VOL. 46 | NO. 30 | Friday, July 29, 2022
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
As another recession looms, those in the mortgage lending community are absorbing the data and working with buyers and investors as they plot their financial courses.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates retreated this week just as the Federal Reserve announced another big rate hike in its bid to get four-decade high inflation under control.
TENNESSEE TITANS
Training camp has opened for the Tennessee Titans for 2022, and this year’s version of the team has seemingly flipped the script regarding issues facing the squad.
The 2022 Tennessee Titans opened camp Saturday with rookies reporting first, veterans coming in Tuesday and the first full team practice Wednesday.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Treylon Burks stretched out for a fade from Ryan Tannehill and kept both hands on the ball as he went to the ground for a deep reception. Later, he reached for a catch with defenders around him.
NEWSMAKERS
Ann H. Murphy has joined Stites & Harbison, PLLC in the firm’s Nashville office as part of the business litigation and construction service groups. Her practice focuses on professional liability of architects and engineers, construction defect litigation, construction contract law, professional discipline and commercial litigation.
BRIEFS
Highland Ventures Ltd. will invest $8.2 million to relocate its headquarters operations from Glenview, Illinois, to Brentwood, company officials say, creating 80 jobs during the next five years.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
There are two key points within the life cycle of a vehicle: the introduction of a fully redesigned model and a significant midlife update. If you’re looking to maximize your new vehicle purchase, knowing these timelines can help you make the best decision.
PERSONAL FINANCE
If you’re a homeowner and haven’t faced a big repair bill yet, just wait. Stuff will wear out or break even in the best-maintained homes.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
Millennials have been coined the “job-hopping generation,” and I’ve contributed to that stereotype. I started my career at 22 and have job-hopped almost every year since. For many of those years, I was young and restless, and there was another part of me looking for more fulfilling work and pay that reflected what I was worth.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NEW YORK (AP) — Country superstar Dolly Parton, who made a big donation to help fund coronavirus vaccine research in 2020, is among this year's Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy recipients.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Nashville's metro council has dealt a likely final blow to proponents of bringing the 2024 Republican National Convention to the city, leaving Milwaukee as the almost-certain winner to host the GOP's biggest party.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — A federal judge in Tennessee has extended a restraining order against 10 anti-abortion activists and all members of Operation Save America, ordering them not to interfere with patients and providers at a reproductive health clinic outside of Nashville.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency is warning residents who live near medical sterilizing plants in 13 states and Puerto Rico about potential health risks from emissions of ethylene oxide, a chemical widely used in their operations.
Washington (AP) — The number of people living in America without health insurance coverage hit an all-time low of 8 percent this year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday.
New research hints that even a simple exercise routine just might help older Americans with mild memory problems.
ENVIRONMENT
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The climate deal reached last week by Senate Democrats could reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that American farmers produce by expanding programs that help accumulate carbon in soil, fund climate-focused research and lower the abundant methane emissions that come from cows.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks are closing higher on Wall Street Wednesday as investors reviewed a mostly encouraging batch of earnings from big companies.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A federal oversight board ordered the United Mine Workers of America to pay more than $13 million in compensation to an Alabama coal company where members have been on strike for more than a year, a ruling the union said Wednesday it would challenge.
WASHINGTON (AP) — After 13 years, at least three crashes, dozens of scams and Ponzi schemes and hundreds of billions of dollars made and evaporated, cryptocurrencies finally have the full attention of Congress, whose lawmakers and lobbyists have papered Capitol Hill with proposals on how to regulate the industry.
The OPEC oil cartel and its allies decided Wednesday to boost production in September by a much slower pace than in previous months at a time of high gasoline prices and unstable energy supplies exacerbated by the war Russia has waged on Ukraine.
Better-than-expected COVID-19 vaccine sales pushed Moderna past Wall Street's second-quarter forecasts.
NEW YORK (AP) — Robinhood Markets said Tuesday it's cutting nearly a quarter of its workforce, as crashing cryptocurrency prices and a turbulent stock market keep more customers off its trading app.
