VOL. 44 | NO. 44 | Friday, October 30, 2020
REAL ESTATE
Top commercial real estate sales, September 2020, for Davidson County, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. long-term mortgage rates were little changed this week after marking a new all-time low last week.
TENNESSEE TITANS
In baseball, there is the old notion that it’s hard to fix a bad bullpen.
First down: Pressure the rookie. The Titans won’t be facing a seasoned vet like they did in Ben Roethlisberger, but rookie Joe Burrow has had the lowly Bengals competitive in a number of games this year. If the Titans are going to correct their mistakes and suddenly find some pass rush on defense, getting after a rookie QB would be a good place to start.
Derrick Henry has few words to say until he's asked about his favorite running backs. The Tennessee Titans' star running back quickly rattles off 15 names from Jim Brown, Gale Sayers and Walter Payton to Eric Dickerson, LaDainian Tomlinson and Adrian Peterson.
NEWSMAKERS
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP partner Todd Presnell has been selected by the Defense Research Institute as the 2020 recipient of the Tom Segalla Excellence in Education Award, which honors a member of DRI whose contributions through legal scholarship exemplify the highest educational standards of DRI and further its mission of improving the skills of the defense lawyer.
BRIEFS
Nashville-based S2 Cognition officials say the company can measure and quantify the previously unseen characteristics of the brain that separate elite athletes from the rest of the pack.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Trucks and SUVs are the top-selling vehicles in America, and the sales trends show no signs of cooling off. They’ve become the de facto family vehicles for a number of reasons, including a high ride height for better visibility, enhanced versatility thanks to roomy cargo areas, available all-wheel drive for extra wet-weather traction and the feeling of safety imparted by a larger vehicle.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
Overworked and underpaid. It’s an old, jokey statement that’s not so funny now. No, it seems like you work more hours than you ever did, and your ends still come up 2 feet from meeting.
PERSONAL FINANCE
If the Supreme Court throws out the Affordable Care Act, your finances and your future could pay the price.
CAREER CORNER
In recognition of the Halloween season, I want to share one of my own frightening job interview stories.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
Side gig. Side job. Side hustle. It goes by many names and serves many purposes. For some, it’s a way to keep the lights on. For others, it’s an opportunity to save for a goal or follow a passion.
NASHVILLE SC
NASHVILLE (AP) — Ryan Hollingshead scored in the 19th minute, Jimmy Maurer had his second consecutive shutout and FC Dallas beat Nashville 1-0 on Wednesday night.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee is offering drive-through COVID-19 testing on Saturday in rural areas in each of the three grand divisions. The testing sites will be open from 9 a.m. to noon local time and will stay open until everyone in line has received a test, according to a news release from Gov. Bill Lee's Unified Command Group.
EDUCATION
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee's administration is offering $5 million in grants for charter schools across the state.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors is posting huge third quarter numbers, pulling in $4 billion in profit over three months, after a short money-losing stretch as the spread of COVID-19 shut down all U.S. auto factories.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell slightly last week to 751,000, a still-historically high level that shows that many employers keep cutting jobs in the face of the accelerating pandemic.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. productivity increased between July and September, but at a slower pace than in the previous quarter.
LONDON (AP) — The British government and the Bank of England joined forces Thursday to provide further support to an economy that is set for a difficult winter following the imposition of new coronavirus lockdown measures.
HONG KONG (AP) — China's biggest e-commerce firm Alibaba Group Holding on Thursday reported a 30% jump in quarterly revenue, as China recovers from the virus and online shopping demand remains high.
ELECTION 2020
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrat Joe Biden was pushing closer to the 270 Electoral College votes needed to carry the White House, securing victories in the "blue wall" battlegrounds of Wisconsin and Michigan and narrowing President Donald Trump's path.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats faced increasingly long odds as the battle for Senate control hangs in balance, and Republicans brushed back multiple challengers to protect their majority. Still, it was too soon for the GOP to declare victory.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The election scrambled seats in the House and Senate but ultimately left Congress much like it began, deeply split as voters resisted big changes despite the heated race at the top of the ticket for the White House.
