News - Friday, July 19, 2024

On its own, a 17-day, all-expenses-paid birthday trip to Paris is a fabulous thing. That’s what Nashville sisters Gretchen and Alex Walsh won earlier this summer.

While in the City of Lights with family, friends and tens of thousands of other sightseers, the Walsh sisters hope to visit the Eiffel Tower and other famous tourist sites, enjoy a taste of French cuisine and go shopping for a few souvenirs.

Of the hundreds of athletes representing the United States in the July 26-Aug. 11 Paris Olympics, 15 have ties to the state of Tennessee, either having lived here or played collegiately for one of the state’s universities. The list more than doubles with the addition of current or former University of Tennessee athletes representing their native countries.

R. Melissa Weitzel joins Grant Konvalinka and Harrison as a first-year associate eager to explore. An academic at heart, Weitzel says she welcomes the vast learning that accompanies entering a law firm.

While other firms require attorneys to select one or two specializations, Weitzel says, GKH allows every attorney to explore any arena – and gives them the immediate responsibility to do so.

As a follow-up to last week’s column about ways to beat the heat, I share with you these tips from Houselogic.com on how smart homeowners focus their energies inside. Contributing writer Kelly Walters shares these four tasks that include taking advantage of your nice, cool basement.

Americans report spending just under $55,000 on their home sale – a cost that surprised 64% of sellers, a new Clever Real Estate survey of 1,000 people who have sold a home since 2022 reveals.

Selling a home is one of the most lucrative transactions in a person’s life, but to the surprise of many home sellers, it’s also one of the most expensive.

The state of Tennessee’s annual sales tax holiday weekend will take place Friday, July 26 through Sunday, July 28.

During this holiday, Tennesseans can save nearly 10% on qualifying clothing, school supplies and computers. Tennesseans can purchase clothing and school supplies tax-free if they are priced at $100 or less and buy computers tax-free if they are priced at $1500 or less. Qualifying items may be purchased online and in stores.

When drawing up your estate plans, you might find it useful to create a revocable or irrevocable trust, either of which can help your estate avoid probate court and give you significant control over how and when your assets are distributed. But who should oversee your trust?

You no doubt saw that the racist-wingnut group Patriot Front staged a march in downtown Nashville recently. A question: What’s the difference between Patriot Front members and Tennessee Republican legislators?

Patriot Front members like wearing masks. Too harsh?

When the days get long and the mountains, lakes and campgrounds beckon, you need a vehicle that can pull what you might call the “toys of summer.”

Big boats, motorcycles and travel-trailers require muscle to move over hills and highways. A pickup truck will obviously do the job, but a SUV is better suited to also comfortably accommodate your children, pets and associated gear.

That’s it. You’ve had enough. Enough of taking nonsense directions. Enough overtime because of someone’s poor planning. Enough phone calls on your days off and interruptions that could’ve waited. You’ve had it, and you’ve decided that it’s time to be your own boss.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court blocked the implementation of the Biden administration's student debt relief plan, which would have lowered monthly payments for millions of borrowers.

In a ruling Thursday, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals granted a motion for an administrative stay filed by a group of Republican-led states seeking to invalidate the administration's entire student loan forgiveness program. The court's order prohibits the administration from implementing the parts of the SAVE plan that were not already blocked by lower court rulings.

NEW YORK (AP) — A widespread washout across Wall Street dragged U.S. stocks lower.

The S&P 500 fell 0.8% Thursday to pull further from its all-time high set on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 1.3% from its own record set a day before, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.7% lower.

NASHVILLE (AP) — A federal appeals court on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit challenging first-in-the-nation law designed to place strict limits on drag shows, reversing a lower court ruling that deemed the statute unconstitutional and blocked its enforcement in part of the state.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden's son, Hunter, asked federal judges on Thursday to dismiss tax and gun cases against him, citing a ruling in Florida this week that threw out a separate prosecution of former President Donald Trump.

The requests in federal court in Delaware and California underscore the potential ramifications of U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon's dismissal Monday of the classified documents case against Trump and the possibility that it could unsettle the legal landscape surrounding Justice Department special counsels.

After two jetliner crashes killed 346 people, a $2.5 billion settlement that let Boeing avoid criminal prosecution failed to resolve questions about the safety of the aerospace giant's planes.

