The Federal Reserve will push rates higher than previously expected and keep them there for an extended period, Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday, in remarks likely intended to underscore the Fed's single-minded focus on combating stubborn inflation. Powell also signaled in a written speech to be delivered to the Brookings Institution that...
Police: Deputy Posing as Teen ‘Catfished’ California Girl, Killed Family Members
Authorities are investigating whether a Virginia sheriff’s deputy posed as a 17-year-old boy online to groom and sexually extort a teenage girl in California before driving across country and killing her mother and grandparents and setting fire to their home. Austin Lee Edwards, 28, was killed Friday in a shootout...
Costa, Valadao Cast Votes to Avert Rail Strike, Impose Deal on Unions
The U.S. House moved urgently to head off the looming nationwide rail strike on Wednesday, passing a bill that would bind companies and workers to a proposed settlement that was reached in September but rejected by some of the 12 unions involved. The measure passed by a vote of 290-137...
A Flare and a Spare: Hawaii Volcano Visitors See 2 Eruptions
The first eruption in 38 years of Mauna Loa, the world’s largest active volcano, is drawing visitors to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which is open 24 hours a day. “The viewing has been spectacular,” especially at night and before sunrise, park spokesperson Jessica Ferracane said. Visitors to the park are currently...
US Revises up Last Quarter’s Economic Growth to 2.9% Rate
Despite high interest rates and chronic inflation, the U.S. economy grew at a 2.9% annual rate from July through September, the government said Wednesday in a healthy upgrade from its initial estimate. Last quarter's rise in the U.S. gross domestic product — the economy’s total output of goods and services...
US Job Openings Fell in October to Still-High Level
U.S. job openings dropped in October but remained high, a sign that businesses became slightly less needy for workers as the Federal Reserve ramps up interest rates in an effort to cool the economy. Employers posted 10.3 million job vacancies in October, down from 10.7 million in September, the Labor Department said...
Hakeem Jeffries Elected to Lead House Dems’ Next Generation
Emboldened House Democrats ushered in a new generation of leaders on Wednesday with Rep. Hakeem Jeffries elected to be the first Black American to head a major political party in Congress as long-serving Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her team step aside next year. Showing rare party unity after their midterm election losses, the...
Taliban: 10 Killed in Bombing of Afghan Religious School
A bomb blast hit a religious school in northern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing at least 10 students, a Taliban official said. The explosion went off at around the time of afternoon prayers at the Al Jihad Madrassa in Aybak, capital of Samangan province, a resident of the city who heard...
Landmark Same-Sex Marriage Bill Wins Senate Passage
The Senate passed bipartisan legislation Tuesday to protect same-sex marriages, an extraordinary sign of shifting national politics on the issue and a measure of relief for the hundreds of thousands of same-sex couples who have married since the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision that legalized gay marriage nationwide. The bill, which would ensure...
Oath Keepers Boss Guilty of Seditious Conspiracy in Jan. 6 Case
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was convicted Tuesday of seditious conspiracy for a violent plot to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential win, handing the Justice Department a major victory in its massive prosecution of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. A Washington, D.C., jury found Rhodes guilty of sedition after three...