News - Friday, January 16, 2026

Hatchling chickens, newborn humans and startup businesses all have one thing in common: they need the right conditions and ample space to grow.

In the case of entrepreneurs bringing businesses to life, they must also be nimble and adapt to market conditions.

When Jennifer Lea opens her mind’s eye to her earliest memories, she finds herself on the rust-red soil of the Central African Republic, a deep-red sun fixed overhead like an all-seeing gaze, sprinting after a soccer ball as a horde of her brother’s friends races behind her.

Economic uncertainty driven by trade policy, persistent affordability challenges and elevated interest rates continue to weigh on the housing market, even as parts of the broader economy remain resilient, according to a national housing economist who addressed local builders this week.

The documentary “Labors of Love” will be screened in person at the Jewish Cultural Center at 3 p.m. as part of the Chattanooga Jewish Documentary Series. The 79-minute film, presented in English, explores the life and legacy of Henrietta Szold, a visionary and often under-recognized American Jewish leader who founded Hadassah, a Jewish women’s philanthropic organization. Beginning in 1912, Szold helped forge a vital link between American Jewish women and communities in Palestine. Tickets are $12. A small reception hosted by the local Hadassah chapter will precede the screening. Tickets, information

After a nationwide search, the Tennessee Aquarium has selected Mary Ann Beil as its new chief financial officer.

Beil will assume the financial responsibilities long held by Gordon Stalans, who has served as the Aquarium’s CFO for more than 30 years. Stalans will continue in his roles as vice president, chief operating officer and chief information officer as Beil begins her tenure.

Hamilton County property sales and mortgage activity remained strong in December 2025, with hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate transactions recorded during the final month of the year, according to the county’s latest sales and mortgages report.

December closed the year on a steady note. The latest report from the National Association of Realtors shows another month of gradual improvement in existing-home sales nationwide, the third increase in a row. Locally, more homes came to market and buyers kept moving, which created a setting in which shoppers had a bit more to consider and sellers still met qualified interest without the rush of earlier years.

As your parents grow older, it might be time to talk with them about financial and aging issues, which could involve difficult conversations.

You’ll want to be careful how you approach this. Mention ahead of time that you’d like to talk with them about their future plans and reassure them that you want to understand their wishes so their affairs will be taken care of as they would like.

The Hunter Museum of American Art has announced a slate of major exhibitions and installations for 2026 that will spotlight immersive contemporary work, historical memory and innovative uses of reclaimed materials, alongside significant loans from a nationally recognized museum collection.

The presence of balloons normally signals a joyous occasion. That’s not the case for the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team this season.

The UT coaching staff has been using balloons to help the Vols cut down on turnovers. During practice, 10 balloons are stationed near the court. Any time the Vols commit a turnover, one of the balloons is popped. After the 10th balloon is popped, the players all run.

The Tennessee Titans are nowhere near the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. Yet, there are Titans influences on all 14 rosters of the playoff teams.

Between active players on the 53-man rosters, practice squad players and those on injured reserve, would you believe there are 54 players with at least some past tie to the Titans in this postseason? That’s enough to field a full active roster with an extra guy for a practice squad. 

As the Tennessee Titans coaching search is now officially in week two (or week 14, if you count from the day they fired Brian Callahan), the main point in the whole process has been how wide a net that general manager Mike Borgonzi has cast in searching for his guy.

Affordability is a hotter topic than ever in 2026. Many people are struggling to manage rising costs and live within their means, making it harder to justify splurging on things they want but don’t need. That applies to car shopping decisions too. 

MCLEAN, Va. (AP) — The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate is now down to its lowest level in more than three years.

