News - Friday, February 13, 2026

For the first time since the chaos of the COVID-era housing market, homebuilders in Hamilton County say they can finally predict what it will cost to build a house.

That might sound like good news. In many ways, it is.

But stability has not brought relief to buyers – and that, builders say, is now the industry’s most urgent challenge.

Construction is underway on a 278-unit riverfront apartment development at 702 Manufacturers Road, a project city officials and developers describe as a test case for Chattanooga’s newly revamped affordable housing tax abatement program and a model for future mixed-income development in high-demand areas.

By David Laprad

A quick scroll, a couple of taps and a cardboard box on your porch two days later are a great way to buy a phone charger or paper towels. But when the stakes are higher – what kind of window will keep your house comfortable in July, or how a new deck might change the way you use your backyard – the internet can start to feel flat.

By David Laprad

Rising premiums, stricter underwriting and weather-driven losses have left the homeowners insurance market “in shambles,” particularly in Tennessee and Georgia, where wind, hail, flooding and legal pressures are reshaping how and whether coverage is written.

The soft clack of needles and the whirl of spindles will return to downtown Chattanooga later this month as the Scenic Stitches Fiber Festival makes its second appearance.

Set for Feb. 27-March 1, the Scenic Stitches Fiber Festival will transform the Chattanooga Convention Center into a hub for fiber artists, makers and curious newcomers from across the country. Now spanning three days instead of two, the festival adds an entire extra day of programming and learning.

February brings thoughts of flowers, candy hearts, greeting cards and love letters. For real estate professionals, however, the phrase “love letters” often triggers a very different association: buyer love letters. These are the personal notes some buyers attach to their offers in hopes of standing out in a competitive market.

Hamilton County recorded more than $270 million in property sales and nearly $391 million in mortgage activity in January 2026, according to the latest sales and mortgages report from the Register of Deeds Office.

The county collected about $1 million in conveyance tax from property sales and roughly $446,000 in mortgage tax during the month. A total of 973 deeds and 987 deeds of trust were recorded, along with just over 4,000 documents overall.

Girls Inc. of Chattanooga has announced the 2026 Sole Award recipients, honoring organizations and leaders whose work creates pathways for families to thrive across the region.

The honorees will be recognized at the Sapphire Sneaker Gala Saturday, May 16, 7 p.m., at The Signal.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga College of Nursing is partnering with ENCORE Ministry Foundation to launch a new Age-Friendly Congregation Certificate program designed to help faith communities and individuals better support older adults through intentional, practical action.

Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to break the bank. In fact, the most meaningful expressions of love often cost little to nothing. 

The key is understanding your partner’s love language and tailoring your approach accordingly. When you know what makes your partner feel truly valued, you can create memorable experiences without the financial pressure that often accompanies this holiday.

The Chattanooga Chapter of the American Inns of Court raised $21,640 in December through a charity auction benefiting the Children’s Advocacy Center: The Emmy Haney House, marking the fourth consecutive year the organization has named the CAC as the auction’s beneficiary.

The 21st annual Pink! gala hosted by the CommonSpirit Memorial Foundation raised $1.3 million to support breast cancer care in the region, organizers announced.

Chaired by Marc and Dr. Rachel Labovitz and Danny and Jennifer Waxenberg, the sold-out event drew 1,150 guests. All proceeds will remain in the local community, directly benefiting the MaryEllen Locher Breast Center at CommonSpirit – Memorial Hospital.

The Collegedale Police Department reports declines in several major crime categories in 2025, along with higher-than-average case clearance rates and continued emphasis on community engagement, according to its newly released annual report.

Broad decreases in crime

The report shows a 27.6% decrease in DUI offenses and a 37.3% reduction in drug- and drug-equipment-related offenses compared with the previous year. Theft and fraud incidents declined 1.8%, while burglaries dropped 11.36% overall. Assaults decreased by 10.7%, and domestic assaults fell 25%.

High-end facilities and state-of-the-art accommodations can seem like a birthright to this generation of athletes at major NCAA Division I college programs. That wasn’t always the case, however, especially for female athletes.

University of Tennessee softball coach Karen Weekly took advantage of a construction project to share some history with her players last month as they prepared for the 2026 season. UT’s clubhouse is being completely renovated, requiring the team to use a portable locker room and offices for nearly a year.

