JPMorgan Chase & Co. posted a 52% jump in its first-quarter profits, helped by higher interest rates, which allowed the bank to charge customers more for loans. The bank saw deposits grow noticeably, as business and customers flocked to the banking titan after the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and...
More Interest Rate Hikes Needed, Says Federal Reserve Official
A senior Federal Reserve official said Friday that there has been little progress on inflation for more than a year and that more interest rate hikes are needed to get prices under control. Christopher Waller, a member of the Fed's governing board, did not specify how many more increases he supports, but...
Church Must Pay $1.2M Fine for Breaking COVID Rules, California Judge Says
A California church that defied safety regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic by holding large, unmasked religious services must pay $1.2 million in fines, a judge has ruled. Calvary Chapel in San Jose was fined last week for ignoring Santa Clara County's mask-wearing rules between November 2020 and June 2021. The...
Funerals Set for Most of Louisville Bank’s Mass Shooting Victims
Funeral arrangements were disclosed Thursday for most of the five bank employees killed this week in Louisville, Kentucky, as the city continues to grieve the victims of one of the latest U.S. mass shootings. As obituaries were posted online, more details surfaced about the lives of the employees killed Monday...
GOP Hopefuls Flock to Address NRA Convention After Mass Shootings
Last year it was Uvalde. Now it's Nashville and Louisville. For the second year in a row, the National Rifle Association is holding its annual convention within days of mass shootings that shook the nation. The three-day gathering, beginning Friday, will include thousands of the organization’s most active members at Indianapolis’ convention center and is attracting a...
Russia Trains Belarus Pilots in Battlefield Nuclear Weapons Use Amid Ukraine Fighting
Belarusian air force crews have completed their training for using tactical nuclear weapons as part of Russia's plan to deploy the weapons to its ally Belarus amid the fighting in neighboring Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said Friday. The ministry released a video in which a Belarusian pilot said that...
Thomas Sold Real Estate to Mega-Donor Friend, Didn’t Report Deal, Says Report
Conservative mega-donor Harlan Crow purchased three properties belonging to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his family, in a transaction worth more than $100,000 that Thomas never reported, according to the non-profit investigative journalism organization ProPublica. The 2014 real estate deal shines a new light on Thomas's decades old relationship with...
China Vows Not to Sell Arms to Any Party in Ukraine War
China won't sell weapons to either side in the war in Ukraine, the country's foreign minister said Friday, responding to Western concerns that Beijing could provide military assistance to Russia. China has maintained that it is neutral in the conflict, while backing Russia politically, rhetorically and economically at a time when Western...
1976 Bicentennial ‘Freedom’ Mural on SoCal Dam Being Replicated
CORONA — A giant mural that students painted on a California dam for the U.S. bicentennial in 1976 is being recreated after years of controversy over a decision to remove the original. Workers following the original design began painting the new mural on the spillway of Prado Dam this month, Southern...
Dropping Dimes: Hundreds of Thousands in Coins from US Mint Stolen from Parked Truck
A truck containing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of dimes was broken into while it was parked overnight at a Philadelphia store, and authorities say the thieves apparently made off with at least $100,000. The theft was reported around 6 a.m. Thursday. The tractor-trailer driver had picked up about...