UPDATE: Kentucky deaths could top 100 after tornadoes rip through 5 states
Kentucky’s governor says a devastating tornado touched down for 227 miles—more than 200 in his state—and deaths were feared in 10 counties.
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U.S. consumer inflation up 6.8% in past year, most since 1982
The Labor Department also reported Friday that prices rose 0.8% from October to November—a substantial increase, though slightly less than 0.9% increase from September to October.
Al Unser, four-time winner of Indianapolis 500, dies at 82
Unser won the Indy 500 in 1970, 1971, 1978 and 1987, and is the only driver in history to have both a sibling and a child also win one of the biggest races in the world.
Lawmakers say they will try again to regulate airline fees
The legislation would require that fees be “reasonable and proportional” to the airline’s cost of providing the service. It will also require airlines to let children under 14 sit with family members at no extra charge.
GM chief exec says making ventilators in Indiana changed company’s culture
CEO Mary Barra said General Motors now uses the same approach it learned making ventilators at a Kokomo factory for its own electric vehicles, software and partially automated driver-assist systems.
Pandemic mystery: Scientists focus on COVID’s animal origins
Nearly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the origin of the virus tormenting the world remains shrouded in the unknown.
Senate passes bill easing way for debt limit increase
Key to the agreement is that Democrats will have to vote on a specific amount by which the debt ceiling will be lifted. The amount has not yet been disclosed, but it is sure to be a staggering sum.
Takuma Sato signs with Dale Coyne Racing for 2022
The two-time Indianapolis 500 winner spent the last four years driving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing but was not retained for next season.
U.S. jobless claims at 52-year low amid seasonal volatility
The four-week moving average, which smooths out week-to-week ups and downs, fell below 219,000, lowest since the pandemic hit the United States in March 2020.
Poll: Incomes are up, but Americans focus on inflation
Most people say the sharply higher prices for goods and services in recent months have had at least a minor effect on their financial lives, including about 4 in 10 who say the hit has been substantial.
Braun fights federal vax mandates but says businesses should have the option
That stance puts the Indiana senator at odds with many GOP state lawmakers who want to force Indiana businesses to accept broad vaccination exemptions from employees with religious or medical objections.
Explainer: What caused Amazon’s outage? Will there be more?
A major outage in Amazon’s cloud computing network Tuesday severely disrupted services at a wide range of U.S. companies for hours, raising questions about the vulnerability of the internet and its concentration in the hands of a few firms.
New COVID-19 antibody drug OK’d to protect most vulnerable
People who could benefit from the antibody drug include cancer patients, organ transplant recipients and people taking immune-suppressing drugs for conditions like rheumatoid arthritis.
Michigan House OKs incentives to land major business deals
While proponents did not specify pending deals for which Michigan is vying, several told the House Government Operations Committee that Michigan must stay competitive in the auto industry.
U.S. businesses advertise for near-record 11 million open jobs
The figures from the Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey, or JOLTS, show that with so many companies chasing relatively few unemployed people, job-seekers have the most bargaining power they have had in at least two decades.
COVID cases spike even as U.S. reaches vaccine milestone
Deaths are running close to 1,600 a day on average, back up to where they were in October. And the overall U.S. death toll less than two years into the crisis could hit another heartbreaking milestone, 800,000, in a matter of days.
Holcomb frustrated with ‘absurd’ vaccine-refusal reasons
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb said the pandemic remains a real threat and is taking lives, but he maintains that the state’s role is to provide vaccines and other resources, not impose vaccine requirements or mask mandates.
Major outage hits Amazon Web Services, disrupting many major sites
Amazon’s own e-commerce operations were affected, as well as Toyota, Delta Airlines, Netflix, Instacart, Venmo, Kindle, Roku, The Associated Press, Disney+ and McDonald’s.
EPA lowers ethanol requirements, citing reduced demand
The lower production targets are a win for the oil industry, which argues that biofuel blending is costly and raises gasoline prices.
Treasury proposes new disclosure rule to fight corruption
The proposed new rule would require companies to identify who owns and controls them, rather than the names of the people who formed the company.