Vice President Kamala Harris has rolled out several initiatives as part of her housing plan. She wants to incentivize builders to create 3 million units of affordable housing and develop a $25,000 housing credit for first-time homebuyers. Harris's housing goals have been widely dissected by the media, showing that the nationwide housing problem is top of mind for many people.

Harris believes that former president Trump has it all wrong when it comes to solving the housing crunch. In her Aug. 16,2024, political rally, she stated, "If his Project 2025 agenda is put into effect, it will add around $1,200 a year to the typical American mortgage. He's got it backward. We should be doing everything we can to make it more affordable to buy a home, not less."

Youth unemployment in China ticked up to 17.1% in July, official figures showed, the highest level this year as the world's second-largest economy faces mounting headwinds.

China is battling soaring joblessness among young people, a heavily indebted property sector and intensifying trade issues with the West.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who is responsible for economic policy, called Friday for struggling companies to be "heard" and "their difficulties truly addressed," according to the state news agency Xinhua.

The unemployment rate among 16- to 24-year-olds released Friday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) was up markedly from June's 13.2%.

Artificial-intelligence company Anthropic asked a California federal court on Thursday to dismiss some copyright claims brought by a group of music publishers over the alleged misuse of song lyrics to train its AI-powered chatbot Claude.

Anthropic said that the court should reject the publishers' allegations that the company induced Claude users to infringe their copyrights or committed other copyright-related violations.

The company did not address the core claim from the publishers - Universal Music Group (UMG.AS), opens new tab, ABKCO and Concord Music Group - that the use of their lyrics to train AI violates their rights or the key defense that such training makes fair use of copyrighted work.

"Anthropic's latest motion is completely without merit and is yet another example of an AI company seeking to avoid taking responsibility for its massive infringement of copyrights," the publishers' attorney Matt Oppenheim of Oppenheim + Zebrak said in a statement on Friday.

A federal judge in Florida has temporarily blocked a U.S. Federal Trade Commission rule that would ban agreements commonly signed by workers not to join their employers' rivals or launch competing businesses, becoming the second judge to rule that the ban is likely invalid.

During a hearing on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan in Ocala, Florida, blocked the FTC from applying the rule to real estate developer Properties of the Villages, pending the outcome of the company's lawsuit claiming the commission lacked the power to adopt the ban earlier this year.

Corrigan at the hearing said the rule implicated a question of "extraordinary economic and political significance" that Congress did not empower the FTC to address, according to a court transcript.

Corrigan cited the "major questions doctrine," a legal theory embraced in recent years by conservative lawyers and judges - including the U.S. Supreme Court - in challenges to many Democratic and progressive policies. The doctrine says that federal agencies can only issue rules with broad societal impacts with Congress' explicit permission.

A white woman who fatally shot her Black neighbor through a locked door amid a neighborhood feud in Florida has been convicted by a jury of manslaughter.

The jury took less than three hours Friday to find 60-year-old Susan Lorincz guilty in the death of Ajike "AJ" Shantrell Owens, a 35-year-old single mother who was shot once in the right side of her chest with a .380-caliber handgun while standing outside Lorincz's front door in June 2023. Owens' death drew national attention and put a new spotlight on race, gun violence and Florida's controversial "stand your ground" law.

The defense team offered no comment after the verdict, citing respect for the victim's family. In a news conference outside the courthouse, Anthony Thomas, an attorney representing Owens' family, called on Circuit Judge Robert Hodges to impose the maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.

Democratic vice presidential pick and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz flexed his Midwestern roots during a rally in Nebraska on Saturday as Democrats attempt to court voters.

Less than two weeks after Democratic front runner Vice President Kamala Harris announced him as her vice presidential pick, Walz held the first solo rally of the presidential campaign in Nebraska near the state's competitive Second Congressional District surrounding Omaha, which both campaigns are eyeing to grab.