Just before the NHL commenced its three-week break to enable the league’s players to participate in the 2026 Winter Olympics, a trade freeze began that will run through the duration of the first time NHL players have participated in the Olympics since the 2014 Sochi, Russia games. 

In a somewhat surprising Feb. 2 news conference, Predators general manager Barry Trotz announced his intent to retire from his position, citing a desire to spend more time with his family – not team performance, a desire to return to coaching or, most important, health concerns – as his reason for stepping down as just the second general manager in franchise history. 

There is a lot of talk about affordability in 2026, and it can certainly apply to new vehicles as many of the latest SUVs and electric vehicles are simply too expensive. Buying used is an option, but that means you’ll lose out on getting a full warranty and, of course, that new-car smell. 

DETROIT (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency announced an end Thursday to credits to automakers who install automatic start-stop ignition systems in their vehicles, a device intended to reduce emissions that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said "everyone hates."

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks fell sharply Thursday as the market punished companies seen as potential losers from artificial-intelligence technology.

The S&P 500 sank 1.6% for its second-worst day since Thanksgiving, though it's still near its all-time high set late last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 669 points, or 1.3%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 2%.

NEW YORK (AP) — The top antitrust official in the Trump administration is leaving her post amid tension about greenlighting big mergers in recent months.

Gail Slater, the Justice Department's assistant attorney general for antitrust, posted on X Thursday that it was with "great sadness" that she was leaving after just a year in the role. The move comes after a back-and-forth decisions about whether to allow Hewlett Packard Enterprises to buy a rival in the telecommunications networking gear business last year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The press gallery overlooking the U.S. House chamber has been renamed after the abolitionist, writer and presidential adviser Frederick Douglass in a bipartisan move brokered by Black lawmakers.

NASHVILLE (AP) — NCAA scoring leader Mikayla Blakes had 34 points, Aubrey Galvan added 18 points and eight rebounds and No. 5 Vanderbilt beat No. 4 Texas 86-70 on Thursday night.

Blakes raised her scoring average to 26.2 points. She reached 30 or more for the fourth straight game and ninth time this season.

KNOXVILLE (AP) — Janiah Barker scored 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds, Talaysia Cooper added 17 points and four steals, and No. 22 Tennessee rolled past Missouri 98-53 on Thursday night.

Barker shot 9 of 16 from the field and 2 for 5 from beyond the arc for the Lady Vols (16-6, 8-2 Southeastern Conference), who had lost three of their last four games.

NASHVILLE (AP) — New Tennessee Titans coach Robert Saleh's staff includes general manager Mike Borgonzi's brother as linebackers coach.

The Titans released a finalized coaching staff Thursday. Dave Borgonzi coached the Dallas Cowboys' linebackers this season and has 15 years of NFL coaching experience, which includes stints with Tampa Bay, Indianapolis and Chicago.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Former CNN host turned independent journalist Don Lemon is set to be arraigned in federal court in Minnesota on Friday along with four other defendants who were indicted for their alleged roles in disrupting a service at church where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official was a pastor.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — As outrage spreads over energy-hungry data centers, politicians from President Donald Trump to local lawmakers have found rare bipartisan agreement over insisting that tech companies — and not regular people — must foot the bill for the exorbitant amount of electricity required for artificial intelligence.

In one testimonial after another, teachers detailed all the ways President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown has shaped their work and the lives of their students.

In a court filing Thursday, educators around the country described rumors of immigration raids that scared away students, immigrant parents who stopped sending their children to school altogether, and stories of parents and students — including one middle schooler — being picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at school bus stops.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal prosecutors in Minneapolis have moved to drop felony assault charges against two Venezuelan men, including one shot in the leg by an immigration officer, after new evidence emerged undercutting the government's version of events.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration spent at least $40 million to deport roughly 300 migrants to countries other than their own as immigration officials expanded the practice over the last year to carry out President Donald Trump's goals of quickly removing immigrants from the U.S., according to a report compiled by the Democratic staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

WASHINGTON (AP) — There were Nobel laureates and acclaimed authors. Pioneers of science and medicine. At least one was a college president. High-profile academics spun in Jeffrey Epstein's orbit for years, even after he was convicted of sex crimes. Now, facing backlash, many say they were driven by a single factor: Epstein's wealth.

