News - Friday, January 9, 2026

Lisa Goolsby found the deeper meaning of her business – the undercurrent of purpose beneath the day-to-day operations at Wired Coffee Bar in Ooltewah – while drinking a cup of coffee in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Finding the café where she ordered her cup of brew had been easy. She merely stepped into a mall near the university where she teaches marketing a couple of months each year, took in the cluster of coffee shops inside and chose one almost at random.

For a while now in Chattanooga, nearly every conversation about a newly opened Chinese restaurant has returned to the same refrain: it’s good, but it isn’t the Chinese restaurant the city needs.

What does Chattanooga need from a Chinese restaurant? The same things it needs from any restaurant: authenticity and quality. Everything else – freshness, range, technique, hospitality – harmonizes under those two standards.

As 2025 comes to a close, the Chattanooga Fire Department is marking a year defined by operational growth, expanded training and response capabilities and a significant leadership transition while positioning the department for continued progress in 2026.

I often say to clients, “Every move should feel like a sunrise.” As I prepare to take the reins and welcome 2026, this phrase has taken on a broader meaning, one that reaches far beyond a buyer stepping into a new home.

M-O-V-E. Four letters that make such an impact. By moving, we evolve to set a clear direction and take visible steps (large or small) to make a meaningful difference for our members and the public we serve. When we move, we show up, energize, connect with others and adapt to change.

Millions of Americans are pledging to improve their financial lives as the calendar flips to a new year. But without a concrete plan, those well-intentioned resolutions often fade quickly.

Financial goals consistently top the list of new year’s resolutions. A 2025 Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards study shows that financial resolutions are prominent, with saving more money (45%) and reducing debt (32%) ranking among the top three goals.

Welcome back to Flick Picks, your twice-monthly movie fix. From an animated biblical epic to a conspiracy-soaked arthouse satire and a nostalgic rom-com revisit, this installment runs the gamut of faith, weirdness and pure fun.

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My ears perked when I first learned Angel Studios was releasing an animated film about the biblical David. We’re studying his life at church, and I couldn’t help wondering how a story centered on a warrior king – one whose legacy includes adultery and murder – could be transformed into a family-friendly animated feature.

A slate of new Tennessee laws approved during the first session of the 114th General Assembly will took effect Jan. 1, ushering in changes across commerce, elections, public safety, health care, taxation and government operations.

The legislation reflects policy decisions adopted during the 2025 session and touches nearly every aspect of daily life, from vaping regulations and health insurance coverage to voter registration requirements and paid leave for state employees. Lawmakers are scheduled to reconvene for the second session of the General Assembly Jan. 13.

It is both telling and unsurprising that the Oxford University Press Word of the Year for the recently departed 2025 is “rage bait.”

Rage, after all, seems to have become the default emotional setting for many Americans. Most Americans, maybe. Rage bait – the spelling should probably be squeezed together – serves to stoke that condition.

After a season marked by inconsistency and underwhelming results against quality opponents, the University of Tennessee football program is undergoing wholesale changes on the defensive coaching staff and through the transfer portal.

The Vols (8-5, 4-4 SEC) finished the season with back-to-back losses, falling to Vanderbilt in the regular season finale and to Illinois in the Music City Bowl. Between the setbacks, head coach Josh Heupel began the dismantling of the defensive staff by firing defensive coordinator Tim Banks and hiring Jim Knowles to take his place.

There are many types of head coaching candidates out there with varying degrees of experience and expertise. Some have been head coaches before, while others would add a fresh face to the coaching carousel.

So maybe it’s time for the Tennessee Titans to think outside the box with their upcoming hire.

If an electric car stirs your interest but the lifestyle changes sound daunting, consider a plug-in hybrid. A plug-in hybrid is simply a rechargeable hybrid with a larger battery than a standard hybrid that enables a short range of fully electric driving. 

NASHVILLE (AP) — Mikayla Blakes scored 20 points to lead five Vanderbilt players in double figures, and the seventh-ranked Commodores stayed undefeated, beating Missouri 99-68 on Thursday night.

Vanderbilt (16-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) is a win away from matching the 17-0 start by the 1992-93 squad, which reached the program's lone women's Final Four.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Arthur Smith confirmed Thursday that the Tennessee Titans have reached out to interview him for their head coach opening.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Filip Forsberg scored the only goal in a shootout to lift the Nashville Predators over the New York Islanders 2-1 on Thursday night.

Ryan O'Reilly evened the score with a short-handed goal late in the second period and Juuse Saros made 30 saves for Nashville before denying all three Islanders attempts in the tiebreaker.