Federal prosecutors now accuse the company of failing to live up to terms of the 2021 settlement. Boeing has agreed to plead guilty to a felony fraud charge in a new deal with the Justice Department. The department said Thursday that it expects to file the detailed plea agreement no sooner than the middle of next week.

WASHINGTON (AP) — To borrow a favorite phrase from the man himself, President Joe Biden is at an inflection point.

Is his on-the-ropes reelection campaign about public service or his ego? About securing his legacy or shaping the future? Such opposing forces of American politics have been clashing with each other since his awful debate with Donald Trump.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden's campaign is insisting anew that he is not stepping aside as he faces the stark reality that many Democrats at the highest levels want him to bow out of the 2024 election to make way for a new nominee and try to prevent widespread party losses in November.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Critical days ahead, President Joe Biden is facing the stark reality that many Democrats at the highest levels want him to consider how stepping aside from the 2024 election to make way for a new nominee atop the ticket could be the party's best chance of preventing widespread losses in November.

WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Joe Biden faces a growing drumbeat of pressure to drop his reelection bid, a majority of Democrats think his vice president would make a good president herself.

A new poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about 6 in 10 Democrats believe Kamala Harris would do a good job in the top slot. About 2 in 10 Democrats don't believe she would, and another 2 in 10 say they don't know enough to say.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Barack Obama has a delicate balance to strike: how to weigh the mounting opposition to President Joe Biden continuing his campaign with his loyalty to his former running mate.

In recent days, Obama has taken calls from congressional leaders, Democratic governors and key donors in which he has shared their unease about the prospect of Biden's campaign following his calamitous June 27 debate performance against his predecessor, Donald Trump.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Donald Trump, somber and bandaged, accepted the GOP presidential nomination on Thursday at the Republican National Convention in a speech that described in detail the assassination attempt that could have ended his life just five days earlier before laying out a sweeping populist agenda, particularly on immigration.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Republican National Convention celebrated former President Donald Trump not just as a party leader but a living martyr who survived a would-be assassin's bullet and is ready to work for everyday Americans after a sweeping victory in November.

As former President Donald Trump accepted the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday he laid out his vision for running the country. He painted a dire picture of the state of the U.S. and outlined a range of actions he planned to take. But his comments were marked with a myriad of false and misleading information that distorted the facts around immigration, the U.S. economy and his previous accomplishments.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The leader of a conservative think tank on Thursday misrepresented partisan differences in political violence in the United States, wrongly suggesting that people associated with left-wing causes commit more violence than those on the right.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — A global technology outage caused by a faulty software update grounded flights, knocked banks and media outlets offline, and disrupted hospitals, small businesses and other services on Friday, highlighting the fragility of a digitized world dependent on just a handful of providers.

NEW YORK (AP) — Much of the world faced online disarray Friday as a widespread technology outage affected companies and services across industries — grounding flights, knocking banks and hospital systems offline and media outlets off air.

At the heart of the massive disruption is CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity firm that provides software to scores of companies worldwide. The company says the problem occurred when it deployed a faulty update to computers running Microsoft Windows, and that the issue behind the outage was not a security incident or cyberattack.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Three Massachusetts lawmakers are pressing Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to ground the V-22 Osprey aircraft again until the military can fix the root causes of multiple recent accidents, including a deadly crash in Japan.

EA Sports College Football 25, among the most highly anticipated sports video games of all time, has flooded the market as gamers who waited more than a decade for the franchise's next installment rush to play.

The game officially launched Friday, with EA Sports increasing its server capacity during early access to handle the crush.

NEW YORK (AP) — Lou Dobbs, the conservative political pundit and veteran cable TV host who was a founding anchor for CNN and later was a nightly presence on Fox Business Network for more than a decade, has died. He was 78.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Treasury Department is warning that state laws that restrict banks from considering environmental, social and governance factors could harm efforts to address money laundering and terrorism financing.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the letter sent Thursday to lawmakers. The letter singled out a law signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in May that says it would be an "unsafe and unsound practice" for banks to consider non-financial factors when doing business. The letter concludes that "such laws create uncertainty and may inhibit" national security efforts.

NEW YORK (AP) — American Express said Friday second-quarter profits jumped 39% as the credit card company benefitted again from a broad increase in cardmember spending as well as more of its customers carrying a balance.

