Headlines on 2019-02-13

America has never been more indebted. Aggregate borrowing to cover mortgages, credit cards, student loans, and car loans rose for the 18th straight quarter in the fourth quarter, reaching a new record of $13.5 trillion.  Especially worrying: more than 7 million Americans have reached serious delinquency status on their auto loans.  "The higher debt pile leaves the US much more sensitive to even minor changes in borrowing costs," says AJ Bell.  In his State of the Union speech this month, US...

The state's large share of African-American Democratic voters and a well-timed spot on the 2020 primary calendar make it a critical state for presidential candidates.

A new study suggests living in a high-crime area, or simply passing through one on the way to school, can lead to more absences.

Global markets have been boosted by renewed optimism that a deal to avert trade war escalation can be reached with Asian stocks hitting a four month peak. Asian markets, particularly in China, followed Wall Street higher with US futures also pointing up on Wednesday. Europe has also been buoyed by hopes that the March 1 trade war deadline between the US and China will be avoided. The worldwide market rally continued on Wednesday with trade war optimism saturating equities.  Asian and European...

Families learn to be skeptical about vaccines in communities where incomplete vaccination is the norm. A researcher into the phenomenon found that people are ready to listen, if they're heard, too.

Every two-sport athlete's case has unique elements, but the NFL scored a trendy victory over Major League Baseball on Monday when 2018 Heisman Trophy winner and Oakland A's first-round draftee Kyler Murray announced he will pursue a career in football rather than baseball.

Monica Witt has been indicted for allegedly providing classified Pentagon information to Tehran. She defected years six ago, the Justice Department says.

Employee pay is gradually increasing after a decade of minimal gains, and Goldman Sachs says the growth is creating risks in the market. Analyst Ben Snider has formulated a strategy to help investors take advantage of these potential dislocations. He says investors should look for companies that don't spend as much on labor because their profits are less likely to get squeezed as pay continues to rise. Goldman Sachs says investors need to find a hiding spot as employee wages rise and company...

The voices of Amelia Meath, Molly Erin Sarlé and Alexandra Sauser-Monnig come together behind the Tiny Desk, with songs that conjure a simpler life: dogs, friends, moonlight or skinny dipping.

ENTER TEASER

In August 2013, Mark Post, a professor of physiology at Maastricht University, held a press conference in a television studio kitchen in London. Lifting the silver lid from a platter, he revealed a creation that seemed very humble by culinary-TV standards: a round, palm-size patty of dark pink hamburger meat. But as Post explained, his burger was no ordinary chunk of beef. Instead of coming from the flesh of a slaughtered cow, the muscle fibers in the meat had been grown from cow cells in a lab....

How did Samuel Barber's stirring, lush work for strings — music that has become America's semi-official music of mourning — become a beloved and endlessly remixed dance floor anthem?