The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate eased to 6.06% this week, down from 6.16% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the rate averaged 7.04%.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A sprawling betting scheme to rig NCAA and Chinese Basketball Association games ensnared 26 people, including more than a dozen college basketball players who tried to fix games as recently as last season, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge Thursday cleared the way for a New York offshore wind project to resume construction, a victory for the developer who said a Trump administration order to pause it would likely kill the project in a matter of days.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday announced the outlines of a health care plan he wants Congress to take up as Republicans have faced increasing pressure to address rising health costs and a jump in insurance premiums after lawmakers let subsidies expire.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country's oil.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media that the U.S. Coast Guard had boarded the Motor Tanker Veronica early Thursday. She said the ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump's "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean."

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Kaiser Permanente affiliates will pay $556 million to settle a lawsuit that alleged the health care giant committed Medicare fraud and pressured doctors to list incorrect diagnoses on medical records to receive higher reimbursements, federal prosecutors said.

NEW YORK (AP) — Thursday was the final day to select an Affordable Care Act health insurance plan across much of the country, as the expiration of federal subsidies drives up health costs and lawmakers remain locked in a debate over how to address the issue.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The president was barely a year into his administration when a health care debate began to consume Washington.

On Capitol Hill, partisan divides formed as many Democrats pressed for guaranteed insurance coverage for a broader swath of Americans while Republicans, buttressed by medical industry lobbying, warned about cost and a slide into communism.

DETROIT (AP) — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer offered a contrasting view of manufacturing in Detroit Thursday, two days after President Donald Trump defended his tariff strategy in the Motor City.

Whitmer, a term-limited Democrat who is in her last year as governor, said in a speech at the Detroit Auto Show that the administration's tariff strategy has hurt American auto manufacturing and is benefiting Chinese competitors. It's a message she has repeated over the past year as economic uncertainty has rippled across the automobile sector.

NEW YORK (AP) — Elon Musk's Grok keeps getting into trouble, and this time, more of the world's governments are trying to intervene.

First launched in 2023, Grok is Musk's attempt to outdo rivals such as OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini in building an AI assistant powered by a large language model, which is trained on vast pools of data to help predict the most plausible next word in a sentence. It's the main product of Musk's AI startup, xAI, which has been merged with his social media platform, X. Much like ChatGPT and Gemini, Musk's company has also folded AI image generation capabilities into the chatbot.

NEW YORK (AP) — A surging stock market and a flurry of deal making padded the profits of Wall Street's two big investment banks, which both saw a double-digit jump in profits in the fourth quarter.

Goldman Sachs's net earnings rose 12% from a year earlier, posting a profit of $4.62 billion, or $14.01 a share. Meanwhile Morgan Stanley said it earned $4.4 billion, or $2.68 per share, compared to a profit of $3.71 billion, or $2.22 per share, compared to a year earlier.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Several Middle Eastern allies of the United States have urged the Trump administration to hold off on strikes against Iran for the government's deadly crackdown on protesters, according to an Arab diplomat familiar with the matter.

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Mikayla Blakes scored a season-high 38 points and No. 5 Vanderbilt won its school-record 18th straight game to open the season, beating Mississippi State 89-84 on Thursday night.

The Commodores are 5-0 in Southeastern Conference play for the first time since 1992-93, the season they opened 17-0. The 18-game winning streak is the longest in school history at any point in a season.

NASHVILLE (AP) — A federal judge denied a request Thursday for a preliminary injunction by five college football players seeking to play a fifth season this fall.

U.S. District Judge William L. Campbell wrote that the players did not make the case that they likely would succeed on their claim that the NCAA violates U.S. antitrust laws with its redshirt rule that restricts athletes to four seasons over five years.

NASHVILLE (AP) — As Democrats across the country propose state law changes to restrict federal immigration officers after the shooting death of a protester in Minneapolis, Tennessee Republicans introduced a package of bills Thursday backed by the White House that would enlist the full force of the state to support President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration commissioner's effort to drastically shorten the review of drugs favored by President Donald Trump's administration is causing alarm across the agency, stoking worries that the plan may run afoul of legal, ethical and scientific standards long used to vet the safety and effectiveness of new medicines.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A plan to slash drug review times at the Food and Drug Administration is sparking deep concerns among agency staffers and outside experts, with some saying the poorly defined effort is taking key decisions away from career scientists and placing them in the hands of political leadership.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Before President Donald Trump's administration started dismantling the Education Department, the agency served as a powerful enforcer in cases of sexual violence at schools and universities. It brought the weight of the government against schools that mishandled sexual assault complaints involving students.