Profit reached $3.02 billion, compared to $2.17 billion in the same period a year ago. On a per-share basis, AmEx earned a profit of $4.15. Excluding one-time gains, AmEx earned $3.49 per share, handedly beating analyst's forecasts of $3.24 per share, according to FactSet.

NEW YORK (AP) — Retired Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg was released from New York City's Rikers Island jail on Friday after serving a sentence for lying under oath, according to online records.

The former chief financial officer at Donald Trump's real estate company pleaded guilty in March to committing perjury during his testimony in the fraud lawsuit that New York's attorney general brought against the former president.

CHESTER, Pa. (AP) — Dániel Gazdag scored all three goals and the Philadelphia Union defeated Nashville SC 3-0 on Saturday night.

Gazdag scored with a right-footed shot from the center of the box to give Philadelphia a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute.

NASHVILLE (AP) — A first-term Tennessee congressman backed by former President Donald Trump will face a Republican challenger who calls the lawmaker ineffective, a contest that is among the top races in the state's August primary election.

The primary will also cement who will be the Democratic contender in the fall matchup for the seat that Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn is running to keep.

A court has convicted Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist for the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, of spreading false information about the Russian army and sentenced her to 6½ years in prison after a secret trial, court records and officials said Monday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris moved swiftly to lock up Democratic delegates behind her campaign for the White House after President Joe Biden stepped aside amid concerns from within their party that he would be unable to defeat Republican Donald Trump.

President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race for the White House on Sunday, ending his bid for reelection following a disastrous debate with Donald Trump that raised doubts about his fitness for office just four months before the election.

Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris is being thrust into the most scrutinizing of spotlights, suddenly the leading candidate to succeed Biden as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and her party's main hope of defeating Trump.

WASHINGTON (AP) — She's already broken barriers, and now Kamala Harris could shatter several more after President Joe Biden abruptly ended his reelection bid and endorsed her.

Biden announced Sunday that he was stepping aside after a disastrous debate performance catalyzed fears that the 81-year-old was too frail for a second term.

WASHINGTON (AP) — For the past year, the presidential campaign seemed destined to be a monotonous slog featuring two candidates, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, who voters didn't really want.

But that all changed on a quiet Sunday afternoon just 107 days before the election.

HARPER WOODS, Mich. (AP) — After weeks of uncertainty about who would be at the top of the Democratic Party's ticket in November, many voters expressed relief over the news that President Joe Biden would drop his reelection bid and began to think about who might replace him in a dramatically altered election landscape.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Shortly after President Joe Biden announced that he would drop his reelection campaign, Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison had a message: There would be no automatic coronation for his replacement.

"In the coming days, the party will undertake a transparent and orderly process to move forward," Harrison said in a statement. "This process will be governed by established rules and procedures of the party. Our delegates are prepared to take seriously their responsibility in swiftly delivering a candidate to the American people."

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Sunday posted a letter to social media announcing that he would no longer seek reelection.

The decision by the Democrat came after building pressure from lawmakers, donors, activists and voters within his own party who had concerns about his ability to beat Republican Donald Trump in November's election. The letter ended weeks of speculation after the 81-year old's troubling performance at the June 27 presidential debate. Below is the text of the letter that Biden sent on his personal stationery:

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump's campaign has spent the last year-and-a-half viciously attacking Joe Biden, ridiculing his policies, mocking his fumbles and relishing a rematch they felt they were winning.

But they have also spent weeks preparing for the possibility that Biden might exit the race, readying a bevy of attacks against Vice President Kamala Harris that they unleashed as soon as Biden made his stunning announcement Sunday that he would step aside. Biden soon after endorsed Harris, who was quickly winning support from Democrats to be the party's nominee.

Swallowing a handful of pills is a daily ritual for many people, from young adults coping with anxiety to older adults managing chronic conditions. Overall, 13% of people in the U.S. take five or more prescription drugs. For those 65 and older, that number is 42%.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency is awarding $4.3 billion in grants to fund projects in 30 states to reduce climate pollution. The money will go to 25 projects targeting greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, electric power, commercial and residential buildings, industry, agriculture and waste and materials management.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump was the Secret Service's "most significant operational failure" in decades, Director Kimberly Cheatle told lawmakers Monday as calls mounted for her to resign.