A starting quarterback at Washington allegedly reneging on a lucrative deal to hit the transfer portal. Another starting QB, this one in the College Football Playoff, awaiting approval from the NCAA to play next season, an expensive NIL deal apparently hanging in the balance. A defensive star, sued by his former school after transferring, filing a lawsuit of his own.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorneys general in five Democratic-led states filed a lawsuit Thursday against President Donald Trump's administration after it said it would freeze money for several public benefit programs, citing concerns about fraud in the programs designed to help low-income families.

NEW YORK (AP) — Luigi Mangione is due in federal court Friday for a pivotal hearing in his fight to bar the government from seeking the death penalty against him in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI is set to spend $20 billion to build a data center in Southaven, Mississippi, Gov. Tate Reeves announced Thursday, calling it the largest private investment in the state's history.

LONDON (AP) — Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok is preventing non-paying users from generating or editing images after a global backlash erupted over sexualized deepfakes of people, but the change has not satisfied authorities in Europe.

The chatbot, which is accessed through Musk's social media platform X, has in the past few weeks been granting a wave of what researchers say are malicious user requests to modify images, including putting women in bikinis or in sexually explicit positions.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — CES 2026 offered a glimpse of a future that feels straight out of a sci-fi movie: bendable screens, paper-thin TVs and cars and gadgets that can think for themselves as they get to know you and your family's wants and needs.

As Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang put it, "The ChatGPT moment for physical AI is here."

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Federal immigration agents shot and wounded two people in a vehicle outside a hospital in Portland on Thursday, a day after an officer fatally shot a woman in Minnesota, authorities said.

The shooting drew hundreds of protesters to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building at night, and Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield vowed to investigate "whether any federal officer acted outside the scope of their lawful authority" and refer criminal charges to the prosecutor's office if warranted.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — As anger and outrage spilled out onto Minneapolis' streets over the fatal shooting of a woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, a new shooting by federal officers in Oregon left two people wounded, sparked additional protests and elicited more scrutiny of enforcement operations across the U.S.

Misrepresented and fabricated images spread widely on social media in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman, Renee Good, by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on Wednesday.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal officers have encountered opposition in nearly all of the cities targeted by President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement campaign. But it was in Minnesota — a state in daily conflict with the Trump administration this year — that a 37-year-old woman was shot and killed by an immigration officer.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sluggish December hiring concluded a year of weak employment gains that have frustrated job seekers even though layoffs and unemployment have remained low.

Employers added just 50,000 jobs last month, nearly unchanged from a downwardly revised figure of 56,000 in November, the Labor Department said Friday. The unemployment rate slipped to 4.4%, its first decline since June, from 4.5% in November, a figure also revised lower.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations is forecasting that the global economy will grow by 2.7% this year, slightly lower than last year's estimate, citing the impact of higher U.S. tariffs, economic uncertainties and geopolitical tensions.

U.N. economists predicted that growth would edge up to 2.9% in 2027. That's still well below the average 3.2% growth between 2010 and 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic hurt economies around the globe. The estimate for 2025 is 2.8%.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a remarkable rebuke of Republican leadership, the House passed legislation Thursday that would extend expired health care subsidies for those who get coverage through the Affordable Care Act as 17 renegade GOP lawmakers joined every Democrat in support.

WASHINGTON (AP) — When it comes to claiming that Venezuelan oil is now under his control, President Donald Trump is mincing no words. But no small part of that oil belongs to China under contracts it struck with Caracas years ago, setting the stage for a delicate diplomatic dance in the next few weeks.

BANGKOK (AP) — The United States, which played a major role in ending border clashes last year between Thailand and Cambodia, will be providing $45 million in aid packages to the two Southeast Asian countries in an effort to ensure regional stability and prosperity, a senior U.S. State Department official said Friday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has agreed to display a plaque honoring the police who defended the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, rebuffing House Speaker Mike Johnson, who has said the commemorative memorial does not comply with the law.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is meeting with oil executives at the White House on Friday in hopes of securing $100 billion in investments to revive Venezuela's ability to fully tap into its expansive reserves of petroleum — a plan that rides on their comfort in making commitments in a country plagued by instability, inflation and uncertainty.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces boarded another oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea on Friday, the U.S. military said, as the Trump administration continues to target sanctioned tankers traveling to and from Venezuela.

The pre-dawn action was carried out by Marines and Navy sailors from the forces the U.S. has built up in the Caribbean in recent months, according to U.S. Southern Command, which declared "there is no safe haven for criminals" as it announced the seizure of the vessel called the Olina.

BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge said Friday that she expects to temporarily block efforts by the Trump administration to end a program that offered temporary legal protections for more than 10,000 family members of citizens and green card holders.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani said at a hearing that she planned to issue a temporary restraining order but did not say when it would be issued. This case is part of a broader effort by the administration to end temporary legal protection for numerous groups and comes just over a week since another judge ruled that hundreds of people from South Sudan may live and work in the United States legally.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Drivers for Lyft and Uber protested self-driving Waymo taxis in San Francisco on Friday, urging state regulators to exercise greater oversight of autonomous vehicles, given recent events in which the cars killed pets and blocked traffic.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is meeting with oil executives at the White House on Friday in hopes of securing $100 billion in investments to revive Venezuela's ability to fully tap into its expansive reserves of petroleum — a plan that rides on their comfort in making commitments in a country plagued by instability, inflation and uncertainty.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Federal immigration officers are pulling out of a Louisiana crackdown and heading to Minneapolis in an abrupt pivot from an operation that drew protests around New Orleans and aimed to make thousands of arrests, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minneapolis school system will offer families the option of remote learning for a month amid federal immigration enforcement in the city, the district said.

Under the temporary plan, teachers will simultaneously deliver lessons from their classrooms to students in the classroom and at home. The district provided the update late Thursday in an email to teachers that was obtained by The Associated Press.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Mikayla Blakes scored 25 points, Justine Pissott added 22 and No. 7 Vanderbilt matched the best start in school history with a 91-51 victory over Texas A&M on Sunday.

The Commodores (17-0, 4-0 Southeastern Conference) have won their first 17 games for the first time since the 1992-93 season, when they advanced to the women's Final Four. Fifth-year coach Shea Ralph's team has also won its first four SEC games for the first time in 17 years, and its average margin of victory in those contests is 23 points.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Roman Josi scored a goal and added two assists to lead the Nashville Predators to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday night.

Steven Stamkos had a goal and an assist, Cole Smith also scored, and Justus Annunen made 28 saves for the Predators, winners of two of three.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Becky Pepper-Jackson finished third in the discus throw in West Virginia last year though she was in just her first year of high school. Now a 15-year-old sophomore, Pepper-Jackson is aware that her upcoming season could be her last.

WASHINGTON (AP) — New options for testing and treating some of the most common sexually transmitted diseases are becoming available, a trend that experts hope will keep downward pressure on U.S. infection rates.

Last year, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first at-home test that can detect three common infections in women — gonorrhea, chlamydia and trichomoniasis — as well as the first home-based kit for the virus that causes cervical cancer.

NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of nurses in three hospital systems in New York City went on strike Monday after negotiations through the weekend failed to yield breakthroughs in their contract disputes.

The strike was taking place at The Mount Sinai Hospital and two of its satellite campuses, with picket lines forming. The other affected hospitals are NewYork-Presbyterian and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.

NEW YORK (AP) — Paramount Skydance is taking another step in its hostile takeover bid of Warner Bros. Discovery, saying Monday that it will name its own slate of directors before the next shareholder meeting of the Hollywood studio.

Paramount also filed a suit in Delaware Chancery Court seeking to compel Warner Bros. to disclose to shareholders how it values its bid and the competing offer from Netflix.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia and Indonesia have become the first countries to block Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Elon Musk's xAI, after authorities said it was being misused to generate sexually explicit and non-consensual images.

HONG KONG (AP) — China and the European Union said Monday they have agreed on steps toward resolving their dispute over the bloc's imports of Chinese-made electric vehicles.

A "guidance document" released by the EU on Monday gives instructions for Chinese EV manufacturers on making price offers for battery EVs, including minimum import prices and other details. The EU had imposed tariffs of up to 35.3% on Chinese EV imports in 2024 following an anti-subsidy investigation.

Alma Figueroa began to worry when she learned that her gas provider wanted to test a controversial solution to curb global warming: blend hydrogen with natural gas to power her stove and other appliances. Figueroa, who has asthma and recently learned her lung cancer is back, worries about health risks.

Five years ago, video images from a Minneapolis street showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd as his life slipped away ignited a social movement.

Now, videos from another Minneapolis street showing the last moments of Renee Good's life are central to another debate about law enforcement in America. They've slipped out day by day since ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot Good last Wednesday in her maroon SUV. Yet compared to 2020, the story these pictures tell is murkier, subject to manipulation both within the image itself and the way it is interpreted.

NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook owner Meta has named Dina Powell McCormick, a former Trump administration adviser and longtime finance executive, as president and vice chairman of the tech giant.

Powell McCormick previously served on Meta's board of directors — where, the company notes, she was "deeply engaged" in accelerating its artificial intelligence push across platforms. In her new management role, Meta says Powell McCormick will help guide its overall strategy, including the execution of multi-billion-dollar investments.

