VOL. 46 | NO. 38 | Friday, September 23, 2022
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
If only homebuilders – and the rest of us – had crystal balls. Builders who were completing construction on homes in 2020 were thrilled to have finally finished the homes they began in 2019 before the dawning of the age of COVID. They had weathered lockdowns, shutdowns, labor shortages and a fear of the unknown.
REAL ESTATE
Top commercial real estate sales, August 2022, for Davidson County, as compiled by the Nashville Ledger.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates jumped by more than a quarter-point this week to their highest level since 2008 as the Federal Reserve intensified its effort to tamp down decades-high inflation and cool the economy.
UT SPORTS
How long did it take before somebody mentioned the Tennessee Volunteers’ bitter rivalry with the Florida Gators to now-second-year head coach Josh Heupel?
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Coach Josh Heupel learned quickly just what playing Florida really means to Tennessee.
TENNESSEE TITANS
Long-held pigskin wisdom says three things can happen when you throw the football – completion, incompletion or interception.
One of the least-familiar names on the Tennessee Titans’ 53-man roster is cornerback Tre Avery, an undrafted rookie from Rutgers.
The Titans return home on a short week and face the Las Vegas Raiders (Sunday, noon CDT, Fox) in a game that could have playoff tiebreaker implications come December and January. The Raiders are in a tough division in the AFC West, and the Titans need to hold serve at home, something they didn’t do against the Giants.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Three-time Pro Bowl left tackle Taylor Lewan did not practice Wednesday as the Tennessee Titans went through a walk-through session.
GUEST COLUMNIST
When Elvis Presley was found on the floor at Graceland Aug. 16, 1977, his road manager called the Memphis Fire Department, and an ambulance was dispatched to the scene.
NEWSMAKERS
Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands, Tennessee’s largest nonprofit law firm, has promoted Zac Oswald to senior deputy director of client services.
BRIEFS
Adams and Reese has launched an HBCU/MSI practice, providing support specifically tailored to institutions educating minority populations while expanding on its education practice and representation of Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutes.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Toyota largely pioneered hybrid vehicles, and its extensive lineup of gas-saving models today is a testament to that. But it’s taken a while for Toyota to finally come out with its first mass-market electric vehicle: the all-new 2023 Toyota bZ4X.
PERSONAL FINANCE
Tourism rebounded this summer in Europe – and Europe wasn’t ready. Pandemic-related staff shortages led to massive lines and flight cancellations at many airports; meanwhile, prices for hotels and taxis soared.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
Moving season is almost over. But if you’re one of the many people settling into a new home right now, you might feel like the furniture-buying season is just getting started. And that can get expensive.
COURTS
DETROIT (AP) — U.S. Securities regulators are unlawfully muzzling Tesla CEO Elon Musk, violating his free speech rights by continually trying to enforce a 2018 securities fraud settlement, Musk's lawyer contends in a court brief.
Sprawling allegations of abuse against cheerleaders reached Tennessee on Monday in a case that escalates the accusations facing some of the sport's top institutions.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jury selection began Tuesday in the trial of the founder of the Oath Keepers extremist group and four associates charged with seditious conspiracy, one of the most serious cases to emerge from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
HEALTH CARE
NEW YORK (AP) — Soon enough, a bedside Amazon device might know whether you're sleeping — or not.
BANKING
NEW YORK (AP) — Regions Bank for a second time in a decade was found charging illegal overdraft fees, the government said Wednesday, in a settlement that will require the bank to repay $141 million to customers and pay an additional $50 million in fees.
RELIGION
One member of Rabbi David Wolpe's diverse congregation left because Wolpe would not preach sermons criticizing Donald Trump. Scores of others left over resentment with the synagogue's rules for combating COVID-19. But Wolpe remains steadfast in his resolve to avoid politics when he preaches at Sinai Temple in Los Angeles.
AUTO INDUSTRY
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Volkswagen was nearing the finish line Wednesday as it readied the sale of shares in luxury carmaker Porsche ahead of an expected market listing that will rank among the largest such offerings in European history.