In the first congressional hearing over the shooting at a Trump campaign rally in Pennsylvania earlier this month, Cheatle said she took "fully responsibility" for the security lapses, and she vowed to "move heaven and earth" to make sure there's no repeat of it.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sitting in the Oval Office behind the iconic Resolute desk in 2022, an animated President Joe Biden described the challenge of leading a psychologically traumatized nation.

The United States had endured a life-altering pandemic. There was a jarring burst of inflation and now global conflict with Russia invading Ukraine, as well as the persistent threat to democracy he felt Donald Trump posed.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has appointed a bipartisan, independent panel to review this month's assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, officials said Sunday.

The panel members will have "extensive law enforcement and security experience to conduct a 45-day independent review of the planning for and actions taken by the U.S. Secret Service and state and local authorities before, during, and after the rally, and the U.S. Secret Service governing policies and procedures," the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Bernice Johnson Reagon, a musician and scholar who used her rich, powerful contralto voice in the service of the American Civil Rights Movement and human rights struggles around the world, died on July 16, according to her daughter's social media post. She was 81.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris received the backing of more than half of the Democratic delegates she needs to become her party's nominee, and she set a new fundraising record Monday in her first 24 hours as a presidential candidate, as top Democrats moved to coalesce around her in their bid to defeat Republican Donald Trump.

WASHINGTON (AP) — It's a daunting to-do list. Vice President Kamala Harris suddenly needs to whip up a presidential campaign almost from scratch.

It's a process that usually takes months, even years. Harris has only about two months before early voting starts. And, of course, nothing is guaranteed, despite her getting the endorsement of President Joe Biden — and significant pieces of his campaign — after he exited the race on Sunday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Even before President Joe Biden's long-speculated withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race, allies of former President Donald Trump floated the possibility of suing to block Democrats from having anyone other than Biden on the ballot in November.

WASHINGTON (AP) — She's already broken barriers, and now Kamala Harris could shatter several more after President Joe Biden abruptly ended his reelection bid and endorsed her.

Biden announced Sunday that he was stepping aside after a disastrous debate performance catalyzed fears that the 81-year-old was too frail for a second term.

AUSTIN, Tex. (AP) — Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike says a "significant number" of the millions of computers that crashed on Friday, causing global disruptions, are back in operation as its customers and regulators await a more detailed explanation of what went wrong.

Turner Sports intends to continue its longtime relationship with the NBA.

Warner Bros. Discovery informed the league Monday that it will match the $1.8 billion per year offer by Amazon Prime Video. Turner has had an NBA package since 1984 and games have been on TNT since the network launched in 1988.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks closed broadly higher on Wall Street Monday, clawing back some of the losses from their worst week since April.

The S&P 500 rose 1.1%, breaking a three-day losing streak. It was the first gain for the benchmark index since it set an all-time high on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said Monday that her agency failed in its mission to protect former President Donald Trump, as lawmakers of both major political parties demanded during a highly contentious congressional hearing that she resign over security failures that allowed a gunman to scale a roof and open fire at a campaign rally.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ignoring the political chaos surrounding President Joe Biden's decision to end his reelection campaign, Secretary of State Antony Blinken will head to Asia this week on a long-planned eight-day trip aimed at shoring up ties with Indo-Pacific allies and partners but with the priority of assuring them that the United States remains committed to the region.

NEW YORK (AP) — Fresh off victories in other legal cases, Donald Trump on Monday pressed a New York appeals court to overturn the nearly $500 million New York civil fraud judgment that threatens to drain his personal cash reserves as he campaigns to retake the White House.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean prosecutors said Tuesday they have arrested the founder of technology giant Kakao Corp. for alleged stock price rigging during his company's takeover of a major K-pop agency last year.

In less than 48 hours, the head of the staunchly conservative public-policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention rankled fellow Baptists by applauding President Joe Biden's "selfless act" of withdrawing his candidacy for re-election. Then, his agency reported he was fired — and now they have reaffirmed his leadership.

REHOBOTH BEACH, Delaware (AP) — President Joe Biden will address the nation from the Oval Office on Wednesday evening on his decision to drop his 2024 Democratic reelection bid.

Biden posted on X that he would speak "on what lies ahead" and how he will "finish the job for the American people." He will speak at 8 p.m. ET.

Vice President Kamala Harris had a busy 24 hours after being endorsed as the Democratic presidential candidate by President Joe Biden. She has secured enough delegates to earn the party's nomination and raised more than $81 million, a record sum for the 2024 political cycle.