DETROIT (AP) — At the North American International Auto Show, tires squeal as gearheads put shiny new vehicles through their paces on a pair of indoor tracks that sprawl across the event space. One of those tracks used to be set aside exclusively for electric vehicles as U.S. automakers sought to quickly build out the cars of the future.

BEIJING (AP) — Breaking with the United States, Canada has agreed to cut its 100% tariff on Chinese electric cars in return for lower tariffs on Canadian farm products, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department's investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has brought heightened attention to a key drama that will play out at the central bank in the coming months: Will Powell leave the Fed when his term as chair ends, or will he take the unusual step of remaining a governor?

HONG KONG (AP) — U.S. businesses are more concerned about China's slowing economy than trade friction, according to a survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in China released Friday.

Of 368 companies responding to the survey, 64% viewed slowing growth in the world's second largest economy as their top worry, while 58% cited U.S.-China trade tensions as a key challenge.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan's premier on Friday hailed a new trade deal with the United States as the "best tariff deal" enjoyed by countries with trade surpluses with Washington, as meanwhile a Chinese official in Beijing condemned the accord.

The agreement cuts U.S. tariffs on Taiwanese goods to 15% in exchange for $250 billion in new investments in the U.S. tech industry. It is comparable to deals with the European Union and Japan worked out after President Donald Trump proposed sweeping tariffs for many U.S. trading partners.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — President Donald Trump suggested Friday that he may punish countries with tariffs if they don't back the U.S. controlling Greenland, a message that came as a Congressional delegation met Danish and Greenlandic lawmakers in Copenhagen and sought to lower tensions.

HAVANA (AP) — Tens of thousands of Cubans demonstrated Friday outside the U.S. Embassy in Havana to decry the killing of 32 Cuban officers in Venezuela and demand that the U.S. government release former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

They crowded into the open-air "José Martí Anti-Imperialist" plaza across from the embassy in a rally organized by the Cuban government as tensions between Cuba and the U.S. spike following the U.S. attack Jan. 3 on Venezuela.

NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly a year into his second term, President Donald Trump's work on the economy hasn't lived up to the expectations of many people in his own party, according to a new AP-NORC survey.

The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds a significant gap between the economic leadership Americans remembered from Trump's first term and what they've gotten so far as he creates a stunning level of turmoil at home and abroad.

DALLAS (AP) — Sen. John Cornyn stood in the shadow of the U.S.-Mexico border wall for a campaign event, but the Texas Republican didn't offer the kind of diatribe about illegal immigration that stokes his party's core and fueled Donald Trump's rise to the White House.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Michael Ben'Ary was driving one evening last October when he paused at a red light to check his work phone. He was in the middle of a counterterrorism prosecution so important that President Donald Trump highlighted it in his address to Congress.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Michael Ben'Ary was driving one of his children to soccer practice on an October evening last year when he paused at a red light to check his work phone. He was in the middle of a counterterrorism prosecution so important that President Donald Trump highlighted it in his address to Congress.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Most American presidents aspire to the kind of greatness that prompts future generations to name important things in their honor.

Donald Trump isn't leaving it to future generations.

As the first year of his second term wraps up, his Republican administration and allies have put his name on the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Kennedy Center performing arts venue and a new class of battleships that's yet to be built.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said she presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday even as he has questioned her credibility to take over her country after the U.S. ousted then-President Nicolás Maduro.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has identified a host of athletic competitions it classifies as "major sporting events" — aside from soccer's 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympic Games — that athletes and coaches will be allowed to travel to the U.S. to take part in despite a broad visa ban on nearly 40 countries.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is halfway home in approving government funding for the current budget year that began Oct. 1 after the Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly passed a three-bill package.