Financial groups in Canada and the United Kingdom said they've paused future ventures with the company DP World after newly released emails showed a yearslong friendship between the company's CEO, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, and Jeffrey Epstein.

The emails — some referencing porn, sexual massages and escorts — surfaced in the cache of Epstein-related documents recently released by the U.S. Department of Justice. DP World is a logistics giant that runs the Jebel Ali port in Dubai and operates terminals in other ports around the world.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A key measure of inflation fell to nearly a five-year low last month as apartment rental price growth slowed and gas prices fell, offering some relief to Americans grappling with the sharp cost increases of the past five years.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sen. Thom Tillis from North Carolina suggested Thursday he could support a compromise that would allow the Senate Banking Committee to start hearings on Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump's nominee to chair the Federal Reserve.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration reached a trade deal with Taiwan on Thursday, with Taiwan agreeing to remove or reduce 99% of its tariff barriers, the office of the U.S. Trade Representative said.

The agreement comes as the U.S. remains reliant on Taiwan for its production of computer chips, the exporting of which contributed to a trade imbalance of nearly $127 billion during the first 11 months of 2025, according to the Census Bureau.

PAHRUMP, Nev. (AP) — Nevada is the only state where people can legally purchase sex, and now sex workers at one of the state's oldest brothels are fighting to become the nation's first to be unionized.

"We want the same things that any other worker wants. We want a safe and respectful workplace," said a worker at Sheri's Ranch in Pahrump, Nevada, who goes by the stage name Jupiter Jetson and asked that her legal name not be used for fear of harassment.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans may be willing to stick with President Donald Trump through almost anything, but his recent push to seize control of Greenland has turned off many in his own party, according to a new AP-NORC poll.

The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that about 7 in 10 U.S. adults disapprove of how Trump is handling the issue of Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark. That's higher than the share who dislike how he's handling foreign policy generally, suggesting that Trump's Greenland approach has created a weak spot for the administration.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has bragged about building a political war chest exceeding $1.5 billion — a staggering sum that he can wield at his whim to shape November's midterms and the 2028 race to succeed him.

Trump's stockpile — which dwarfs any amounts raised by his predecessors in their second terms — is not easy to precisely calculate given that much of it is being collected by groups that aren't required to file regular financial disclosures.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday pardoned five former professional football players — one posthumously — for various crimes ranging from perjury to drug trafficking.

The pardons were announced by White House pardon czar Alice Marie Johnson. Ex-NFL players Joe Klecko, Nate Newton, Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry and the late Billy Cannon were granted the clemency.

KNOXVILLE (AP) — Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar was back in court Friday for his lawsuit against the NCAA seeking another year of college eligibility.

Aguilar had a preliminary injunction hearing in Knox County Chancery Court after he was granted a temporary restraining order last week while the case proceeded. Chancellor Christopher D. Heagerty, who issued the restraining order, said he would make a ruling in the near future whether Aguilar can return to the Volunteers.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is suing Harvard University, saying it has refused to provide admissions records that the Justice Department demanded to ensure the Ivy League school stopped using affirmative action in admissions.

In a lawsuit filed Friday in federal court in Massachusetts, the Justice Department said Harvard has "thwarted" efforts to investigate potential discrimination. It accused Harvard of refusing to comply with a federal investigation and asked a judge to order the university to turn over the records.

NEW YORK (AP) — Goldman Sachs general counsel Kathy Ruemmler has had a storied legal career. As a federal prosecutor, she helped successfully prosecute Enron executives including Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling. She was part of President Barack Obama's administration, working in various roles for much of his two terms in office, including as White House Counsel.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dozens of U.S. lawmakers were trying to make their way this weekend to the Munich Security Conference to assure allies of America's reliability, but burdened with political crises at home, their entrance to the annual gathering of international leaders was more of a limp than a stride.

KNOXVILLE (AP) — Madison Booker scored 14 points while Jordan Lee and Rori Harmon each added 12 as No. 4 Texas held off No. 22 Tennessee, 65-63, Sunday.

The Longhorns (24-3, 9-3 in Southeastern Conference) led by as many as 10 points midway through the fourth quarter. The Lady Volunteers (16-7, 8-3) closed the gap to one with a 3-pointer from Janiah Barker and two 3-pointers by Talaysia Cooper.