MEDIA
NEW YORK (AP) — For more than half a century, ABC, CBS and NBC have aired evening newscasts each weeknight on television. This fall, the competition has spread to another medium.
ENERGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday warned oil and gas companies against increasing prices for consumers as Hurricane Ian neared landfall along Florida's southwest coast.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Oil and natural gas spills from tankers and pipelines in U.S. waters dropped dramatically from the last decade of the 1990s to the one from 2010 through 2019, according to a federal report Wednesday.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A renewable energy plant being commissioned in Oregon on Wednesday that combines solar power, wind power and massive batteries to store the energy generated there is the first utility-scale plant of its kind in North America.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks on Wall Street soared to their first gain in more than a week as some calm returns to financial markets around the world. The S&P 500 jumped 2% Wednesday for its best day in seven weeks. That snapped Wall Street's longest losing streak since the coronavirus crash in February 2020. Bond markets globally also relaxed after the Bank of England moved forcefully to get a budding financial crisis there under control. Treasury yields fell sharply, easing some of the pressure that has sent stocks down more than 20% on Wall Street this year.
BEIJING (AP) — China's yuan fell to a 14-year low against the dollar Wednesday despite central bank efforts to stem the slide after U.S. interest rate hikes prompted traders to convert money into dollars in search of higher returns.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced legislation Wednesday to overhaul oversight and bring greater transparency to the crisis-plagued federal Bureau of Prisons following reporting from The Associated Press that exposed systemic corruption in the federal prison system and increased congressional scrutiny.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration should create a new position at the White House National Security Council to focus on cases of Americans who are wrongfully detained in foreign countries, and fund an interagency office tasked with helping free hostages, according to a report Wednesday from a leading advocacy group.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is set to host Pacific Island leaders for a two-day summit as the U.S. looks to counter China's military and economic influence in the region. Pacific Island leaders, meanwhile, see an even more pressing concern: climate change.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Wednesday his administration's goal of ending hunger in the U.S. by the end of the decade was ambitious but doable, if only the nation would work together toward achieving it.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin has abandoned, for now, his push to speed up the permitting process for energy projects, easing the Senate's path toward passing a stopgap spending bill that would keep the federal government running when the fiscal year ends at midnight Friday.
UKRAINE
BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union countries should impose "biting sanctions" on Russian trade and hit officials responsible for "sham referendums" held in parts of Ukraine as Moscow ramps up the war, senior EU officials said Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. will provide an additional $1.1 billion in aid to Ukraine, with funding for about 18 more advanced rocket systems and other weapons to counter drones that Russia has been using against Ukrainian troops, the Biden administration announced Wednesday.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia is poised to formally annex areas of Ukraine where it has military control after referendums there reportedly endorsed Moscow's rule.
Russian soldiers who die in the line of duty in Ukraine have all of their sins forgiven, the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church proclaimed in a sermon, comparing their sacrificial death to that of Jesus.
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Facing an election this weekend, Bosnian Serb separatist leader Milorad Dodik blasted the West and praised Vladimir Putin over his policies in the Balkans, boasting that he is a rare European politician who can meet with the Russian president anytime he wishes.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27
PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Being swept for the first time in franchise history may be exactly what the Nashville Predators needed.
TENNESSEE TITANS
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Matt Ryan relied on some familiar standbys to start Sunday's game-winning drive.
SPORTS
MEMPHIS, (AP) — The NCAA's Independent Accountability Resolution Process put Memphis on three years of probation with a public reprimand on Tuesday, but declined to punish Tigers coach Penny Hardaway or hand down an NCAA Tournament ban.
WEST TENNESSEE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee officials say Georgia-Pacific plans to spend at least $425 million to build a facility that will make Dixie-brand paper plates in Jackson.