Now comes the hard part. Lawmakers still must negotiate a spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security amid soaring tensions on Capitol Hill after the shooting of a Minnesota woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Tennessee man pleaded guilty on Friday to hacking the U.S. Supreme Court's filing system more than two dozen times, court records show.

Nicholas Moore, 24, of Springfield, also admitted that he illegally accessed records from AmeriCorps' computer servers and a Department of Veterans Affairs electronic platform.

A federal judge ruled Friday that work on a Virginia offshore wind project could resume, the third project this week to successfully challenge the Trump administration in court.

The administration announced last month it was suspending leases for at least 90 days on five East Coast offshore wind projects because of national security concerns. Its announcement did not reveal specifics about those concerns.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide the constitutionality of broad search warrants that collect the location history of cellphone users to find people near crime scenes.

The case involves what is a known as a "geofence warrant" that was served on Google in a police hunt for a bank robber in suburban Richmond, Virginia. Geofence warrants, an increasingly popular investigative tool, seek location data on every person within a specific location over a certain period of time.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court agreed on Friday to hear an appeal from global agrochemical manufacturer Bayer to block thousands of state lawsuits alleging it failed to warn people that its popular weedkiller could cause cancer.

The justices will consider whether the Environmental Protection Agency's approval of the Roundup weedkiller without a cancer warning should rule out the state court claims.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — OpenAI says it will soon start showing advertisements to ChatGPT users who aren't paying for a premium version of the chatbot.

The artificial intelligence company said Friday it hasn't yet rolled out ads but will start testing them in the coming weeks.

DETROIT (AP) — Chinese automakers have been making inroads around the world with growing sales of their high-tech, stylish and affordable electric vehicles. That has had competitors concerned even before Canada this week agreed to cut its tariffs on EVs in exchange for concessions on Canadian farm products.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration and a bipartisan group of governors on Friday tried to step up pressure on the operator of the nation's largest electric grid to take urgent steps to boost power supplies and keep electricity bills from rising even higher.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has spent his second term bulldozing elected and appointed officials who resist him or refuse to bend to his demands. But he may have met his match in Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday said he would like to keep his top economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, at the White House rather than potentially nominate him to replace Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump plans to pardon former Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez, a White House official said Friday.

Vázquez pleaded guilty last August to a campaign finance violation in a federal case that authorities say also involved a former FBI agent and a Venezuelan banker. Her sentencing was set for later this month.

HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii's gun laws, long among the strictest in the nation, will be the focus of arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday. The court is taking up the state's ban on firearms on private property that is open to the public, such as stores and hotels, unless the owner explicitly allows it.

LONDON (AP) — Tens of millions of dollars are on the line as Prince Harry returned to court Monday for the third and final chapter in his legal quest to tame the British tabloids.

Harry, also known as the Duke of Sussex, is the most prominent litigant in a case full of high-profile plaintiffs who accuse the publisher of the Daily Mail of invading their privacy by using unlawful information-gathering tactics to snoop on them for sensational headlines.

ROME (AP) — Three U.S. Catholic cardinals urged the Trump administration on Monday to use a moral compass in pursuing its foreign policy, saying U.S. military action in Venezuela, threats of acquiring Greenland and cuts in foreign aid risk bringing vast suffering instead of promoting peace.

"60 Minutes" on Sunday aired its story about Trump administration deportations that was abruptly pulled from the newsmagazine's lineup a month ago, a move that had triggered an internal battle about political pressure that spilled out into the open.

WASHINGTON (AP) — An unexpectedly sturdy world economy is likely to shrug off President Donald Trump's protectionist trade policies this year, thanks partly to a surge of investment in artificial intelligence in North America and Asia, the International Monetary Fund said in a report out Monday.