ATHENS, Ga. — (AP) — Dani Carnegie scored 29 points to lead Georgia to a 76-74 upset win over No. 5 Vanderbilt on Sunday.

Trinity Thomas made a mid-range jumper with 50 seconds remaining to give the Bulldogs (20-6, 6-6 SEC) a 75-74 lead. After forcing a turnover on the ensuing Vanderbilt (24-3, 10-3) possession, Carnegie split a pair of free throws to give Georgia a two-point advantage with 22.2 seconds remaining,

UConn, UCLA, South Carolina and Vanderbilt would be the No. 1 seeds in the women's NCAA Tournament if it began now.

The NCAA basketball selection committee did its first reveal of the teams in line for the top 16 seeds Saturday.

Undefeated UConn was the overall No. 1 seed, edging UCLA.

NEW YORK (AP) — Tax season is underway and you have until April 15 to file your return with the IRS. If you want to avoid the stress of the looming deadline, start getting organized as soon as possible.

"Don't wait until the last minute but also don't rush," said Tom O'Saben, director of tax content and government relations at the National Association of Tax Professionals,

NEW DELHI (AP) — India is hosting an artificial intelligence summit this week, bringing together heads of state, senior officials and tech executives to New Delhi for a five-day gathering highlighting the growing global importance of the technology.

WASHINGTON (AP) — White House border czar Tom Homan said Sunday that more than 1,000 immigration agents have left Minnesota's Twin Cities area and hundreds more will depart in the days ahead as part of the Trump administration's drawdown of its immigration enforcement surge.

If you daydream about getting a break from work, you might picture two weeks of vacation or a long weekend getaway. But some people dare to imagine something bigger and find ways to get a substantial breather from stress or their day-to-day routines.

NEW YORK (AP) — For years, it was a daily McDonald's trip for a cup of coffee with 10 sugars and five creams. Later, it was Starbucks caramel macchiatos with almond milk and two pumps of syrup.

Coffee has been a morning ritual for Chandra Donelson since she was old enough to drink it. But, dismayed by rising prices, the 35-year-old from Washington, D.C., did the unthinkable: She gave it up.

ATLANTA (AP) — Lots of candidates pitch themselves as political outsiders. Derek Dooley goes a step further. Not only is the former football coach running for the first time, he says he did not vote for nearly two decades.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. military forces boarded another sanctioned tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking the vessel from the Caribbean Sea in an effort to target illicit oil connected to Venezuela, the Pentagon said Sunday.

Venezuela had faced U.S. sanctions on its oil for several years, relying on a shadow fleet of falsely flagged tankers to smuggle crude into global supply chains. President Donald Trump ordered a quarantine of sanctioned tankers in December to pressure then-President Nicolás Maduro before Maduro was apprehended in January during an American military operation.

ATLANTA (AP) — The NAACP and other organizations are asking a judge to protect personal voter information that was seized by the FBI from an elections warehouse just outside Atlanta.

Georgia residents entrusted the state with their "sensitive personal information" when they registered to vote, and the Jan. 28 seizure of ballots and other election documents from the Fulton County elections hub "breached that guarantee, infringed constitutional protections of privacy, and interfered with the right to vote," the organizations said in a motion filed late Sunday.

STAVANGER, Norway (AP) — Jeffrey Epstein repeatedly played up his ties to the former head of the Nobel Peace Prize committee in invitations to and chats with elites like Richard Branson, Larry Summers, Bill Gates and Steve Bannon, a top ally of President Donald Trump, the Epstein files show.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Conservation and historical organizations sued the Trump administration on Tuesday over National Park Service policies that the groups say erase history and science from America's national parks.

A lawsuit filed in Boston says orders by President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum have forced park service staff to remove or censor exhibits that share factually accurate and relevant U.S. history and scientific knowledge, including about slavery and climate change.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has issued new subpoenas in a Florida-based investigation into perceived adversaries of President Donald Trump and the U.S. government response to Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.

Anderson Cooper, who has reported for CBS' "60 Minutes" for the past two decades in addition to hosting a weeknight news program on CNN, said Monday that he's leaving the CBS broadcast to spend more time with his family.

His decision comes at a time of turmoil at "60 Minutes." Cooper appeared on the show Sunday night, introducing a brief piece on filmmaker Ken Burns. It's not likely to be his last time on the show; he's expected to finish the current broadcast season, which ends in May.

