mayor for criticism.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump took credit for a supposed new decision by NATO members to increase military spending, though there was no evidence of that.
NEW YORK (AP) — The nation's consumer watchdog agency is accusing the Education Department of impeding a lawsuit that could potentially bring financial relief to millions of student loan borrowers.
WASHINGTON (AP) — An embattled FBI agent whose anti-Trump text messages exposed the Justice Department to claims of institutional bias vigorously defended himself at an extraordinary congressional hearing that devolved into shouting matches, finger-pointing and veiled references to personal transgressions.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Paul Ryan is crediting the GOP's tax plan with improving the U.S. economy, an argument that's central to the Republican pitch to voters ahead of the midterm election.