WASHINGTON (AP) — As Democrat Joe Biden inched closer to the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House, President Donald Trump's campaign put into action the legal strategy the president had signaled for weeks: attacking the integrity of the voting process in states where the result could mean his defeat.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee judge has ruled that a local effort to roll back a contentious 34% property tax increase in Nashville is invalid.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — The first bill to be prefiled for the upcoming legislative session in Tennessee seeks to give people with an intellectual disability who have been sentenced to death a chance to prove their disability and that they should not be executed.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Republicans will maintain their supermajority control of Tennessee's General Assembly after Tuesday's election as Democrats failed to make big gains in their attempt to expand their influence over the state.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Republican Bill Hagerty has won the U.S. Senate seat in Tennessee being vacated by retiring Sen. Lamar Alexander.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Republican Diane Harshbarger on Tuesday won an open U.S. House seat in northeastern Tennessee, while incumbents held onto the state's remaining eight congressional seats.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
ROME — Four regions in Italy are being put under severe lockdown, forbidding people to leave their homes except for essential reasons, in an effort to slow surging COVID-19 infections and prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed.
Americans went to the polls Tuesday under the shadow of a resurging pandemic, with an alarming increase in cases nationwide and the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 reaching record highs in a growing number of states.
LONDON (AP) — Thirsty drinkers in England will be enjoying their final freshly poured pints in a pub for a month Wednesday while shoppers will get one last dose of retail therapy as the country prepares to join large swathes of Europe in lockdown as part of intensified efforts to contain the resurgent coronavirus.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Technology and health care companies led a stock market rally Wednesday, as Wall Street embraced the upside of more gridlock in Washington.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve officials are meeting this week with the economy facing growing threats from a resurgence of the coronavirus and from Congress' failure to provide any further aid for struggling individuals and businesses.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — The U.S. gambling industry won big at the polls Tuesday, with three states authorizing legal sports betting and three others either approving or expanding casino gambling.
A nationwide push to relax drug laws took a significant step forward Tuesday as more states legalized marijuana for adults and voters made Oregon the first state to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of street drugs such as cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.
SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — The U.S. services sector, where most Americans work, registered its fifth consecutive month of expansion in October.
SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — The U.S. trade deficit fell in September after hitting a 14-year high the previous month as exports outpaced imports.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Uber, Lyft and other app-based ride-hailing and delivery services spent $200 million in a winning bet to circumvent California lawmakers and the courts to preserve their business model by keeping drivers from becoming employees eligible for benefits and job protections.
BEIJING (AP) — The world's biggest online finance company was racing toward a stock market debut when it was derailed by Beijing's anxiety about risks in the fledgling industry, jarring global investors and deepening uncertainty about China's financial markets.
ELECTION 2020
WASHINGTON (AP) — The fate of the United States presidency hung in the balance Wednesday as Democratic challenger Joe Biden picked up a win in Wisconsin and fought President Donald Trump in other battleground states that could prove crucial in determining who wins the White House.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A handful of pivotal states remained in play Wednesday in the tightly contested U.S. presidential race. Here, The Associated Press reviews them and examines the reasons why they could still go to either Republican Donald Trump or Democrat Joe Biden:
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump campaign said it filed lawsuits Wednesday in Pennsylvania and Michigan, laying the groundwork for contesting the outcome in undecided battleground states that could determine whether President Donald Trump gets another four years in the White House.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats went into Election Day hoping to reclaim the White House and majorities in both chambers of Congress in a victory that would demonstrate an unmistakable repudiation of President Donald Trump and a Republican Party remade in his image.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans sorted themselves into two distinct camps of voters in Tuesday's presidential election, exposing the clear and entrenched partisan divisions that separate voters by gender, class and race.
WASHINGTON (AP) — America woke up Wednesday morning without a winner of the presidential election. That's OK.