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Corporate chiefs and government leaders including U.S. President Donald Trump swarm into Davos, Switzerland this week, joining an elite annual meeting that promotes dialogue and economic progress — even as a domineering tone from Washington has upended the global order and billionaires have reaped trillions in new wealth as the poor lag behind.

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Nearly 3,000 high-level participants from business, government and beyond plus untold numbers of activists, journalists and outside observers are converging in the Swiss town of Davos for the World Economic Forum's annual meeting.

HONG KONG (AP) — China's economy expanded at a 5% annual pace in 2025, buoyed by strong exports despite U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs.

However, growth slowed to a 4.5% rate in the last quarter of the year, the government said Monday. That was the slowest quarterly growth since late 2022, when China was beginning to loosen stringent COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. The economy, the world's second largest, grew at a 4.8% annual pace in the previous quarter.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active duty soldiers to be ready in case of a possible deployment to Minnesota, where federal authorities have been conducting a massive immigration enforcement operation, two defense officials said Sunday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican lawmakers are scrambling to contain President Donald Trump's threats of taking possession of Greenland, with some showing the most strident opposition to almost anything the Trump administration has done since taking office.

NEW YORK (AP) — What sounds like President Donald Trump narrating a new Fannie Mae ad actually is an AI-cloned voice reading text, according to a disclaimer in the video.

The voice in the ad, created with permission from the Trump administration, promises an "all new Fannie Mae" and calls the institution the "protector of the American Dream." The ad comes as the administration is making a big push to show voters it is responding to their concerns about affordability, including in the housing market.

BRUSSELS (AP) — Threats from the White House over Greenland have sparked outrage and a flurry of diplomatic activity across Europe, as leaders consider possible countermeasures, including retaliatory tariffs and the first-ever use of the European Union's anti-coercion instrument.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will attend the Supreme Court's oral argument Wednesday in a case involving the attempted firing of Fed governor Lisa Cook, an unusual show of support by the central bank chair.

NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans agreed to hire Robert Saleh as their coach on Monday night, hoping he can speed up their rebuild and end the franchise's skid of four straight losing seasons, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge refused Monday to temporarily block the Trump administration from enforcing a new policy requiring a week's notice before members of Congress can visit immigration detention facilities.

U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb in Washington, D.C., concluded that the Department of Homeland Security didn't violate an earlier court order when it reimposed a seven-day notice requirement for congressional oversight visits to Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities.

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Hungary's MOL Group energy company said on Monday they have signed a preliminary agreement to buy a 56.15% stake in Serbia's Russia-owned main oil supplier that has been sanctioned by the United States.

MOL Group said in a statement that a "binding Heads of Agreement with Gazprom Neft" will need the approval of the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control before it can be completed. The parties aim to sign the sales and purchase agreement by March 31, the statement said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Warming temperatures are forcing Antarctic penguins to breed earlier and that's a big problem for two of the cute tuxedoed species that face extinction by the end of the century, a study said.

With temperatures in the breeding ground increasing 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit (3 degrees Celsius) from 2012 to 2022, three different penguin species are beginning their reproductive process about two weeks earlier than the decade before, according to a study in Tuesday's Journal of Animal Ecology. And that sets up potential food problems for young chicks.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump plans to use a key address Wednesday to try to convince Americans he can make housing more affordable, but he's picked a strange backdrop for the speech: a Swiss mountain town where ski chalets for vacations cost a cool $4.4 million.

As the official celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence culminate on July 4, a well-financed, privately funded initiative will kick off to try to connect hundreds of millions of Americans with efforts to solve local problems.

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders rallied with nurses Tuesday in Manhattan during the ninth day of the largest strike of its kind that the city has seen in decades.

The democratic socialists, speaking to a boisterous crowd of nurses in front of Mount Sinai West on the Upper West Side, called on hospital executives to return to the negotiating table to resolve the contract impasse that prompted some 15,000 nurses to walk off the job last week.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A stunning military intervention in Venezuela. Telling the New York Giants which coach to hire. Threats against Iran, Denmark, Greenland and Colombia. Posing with someone else's Nobel Peace Prize. Dangling the potential of deploying U.S. troops in Minneapolis. Flipping off a critic. Announcing an aggressive round of tariffs. Threatening political enemies.