Walz is no stranger to the Cornhusker state. Before becoming the governor of Minnesota, he grew up in Nebraska, went to Chadron State College in Chadron, Nebraska, served in the Nebraska Army National Guard, and met his wife, Gwen, while teaching in Alliance, Nebraska. On Saturday, he reminded rallygoers that he is the only candidate on both presidential tickets with those roots, making multiple references to Nebraska culture, from cinnamon rolls and chili to college football.

A handful of institutional investors bought large positions in former President Donald Trump’s media company in the second quarter ahead of the company's inclusion in two Russell indexes, regulatory filings released on Wednesday showed.

Among the biggest purchasers of shares of Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT.O), opens new tab, the parent company of the Truth Social platform, were asset managers Vanguard, State Street and BlackRock, which are known for their passive investing businesses. Those include exchange traded funds that buy shares of companies included in a wide range of indexes that they track.

Vanguard Group initiated a new position with the purchase of nearly 2.9 million shares of Trump Media, with a market value of approximately $94.3 million at the end of the quarter, the filings showed. BlackRock initiated a new position with the purchase of nearly 2.2 million shares, while State Street initiated a new position with just over 440,000 shares.

South Korea will urge automakers operating in the country to identify batteries used in their electric vehicles, the government said on Tuesday, as authorities seek to calm public safety concerns after a series of fires involving EVs.

The government said it would advise car makers to voluntarily disclose the information to reduce fears after an EV fire ripped through an underground parking lot in the city of Incheon, west of the capital Seoul, on Aug. 1, and caused extensive damage.

"Such battery information has not been available to the public so far and the measure is to reduce EV owners' fire anxiety," the office of government policy coordination said in a statement.

Jubilant FoodWorks (JUBI.NS), opens new tab, Domino's Pizza's (DPZ.N), opens new tab Indian franchisee, reported a near two-fold increase in first-quarter profit on Friday, as value meals attracted budget-conscious customers.

Consolidated net profit rose to 558 million rupees ($6.65 million) for the quarter ended June 30, from 289.2 million rupees a year earlier, it said in an exchange filing.

Persistently high inflation has been prompting consumers to pare back spending on dining out or ordering in. India's retail inflation hovered around 5% throughout the quarter amid high food prices, increasing cost pressure on the quick-service restaurant sector.

To spur demand Jubilant offered free home delivery and value deals such as meals for 99 rupees ($1.18), in a quarter that coincided with the T20 Cricket World Cup and school summer vacations.

U.S. based short-seller Hindenburg Research alleged on Saturday that the head of India's market regulator, Madhabi Puri Buch, previously held investments in offshore funds also used by the Adani Group.

In a late night press statement, Buch said the report's allegations were baseless.

A personal statement from Buch on Sunday said that all disclosure requirements had been followed diligently and that investments in the fund referred to in the Hindenburg report were made in 2015 in a private capacity, two years before she joined the Securities and Exchange Board of India.

India's markets regulator also asked investors to remain calm and exercise due diligence before reacting to such reports.

The pace of Russia's economic growth slowed in the second quarter of 2024, official data showed Friday, amid concerns over stubborn inflation and warnings of "overheating."

Gross domestic product (GDP) dipped from 5.4% in the first quarter to 4% from April to June, the lowest quarterly result since the start of 2023 but still a sign the economy is expanding.

Inflation meanwhile showed no signs of easing, with consumer prices rising 9.13% year-on-year in July — up from 8.59% in June and the highest figure since February 2023, according to data from the Rosstat statistics agency.

The sheriff's deputy charged with fatally shooting Sonya Massey in the face has been the subject of several complaints alleging belligerent behavior toward women, a USA TODAY review of public records shows.

Despite the complaints, Sangamon County Sheriff's Deputy Sean P. Grayson was never prohibited from working in law enforcement and moved from one police agency to another, the records show, calling into question how he got the job he held when Massey was shot.