ATLANTA (AP) — Kamala Harris was greeted by a massive, cheering crowd during the first rally of her newly announced presidential campaign in 2019. Speaking on a late January day outside city hall in her hometown of Oakland, California, she framed her bid as part of something bigger than simply winning an election.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris is making her first visit to a battleground state Tuesday after locking up enough support from Democratic delegates to win her party's nomination to challenge Republican former President Donald Trump, two days after President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa judge has ruled the state's strict abortion law will take effect Monday, preventing most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant.

The law passed last year, but a judge had blocked it from being enforced. The Iowa Supreme Court reiterated in June that there is no constitutional right to an abortion in the state and ordered the hold to be lifted. That translated into Monday's district court judge's decision ordering the law to into effect next Monday at 8:00 a.m. Central time.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The director of the Secret Service said Tuesday she is resigning following the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump that unleashed intensifying outcry about how the agency tasked with protecting current and former presidents could fail in its core mission.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The nation's housing slump deepened in June as sales of previously occupied homes slowed to their slowest pace since December, hampered by elevated mortgage rates and record-high prices.

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell 5.4% last month from May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.89 million, the fourth consecutive month of declines, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday.

LONDON (AP) — Google is dropping plans to eliminate cookies from its Chrome web browser, making a sudden U-turn on four years of work to phase out a technology that helps businesses tracks users online.

The company had been working on retiring third-party cookies, which are snippets of code that log user information, as part of an effort to overhaul user privacy options on Chrome. But the proposal, also known as Privacy Sandbox, had instilled fears in the online advertising industry that any replacement technology would leave even less room for online ad rivals.

DETROIT (AP) — U.S. customers who bought a new General Motors vehicle last quarter paid an average of just under $49,900, a price that helped push the company's net income 15% above a year ago.

And GM Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said he doesn't see his company cutting prices very much, despite industry analysts' predictions of growing U.S. new-vehicle inventories and bigger discounts.

Floyd County keeps flooding and the federal government keeps coming to the rescue.

In July 2022, at least 40 people died and 300 homes were damaged when the eastern Kentucky county flooded. It was the 13th time in 12 years that the rural county was declared a federal disaster. These are disasters so costly that local governments feel they can't pay for it all, so the governor asks the president to declare a disaster freeing up federal funds.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington this week is looming as a fraught one between the two allies, coming at a moment of extreme political flux in the United States and wariness among American leaders about Netanyahu's history of interjecting himself into U.S. domestic politics.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate will consider legislation this week that aims to protect children from dangerous online content, moving forward with what could become the first sweeping new regulation of the tech industry in decades.

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is set to announce Tuesday that he will bring the bipartisan bill up in the Senate, with hopes of passing it before the chamber leaves for its August recess. The legislation had stalled for months even as more than two-thirds of the Senate signed on to support it and families of children who have suffered online bullying and harm advocated for its passage.

As Congressional members on both sides of the aisle grilled U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle Monday on how a gunman was able to fire shots at former President Donald Trump in an assassination attempt, several Republican lawmakers seized on gender and the agency's diversity, equity and inclusion efforts as among the reasons for the security failure.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Among the throngs of tourists in cowboy attire who flock to Nashville's famed downtown honky-tonks, a small but unsettling group has distracted locals and visitors from the neon lights lately with Nazi salutes and white supremacist rhetoric.

In under 48 hours, the head of the staunchly conservative public-policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention rankled fellow Baptists by applauding President Joe Biden's "selfless act" of withdrawing his candidacy for re-election. Then, his agency reported he was fired — and now they have reaffirmed his leadership.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris is zeroing in on four potential candidates as she races to choose a running mate for her fledgling campaign, fast-tracking a process that usually takes months but must be finalized in only a few weeks.

WEST ALLIS, Wisconsin (AP) — A roaring crowd of battleground state voters greeted Vice President Kamala Harris Tuesday as she opened her Democratic political case against Republican former President Donald Trump.

In the November election, she said, "it's a choice between freedom and chaos."

DALLAS (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday it has increased its oversight of Southwest Airlines, which has seen its planes involved in a series of troubling incidents in recent weeks that included flying at very low altitudes while still miles away from an airport.

DETROIT (AP) — Tesla's second-quarter net income fell 45% compared with a year ago as the company's global electric vehicle sales tumbled despite price cuts and low-interest financing.