CVS Health thumped second-quarter expectations and hiked its full-year forecast as growing prescription claims and COVID-19 test kits sales countered a drop in vaccinations.
Starbucks on Tuesday reported record revenue in the April-June period, as strong U.S. demand made up for COVID shutdowns in China.
Airbnb said Tuesday that it earned $379 million in the second quarter on record bookings and rising rates, and the short-term rental giant announced a plan to spend up to $2 billion to buy its own stock.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S.-China relations are teetering on a precipice after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In one of the biggest days of this year's primary campaign season, voters rejected a measure that would have made it easier to restrict abortion rights in red-state Kansas and repudiated a scandal-tarred former governor seeking a U.S. Senate seat in Missouri.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate was set Wednesday to ratify NATO membership for Finland and Sweden, with overwhelming bipartisan support expected for quickly expanding the Western military alliance in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed an executive order aimed in part at making it easier for women seeking abortions to travel between states to obtain access to the procedure.
UKRAINE
ISTANBUL (AP) — The first grain ship to depart Ukraine under a wartime deal entered the Bosporus Strait on the way to Lebanon after its cargo was checked and approved Wednesday, Turkish and Ukrainian authorities said.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Australian university students that China must not help Russia in its war against his homeland and remain at least neutral.
PARIS (AP) — Fanning out like urban guerrillas through Paris' darkened streets well after midnight, the anti-waste activists shinny up walls and drain pipes, reaching for switches to turn off the lights.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 2
MUSIC INDUSTRY
The songwriting giants behind the hits “You’re Still The One,” “Holes In The Floor Of Heaven,” “Girl Crush,” “One More Last Chance” and “Drivin’ My Life Away” will soon become the newest members of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Titans coach Mike Vrabel says Aaron Brewer is tougher than a $2 steak as the undrafted offensive lineman from Texas State tries to become Tennessee's new left guard.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Titans wide receiver Robert Woods and cornerback Caleb Farley worked together on their own individual drill Monday during a special teams period at training camp.
EAST TENNESSEE
JOHNSON CITY (AP) — East Tennessee State athletic director Scott Carter resigned Monday, while the Bucs announced they plan to fire women's basketball coach Simon Harris over Title IX complaints in his lone season.
COURTS
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Elon Musk's wealthy high tech allies don't seem too happy about receiving subpoenas from Twitter as part of the company's legal battle with the Tesla CEO.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is set to name top officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to serve as the White House coordinators to combat the growing monkeypox outbreak.
AUTO INDUSTRY
MILAN (AP) — Luxury Italian automaker Ferrari raised its 2022 forecast Tuesday after reporting a 22% increase in second-quarter earnings as sales in the Americas surged.
TRANSPORTATION
LONDON (AP) — British Airways said Tuesday that it's suspending sales of short-haul flights from London's Heathrow Airport, a response to the airport's request to limit bookings to help ease travel disruptions caused by booming demand and staff shortages.
MEDIA
WASHINGTON (AP) — As the Justice Department bids to convince a federal judge that the proposed merger of Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster would damage the careers of some of the most popular authors, it is leaning in part on the testimony of a writer who has thrived like few others: Stephen King.
BANKING
NEW YORK (AP) — The crypto division of the online brokerage Robinhood will pay a $30 million penalty to New York state for failing to comply with regulations governing money laundering and cybersecurity, the state's Department of Financial Services announced Tuesday.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are closing lower as Wall Street's modest August retreat continued another day.
WASHINGTON (AP) — American employers posted fewer job openings in June as the economy contends with raging inflation and rising interest rates.
LONDON (AP) — BP said its earnings from April to June almost tripled from a year earlier, increasing pressure on governments to intervene as energy companies profit from high oil and natural gas prices that are fueling inflation and squeezing consumers.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Treasury Department is seeking to borrow $444 billion in the current quarter through September as the Federal Reserve tightens its portfolio.