LONDON (AP) — A startled British government on Tuesday defended its decision to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, after U.S. President Donald Trump attacked the plan, which his administration had previously supported.

Trump said that relinquishing the remote Indian Ocean archipelago, home to a strategically important American naval and bomber base, was an act of stupidity that shows why he needs to take over Greenland.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A ballooning Immigration and Customs Enforcement budget. Hiring bonuses of $50,000. Swelling ranks of ICE officers, to 22,000, in an expanding national force bigger than most police departments in America.

President Donald Trump promised the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history, but achieving his goal wouldn't have been possible without funding from the big tax and spending cuts bill passed by Republicans in Congress, and it's fueling unprecedented immigration enforcement actions in cities like Minneapolis and beyond.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Federal immigration agents forced open a door and detained a U.S. citizen in his Minnesota home at gunpoint without a warrant, then led him out onto the streets in his underwear in subfreezing conditions, according to his family and videos reviewed by The Associated Press.

ATLANTA (AP) — With many Americans still recovering from multiple blasts of snow and unrelenting freezing temperatures in the nation's northern tier, a new storm is set to emerge this weekend that could coat roads, trees and power lines with devastating ice across a wide expanse of the South.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court seemed likely to strike down Hawaii restrictions on carrying guns into stores Tuesday in the justices' latest firearm case since their landmark decision expanding Second Amendment rights.

The Trump administration backed the challenge to the law barring guns in places like malls and hotels unless the property owner specifically allows them. It's sometimes referred to as a "vampire rule," for its permission requirement.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's unprecedented bid to reshape the Federal Reserve board is putting the Supreme Court in a familiar position, weighing an emergency appeal from the president's lawyers in a politically charged case.

The court is hearing arguments Wednesday over Trump's effort to oust Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook based on allegations she committed mortgage fraud, which she denies.

It's been a year since a measles outbreak began in West Texas, and international health authorities say they will meet in April to determine if the U.S. has lost its measles-free designation.

Experts fear the vaccine-preventable virus has regained a foothold and that the U.S. may soon follow Canada in losing the achievement of having eliminated it.

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Board of Peace led by U.S. President Donald Trump was originally envisioned as a small group of world leaders overseeing the Gaza ceasefire plan. The Trump administration's ambitions have ballooned into a more sprawling concept, with Trump extending invitations to dozens of nations and hinting it will soon broker global conflicts, like a pseudo-U.N. Security Council.

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — President Donald Trump 's pledge to provoke a sweeping tariff fight with Europe to get his way in taking control of Greenland has left many of America's closest allies warning of a rupture with Washington that would shatter the NATO alliance that had once seemed unshakable.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Darius Acuff Jr. scored 17 points and No. 20 Arkansas routed Vanderbilt 93-68 on Wednesday night to hand the 15th-ranked Commodores their third consecutive loss.

The freshman shot 7 of 14 from the field and had five assists as Arkansas (14-5, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) shot 58% from the field and had 25 assists on 37 field goals.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Konsta Helenius scored his first NHL goal, assisted on two others, and the Buffalo Sabres beat the Nashville Predators 5-3 on Tuesday night.

Noah Ostlund scored twice, Tage Thompson and Peyton Krebs also scored and Alex Lyon made 32 saves for the Sabres, 3-1-1 in their last five games.

NEW YORK (AP) — A judge overseeing Ghislaine Maxwell's criminal case said Wednesday that two members of Congress lacked the legal right to intervene and press their demand for a court-appointed observer to ensure the government complies with a new law ordering release of its files on Jeffrey Epstein.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed inclined to keep Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook in her job, casting doubt on President Donald Trump's bid to wrest control of the nation's central bank.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is dropping its appeal of a federal court ruling that blocked a campaign against diversity, equity, and inclusion threatening federal funding to the nation's schools and colleges.