BANGKOK (AP) — Japan wants to ship carbon emissions to Malaysia in a first-of-its-kind project in Southeast Asia for carbon capture and storage, a widely debated process that critics say is more symbolic than effective in curbing climate change.

Despite such doubts, Malaysia is positioning itself as Southeast Asia's hub for the alternative technology, a three-step process that captures, transports and buries carbon dioxide which contributes to climate change. With about 81% of Malaysia's electricity generated from fossil fuels, climate activists say carbon capture is an expensive distraction from proven emissions-reducing actions such as transitioning to renewable energy.

NEW YORK (AP) — Warner Bros. Discovery is briefly reopening takeover talks with Skydance-owned Paramount to hear the company's "best and final" offer, while the Hollywood giant continues to back the studio and streaming deal it struck with Netflix.

CHICAGO (AP) — The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, a protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and two-time presidential candidate who led the Civil Rights Movement for decades after the revered leader's assassination, died Tuesday. He was 84.

As a young organizer in Chicago, Jackson was called to meet with King at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis shortly before King was killed and he publicly positioned himself thereafter as King's successor.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Agrochemical maker Bayer and attorneys for cancer patients announced a proposed $7.25 billion settlement Tuesday to resolve thousands of U.S. lawsuits alleging the company failed to warn people that its popular weedkiller Roundup could cause cancer.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Late-night host Stephen Colbert said his interview with Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico was pulled from Monday night's broadcast over network fears it would violate regulatory guidance from the Trump administration on giving equal time to political candidates.

Over the past 18 years, officers at Maryland's Frederick County jail have asked thousands of inmates two standard questions: What country are you a citizen of? And where were you born?

If the answer was anything other than the United States, local officers deputized with special federal authority launched an investigation into whether the person was in the country illegally. Since 2008, Frederick County has turned over 1,884 people to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Sheriff Charles Jenkins said.

Over the past 18 years, officers at Maryland's Frederick County jail have asked thousands of inmates two standard questions: What country are you a citizen of? And where were you born?

If the answer was anything other than the United States, local officers deputized with special federal authority launched an investigation into whether the person was in the country illegally. Since 2008, Frederick County has turned over 1,884 people to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Sheriff Charles Jenkins said.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump administration is throwing its support behind the prediction market operators Kalshi and Polymarket in a critical legal battle between the growing prediction market industry and states that wish to ban these platforms.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump family company has filed to trademark the use of the president's name on airports but says it doesn't plan on charging a fee — at least for a proposed renaming of one near his Florida home.

Applications filed by the Trump Organization with the federal trademark office are seeking exclusive rights to use the president's name on airports and dozens of related things found there, from buses shuttling passengers to umbrellas and travel bags to flight suits. The filings come amid debate in Florida over a state bill to name the Palm Beach airport after Trump and a dispute over funding of a tunnel between New York and New Jersey that is tied up with proposals that both it and the Dulles International Airport in Virginia bear his name.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A coalition of health and environmental groups sued the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday, challenging the rescinding of a scientific finding that has been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change.

NEW YORK (AP) — An immigration judge has blocked the Trump administration from deporting Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian graduate student who led protests at Columbia University against Israel and the war in Gaza.

In a ruling made public Tuesday, the judge, Nina Froes, said she had terminated the case because of a procedural misstep by government attorneys, who failed to properly certify an official document they intended to use as evidence.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Some Republican legislators are looking to restrict their states' ability to set environmental regulations, a move that comes as President Donald Trump 's administration pushes to roll back environmental rules on power plants, water and greenhouse gases.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration will consider whether to approve Moderna's new flu vaccine after all, resolving a dispute that had blocked the company's application for the first-of-its-kind shot.

Moderna announced the change Wednesday, about a week after revealing that the FDA's vaccine chief was refusing to review the new vaccine, made with Nobel Prize-winning mRNA technology.

Stephen Colbert isn't backing down in an extraordinary public dispute with his bosses at CBS over what he can air on his late-night talk show.

On "The Late Show" Tuesday, Colbert said he was surprised by a statement from CBS denying that its lawyers told him he couldn't show an interview with Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico — which the host said had happened the night before.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Six years after Warren Buffett sold off all of Berkshire Hathaway's newspapers and predicted unending declines for most of the industry, Berkshire disclosed a new $350 million investment in The New York Times on Tuesday.