The Austin, Texas, company said Tuesday that it made $1.48 billion from April through June, less than the $2.7 billion it made in the same period of 2023. It was Tesla's second-straight quarterly net income decline.

DETROIT (AP) — U.S. customers who bought a new General Motors vehicle last quarter paid an average of just under $49,900, a price that helped push the company's net income 15% above a year ago.

And GM Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said he doesn't see his company cutting prices very much, despite industry analysts' predictions of growing U.S. new-vehicle inventories and bigger discounts.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Treasury Department ordered the nation's banking industry to start disclosing its holdings of Russian assets on Tuesday, with the goal of eventually seizing those billions of dollars in assets and selling them to aid the devastated Ukrainian economy.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks held relatively steady in a calm Tuesday on Wall Street, as earnings reporting season ramped up for big companies.

The S&P 500 slipped 8.67 points, or 0.2%, to 5,555.74. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down by 57.35, or 0.1%, to 40,358.09, and the Nasdaq composite dipped 10.22, or 0.1%, to 17,997.35.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google's corporate parent Alphabet Inc. delivered another quarter of steady growth amid an AI-driven shift in the ubiquitous search engine that is the, foundation of its internet empire.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez is resigning from office Aug. 20 following his conviction for taking bribes for corrupt acts including acting as an agent of the Egyptian government, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Titans head coach Brian Callahan is eager to open training camp in a new role.

"It's always my favorite time of the year when training camp starts," Callahan said. "Obviously there's optimism and things are good and it's exciting. It's a fun time of the year. I love training camp."

PARIS (AP) — What was expected to be a simple coronation of Salt Lake City as the 2034 Winter Olympic host turned into complicated Olympic politics Wednesday, as the IOC pushed Utah officials to end an FBI investigation into a suspected doping coverup.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Even though President Joe Biden won't be on the ballot this November, voters still will be weighing his legacy.

As Vice President Kamala Harris moves to take his place as the Democratic standard-bearer, Biden's accomplishments remain very much at risk should Republican Donald Trump prevail.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden might not often use the word "abortion" when he talks about the overturning of Roe v. Wade, but Vice President Kamala Harris sure does. She's also toured a Minnesota Planned Parenthood clinic where the procedure is performed and routinely links the fall of Roe to the larger issue of rising maternal mortality nationwide.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters in Indiana haven't backed a Democratic presidential candidate in nearly 16 years. But when Vice President Kamala Harris heads to the solidly Republican state on Wednesday, she'll speak to a constituency she hopes will turn out for her in massive numbers in November: women of color.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Donald Trump is holding his first public campaign rally since President Joe Biden dropped out of a 2024 matchup that both major parties had spent months preparing for, leaving the former president to direct his ire toward his likely new opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican leaders are warning party members against using overtly racist and sexist attacks against Vice President Kamala Harris, as they and former President Donald Trump's campaign scramble to adjust to the reality of a new Democratic rival less than four months before Election Day.

Monday was the hottest day ever globally, beating a record set the day before, as countries around the world from Japan to Bolivia to the United States continue to feel the heat, according to the European climate change service.

Provisional satellite data published by Copernicus on Wednesday shows that Monday was 0.06 degrees Celsius (0.1 degree Fahrenheit) hotter than Sunday.

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam will let electricity-guzzling factories buy electricity from wind and solar power producers, helping big companies like Samsung Electronics meet their climate targets and relieving pressure on the country's overstrained grid.

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Disney has reached a tentative agreement with four unions representing thousands of workers at its California theme parks, including ride operators, candy makers and parking attendants.

The coalition of unions said early Wednesday that its 14,000 workers will get to vote on the deal on Monday. No other details were immediately released. The deal comes days after workers overwhelmingly authorized a potential strike, following months of negotiations over wages, sick leave and other benefits.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Federal Trade Commission has ordered information from eight companies that the agency says offer products and services that use personal data to set prices based on a shopper's individual characteristics.

In a Tuesday announcement, the FTC said it was seeking to better understand the "opaque market" of "surveillance pricing" practices using consumer data — including credit information, location and browsing history — to charge different customers different prices for the same goods.

