U.S. consumer confidence rebounded more than expected in February amid an improvement in households' perceptions of the labor market, a survey showed on Tuesday. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index increased 2.2 points to 91.2 this month. Data for January was revised higher to show the index at...
Pentagon Races to Spend $153 Billion in Added Funds for Military
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has told Congress in a long-delayed report that within the next year it intends to burn through more than $153 billion in new military funding that was signed into law by President Donald Trump in his signature domestic policy bill. When Republicans pushed through the sweeping...
Wall Street Rises After Anthropic Announces New AI Tools. Tariff Worries Persist
U.S. stock indexes edged higher on Tuesday, boosted by technology shares as investors weighed Anthropic's announcement of new AI tools as well as President Donald Trump's shifting stance on trade policy. Artificial intelligence lab Anthropic announced 10 new ways for business customers to plug in its technology to key areas...
FedEx Sues US for Refund on Trump’s Emergency Tariffs
Global transportation company FedEx on Monday filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of International Trade seeking a refund for President Donald Trump's emergency tariffs, one of the highest profile moves to recover funds since the U.S. Supreme Court last week deemed the tariffs illegal. A flood of lawsuits to...
Canada Presses OpenAI for Answers on Mass Shooter’s Chatbot Use
Canadian officials have summoned leaders from OpenAI for a meeting following revelations that the company did not inform authorities about a user whose account had been suspended months before she committed a mass murder in British Columbia. The country’s minister of artificial intelligence, Evan Solomon, said Monday that he would...
Australia Begins Inquiry Into Antisemitism After Bondi Attacks
Australia will on Tuesday begin a government-backed inquiry into antisemitism, after an attack on a Jewish event last year killed 15 people. The mass shooting at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Sydney's famed Bondi Beach in December shocked a country with strict gun laws and fueled calls for tougher controls...
Venezuela Has Released Nearly 2,200 People Under New Amnesty Law, Lawmaker Says
Nearly 2,200 people have been released from Venezuelan jails since the start of a new amnesty law, lawmaker Jorge Arreaza said on Monday. Arreaza is president of a commission set up to monitor the implementation of the law, which came into effect on Friday. — (Reporting by Reuters, Writing by...
Australia Backs Removing Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor From UK Line of Succession
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would back plans to remove Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of succession to the British throne in a letter he sent to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office. Last week, a UK official said the British government was considering legislation to ensure that...
‘It’s Going to Be a Long Speech’: Trump Prepares for State of the Union
WASHINGTON — As President Donald Trump prepares to deliver his State of the Union address, he gave a little glimpse Monday of what Americans can expect. “It’s going to be a long speech,” Trump said, “because we have so much to talk about.” The president spent part of the weekend...
Iran Could Direct Proxies to Attack US Targets Abroad, Officials Warn
WASHINGTON — U.S. and other Western security officials say they are monitoring increasingly worrisome signs that Iran could direct proxies to conduct retaliatory terrorist attacks against American targets in Europe and the Middle East if President Donald Trump orders large-scale strikes against Iran. The officials, speaking on the condition of...