The somewhat surprising move highlighted the quarterly update Berkshire filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission about the company's stock holdings in Buffett's last quarter as CEO. Berkshire also increased its investment in Chevron just before President Donald Trump ordered the arrest of Venezuela's president, and the Omaha-based company continued selling off more of its Bank of America and Apple shares.

Veteran sports columnist Christine Brennan remembers when male colleagues used to laugh at her for insisting on covering women's sports back in the 1990s.

"It was absolutely infuriating to me," said Brennan, a best-selling author who served as the first president of the Association for Women in Sports Media.

NEW YORK (AP) — California regulators said on Tuesday that Tesla had stopped misleading drivers about the safety of its cars and so has decided not to suspend its license to sell in the state for 30 days.

The decision by the California Department of Motor Vehicles comes after Elon Musk's electric vehicle maker was found by an administrative law judge last year to have misled drivers about the ability of Tesla cars to drive themselves in its use of the terms "Autopilot" and "Full Self-Driving."

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Les Wexner's long-time friendship with Jeffrey Epstein will be the subject of a closed-door congressional deposition in Ohio on Wednesday, where the billionaire retail magnate is expected to face questions about new revelations contained in the latest release of Justice Department documents related to the late sexual predator.

LONDON (AP) — Inflation in the U.K. fell to a 10-month low largely on the back of lower food and gas prices, official figures showed Wednesday, a downward move that has reinforced expectations that the Bank of England will cut interest rates in March.

MILAN (AP) — Eileen Gu and all the other freestyle skiers wait for their scores by a large Powerade-branded cooler, then glide away without taking a drink.

Bottles of the blue sports drink are stacked in hockey penalty boxes. Even the tissues in figure skating's drama-packed "Kiss and Cry" area are branded.

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Indonesia is tightening state control over the world's largest nickel supply after years of betting the metal would anchor a homegrown electric-vehicle industry, and just as global demand begins shifting away from heavy reliance on nickel.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic candidates have notched a series of wins in recent special elections — but a new AP-NORC poll finds views of the Democratic Party among rank-and-file Democrats have not bounced back since President Donald Trump's victory in 2024.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — As national Democrats search for a unifying theme ahead of the fall's midterm elections, a California proposal to levy a hefty tax on billionaires is turning some of the party's leading figures into adversaries just when Democrats can least afford division from within.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military said Tuesday that it carried out strikes on three boats accused of smuggling drugs in Latin American waters, killing 11 people in one of the deadliest days of the Trump administration's monthslong campaign against alleged traffickers.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Brian Daboll is getting the chance to work with Cam Ward — even if it took a year longer than he might have wanted.

Daboll was officially introduced as the Tennessee Titans' offensive coordinator on Wednesday and developing last year's No. 1 overall pick will be a big part of that role.

GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — As an attorney, Thomas Goldstein routinely argued cases before the Supreme Court and published a popular blog about the nation's highest court. Unbeknownst to friends and colleagues, Goldstein also became an ultra-high-stakes poker player who grossed tens of millions of dollars in winnings but racked up a staggering gambling debt.

WASHINGTON (AP) — National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya will also temporarily become acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an administration official said Wednesday.

The change was first reported by The New York Times and confirmed by the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the appointment hadn't been made public.

NEW ALBANY, Ohio (AP) — The billionaire behind the retail empire that once blanketed shopping malls with names such as Victoria's Secret and Abercrombie & Fitch told members of Congress on Wednesday that he was "duped by a world-class con man" — close financial adviser Jeffrey Epstein. Les Wexner also denied knowing about the late sex offender's crimes or participating in Epstein's abuse of girls and young women.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Many Federal Reserve officials want to see inflation fall further before they would support additional interest rate cuts this year, particularly if the job market continues to stabilize, minutes of last month's meeting show.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Jayden Stone had 19 points, Trent Pierce and T.O. Barrett each added 16 and Missouri held off No. 19 Vanderbilt 81-80 on Wednesday night after squandering a big lead.

KNOXVILLE (AP) — Nate Ament matched a career high with 29 points to lead Tennessee to an 89-66 victory over Oklahoma on Wednesday night.