The Education Department, in a court filing Wednesday, moved to dismiss its appeal. It leaves in place a federal judge's August decision finding that the anti-DEI effort violated the First Amendment and federal procedural rules.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lindsey Halligan, who, as a hastily appointed Justice Department prosecutor, pursued indictments against a pair of President Donald Trump's adversaries, is leaving her position as her months-long tenure has now concluded, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Tuesday night.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Warm Arctic waters and cold continental land are combining to stretch the dreaded polar vortex in a way that will send much of the United States a devastating dose of winter later this week with swaths of painful subzero temperatures, heavy snow and powerline-toppling ice.

For subscribers to The New York Times who are as interested in solving Wordle or filling in the crossword puzzle as in reading the latest political or business news, Wednesday is a big day.

The Times' popular Games unit is debuting Crossplay, a Scrabble-like electronic feature that represents its first designed multiplayer game. It becomes the website's 11th game, joining a lineup of puzzles that were collectively played over 11.2 billion times in 2025.

LONDON (AP) — The CEO of Ryanair on Wednesday dismissed Elon Musk's idea of buying the budget airline and shrugged off insults from the billionaire, in a war of words that erupted over installing Starlink systems on aircraft.

The spat between one of the world's richest individuals and one of Europe's most outspoken corporate bosses has been escalating for days. O'Leary said last week that the airline had ruled out putting Musk's Starlink satellite Wi-Fi on Ryanair planes because the extra fuel drag from the system's antennas would be too costly.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Warren Buffett's successor appears to be considering his first significant move after taking over as CEO this month.

Kraft Heinz warned investors Tuesday that Berkshire Hathaway may be interested in selling its 325 million shares in the name brand food giant that Buffett helped create back in 2015. The news came in a filing with stock market regulators.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Several countries have said they will join U.S. President Donald Trump's Board of Peace, while a few European nations have declined their invitations. Many have not yet responded to Trump's invites.

Chaired by Trump, the board was originally envisioned as a small group of world leaders overseeing the Gaza ceasefire plan. But the Trump administration's ambitions have since expanded, with Trump extending invitations to dozens of nations and hinting at the board's future role as conflict mediator.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Days before the 2026 tax filing season begins, the head of the IRS announced a shake-up Tuesday, saying the personnel and operational changes are intended to improve taxpayer service and modernize the agency.

The timing of the announcement coincides with a critical moment for the agency, as the IRS prepares to process millions of tax returns while simultaneously implementing major tax law changes under the tax and spending package President Donald Trump signed into law last summer. There are new tax relief provisions for tips and overtime, and new deductions for qualifying older Americans.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump wanted to recap his first year back in office. And it felt like he wanted to spend the next year doing it.

For more than 100 minutes, the president held forth Tuesday at the White House, where he went on a winding journey through his last year, interspersed with plenty of asides, a few impressions of other politicians and critics and, eventually, questions from the media.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans started a push Wednesday to hold former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress over the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, opening the prospect of the House using one of its most powerful punishments against a former president for the first time.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats had planned to campaign in the midterm elections on affordability and health care, two issues where Americans are particularly unhappy with President Donald Trump.

But the aggressive immigration crackdown in Minnesota, including the killing of an American mother during a confrontation with federal agents, has scrambled the party's playbook.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump closed out 2025 with his plan to end the Israel-Hamas war in fine fettle. With an endorsement from the U.N. Security Council to form a "Board of Peace" to oversee Gaza's future, Trump entered 2026 riding high in his self-described role as a "president of peace" who sought to end conflicts and certainly not create new ones.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — There was the pregnant woman who missed her medical checkup, afraid to visit a clinic during the Trump administration's sweeping Minnesotaimmigration crackdown. A nurse found her at home, already in labor and just about to give birth.