The July 6 killing of Massey has sparked national outcry over police brutality, coast-to-coast demonstrations and a federal probe by the Justice Department.

The hiring practices of the sheriff's department have also been under fire from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who earlier this week formally called for Sangamon Sheriff Jack Campbell to resign, expressing frustration with how the sheriff has responded to Massey's death. Amid the growing pressure and questions about Grayson's hiring, Campbell said on Friday he will step down and retire.

The prospective owners of a Woodbury office building that’s nearly 40% vacant due to the popularity of remote work are seeking 20 years of tax breaks to turn around the property, officials said.

Investors Ric Clark and Dennis Friedrich plan to purchase 1000 Woodbury Rd. for $23.5 million from commercial real estate giant RXR. The pair then would spend $8 million on renovations to about half of the 288,000-square-foot building.

“This building from an interior standpoint is unfortunately very dated,” said Friedrich, founding principal of TKF Real Estate Investment LLC in Manhattan. He added that much of the office space hasn’t been improved in 20 years.

“But this is a great location and I think coming in … with some fresh ideas we can get back to” 85%-95% occupancy in three years, Friedrich told the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency last week.

Earth’s string of 13 straight months with a new average heat record came to an end this past July as the natural El Nino climate pattern ebbed, the European climate agency Copernicus announced Thursday.

But July 2024 ’s average heat just missed surpassing the July of a year ago, and scientists said the end of the record-breaking streak changes nothing about the threat posed by climate change.

“The overall context hasn’t changed,” Copernicus deputy director Samantha Burgess said in a statement. “Our climate continues to warm.”

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Henry Schein Inc., Long Island’s largest public company by revenue, announced plans Tuesday to lay off an unspecified number of workers as part of a broader restructuring plan.

The company, a distributor of branded and private-label products for dentist and physician offices, said in a release announcing its second quarter financial results that the restructuring plan would save the company $75 million to $100 million annually.

In a statement, the company said the plan would also make the business more efficient and would help with recent acquisitions.

"Our announcement today reflects the continuation of Henry Schein’s ongoing companywide restructuring efforts to further increase efficiencies as well as to integrate recent acquisitions," a Henry Schein spokesperson said in a statement.

A court in Thailand on Wednesday ordered the dissolution of the progressive Move Forward Party, which finished first in last year's general election, saying it violated the constitution by proposing an amendment of a law against defaming the country’s royal family.

The Constitutional Court said it voted unanimously to dissolve the party because its campaign proposal to amend the law amounted to an attempt to overthrow the nation's constitutional monarchy.

The Move Forward Party was unable to form a government after topping the polls because members of the Senate, at that time a conservative military-appointed body, refused to endorse its candidate for prime minister.

The Election Commission had filed a petition against the party after the Constitutional Court ruled in January that it must stop advocating changes to the law, known as Article 112, which protects the monarchy from criticism with penalties of up to 15 years in jail per offense. Move Forward has insisted that it wants to keep the monarchy above politics and not be exploited as a political tool.

Governor Maura Healey descended the flight of stairs at Park Street Station on Thursday morning to try the MBTA’s new “tap-to-go” payment method for buses and subways.

She was holding a press conference at the station where the occasional T worker or rider passed by the crowd. Healey said the contactless payment modernized the T and made it easier to use and more accessible for riders.

“You don’t have to hunt for change anymore,” she said.

No one will be allowed to fish out any of the nearly 100 bottles of 19th-century Champagne and mineral water nestled in a shipwreck off southern Sweden without proper authorization, officials said Wednesday.

Though the wreck's location has been known since 2016 and is registered in Sweden's National Antiquities Office's cultural environment, it was only on July 11 that Polish scuba divers found the precious cargo.

The wreck, which sits at about 190 feet deep off the coast of the southern Sweden county of Blekinge, was found by the divers while they were checking spots of interest about 20 nautical miles south of the Swedish Baltic Sea island of Oeland.