COURTS
Government lawyers used airline executives' own words in trying Tuesday to persuade a federal judge to kill a partnership between American Airlines and JetBlue Airways.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Maine man who joined rioters at the U.S. Capitol was convicted Tuesday of 11 charges including assaulting, resisting or impeding police officers.
DOVER, Del. (AP) — A Delaware judge is hearing arguments over the exchange of information by lawyers for Twitter and Elon Musk in a lawsuit in which the social media giant is seeking to force Musk to carry through with his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter.
AUTO INDUSTRY
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Ford will invest $700 million mainly at its Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, creating about 500 new jobs over the next four years.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Attention, potential car buyers: New electric vehicle charging stations are on their way to highway locations near you.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first time in a decade, Americans will pay less next year on monthly premiums for Medicare's Part B plan, which covers routine doctors' visits and other outpatient care.
NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart is teaming up with a fertility startup to offer benefits under its insurance plan that will help its workers expand their families.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — Civil rights lawyers and Democratic senators are pushing for legislation that would limit U.S. law enforcement agencies' ability to buy cellphone tracking tools to follow people's whereabouts, including back years in time, and sometimes without a search warrant.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks ended a wobbly day with mixed results on Wall Street as markets continue to be unstable amid worries about a possible recession.
TOKYO (AP) — Armed with a new law that boosts U.S. support for computer chip manufacturing, Vice President Kamala Harris is seeking new investments and partnerships as she sits down with Japanese technology executives.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A union that rejected its deal with the nation's freight railroads earlier this month now has a new tentative agreement, but officials cautioned that the contract dispute won't be fully settled until all 12 rail unions approve their agreements this fall.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumers grew more confident for the second month in a row as gas prices continued to fall.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday that stablecoins will need greater regulation as they become more widely used by consumers.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve will have to keep boosting its benchmark interest rate to a point that raises unemployment and gets inflation down from unusually high levels, two officials said in separate remarks Monday.
LONDON (AP) — The British pound stabilized in Asian trading on Tuesday after plunging to a record low a day earlier, as the Bank of England and the British government tried to soothe markets nervous about a volatile U.K. economy.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday he will "proudly support" legislation to overhaul rules for certifying presidential elections, bolstering a bipartisan effort to revise a 19th century law and avoid another Jan. 6 insurrection.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is laying out its plan to meet an ambitious goal of ending hunger in the U.S. by 2030, including expanding monthly benefits that help low-income Americans buy food.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic lawmakers have unveiled a stopgap spending measure to finance the federal government through Dec. 16, provide additional support to Ukraine and help communities respond to recent natural disasters.
UKRAINE
A sprawling disinformation network originating in Russia sought to use hundreds of fake social media accounts and dozens of sham news websites to spread Kremlin talking points about the invasion of Ukraine, Meta revealed Tuesday.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The final day of voting was taking place in Russian-held regions of Ukraine on Tuesday in preordained referendums that are expected to serve as a pretext for their annexation by Moscow.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans finally made a stand on their home field and got the ball to Derrick Henry along with the rest of their new playmakers to notch their first victory of the season.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans finally have their first victory this season.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Saving Ryan Tannehill from the Las Vegas Raiders' pass rush led by five-time Pro Bowl defensive end Chandler Jones seemed a difficult task for the Tennessee Titans.
UT SPORTS
Tennessee and North Carolina State broke into the top 10 of The Associated Press college football poll Sunday, and Florida State is back in the rankings for the first time in four years.
COURTS
DALLAS (AP) — The government's antitrust lawsuit against American Airlines and JetBlue begins Tuesday and the outcome could determine how closely the Biden administration examines other airline deals, including JetBlue's pending attempt to buy Spirit Airlines.
TRANSPORTATION
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will announce a new initiative Monday that would eventually allow consumers to see a more complete price on airline tickets — including baggage and change fees — before they buy, as the White House continues to search for ways to lower costs for Americans amid persistently high inflation.
HEALTH CARE
Pfizer asked U.S. regulators Monday to expand use of its updated COVID-19 booster shot to children ages 5 to 11.