Tennessee (19-7, 9-4 Southeastern Conference) never trailed and held a double-digit lead for most of the second half. The Volunteers have won three straight and seven of their last eight.

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City man who attempted to claim ownership of the New Yorker Hotel has pleaded guilty to fraud, ending a lengthy legal saga involving an obscure tenant law that allowed the man to live rent-free for years in the storied Manhattan hotel.

LONDON (AP) — Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former British prince who was stripped of his royal titles because of his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

While Andrew has consistently denied any wrongdoing in connection with his friendship with Epstein, concerns about Mountbatten-Windsor's links to the late financier have dogged the royal family for more than a decade. But the arrest of a brother of a monarch was an extraordinary development with no precedent in modern times that will no doubt put more pressure on the crown.

LONDON (AP) — The brother of King Charles III, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office in connection with his close relationship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

LONDON (AP) — He was reportedly his mother Queen Elizabeth II's favorite, but the former Prince Andrew has long been a headache for Britain's royal family.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested Thursday, his 66th birthday, on suspicion of misconduct in public office in an inquiry stemming from his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. He is the first senior British royal to be arrested since King Charles I, almost 400 years ago.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. trade deficit slipped modestly in 2025, a year in which President Donald Trump upended global commerce by slapping double digit tariffs on imports from most countries. But the gap in the trade of goods such machinery and aircraft — the main focus of Trump's protectionist policies — hit a record last year despite sweeping import taxes.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tariffs paid by midsized U.S. businesses tripled over the course of last year, new research tied to one of America's leading banks showed on Thursday — more evidence that President Donald Trump 's push to charge higher taxes on imports is causing economic disruption.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's top economist on Wednesday urged that Federal Reserve economists be punished for research last week that showed American companies and consumers paying for nearly all the new tariffs imposed by the White House last year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. applications for unemployment benefits fell last week as layoffs remain at historically low levels.

The number of Americans filing for jobless aid for the week ending Feb. 14 fell by 23,000 to 206,000 from the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That's significantly fewer than the 225,000 new applications that analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet had forecast.

NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart delivered another impressive quarter as the promise of lower prices and speedy deliveries attracted a broader spectrum of Americans from cash-strapped to wealthier households during the critical holiday shopping period.

Visa entered Formula 1 in 2024 with Red Bull Racing its first new global sports sponsorship agreement in 15 years. But it was a bumpy launch as its entry came with a name mocked as one of the worst in motorsports history.

Didn't matter to Visa, which on Thursday announced a four-year contract extension through 2030 that expands its partnership with Red Bull Racing and Visa Cash App Racing Bulls.

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday pitched India as a central player in the global artificial intelligence ecosystem, saying the country aims to build technology at home while deploying it worldwide.

"Design and develop in India. Deliver to the world. Deliver to humanity," Modi told a gathering of some world leaders, technology executives and policymakers at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, a panel made up of President Donald Trump's appointees, on Thursday approved his proposal to build a ballroom larger than the White House itself where the East Wing once stood.

The meeting was supposed to be on the design, with a final vote expected at next month's session. But the chairman, Rodney Mims Cook Jr., made a motion to also vote on final approval, and six of the seven commissioners who were all installed by the Republican president since the start of the year voted in favor twice. One commissioner, James McCrery, did not vote because he was the initial architect on the project.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Albania have pledged to send troops for Gaza stabilization force, according to Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers, the commander of the international security force. Egypt and Jordan have committed to train police.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In another era, the scene would have been unremarkable. But in President Donald Trump's Washington, it's become increasingly rare.

Sitting side by side on stage were Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat. They traded jokes and compliments instead of insults and accusations, a brief interlude of cordiality in a cacophony of conflict.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump can't seem to stop talking about Maryland Gov. Wes Moore.

He refused to invite him to a White House dinner later this week with state leaders from both parties, saying he was "not worthy" of the event. And he has castigated Moore for a sewage spill that has spoiled the Potomac River, even though the faulty pipe is part of a federally regulated utility.

WASHINGTON (AP) — An evening rally to boost Democratic turnout for Texas' rapidly approaching primary featured plenty of the state party's political star power, but it was someone who won't be on a ballot who drew the most attention.

Carlos Eduardo Espina, a progressive political influencer who boasts more than 14 million followers on TikTok, mingled with lawmakers and took selfies with attendees who eagerly posted them online.