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."

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.”

As the two newly-cemented tickets continue to make their case to voters, the recent shake-ups in the race have led to a reshuffling of the electoral math to win. The Cook Political Report is out with updated ratings for the presidential race, moving the three battleground states of Arizona, Georgia and Nevada from lean Republican to toss-up. Amna Nawaz discussed the latest with Amy Walter.

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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.