MEDIA
LONDON (AP) — TikTok could face a 27 million-pound ($29 million) fine in the U.K. over a possible breach of U.K. data protection law by failing to protect children's privacy when they are using the video-sharing platform.
ENVIRONMENT
RESERVE, La. (AP) — Sprawling industrial complexes line the drive east along the Mississippi River to the majority-Black town of Reserve, Louisiana. In the last seven miles the road passes a massive, rust-colored aluminum-oxide refinery, then the Evonik chemical plant, then rows of white tanks at the Marathon oil refinery.
TECHNOLOGY
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian government said on Monday it is considering tougher cybersecurity rules for telecommunications companies and blamed Optus, the nation's second-largest wireless carrier, for an unprecedented breach of personal data from 9.8 million customers.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks fell on Wall Street and put major indexes deeper into a slump as recession fears grow.
Starbucks said Monday that it wants to start contract negotiations next month at hundreds of U.S. stores that have voted to unionize.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The head of the European Central Bank said Monday that the economic outlook "is darkening" and she expects business activity to "slow substantially" in the coming months as high energy and food prices pushed up by the war in Ukraine sap consumer spending power.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Susan Collins, the new president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, said Monday that a higher unemployment rate will be needed to bring down inflation from unusually high levels, but also suggested any economic downturn would likely be modest.
Amazon said Monday that next month it will hold a second Prime Day-like shopping event, making it the latest major retailer to offer holiday deals earlier this year to entice cautious consumers struggling with tighter budgets.
NEW DELHI (AP) — Apple Inc. will make its iPhone 14 in India, the company said on Monday, as manufacturers shift production from China amid geopolitical tensions and pandemic restrictions that have disrupted supply chains for many industries.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Europe's largest economy is sending recession signals.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin has granted Russian citizenship to former U.S. security contractor Edward Snowden, according to a decree signed by the Russian leader on Monday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of Congress have officially objected to the results in four of the last six presidential elections, a partisan practice that has been legal for over a century but became much more fraught after a violent mob of former President Donald Trump's supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol last year.
UKRAINE
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — After seven months of war, many Ukrainians fear even more suffering and political repression as referendums orchestrated by the Kremlin portend Russia's imminent annexation of four occupied regions.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — An overnight drone strike near the Ukrainian port of Odesa sparked a massive fire and explosion, the military said Monday, as Russia's leadership faced growing resistance to its efforts to call up hundreds of thousands of men to fight in Ukraine.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23
WEST TENNESSEE
MEMPHIS (AP) — Building construction has begun at the future site of a factory where Ford and a South Korean company have joined forces to build electric trucks and batteries in rural west Tennessee, officials said Friday.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced the creation of a new state park on Thursday.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — It's a Washington mystery that no one seems able to unravel. The Supreme Court apparently still hasn't found the person who leaked a draft of the court's major abortion decision earlier this year.
NEW YORK (AP) — New York's attorney general says her three-year investigation of former President Donald Trump uncovered potential crimes in the way he ran his real estate empire, including allegations of bank and insurance fraud.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Stark repudiation by federal judges he appointed. Far-reaching fraud allegations by New York's attorney general. It's been a week of widening legal troubles for Donald Trump, laying bare the challenges piling up as the former president operates without the protections afforded by the White House.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In the weeks since the FBI searched Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate and seized about 100 documents with classification markings, the former president has insisted he did nothing wrong and argued he declassified the information.
AUTO INDUSTRY
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — General Motors says it will spend $760 million to renovate its transmission factory in Toledo, Ohio, so it can build drive lines for electric vehicles.
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit auto show has returned after a three-year absence with a roar. And a soar.
ENVIRONMENT
BERLIN (AP) — Youth activists staged a coordinated "global climate strike" on Friday to highlight their fears about the effects of global warming and demand more aid for poor countries hit by wild weather.