NEW YORK (AP) — Mattel Inc. is introducing an autistic Barbie on Monday as the newest member of its line intended to celebrate diversity, joining a collection that already includes Barbies with Down syndrome, a blind Barbie, a Barbie and a Ken with vitiligo, and other models the toymaker added to make its fashion dolls more inclusive.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans are increasingly rejecting the two major political parties, according to new polling.

Just under half, 45%, of U.S. adults now identify as independents, a new Gallup survey found. That's a substantial shift from 20 years ago, when closer to one-third of Americans said they didn't identify with the Democrats or Republicans.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration's criminal investigation of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell appeared on Monday to be emboldening defenders of the U.S. central bank that President Donald Trump wants to bring under his sway.

The backlash reflected the bigger stakes of a contest about the fate of the Fed's independence, the balance of power within the federal government, and the path of the U.S. economy. Trump has long publicly lashed out against Powell for not slashing the Fed's benchmark interest rates to his liking, but the prospect of a criminal indictment was a step too far for an institution that has an outsized influence on both inflation and the job market.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has threatened the Federal Reserve with a criminal indictment over the testimony of Fed Chair Jerome Powell this summer regarding its building renovations, Powell said over the weekend.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday that the death toll in nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 572.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's photo portrait display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery has had references to his two impeachments removed, the latest apparent change at the collection of museums he has accused of bias as he asserts his influence over how official presentations document U.S. history.

BEIJING (AP) — A leader of the Canadian government is visiting China this week for the first time in nearly a decade, a bid to rebuild his country's fractured relations with the world's second-largest economy — and reduce Canada's dependence on the United States, its neighbor and until recently one of its most supportive and unswerving allies.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly sued the Pentagon on Monday over attempts to punish him for his warnings about illegal orders, claiming the Trump administration trampled on his constitutional rights to free speech.

Kelly, a former U.S. Navy pilot who represents Arizona, is seeking to block his censure from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week. Hegseth announced on Jan. 5 that he censured Kelly over his participation in a video that called on troops to resist unlawful orders.

A federal judge ruled Monday that work on a major offshore wind farm for Rhode Island and Connecticut can resume, handing the industry at least a temporary victory as President Donald Trump seeks to shut it down.

At the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Senior Judge Royce Lamberth said the government did not explain why it could not take action short of a complete stop to construction on Revolution Wind while it considers ways to mitigate its national security concerns. He said it also did not provide sufficient reasoning for its change in position.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration secretly reimposed a policy limiting Congress members' access to immigration detention facilities a day after a federal immigration officer fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis, attorneys for several congressional Democrats said Monday in asking a federal judge to intervene.

NEW YORK (AP) — Getting married and allegedly embracing a monogamous lifestyle cannot prove the innocence of a man charged in a conspiracy with his two brothers — both luxury real estate brokers — to sexually assault dozens of women, a federal judge said Monday.

PBS will premiere separate programs on science and foreign affairs next weekend after shutting the doors on its Saturday and Sunday breaking newscasts because of the federal government's cut of $1.1 billion in funding to public broadcasting.

"PBS News Weekend" signed off Sunday, "at least for the foreseeable future," anchor John Yang said. The weekend sister of "PBS NewsHour" began broadcasting in 2013 from New York, and moved to Washington in 2022.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Allegiant Air said it will acquire Sun Country Airlines in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $1.5 billion, including debt, in a move combining two low-cost U.S. carriers focused on leisure travel.

Executives at both carriers said their route networks complement each other and that the larger airline would increase affordable travel options for passengers. The merged airline will serve about 175 cities with more than 650 routes and a fleet of roughly 195 aircraft, the companies told investors Monday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has dramatically escalated his confrontation with the Federal Reserve, his Justice Department investigating and threatening a criminal indictment of the independent central bank and serving it with subpoenas.

ATLANTA (AP) — Donald Trump promised in his second inaugural address to fairly apply the law, unlike how he said he'd been treated by federal authorities.

"The vicious, violent and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end," he declared on Jan. 20, 2025.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan U.S. congressional delegation is headed to Copenhagen later this week in an attempt to show unity between the United States and Denmark as President Donald Trump continues to threaten to seize Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of the NATO ally.

NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans continued their search for a coach Monday by interviewing former Atlanta coach Raheem Morris, according to a person familiar with the interview schedule.

The Titans interviewed seven candidates through Saturday before resuming the search Monday with Morris, the person confirmed to The Associated Press that Morris' interview had been completed on condition of anonymity because the Titans are not commenting on individual interviews.

The Southeastern Conference has both top tier teams as well as depth this season with five schools ranked in the first seven of The Associated Press women's basketball poll Monday.