TOKYO (AP) — The United States is working with Japan and other likeminded countries to counter China's efforts to use its economic might to force political change around the world, the U.S. ambassador to Japan said Tuesday in an interview with The Associated Press.
DEERFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Caterpillar had a strong second quarter and topped most profit expectations with higher prices for machinery offsetting rising costs.
Uber continued to build momentum in the second quarter with Americans heading back to offices and gross bookings hit an an all-time high as anxiety over COVID-19 eased.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is holding out the CIA operation that killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri as a monumental strike against the global terror network responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks of 2001. But there's a downside, too.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden's "loose cough" has returned as he faces a rebound case of COVID-19, his doctor said Tuesday, though he "continues to feel well."
WASHINGTON (AP) — A House oversight panel on Tuesday subpoenaed gunmaker Smith & Wesson for documents on the manufacture and sale of AR-15-style semi-automatic rifles after its CEO refused to appear for a hearing on the firearms frequently used in mass shootings.
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was believed headed for Taiwan on Tuesday on a visit that could significantly escalate tensions with Beijing, which claims the self-ruled island as its own territory.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A bill that would enhance health care and disability benefits for millions of veterans exposed to toxic burn pits hit a snag in the Senate last week, angering advocates like comedian Jon Stewart who say help from the government is long overdue.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden announced Monday that al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Kabul, an operation he said delivered justice and hopefully "one more measure of closure" to families of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
WASHINGTON (AP) — As the sun was rising in Kabul on Sunday, two Hellfire missiles fired by a U.S. drone ended Ayman al-Zawahri's decade-long reign as the leader of al-Qaida. The seeds of the audacious counterterrorism operation had been planted over many months.
UKRAINE
The Russian Supreme Court on Tuesday declared Ukraine's Azov Regiment a terrorist organization banned in Russia, a designation that may expose Ukrainian prisoners of war held by Moscow to terrorism charges.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The first cargo ship to leave Ukraine since Russia invaded its neighbor more than five months ago was off the coast of Bulgaria on Tuesday as it headed toward Istanbul, putting to the test an agreement signed last month between Moscow and Kyiv that aims to help alleviate a global food crisis.
MONDAY, AUGUST 1
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Country Music Hall of Famer and Grammy winner Barbara Mandrell retired from music more than two decades ago, but the Grand Ole Opry still feels like home to her.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Texas man convicted of storming the U.S. Capitol with a holstered handgun helmet and body armor was sentenced on Monday to 87 months — more than seven years — in prison, the longest sentence imposed so far among hundreds of Capitol riot cases.
NASHVILLE (AP) — President Joe Biden has nominated three people to serve as U.S. attorneys in Tennessee.
HEALTH CARE
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The federal government on Monday announced proposed new regulations that would force food processors to reduce the amount of salmonella bacteria found in some raw chicken products or risk being shut down.
ENVIRONMENT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris called climate change an "immediate" and "urgent" crisis Monday as she detailed Biden administration efforts to respond to disasters such as deadly flooding in Kentucky and wildfires ravaging her home state of California.
MEDIA
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government and publishing titan Penguin Random House exchanged opening salvos in a federal antitrust trial Monday as the U.S. seeks to block the biggest U.S. book publisher from absorbing rival Simon & Schuster. The case comes as a key test of the Biden administration's antitrust policy.
EDUCATION
CHICAGO (AP) — On a recent morning inside Chalmers School of Excellence on Chicago's West Side, five preschool and kindergarten students finished up drawings. Four staffers, including a teacher and a tutor, chatted with them about colors and shapes.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks are closing slightly lower on Wall Street Monday as investors began another busy week of earnings and economic reports.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Monday decried Beijing's rhetoric over an expected visit by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, vowing the United States "will not take the bait or engage in saber rattling" and has no interest in increasing tensions with China.