MILITARY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon announced a number of new programs Thursday that are aimed at helping service members who are struggling with housing shortages and steep food and living expenses as they move from base to base.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Markets sold off around the world on mounting signs the global economy is weakening just as central banks raise the pressure even more with additional hikes to interest rates.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is outlining its goals for a new trade deal with Australia, Japan, South Korea and nine other nations meant to signal the country's commitment to working with the Indo-Pacific region at a time of growing Chinese clout.
NEW YORK (AP) — Top allies of former President Donald Trump are creating a new super PAC that's expected to serve as the main vehicle for his midterm spending and could become a key part of his campaign infrastructure should he move forward with a 2024 White House run.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats on Thursday pushed through a long-sought policing and public safety package after overcoming internal differences on legislation they plan to make central to their election-year pitch.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Thursday launched a new effort to show local governments what it can do for their communities, hosting North Carolina officials to highlight funding opportunities and hear firsthand how coronavirus relief, infrastructure dollars and other policies are faring locally.
LONDON (AP) — Britain's new government on Friday announced a sweeping plan of tax cuts it said would be funded by borrowing and revenues generated by anticipated growth, as part of contentious moves to combat the cost-of-living crisis and bolster a faltering economy.
MADRID (AP) — Spain's Socialist-led coalition government is planning a temporary higher tax rate on the richest 1% of the country from next year, in addition to its windfall taxes on large energy companies and banks.
UKRAINE
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Voting began in Russian-held regions of Ukraine on referendums to become part of Russia, Moscow-backed officials there said Friday as Ukrainian and United Nations officials reported evidence of war crimes during the nearly seven-month war in the country.
GENEVA (AP) — A team of experts commissioned by the U.N.'s top human rights body to look into rights violations in Ukraine said Friday its initial investigation turned up evidence of war crimes in the country following Russia's invasion nearly seven months ago.
NEW YORK (AP) — The tide of international opinion appears to be decisively shifting against Russia, as a number of non-aligned countries are joining the United States and its allies in condemning Moscow's war in Ukraine and its threats to the principles of the international rules-based order.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 22
PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Nashville Predators have brought back former goaltender Pekka Rinne in a new role as a special alumni adviser.
VANDERBILT SPORTS
Nick Saban wants more of the same from Alabama players in at least one regard.
STATEWIDE
ONEIDA (AP) — Back country permits and free camping are being offered in celebration of National Public Lands Day at Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area in Tennessee and Kentucky.
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump padded his net worth by billions of dollars and habitually misled banks and others about the value of prized assets like golf courses, hotels and his Mar-a-Lago estate, New York's attorney general said Wednesday in a lawsuit that seeks to permanently disrupt the Republican's ability to do business in the state.
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump and his company could face a range of stiff penalties if a court sides with New York's attorney general in a sprawling fraud lawsuit filed against the former president Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a stark repudiation of Donald Trump's legal arguments, a federal appeals court on Wednesday permitted the Justice Department to resume its use of classified records seized from the former president's Florida estate as part of its ongoing criminal investigation.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists say a Republican-led proposal to ban abortion nationwide after 15 weeks would endanger the health of women and have severe consequences for physicians.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Ford is restructuring its vehicle development and supply chain operations, shuffling multiple executives just days after announcing that it would build up to 45,000 vehicles with parts missing due to shortages.
DETROIT (AP) — Tesla is recalling nearly 1.1 million vehicles in the U.S. because the windows can pinch a person's fingers when being rolled up.
DETROIT (AP) — Some Hyundai and Kia cars and SUVs are missing a "key" anti-theft device, and thieves know.
TRANSPORTATION
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A last-minute deal prevented a railroad strike for now, but many rail workers remain unhappy with working conditions, including some who protested outside their workplaces Wednesday ahead of votes to approve the new contracts.