Overall nine teams are in the Top 25, tying the Big Ten for the most ever in a single week in the 50-year history of the poll.

Seton Hall hasn't made things easy in returning to The Associated Press men's college basketball poll for the first time in four years

The Pirates jumped into Monday's latest poll at No. 25, marking the program's first appearance in the rankings since sitting at No. 20 almost exactly four years earlier. That sets up an immediate marquee matchup against No. 3 UConn on Tuesday as part of the national AP Top 25 schedule before hosting Butler on Saturday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge ruled Monday that the Trump administration acted illegally when it canceled $7.6 billion in clean energy grants for projects in states that voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.

The grants supported hundreds of clean energy projects in 16 states, including battery plants, hydrogen technology projects, upgrades to the electric grid and efforts to capture carbon dioxide emissions.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is hearing arguments Tuesday over state laws barring transgender girls and women from playing on school athletic teams.

Lower courts ruled for the transgender athletes in Idaho and West Virginia who challenged the state bans, but the conservative-dominated Supreme Court might not follow suit.

DETROIT (AP) — President Donald Trump will travel to Michigan on Tuesday to promote his efforts to boost U.S. manufacturing, trying to counter fears about a weakening job market and worries that still-rising prices are taking a toll on Americans' pocketbooks.

It won't be easy for Big Tech companies to win the hearts and minds of Americans who are angered about massive artificial intelligence data centers sprouting up in their neighborhoods, straining electricity grids and drawing on local reservoirs.

Microsoft is trying anyway.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Fanatics, the sports merchandising giant best known for jerseys and collectibles, is moving deeper into entertainment and bringing fans closer to the action.

The company announced Tuesday the launch of Fanatics Studios, a new content arm with initial projects including the official Olympic film for the LA28 Games, a multipart documentary following seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady and joining ESPN as a producer of the 2026 ESPY Awards. Other partnerships will include WWE, MLB and Fox Sports.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian authorities said Tuesday they will take legal action against Elon Musk's social media platform X and its artificial intelligence unit xAI, accusing the companies of failing to ensure the safety of users of its Grok chatbot.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency says it will stop calculating how much money is saved in health care costs and preventable deaths avoided from air pollution rules that curb two deadly pollutants.

The change means the EPA will focus rules for fine particulate matter and ozone only on the cost to industry, part of a broader realignment under President Donald Trump toward a business-friendly approach that has included the rollback of multiple policies meant to safeguard human health and the environment and slow climate change.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a reversal from previous years' pollution reductions, the United States spewed 2.4% more heat-trapping gases from the burning of fossil fuels in 2025 than in the year before, researchers calculated in a study released Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday that Elon Musk's artificial intelligence chatbot Grok will join Google's generative AI engine in operating inside the Pentagon network, as part of a broader push to feed as much of the military's data as possible into the developing technology.

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A suspect in an arson fire at a synagogue that was bombed by the Ku Klux Klan decades ago admitted to targeting the historic institution because it's a Jewish house of worship and confessed what he had done to his father, who turned him in to authorities after observing burn marks on his son's ankles, hands and face, the FBI said Monday.

GENEVA (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump will return to the World Economic Forum's annual meeting of business, political and cultural elites in Davos, Switzerland, next week, leading a record-large U.S. delegation, organizers said Tuesday.

The Geneva-based think tank says Trump, whose assertive foreign policy on issues as diverse as Venezuela and Greenland in recent months has stirred concerns among U.S. friends and foes alike, will be accompanied by five Cabinet secretaries and other top officials for the event running from Monday through Jan. 23.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation cooled a bit last month as prices for gas and used cars fell, a sign that stubbornly elevated cost pressures are slowly easing.

Consumer prices rose 0.3% in December from the prior month, the Labor Department said Tuesday, the same as in November. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 0.2%, also matching November's figure. Increases at that pace, over time, would bring inflation closer to the Federal Reserve's target of 2%.

NEW YORK (AP) — JPMorgan Chase said Tuesday that its fourth-quarter profits rose 9% on an adjusted basis, as the bank continues to benefit broadly from a strong economy in both its consumer and investment banking divisions.

The bank earned $13.03 billion, or $4.63 a share. The results included a one-time hit of 60 cents per share to its results from JPMorgan Chase's purchase of the Apple Card credit card portfolio from Goldman Sachs. This is because the bank added $2.2 billion in loan-loss reserves to its balance sheet to cover the risk of taking on Apple Card, effectively money the bank socks away to cover potential losses.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Trump said Tuesday he's canceled talks with Iranian officials amid a protest crackdown, telling Iranian citizens "help is on its way."