WASHINGTON (AP) — It's been more than a year in the making and has seen plenty of ups and downs. Now, a Democratic economic package focused on climate and health care faces hurdles but seems headed toward party-line passage by Congress next month.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Five weeks ago, senior Biden administration aides gathered for their regular Thursday morning meeting about passing a bill to revive the U.S. computer chip sector, worried that it could be in peril.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Housing and Urban Development is providing $2.8 billion in fresh funding for homeless services organizations across the country.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House passed legislation Friday to revive a ban on certain semi-automatic guns, the first vote of its kind in years and a direct response to the firearms often used in the crush of mass shootings ripping through communities nationwide.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Jan. 6 committee will share 20 of its interview transcripts with the Justice Department as federal prosecutors have been increasingly focused on efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the election.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Jan. 6 committee has interviewed former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and is in negotiations to talk to several other former members of Donald Trump's Cabinet as it scrutinizes the days after the Capitol insurrection and discussions about whether to try and remove the then-president from office.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 for the second straight day, in what appears to be a rare case of "rebound" following treatment with an anti-viral drug.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Joe Manchin, one of the Democrats' most conservative and contrarian members, declined on Sunday to endorse Joe Biden if the president seeks a second term in 2024 and refused to say whether he wants Democrats to retain control of Congress after the November elections.
UKRAINE
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The first ship carrying Ukrainian grain set out from the port of Odesa on Monday under a deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey that is expected to release large stores of Ukrainian crops to foreign markets and ease a growing food crisis.
Even as Moscow's war machine crawls across Ukraine's east, trying to achieve the Kremlin's goal of securing full control over the country's industrial heartland, Ukrainian forces are scaling up attacks to reclaim territory in the Russian-occupied south.
FRIDAY, JULY 29
AUTO RACING
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Josef Newgarden will start fifth in Saturday's IndyCar race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after series officials cleared the injured two-time series champ to qualify.
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — No quarterback has won more games over his first three seasons with the Tennessee franchise than Ryan Tannehill, who has posted a 30-13 record for the Titans.
STATEWIDE
A bump in college scholarships for New Mexico students. A new bike trail nestled in the western slope of Colorado. More homeless shelters in Arizona.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee is starting a sales tax-free weekend that covers back-to-school needs such as clothing, school supplies and computers. The sales tax holiday runs from Friday through Sunday.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — A judicial oversight panel has suspended a Tennessee judge for the rest of his term, citing two very different types of indiscretion in handling cases.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Russian operative who worked on behalf of one of the Kremlin's main intelligence services has been charged with recruiting political groups in the United States to advance pro-Russia propaganda, including during the invasion of Ukraine earlier this year, the Justice Department said Friday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two of the Supreme Court justices who disagree most often on the outcomes of cases say they both still try hard to persuade each other, and sometimes succeed. Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Justice Amy Coney Barrett made the comments in a pretaped conversation made public for the first time Thursday evening.
HEALTH CARE
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A former opioid manufacturer has agreed in principle to pay up to $2.4 billion in a deal with a dozen states over its marketing and product safety practices, state attorneys general announced Friday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. regulators said Friday they are no longer considering authorizing a second COVID-19 booster shot for all adults under 50 this summer, focusing instead on revamped vaccines for the fall that will target the newest viral subvariants.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A vial of insulin cost $25 in 1995, back when Chris Noble was 5 years old and just learning how to manage his Type 1 diabetes with the help of his parents and his doctors.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Friday it has reached an agreement with Moderna to buy 66 million doses of the company's next generation of COVID-19 vaccine that targets the highly transmissible omicron variant, enough supply this winter for all who want the upgraded booster.
AUTO INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation has announced the award of $5.2 million in grants to install direct current fast chargers for electric vehicles along interstates and major highways around the state.
DETROIT (AP) — The surprise deal by Senate Democrats on a slimmed-down bill to support families, boost infrastructure and fight climate change also is likely to jump-start sales of electric vehicles.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks racked up more gains Friday as Wall Street closed out its best month since November 2020, a welcome breather for investors after a punishing year for the market.