NEW YORK (AP) — Payment processing giant Visa Inc. said Tuesday that its fiscal third-quarter profits rose 9% on an adjusted basis, as it benefits from consumers and businesses moving their payments from cash to credit and debit cards.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will try to bolster U.S. support for his country's fight against Hamas and other Iran-backed armed groups in a speech before Congress on Wednesday even as many Democratic lawmakers plan to boycott his appearance and protesters amass around the Capitol to condemn the brutal war in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis it has created.

BANGKOK (AP) — Chinese officials warned a delegation of top U.S. executives visiting Beijing this week that higher tariffs on imports from China will harm their businesses inside the country.

The delegation of influential business people belonging to the U.S. China Business Council, including the CEOs of FedEx and Micron, followed a top-level meeting last week where ruling Communist Party leaders endorsed a blueprint for policies that included numerous pledges to improve the business environment for foreign investors. But they also vowed greater vigilance in protecting state secrets, a potential minefield for foreign businesses that face intense scrutiny of their China operations by authorities.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Just hours before opening fire, the gunman in the attempted assassination of Donald Trump flew a drone roughly 200 yards (180 meters) from the rally stage where the Republican former president would later stand, viewing and livestreaming the footage, FBI Director Christopher Wray told congressional lawmakers on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two local law enforcement officers stationed in the complex of buildings where a gunman opened fire at former President Donald Trump left to go search for the man before the shooting, the head of Pennsylvania State Police said Tuesday, raising questions about whether a key post was left unattended as the shooter climbed onto a roof.

LONDON (AP) — Taylor Swift fans who missed her world tour or those who can't get enough of her can catch her at the museum this summer.

As a celebration of her double run of sold-out shows in London on her Eras Tour, real items from Swift's different musical eras have been integrated into galleries at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Even though President Joe Biden won't be on the ballot i n November, voters still will be weighing his legacy.

As Vice President Kamala Harris moves to take his place as the Democratic standard-bearer, Biden's accomplishments remain very much at risk should Republican Donald Trump prevail.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden might not often use the word "abortion" when he talks about the overturning of Roe v. Wade, but Vice President Kamala Harris sure does. She's also toured a Minnesota Planned Parenthood clinic where the procedure is performed and routinely links the fall of Roe to the larger issue of rising maternal mortality nationwide.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday it will increase minimum rest time between shifts for air traffic controllers after highly publicized close calls between planes that were following orders from controllers.

The FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the union representing the workers, agreed to a number of changes that will apply as schedules are negotiated for next year.

NEW YORK (AP) — A wipeout on Wednesday sent U.S. stock indexes to their worst losses since 2022 after profit reports from Tesla and Alphabet helped suck momentum from Wall Street's frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology.

The S&P 500 tumbled 2.3% for its fifth drop in the last six days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 504 points, or 1.2%, and the Nasdaq composite skidded 3.6%.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to bolster U.S. support for his country's fight against Hamas and other Iran-backed armed groups in a speech to Congress Wednesday that sparked boycotts by some top Democrats and drew thousands of protesters to the Capitol to condemn the war in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis it has created.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Police deployed pepper spray Wednesday as a large crowd protesting Israel's war in Gaza marched toward the U.S. Capitol, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's was speaking to Congress.

Thousands of protesters descended on Washington, chanting "Free, Free Palestine" as some tried to block streets ahead of Netanyahu's speech. Police wearing gas marks blocked the crowd, which was calling for an end to the war that has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians, from getting closer to the Capitol.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The gunman in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump is believed to have done a Google search one week before the shooting of "How far away was Oswald from Kennedy?" FBI Director Christopher Wray said Wednesday, revealing new details about a suspect he said had taken a keen interest in public figures but had otherwise not left behind clear clues of an ideological motive.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Jamal Adams saw joining the Tennessee Titans as a chance to get back to familiar territory.

With his former secondary coach, Dennard Wilson, the defensive coordinator in Tennessee, along with safeties coach Steve Jackson and linebackers coach Frank Bush on the staff, the 2017 first-round pick had a comfort level with the team he signed a one-year contract with last week.

NEW YORK (AP) — A Tennessee woman was sentenced Wednesday to over three years in prison for using threats and violence to interfere with the operation of a New York City reproductive health center in the early days of the pandemic in 2020.

Bevelyn Beatty Williams, 33, of Ooltewah, Tennessee, was sentenced in Manhattan federal court to three years and five months behind bars by Judge Jennifer L. Rochon.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Black clergy who know Vice President Kamala Harris, now the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, marvel at the fusion of traditions and teachings that have molded her religious faith and social justice values.