Trump did not offer any details about what the help would entail, but it comes after the Republican president earlier this week said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic that has killed more than 2,000, according to human right monitors.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton say they will refuse to comply with a congressional subpoena for them to testify in an investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Denmark provided U.S. forces in the east Atlantic support last week as they intercepted an oil tanker for violations of U.S. sanctions, a Danish government official confirmed on Tuesday.

The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly on the sensitive matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity, declined to provide details about what the support entailed.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith is set to testify publicly next week about his investigations into President Donald Trump that resulted in two indictments.

Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said in a Fox News Channel interview on Monday night that Smith would appear before the panel on Jan. 22, and a spokesman for Smith on Tuesday confirmed the committee hearing.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's administration has made good on its pledge to label three Middle Eastern branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations, imposing sanctions on them and their members in a decision that could have implications for U.S. relationships with allies Qatar and Turkey.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its crackdown on protesters that activists said had killed at least 646 people.

Iran had no direct reaction to Trump's comments, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Democratic National Committee will spend millions of dollars to cement control of voter registration efforts that have traditionally been entrusted to nonprofit advocacy groups and individual political campaigns, a shift that party leaders hope will increase their chances in this year's midterm elections.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday seemed likely to uphold state laws barring transgender girls and women from playing on school athletic teams.

Lower courts ruled for the transgender athletes in Idaho and West Virginia who challenged the state bans, but the conservative-dominated Supreme Court gave no indication after more than three hours of arguments that it would follow suit.

NEW YORK (AP) — Fewer Americans are signing up for Affordable Care Act health insurance plans this year, new federal data shows, as expiring subsidies and other factors push health expenses too high for many to manage.

Nationally, around 800,000 fewer people have selected plans compared to a similar time last year, marking a 3.5% drop in total enrollment so far. That includes a decrease in both new consumers signing up for ACA plans and existing enrollees re-upping them.

DETROIT (AP) — President Donald Trump toured an assembly line making Ford F-150 pickups on Tuesday, part of a Michigan trip meant to promote his efforts to boost U.S. manufacturing and counter fears about a weakening job market and still-rising prices hurting Americans' pocketbooks.

NEW YORK (AP) — Up until this week, Wall Street has generally benefited from the Trump administration's policies and has been supportive of the president. That relationship has suddenly soured.

When President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill into law in July, it pushed another significant round of tax cuts and also cut the budget of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, at times the banking industry's nemesis, by nearly half. Trump's bank regulators have also been pushing a deregulatory agenda that both banks and large corporations have embraced.

NUUK, Greenland (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump has made an American takeover of Greenland a focus of his second term in the White House, calling it a national security priority while repeating false claims about the strategic Arctic island.

In recent comments, he has floated using military force as an option to take control of Greenland. He has said if the U.S. does not acquire the island, which is a self-governing territory of NATO ally Denmark, then it will fall into Chinese or Russian hands.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that they will refuse to comply with a congressional subpoena to testify in a House committee's investigation of Jeffrey Epstein.

The Clintons, in a letter released on social media, slammed the House Oversight probe as "legally invalid" even as Republican lawmakers prepared contempt of Congress proceedings against them. The Clintons wrote that the chair of the House Oversight Committee, Republican Rep. James Comer, is on the cusp of a process "literally designed to result in our imprisonment."

NASHVILLE (AP) — Roman Josi scored his second goal of the game at 3:43 of overtime, and the Nashville Predators beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 on Tuesday night.

Erik Haula and Steven Stamkos also scored and Juuse Saros made 28 saves for the Predators in their third win in four games.

KNOXVILLE (AP) — Nate Ament scored 23 points, 10 of which came in the two overtime periods, as No. 24 Tennessee beat Texas A&M, 87-82 on Tuesday night.

Ja'Kobi Gillespie scored 18, Bishop Boswell had 13 points and 11 rebounds and Felix Okpara had 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Volunteers (12-5, 2-2 in Southeastern Conference), who outrebounded the Aggies 60-35.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday revived a Republican challenge to a law that allows the counting of late-arriving mail ballots, a target of President Donald Trump.

The high court ruled 7-2 that candidates like Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill. have the legal right to such challenges, even if the ballots have little effect on the race.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge is considering whether to set aside a Trump administration order pausing the construction of a major offshore project for New York, which the developer says could mean the death of a project that's 60% complete.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department does not believe there is currently any basis to open a criminal civil rights investigation into the killing of a woman by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis, a top department official said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Washington Post says FBI agents have searched a reporter's home as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of sharing government secrets.

The Post says journalist Hannah Natanson had her phone and a Garmin watch seized by agents at her Virginia home.