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil companies swam in record profits over the last few months at a time when Americans struggled to pay for gasoline, food and other basic necessities.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation surged in June and workers' average wages accelerated in the spring — signs that Americans won't likely feel any relief from rising prices anytime soon and that the Federal Reserve will feel compelled to further raise borrowing costs.
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon on Thursday reported its second-consecutive quarterly loss but its revenue topped Wall Street expectations, sending its stock sharply higher.
Members of the United Auto Workers union on Thursday rescinded an increase in strike pay that had been approved earlier in their annual convention.
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Apple's profit slipped during the past quarter, but the world's largest technology company is holding up better than many of its peers as the economy teeters on the edge of a recession.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House is preparing to vote Friday to revive a ban on semi-automatic guns, the first vote of its kind in years and a direct response to the firearms often used in the crush of mass shootings ripping through communities nationwide.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida advised school districts to ignore protections for LGBTQ students that President Joe Biden's administration is trying to implement, saying the anti-discrimination language is not binding law and following the guidance could result in breaking state law.
WASHINGTON (AP) — When asked if he'd support legislation to protect same-sex marriage, one conservative Republican senator was almost nonchalant.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Merrick Garland will headline a White House event Friday that will bring together pro bono lawyers, bar associations and public interest groups to discuss how best to offer legal services and protections for women seeking abortions.
WASHINGTON (AP) — When a 10-year-old Ohio girl traveled to Indiana last month to end a pregnancy forced onto her by a rapist, several conservative politicians and TV pundits called the report a hoax.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin secreted themselves in a basement room at the Capitol.
WASHINGTON (AP) — An unexpected deal reached by Senate Democrats would be the most ambitious action ever taken by the United States to address global warming and could help President Joe Biden come close to meeting his pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, experts said Thursday, as they sifted through a massive bill that revives action on climate change weeks after the legislation appeared dead.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department on Thursday offered a reward of up to $10 million for information about Russian interference in American elections, including a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin and a troll farm that officials say fueled a divisive social media campaign in 2016.
UKRAINE
MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin on Friday offered strong support to China amid the tensions over Taiwan, warning the United States against any "provocative" moves that could exacerbate the situation.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia and Ukraine accused each other Friday of shelling a prison in a separatist region of eastern Ukraine, an attack that reportedly killed dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war who were captured after the fall of a southern port city in May.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration likes to say Russia has become isolated internationally because of its invasion of Ukraine. Yet Moscow's top officials have hardly been cloistered in the Kremlin. And now, even the U.S. wants to talk.
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Friday that he's open to a call with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss a possible prisoner swap involving American basketball star Brittney Griner.
THURSDAY, JULY 28
EAST TENNESSEE
CHARLESTON (AP) — A German chemical company plans to add 200 jobs through an expansion at its Tennessee campus.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The California man accused of plotting to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh had an expansive goal to change the makeup of the Supreme Court "for decades to come," according to a recent court filing that cites discussions the man had online.
AUTO INDUSTRY
AMSTERDAM (AP) — Automaker Stellantis on Thursday reported higher earnings in the first half of 2022 compared with last year, pointing to a nearly 50% increase in global sales of battery electric vehicles.
TRANSPORTATION
DALLAS (AP) — Southwest Airlines' second-quarter profit doubled to $760 million on record revenue, but the carrier warned that rising costs and lower productivity are likely to continue in the second half of the year.
JetBlue Airways has agreed to buy Spirit Airlines for $3.8 billion and create the nation's fifth-largest airline if the deal can win approval from antitrust regulators.
MEDIA
Meta Platforms says will no longer pay U.S. news organizations to have their material appear in Facebook's News Tab as it reallocates resources in the face of the economic downturn and changing user behavior.
Facebook is letting violent hate speech slip through its controls in Kenya as it has in other countries, according to a new report from the nonprofit groups Global Witness and Foxglove.