From Ford Model T cars that popped off the assembly line in just 90 minutes to 60-second service for burgers, the United States has had a major hand in making the world a frenetic and impatient place, primed and hungry for instant gratification.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he'll take the presidential election to the Supreme Court, but it's unclear what he means in a country in which vote tabulations routinely continue beyond Election Day, and states largely set the rules for when the count has to end.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters in the U.S. presidential election faced a public health crisis and a wounded economy, but neither candidate emerged as the clear choice to handle both of those issues, according to AP VoteCast.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Disappointed Democrats drove Wednesday toward extending their control of the House for two more years but with a potentially shrunken majority as they lost at least seven incumbents and failed to oust any Republican lawmakers in initial returns.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats had a disappointing night in the battle for Senate control, but it was too soon for Republicans to take a victory lap Wednesday, although they brushed back multiple challengers to protect their now teetering majority.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee voters will decide an open race for U.S. Senate on Election Day after setting an early and absentee voting record amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
NASHVILLE (AP) — With all eyes on the presidential election, the biggest race in Tennessee remains the open U.S. Senate seat now that Republican incumbent Sen. Lamar Alexander is retiring as his term ends. A handful of U.S. House and legislative seats also remain competitive in the GOP-dominant state. Here is a summary of those races on the ballot:
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's three U.S. attorneys have each appointed officials to lead the Justice Department's handling of election fraud and voting rights concerns on Election Day.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday suggested it could halt what has been a gradual move toward more leniency for children who are convicted of murder.
AUTO INDUSTRY
MILAN (AP) — Luxury sportscar maker Ferrari on Tuesday reported its profits remained flat in the third quarter as it recovers lost production from the coronavirus shutdown.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — The cruise industry has jettisoned hopes of restarting operations this year.
LONDON (AP) — This year, the annual illumination of the Christmas lights on London's famous Oxford Street was very much a bittersweet moment.
LONDON (AP) — A half-million people in the English city of Liverpool will be regularly tested for COVID-19 in Britain's first citywide trial of widespread, rapid testing that the government hopes will be a new weapon in combating the pandemic.
BERLIN (AP) — As Europe tries to break a surge in coronavirus infections, Germany is counting on a new type of test to avoid closing nursing homes to visitors, a move that caused considerable anguish among residents and relatives in the spring.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street posted solid gains on Election Day, sending the S&P 500 up 1.8%.
HONG KONG (AP) — The planned stock market debut of the world's biggest online finance company, Ant Group, was suspended in Shanghai and Hong Kong on Tuesday, disrupting a record-setting $34.5 billion initial public offering that highlighted China's recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia's central bank on Tuesday cut its benchmark interest rate by 0.15 of a percentage point to a record low 0.10% in a bid to lift the economy from a pandemic-induced recession.
ELECTION 2020
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has ordered U.S. Postal Service inspectors to sweep more than two dozen mail processing facilities for lingering mail-in ballots and for those ballots to be sent out immediately.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters flocked to the polls on Tuesday despite the threat of the coronavirus and the potential of long lines to choose between President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, in an election that will influence how the U.S. confronts everything from the pandemic to race relations for years to come.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Control of the Senate is a razor-close proposition in Tuesday's election, as Republicans fight to retain their majority against a surge of Democratic candidates confronting the president's allies across a vast political map.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden each have a path to win the White House. The former vice president is competitive in all the battleground states Trump carried in 2016, and has put a handful of traditional Republican states, including Georgia and Arizona, in play. Trump can win by defending a wide swath of territory he won in 2016, but his hopes for reelection are heavily dependent on the swing states of Florida and Pennsylvania.
WASHINGTON (AP) — There's a good chance Americans won't know the winner of Tuesday's presidential election when they go to bed that night.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Even before Election Day, the 2020 race was the most litigated in memory. President Donald Trump is promising more to come.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A veteran Republican operative who got his start in politics by helping to persuade a judge to throw out hundreds of mail-in ballots is organizing an "army" of volunteers for President Donald Trump's campaign to monitor voting in Democratic-leaning areas on Tuesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — What's all this hubbub about 270?
WASHINGTON (AP) — In the 2020 U.S. general election, The Associated Press will declare winners in more than 7,000 races – starting with the White House and reaching down the ballot to every seat in every state legislature.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans think defensive back Desmond King can help their defense, and now coach Mike Vrabel says they will have to wait until possibly Saturday at the earliest to see him work in person.
CINCINNATI (AP) — The Cincinnati Bengals started fast again Sunday. This time, rookie quarterback Joe Burrow also delivered the finishing touch.
CINCINNATI (AP) — Each week, Tennessee coach Mike Vrabel watches the same costly mistakes.
MIDSTATE
MURFREESBORO (AP) — Middle Tennessee State University is raising concerns about the University of Tennessee system's plan to acquire Martin Methodist College and make it the state's ninth four-year undergraduate school.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Monday an antitrust challenge can go forward to the way the National Football League sells the rights to telecasts of pro football games.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A lawsuit has been filed against Tennessee elections officials seeking the release of absentee ballot information.