DETROIT (AP) — The Dodge Charger won the 2026 North American Car of the Year award, while the Ford Maverick Lobo took the crown for the truck honors, and the Hyundai Palisade won the utility award.

The awards were announced Wednesday morning during an Automotive Press Association event at the start of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

HONG KONG (AP) — China's auto exports surged 21% in 2025, driven by rising shipments of electric vehicles, while domestic demand slowed, an industry association said Wednesday.

Confronted with grueling competition in an overcrowded domestic market, Chinese auto manufacturers have stepped up sales around the globe.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Earth's average temperature last year sizzled at a feverishly elevated level, a jump up from trends of recent decades, but not quite as record-smashing hot as 2024, several climate monitoring teams reported Tuesday.

Five science teams calculated that 2025 was the third-hottest year on record, behind 2024 and 2023. All of the last three years also flirted close to the internationally agreed-upon limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming since pre-industrial times. That goal for limiting temperature increases, established in Paris in 2015, is likely to be breached by the end of this decade, the scientists said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department says it will suspend the processing of immigrant visas for citizens of 75 countries whose nationals are deemed likely to require public assistance while living in the United States.

The State Department said Wednesday it had instructed consular officers to halt immigrant visa applications from the countries affected in accordance with a broader order issued in November that tightened rules around potential immigrants who might become "public charges" in the U.S. The suspension will not apply to applicants seeking non-immigrant, or temporary tourist or business visas.

NEW YORK (AP) — Silicon Valley fintech giant Bilt Rewards announced an overhaul of its credit cards on Wednesday, which notably will include an introductory rate on all card users' interest rates at 10% for one year.

The promotion comes at a time of heightened political rhetoric around the cost of credit cards, with President Donald Trump announcing last week that he also is seeking a one-year cap on credit card interest rates of 10%.

NEW YORK (AP) — Setting aside their current fight with the White House, things are looking good on Wall Street.

The latest trio of big banks reported their results Wednesday — Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo — and while each of them do different flavors of banking the theme is the same: profits are up, dealmaking is healthy, and the consumer is doing just fine.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. wholesale prices rose modestly in November, the government said in report delayed by the federal government shutdown.

The Labor Department reported Wednesday that its producer price index — which measures inflation before it reaches consumers — rose 0.2% in November from October and 3% from a year earlier.

NEW YORK (AP) — Shoppers increased their spending in November from October as holiday shopping kicked into full gear.

Retail sales rose a better-than-expected 0.6% in November, following a revised 0.1% decline October, according to the Commerce Department. The report on Wednesday was delayed more than a month because of the 43-day government shutdown.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has once again drawn his go-to diplomatic weapon — tariffs, this time to coerce the Iranian government to end its bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.

Trump said in a social media post on Monday he would impose a 25% tax on imports to the United States from countries that do business with Iran. The sanctions could hurt the Islamic Republic by reducing its access to foreign goods and driving up prices, which would likely inflame tensions in a country where inflation is running above 40%.

HONG KONG (AP) — China's trade surplus surged to a record of almost $1.2 trillion in 2025, the government said Wednesday, as exports to other countries made up for slowing shipments to the U.S. under President Donald Trump's onslaught of higher tariffs.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Officials from Greenland and Denmark met in Washington on Wednesday with top White House officials as President Donald Trump moved to ratchet up the pressure by suggesting that NATO should help the United States acquire the world's largest island and saying anything less than it being under American control is unacceptable.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin has been notified that the Trump administration is investigating her after she organized and appeared in a video with other Democrats urging military service members to resist "illegal orders."

Slotkin, a former CIA analyst, first disclosed to The New York Times that prosecutors were investigating her. A person with knowledge of the situation who was not authorized to speak about it publicly confirmed the matter to The Associated Press.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans are facing intense pressure from President Donald Trump to vote down a war powers resolution Wednesday that is aimed at limiting the president's ability to carry out further military action against Venezuela.

Five GOP senators joined with Democrats to advance the resolution last week, but Trump has lashed out at the defectors as he tries to head off passage of the bill. Democrats are forcing the vote after U.S. troops captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid earlier this month.

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than half of U.S. adults believe President Donald Trump has "gone too far" in using the U.S. military to intervene in other countries, according to a new AP-NORC poll.

The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research was conducted Jan. 8-11, after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's capture. It found that 56% of U.S. adults think Trump has overstepped on military interventions abroad, while majorities disapprove of how the Republican president is handling foreign policy in general and Venezuela in particular.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Smithsonian Institution gave the White House new documents on its planned exhibits Tuesday in response to a demand to share precise details of what its museums and other programs are doing for America's 250th birthday.