A Baptist married to a Jewish man, she's inspired by the work of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and influenced by the religious traditions of her mother's native India as well as the Black Church.

WASHINGTON (AP) — After nearly a near year of careful planning, organizers of the Democratic National Convention are in a mad dash to accommodate a new nominee, a re-crafted program and a highly compressed deadline to pull everything off as though this was the plan all along.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris is beginning to vet about a dozen possible candidates to be her running mate, according to two people familiar with the matter, as she approaches one of the most consequential decisions of her new presidential candidacy.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday delivered a solemn call to voters to defend the country's democracy as he laid out in an Oval Office address his decision to drop his bid for reelection and throw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Transcript of President Joe Biden's address to the nation on July 24, 2024:

My fellow Americans, I'm speaking to you tonight from behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. In this sacred space, I'm surrounded by portraits of extraordinary American presidents. Thomas Jefferson wrote the immortal words that guide this nation. George Washington, who showed us presidents are not kings. Abraham Lincoln, who implored us to reject malice. Franklin Roosevelt, who inspired us to reject fear.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden delivered a solemn Oval Office address Wednesday that laid out in the clearest terms yet why he abandoned his reelection campaign.

He wanted to send an unmistakable warning about Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump while anointing Vice President Kamala Harris as his natural successor, without invoking an overtly political tone that would have been out of step in the official setting of the White House. He was determined to show that he would not act like a lame-duck president, outlining an ambitious agenda that underscored his resolve to continue building on his legacy.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Donald Trump unleashed a barrage of attack lines Wednesday against his likely new opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, whom he called his "new victim to defeat" and accused of deceiving the public about President Joe Biden 's ability to run for a second term.

TOKYO (AP) — Nissan lowered its full fiscal year outlook on Thursday, as the Japanese automaker reported a 73% decline in profit in the April-June quarter compared to the previous year.

Chief Executive Makoto Uchida called the results "very challenging," blaming sales incentives and marketing expenses resulting from intense competition, especially in the U.S. market.

MILAN (AP) — Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares pledged action to tackle problems in North America and elsewhere Thursday after reporting a plunge in first-half earnings.

U.S.-European automaker Stellantis reported net profits down by half in the first half of the year due largely to lower sales and restructuring costs.

LONDON (AP) — Meta's policies on non-consensual deepfake images need updating, including wording that's "not sufficiently clear," the company's oversight panel said Thursday in a decision on cases involving AI-generated explicit depictions of two famous women.

NEW YORK (AP) — CrowdStrike is blaming a bug in an update that allowed its cybersecurity systems to push bad data out to millions of customer computers, setting off last week's global tech outage that grounded flights, took TV broadcasts off air and disrupted banks, hospitals and retailers.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation's economy accelerated last quarter at a strong 2.8% annual pace, with consumers and businesses helping drive growth despite the pressure of continually high interest rates.

Thursday's report from the Commerce Department said the gross domestic product — the economy's total output of goods and services — picked up in the April-June quarter after growing at a 1.4% pace in the January-March period. Economists had expected a weaker 1.9% annual pace of growth.

NEW YORK (AP) — Suddenly, smaller stocks seem to be making bigger noise on Wall Street.

After getting trounced by their larger rivals for years, some of the smallest stocks on Wall Street have shown much more life recently. Hopes for coming cuts to interest rates have pushed investors to look at smaller stocks through a different lens.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged in a scathing speech to Congress on Wednesday to achieve "total victory" against Hamas and denounced American opponents of the war in Gaza as "idiots," taking a combative stance in a visit the Biden administration has hoped will yield progress in negotiations to end the fighting.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to make a long-awaited White House visit Thursday to meet with President Joe Biden and likely Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at an important moment for all three politicians.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of protesters against the war in Gaza converged on Washington on Wednesday to condemn Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit, chanting "Free, free Palestine" as they marched toward the Capitol before police deployed pepper spray on some in the crowd.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House voted Wednesday to form a task force to investigate the security failures surrounding the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump on July 13.

The vote underscores the bipartisan outrage over the shooting at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump came within inches of losing his life. One rallygoer was killed and two others severely injured. Lawmakers have responded quickly with hearings and widespread calls for accountability.