WASHINGTON (AP) — She didn't have to wear a black robe or even be in Washington, but Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined her new colleagues at the Supreme Court on Monday to hear arguments for the first time.
REAL ESTATE
SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — U.S. construction spending rose 0.3% in September, the fourth straight monthly gain after a coronavirus-caused spring swoon.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden is defending Dr. Anthony Fauci after President Donald Trump suggested he'd dismiss the nation's top infectious disease expert after Election Day.
LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday defended his decision to impose a second national lockdown, brushing aside criticism that weeks of delay have meant thousands more infections and hundreds of needless deaths.
BERLIN (AP) — A four-week partial shutdown has started in Germany, with restaurants, bars, theaters, cinemas and other leisure facilities closing down until the end of the month in a drive to flatten a rapid rise in coronavirus infections.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Two mall operators — including CBL, which operates CoolSprings Galleria and Coolsprings Crossing — filed for bankruptcy protection Monday, hurt by the coronavirus pandemic that has forced their tenants to permanently close stores or not pay rent.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Treasury is projecting that it will need to borrow $617 billion in the final three months of 2020 as the government boosts the sale of Treasury securities to cover record budget deficits.
Stocks notched broad gains on Wall Street Monday as investors looked ahead to Election Day and the potential for a turbulent stretch for markets.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. manufacturing posted a strong gain in October to the highest level in two years even as coronavirus cases have begun to surge again in many parts of the country.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — After winemakers, cookie bakers, and olive growers wound up as collateral damage, Europe is closely watching the U.S. presidential election, waiting to see whether the next four years will mean more tariff wars under Republican President Donald Trump or a shift toward less confrontational negotiation under Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy is expected to rebound from a disastrous spring. Paralyzed by the coronavirus, economic output collapsed at a 31.4% annual pace from April through June — the worst such plunge on records dating to 1947.
ELECTION 2020
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans are fighting to save their majority, a final election push against the onslaught of challengers in states once off limits to Democrats but now hotbeds of a potential backlash to President Donald Trump and his allies on Capitol Hill.
PHILADEPHIA (AP) — President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden have one last chance to make their case to voters in critical battleground states on Monday, the final full day of a campaign that has laid bare their dramatically different visions for tackling the nation's pressing problems and for the office of the presidency itself.
Patience, America. We may not know who won the presidential election on Tuesday night. And if so, it does not necessarily mean anything is broken, fraudulent, corrupted or wrong.
Election Day is finally upon us. Or at least what we still call Election Day, since more than 93 million Americans have already cast ballots in an election that has been reshaped by the worst pandemic in more than a century, its economic fallout and a long-simmering reckoning with systemic racism.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Signature matches. Late-arriving absentee votes. Drop boxes. Secrecy envelopes.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday suggested the FBI should stop investigating an incident in which his supporters were seen surrounding a Biden campaign bus in Texas, which led Democrats to cancel an event there.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Making final arguments before Tuesday's election, President Donald Trump asserted the U.S. was shaking off a coronavirus pandemic that is only getting worse, falsely claimed Democrat Joe Biden would lock down the country for years and baselessly alleged that the COVID-19 death count is being inflated by doctors.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — A company that makes handgun accessories and parts plans to invest $7 million in a new Nashville headquarters, which is expected to create 110 new jobs.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Sportsbooks are set to accept the first bets in Tennessee's unique online-only sports betting program starting early Sunday, the Tennessee Lottery announced Friday.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee officials say a record of nearly 2.3 million voters have already cast their ballots ahead of the Nov. 3 election, making up just more than half of the state's registered voters.
WARTBURG (AP) — Frozen Head State Park has been named 2020 State Park of the Year by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
MEDIA
SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) — Netflix is raising most of its U.S. prices by 8% to 13% as its video streaming service rides a wave of rising popularity spurred by government-imposed lockdowns that corralled people at home during the fight against the pandemic.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee prosecutor's office is asking a judge to overturn the conviction of man serving life in a 1998 slaying after finding new evidence.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
NEW YORK CITY (AP) — The coronavirus can spread more extensively in households than previous research suggests, and kids can transmit it at about the same rate as adults do, according to a new study.
For the second time, a study testing an experimental antibody drug for COVID-19 has been paused to investigate a possible safety issue in hospitalized patients.