BANKING
NEW YORK (AP) — For more than a decade, US Bank pressured its employees to open fake accounts in their customers' names in order to meet unrealistic sales goals, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Thursday, in a case that is deeply similar to the sales practices scandal uncovered at Wells Fargo last decade.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks are closing higher on Wall Street Thursday as investors weighed fresh data showing that the U.S. economy shrank for a second consecutive quarter in the Spring.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy shrank from April through June for a second straight quarter, contracting at a 0.9% annual pace and raising fears that the nation may be approaching a recession.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy has contracted for two straight quarters, intensifying fears that the nation is on the cusp of a recession — if not already in one — barely two years after the pandemic recession officially ended.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer Americans applied for jobless benefits last week, but the previous week's number was revised upward significantly, with claims breaching the 250,000 level in back-to-back weeks for the first time in more than eight months.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jerome Powell delivered a tough message at the start of a news conference Wednesday: Inflation is way too high, and the Federal Reserve is laser-focused on taming it with higher borrowing costs.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Dave Muffley thought he had it made when it came to a solid retirement. The Indiana man spent roughly 30 years as a salaried maintenance technician for Delphi Corp., a subsidiary of General Motors Corp., and expected to retire with a comfortable income by the time he hit 62.
BERLIN (AP) — Germany's annual inflation rate has declined slightly for the second consecutive month, official data showed Thursday, but July's pace of 7.5% was still within sight of the nearly half-century high it reached in May.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Cigarette maker Altria's $13 billion investment in the troubled vaping company Juul has gone up in smoke — now worth less than 5% of its original value as U.S. regulators move to ban its e-cigarettes.
NEW YORK (AP) — The head of the nation's financial watchdog is having second thoughts about how useful fines are in deterring illegal behavior in the financial industry, saying some companies have gotten so big that the money makes little difference.
LONDON (AP) — Shell posted record profits Thursday for a second straight quarter as the energy giant benefited from soaring prices of oil and natural gas fueled by Russia's war in Ukraine.
NEW YORK (AP) — Best Buy, the nation's largest consumer electronics chain, cut its annual sales and profit forecast Wednesday, citing surging inflation that has dampened consumer spending on gadgets.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House on Thursday passed a $280 billion package to boost the semiconductor industry and scientific research in a bid to create more high-tech jobs in the United States and help it better compete with international rivals, namely China.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden declared his support Thursday for the "historic" inflation-fighting agreement struck by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and holdout Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, an expansive health care and climate change package that had eluded the White House and seemed all but lost.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Jan. 6 committee has interviewed former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and is in negotiations to talk to several other former members of Donald Trump's Cabinet as it scrutinizes the days after the Capitol insurrection and discussions about whether to try and remove the then-president from office.
WASHINGTON (AP) — What started as a $4 trillion effort during President Joe Biden's first months in office to rebuild America's public infrastructure and family support systems has ended up a much slimmer, but not unsubstantial, compromise package of inflation-fighting health care, climate change and deficit reduction strategies that appears headed toward quick votes in Congress.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and China's Xi Jinping are exploring meeting in person, a senior administration official said after the leaders spent more than two hours on Thursday talking through the future of their complicated relationship, with tension over Taiwan once again emerging as a flashpoint.
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Russian, French and American leaders are crisscrossing Africa to win support for their positions on the war in Ukraine, waging what some say is the most intense competition for influence on the continent since the Cold War.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi launched her political career being tough on China -- a new congresswoman who dared to unfurl a pro-democracy banner in Beijing's Tiananmen Square during a 1991 visit with other U.S. lawmakers shortly after the student massacre.
UKRAINE
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces on Thursday launched massive missile strikes on Ukraine's Kyiv and Chernihiv regions, areas that hadn't been targeted in weeks, while Ukrainian officials announced an operation to liberate an occupied region in the country's south.
MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin warned Thursday that a possible prisoner swap with the United States involving American basketball star Brittney Griner needs to be negotiated quietly without fanfare.