For months, President Donald Trump has been pressing the Smithsonian to back off "divisive narratives" and tell an upbeat story on the country's history and culture, with the threat of holding back federal money if it doesn't. The institution is a cornerstone of American culture, operating 21 museums and a zoo that are among the most popular tourist destinations in Washington.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump was consulting with his national security team Tuesday about next steps with Iran as he looked to get a better understanding of the number of Iranian citizens who have been killed and arrested in more than two weeks of unrest throughout the country.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Multiple Americans who were detained in Venezuela have been released, the Trump administration said Tuesday.

"We welcome the release of detained Americans in Venezuela," the State Department said. "This is an important step in the right direction by the interim authorities."

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A proposed billionaires' tax in California has ignited a political uproar in Silicon Valley, with tech titans threatening to leave the state while Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom maneuvers to defeat a levy that he fears will lead to an exodus of wealth.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-controlled House on Tuesday advanced legislation aimed at fulfilling President Donald Trump's long-running desire to "make showers great again" by voting to loosen federal efficiency standards for showerheads.

The bill — dubbed the Saving Homeowners from Overregulation With Exceptional Rinsing, or Shower ACT — passed 226-197, with 11 Democrats crossing the aisle in support.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democratic leaders believe they have a path to winning the majority in November, though it's one with very little wiggle room.

The party got a new burst of confidence when former Rep. Mary Peltola announced Monday she'll run for the Senate in Alaska. Her bid gives Democrats a critical fourth candidate with statewide recognition in states where Republican senators are seeking reelection this year. Nationally, Democrats must net four seats to edge Republicans out of the majority.

NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans met with former Miami coach Mike McDaniel on Wednesday, as the latest candidate evaluated in their search for a new head coach, according to a person familiar with the interview schedule.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Trade Commission is asking 20 universities with Division I sports programs whether agents working with their athletes are following a federal law tied to sports-agent conduct.

The FTC's inquiry, announced Monday, began with sending letters to schools seeking responses by March 23 tied to compliance with the Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act that was enacted in 2004. The FTC didn't reveal specifically which schools had been contacted.

ATLANTA (AP) — The head of a nonpartisan group that supports Georgia prosecutors said the new state law that President Donald Trump and others charged in an election interference case are using to seek millions in attorney fees and costs from the Fulton County district attorney's office is likely unconstitutional.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court sided with Montana police on Wednesday in a case over when officers can enter a home without a warrant if an emergency might be unfolding inside.

The unanimous high court found officers acted lawfully when they went into the home of William Case, who was shot and wounded after officers entered his home in 2021.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge is considering whether to set aside a Trump administration order pausing construction on a major offshore wind farm for New York, which the developer says could mean the death of a project that's 60% complete.

Whole milk is heading back to school cafeterias across the country after President Donald Trump signed a bill Wednesday overturning Obama-era limits on higher-fat milk options.

Nondairy drinks such as fortified soy milk may also be on the menu in the coming months following adoption of the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, which cleared Congress in the fall.

The Gates Foundation announced Wednesday that it will spend a record $9 billion in 2026, maximizing its spending in key areas such as global health. At the same time it will begin reducing the number of staff positions it has by as much as 500 over five years. This announcement comes in the wake of last year's surprise decision to shutter the foundation in 2045.

DETROIT (AP) — The Dodge Charger won the 2026 North American Car of the Year award, while the Ford Maverick Lobo took the crown for the truck honors, and the Hyundai Palisade won the utility award.

The awards were announced Wednesday morning during an Automotive Press Association event at the start of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

NEW YORK (AP) — Many Verizon customers encountered a widespread outage on Wednesday, disrupting calling and other cellular services across the U.S.

The carrier acknowledged that there was an "issue impacting wireless voice and data services." Verizon didn't specify what was causing the disruptions, but said in an update shared on social media that it had deployed its engineering teams.

BANGKOK (AP) — Iranian demonstrators' ability to get details of bloody nationwide protests out to the world has been given a strong boost, with SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service dropping its fees to allow more people to circumvent the Tehran government's strongest attempt ever to prevent information from spilling outside its borders, activists said Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department said Wednesday it will suspend the processing of immigrant visas for citizens of 75 countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Russia and Somalia, whose nationals the Trump administration has deemed likely to require public assistance while living in the United States.

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal officials are reinstating hundreds of U.S. health workers who were laid off last year from a small health agency that aims to protect workers.

In April, President Donald Trump's administration gutted the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, where scientists, engineers and others conduct research and recommend ways to prevent work-related injury, illness, disability and death.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top Danish official said Wednesday that a "fundamental disagreement" over Greenland remains with President Donald Trump after highly anticipated talks in Washington with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.