NEW YORK (AP) — Like battle-hardened veterans, New York City hospitals and nursing homes are bracing for a potential resurgence of coronavirus patients, drawing on lessons learned in the spring when the outbreak brought the nation's largest city to its knees.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A multi-state coronavirus surge in the countdown to Election Day has exposed a clear split between President Donald Trump's bullish embrace of a return to normalcy and urgent public warnings from the government's top health officials.
It's been over two months since movie theaters started reopening in the U.S., but there is still a fair amount of consumer confusion about moviegoing in the COVID-19 era.
PARIS (AP) — Parisians fleeing for the countryside jammed the roads ahead of France's lockdown to slow the spread of the resurgent coronavirus, and there was only a sprinkling of people hurrying along city sidewalks Friday as the nationwide restrictions went into effect.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Wall Street closed out another punishing week Friday with the S&P 500 posting its first back-to-back monthly loss since the pandemic first gripped the economy in March.
LONDON (AP) — The global travel and tourism industry is on course to lose 174 million jobs this year if current restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus remain in place, a leading industry group warned Friday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Wages and benefits for U.S. workers grew slowly this summer as employers sought to hold the line on pay gains in the midst of the pandemic.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve will reduce the minimum loan level in its small business lending program and waive some fees to try to boost participation in a program that has so far provided little assistance to struggling companies.
NEW YORK (AP) — Exxon Mobil reported its third consecutive quarter of losses as the global pandemic curtailed travel and crippled global economic activity.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumers increased their spending by 1.4% in September, a modest gain but far less than the big increases of late spring, adding to concerns that Americans remain cautious with the viral pandemic resurging across the country and impeding the economy.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European economy grew by an unexpectedly large 12.7% in the third quarter as companies reopened after severe coronavirus lockdowns, but the rebound is being overshadowed by worries that growing numbers of infections will cause a new downturn in the final months of the year.
For the turkey industry, this Thanksgiving is a guessing game.
ELECTION 2020
NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart has reversed course, announcing it is returning ammunition and firearms to their displays in its U.S. stores.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texans have already cast more ballots in the presidential election than they did during all of 2016, an unprecedented surge of early voting in a state that was once the country's most reliably Republican, but may now be drifting toward battleground status.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — When Joe Biden was last in Iowa, his presidential campaign was on the verge of collapse and he was soundly trounced in the caucuses by a former Indiana mayor nearly 40 years his junior. He returns Friday as the Democratic nominee, believing he's just days away from becoming president-elect.
WASHINGTON (AP) — There are no crowds at Disneyland, still shut down by the coronavirus. Fewer fans attended the World Series this year than at any time in the past century. Big concerts are canceled.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal laws and long-standing custom generally leave the U.S. military out of the election process. But President Donald Trump's unsubstantiated warnings about widespread voting irregularities have raised questions about a possible military role.
DETROIT (AP) — Every day feels like a raw wound for Omari Barksdale.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Education Secretary Betsy DeVos planned a "Moms for Trump" rally in her home state of Michigan. The Department of Homeland Security's top official was in Texas to celebrate completion of a section of the U.S.-Mexico border wall. The chief of the Environmental Protection Agency headed to North Carolina after visiting Georgia the day before.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29
VANDERBILT SPORTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Vanderbilt Commodores have tried to make up for lost time, hoping unexpected practice time will be evident when they finally play their first game in three weeks.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Eric Church, Miranda Lambert, Maren Morris, Luke Combs and more are set to take the stage at the CMA Awards in November.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE – By the close of polls on Wednesday, Oct. 28, the 13th day of early voting for the Nov. 3 presidential election, 2,109,156 voters cast their ballot early or absentee by-mail.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Thursday marks the last day in Tennessee to vote early in person for the Nov. 3 presidential election.
COURTS
New York (AP) — Three civil rights groups filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging President Donald Trump's executive order that restricts federal agencies, as well as contractors and grant recipients, from offering certain diversity training that the president deems "anti-American."
REAL ESTATE
SEATTLE (AP) — Several fair housing organizations accused Redfin of systematic racial discrimination in a lawsuit Thursday, saying the online real estate broker offers fewer services to homebuyers and sellers in minority communities — a type of digital redlining that has depressed home values and exacerbated historic injustice in the housing market.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The pending sales of existing homes fell 2.2% in September, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday, the first monthly contraction of that figure in four months.