TOURISM
NEW YORK (AP) — Japan's strict border restrictions will be loosened next month, the prime minister announced Thursday, allowing tourists to easily enter for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
ENERGY
LONDON (AP) — The U.K. government confirmed Thursday that it's lifting a ban on fracking in England, arguing that the move will help boost the country's energy security amid Russia's war in Ukraine.
SAINT-NAZAIRE, France (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday called for a "massive acceleration" of renewable energy development in his country, including offshore wind farms and solar power, via a new plan that seeks to bring lagging France closer to the energy policies of its European neighbors.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks closed lower on Wall Street, deepening their losses for the week, as central banks around the world raised interest rates to fight inflation. The S&P 500 fell 0.8% Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about half as much, and the Nasdaq composite lost 1.4%. Central banks in Europe and Asia increased rates a day after the Federal Reserve made another big rate hike and signaled more were on the way. The goal is to cool down economies by making it more expensive to borrow money. The yield on the 2-year Treasury, which tends to follow expectations for Fed action, rose significantly.
NEW YORK (AP) — The CEOs of the nation's biggest banks returned to Capitol Hill for a second day Thursday, and Senate Democrats strongly urged them to do more to help and protect their customers, while Republicans questioned whether banks should weigh in on hot-button social issues.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve delivered its bluntest reckoning Wednesday of what it will take to finally tame painfully high inflation: Slower growth, higher unemployment and potentially a recession.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits rose slightly last week with the Federal Reserve pushing hard to cool the economy and tamp down inflation.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — The COVID pandemic forced most U.S. casinos to close for months, causing payrolls, revenue and earnings to tumble.
LONDON (AP) — Britain's central bank raised its key interest rate Thursday by another half-percentage point to the highest level in 14 years, but it avoided more aggressive steps to tame inflation that the U.S. Federal Reserve and other banks have taken.
NEW YORK (AP) — Home Depot workers in Philadelphia have filed a petition with the federal labor board to form what could be the first store-wide union at the world's largest home improvement retailer.
NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart and Target plan to begin offering deals and price matching offers earlier this year to keep up with Americans pressed by soaring inflation and looking for ways to ease the potential sting of holiday shopping.
GENEVA (AP) — Switzerland's central bank carried out the biggest hike ever to its key interest rate Thursday, following the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks around the world in aggressive moves to clamp down on inflation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — On the same day the Federal Reserve gave a sobering report on the U.S. economy's trajectory, administration officials highlighted how they have kept some of the nation's smallest businesses afloat through the pandemic.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats worked to pass a long-sought policing and public safety package and overcome internal party differences on legislation they hoped to make central to their election-year pitch.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Campaigning for a northwestern Ohio congressional seat, Republican J.R. Majewski presents himself as an Air Force combat veteran who deployed to Afghanistan after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, once describing "tough" conditions including a lack of running water that forced him to go more than 40 days without a shower.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal regulators are ordering Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and CEO Andy Jassy to testify in the government's investigation of Amazon Prime, rejecting the company's complaint that the executives are being unfairly harassed in the probe of the popular streaming and shopping service.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House has a new effort to show local governments what it can do for their communities, hosting North Carolina officials to highlight funding opportunities and hear firsthand how coronavirus relief, infrastructure dollars and other policies are faring locally.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Conservative activist Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, has agreed to participate in a voluntary interview with the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, her lawyer said Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has passed legislation to overhaul the rules for certifying the results of a presidential election as lawmakers accelerate their response to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and Donald Trump's failed attempt to remain in power.
UKRAINE
BERLIN (AP) — In addition to the human cost of the war, Ukraine's efforts to defend itself from Russia are placing a severe financial burden on the country that it can only bear with the help of outside support cost, a top Ukrainian government economist said Thursday.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union appears determined to respond to new Russian attempts to annex parts of Ukraine with more sanctions, but finding a consensus among member countries is becoming increasingly difficult as measures meant to punish Moscow bite into their own economies.
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — The three Baltic states say they are not prepared to automatically offer asylum to Russians fleeing mobilization into the military, hoping that discontent with the Russian authorities will grow at home instead.