HEALTH CARE
BOSTON (AP) — Federal agencies warned that cybercriminals are unleashing a wave of data-scrambling extortion attempts against the U.S. health care system designed to lock up hospital information systems, which could hurt patient care just as nationwide cases of COVID-19 are spiking.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Trying to pull back the veil on health care costs to encourage competition, the Trump administration on Thursday finalized a requirement for insurers to tell consumers up front the actual prices for common tests and procedures.
TECHNOLOGY
LONDON (AP) — The European Union is set to propose new laws to rein in the power of big tech companies, including measures to ensure customers are protected, smaller rivals are treated fairly, and illegal content is dealt with, the bloc's digital and antitrust chief said on Thursday.
BEIJING (AP) — China's leaders are vowing to make their country a self-reliant "technology power" as a feud with Washington cuts access to U.S. computer chips and other high-tech components, hampering Beijing's industrial ambitions.
AUTO INDUSTRY
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — German automaker Volkswagen said Thursday it returned to profit in the third quarter thanks to cost discipline and a rebound in global sales markets led by China after the lifting of the severe restrictions on activity in the early phase of the pandemic.
TRANSPORTATION
The days of airlines blocking seats to make passengers feel safer about flying during the pandemic are coming closer to an end.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization's Europe director said Thursday that the 54-country region has again reached a new weekly record for confirmed cases, with more than 1.5 million confirmed last week and more than 10 million since the start of the pandemic.
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis is halting his public general audiences and will limit participation at Christmas and other upcoming Masses amid a surge of coronavirus cases in Italy and the Vatican, officials said Thursday.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The World Health Organization's Europe director expressed deep concern on Thursday after the region again recorded the highest-ever weekly incidence of cases, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned of a "difficult winter" as residents in France braced for life under a new month-long lockdown and Spain's parliament voted to extend the country's state of emergency.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
U.S. stocks shook off an early slide and closed broadly higher Thursday as the market steadied after its worst drop in more than four months.
Five technology giants are reporting earnings Thursday, providing the latest indication of whether they are rebounding from an economic slowdown earlier this year.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The resurgence of coronavirus cases engulfing the United States and Europe is imperiling economic recoveries on both sides of the Atlantic as millions of individuals and businesses face the prospect of having to hunker down once again.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a scolding assessment of COVID-19 relief talks on Thursday, blaming Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for failing to produce answers to her demands for Democratic priorities as part of an almost $2 trillion aid package.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy grew at a record 33.1% annual rate in the July-September quarter but has yet to fully rebound from its plunge in the first half of the year — and the recovery is slowing as coronavirus cases surge and government aid dries up.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell last week to 751,000, the lowest since March, but it's still historically high and indicates the viral pandemic is forcing many employers to cut jobs.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank held off from strengthening its current economic stimulus but its President Christine Lagarde said there was "little doubt" that more action would be coming at its December meeting as surging coronavirus infections and new restrictions on activity threaten Europe's economy.
ELECTION 2020
WASHINGTON (AP) — North Carolina, yes. Pennsylvania, yes. Wisconsin, no. That's how the Supreme Court has answered questions in recent days about an extended timeline for receiving and counting ballots in those states.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden are encouraging voters to turn out in person on Election Day next Tuesday, both campaigning in Florida, a state all but essential to the Republican's pathway to another term.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — In the battle for control of the U.S. Senate this year, the Deep South is fielding more Black candidates than it has since Reconstruction.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Even if the presidential election hinges on a Florida recount like 20 years ago, hanging chads and butterfly ballots won't be around to trip up voters and officials — changes to ballots, equipment and laws have made the Bush-Gore circus a relic never to be revisited, state elections officials believe.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Hackers stole $2.3 million from the Wisconsin Republican Party's account that was being used to help reelect President Donald Trump in the key battleground state, the party's chairman told The Associated Press on Thursday.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is preparing a 2021 legislative agenda with two "great, big initiatives" — expanding health care access and rebuilding American infrastructure — that are longtime Democratic priorities aligned with Joe Biden's platform and taking on fresh urgency in the COVID-19 crisis.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the U.S. Geological Survey violated federal whistleblower-protection laws by reassigning an employee who lodged an official complaint against him, the Interior Department's inspector general office said Thursday.