The U.S. economy shrank from April through June for a second straight quarter, contracting at a 0.9% annual pace and raising fears that the nation may be approaching a recession. The decline that the Commerce Department reported Thursday in the gross domestic product — the broadest gauge of the...
Fed Unleashes Another Big Rate Hike in Bid to Curb Inflation
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised its benchmark interest rate by a hefty three-quarters of a point for a second straight time in its most aggressive drive in three decades to tame high inflation. The Fed’s move will raise its key rate, which affects many consumer and business loans,...
Jackie Robinson Museum Opens After 14 Years of Planning
Long dreamed about and in development for longer than the big league career of the man it honors, the Jackie Robinson Museum opened Tuesday in Manhattan with a gala ceremony attended by the widow of the barrier-breaking ballplayer and two of his children. Rachel Robinson, who turned 100 on July...
DOJ: Buffett Company Discriminated Against Black Homebuyers
A Pennsylvania mortgage company owned by billionaire businessman Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway discriminated against potential Black and Latino homebuyers in Philadelphia, New Jersey and Delaware, the Department of Justice said Wednesday, in what they are calling the second-largest redlining settlement in history. Trident Mortgage Co., a division of Berkshire's...
Man’s 63-Month Prison Term Matches Longest for Capitol Riot
A man who attacked police officers with poles during the riot at the U.S. Capitol was sentenced on Tuesday to more than five years in prison, matching the longest term of imprisonment so far among hundreds of Capitol riot prosecutions. Mark Ponder, a 56-year-old resident of Washington, D.C., said he "got...
Emerging From Isolation, Biden Urges Americans to Get Shots
President Joe Biden on Wednesday emerged from five days of isolation after contracting the coronavirus, telling Americans that “COVID isn't gone” but saying serious illness can be avoided with vaccines, booster shots and treatments. “You don’t need to be president to get these tools," he said. Biden had a mild...
AR-15 Style Guns Have Brought in Over $1 Billion in 10 Years
Gun manufacturers have made more than $1 billion from selling AR-15-style guns over the past decade, and for two companies those revenues have tripled over the past three years, according to a House investigation unveiled Wednesday. Those profits have come as the weapons have been used in mass shootings that have...
Consumers Confidence Slides for Third Straight Month in July
U.S. consumer confidence slid again in July higher prices for food, gas and just about everything else continued to weigh on Americans. The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell to 95.7 in July from 98.4 in June, largely due to consumer anxiety over the current...
Tribal Leaders, Members React to Pope’s Apology on Schools
Pope Francis' apology Monday for the Catholic Church’s role in Canada's residential school system and the abuses that took place within it was a full-throated denunciation of a decadeslong policy of forced assimilation that aimed to strip Indigenous children of their culture and traumatized generations. Speaking at the site of a...
Man Admits to Jan. 6 Attacks on Police, AP Photographer
A Pennsylvania man pleaded guilty on Monday to attacking police officers and an Associated Press photographer during the Jan. 6, 2021 riot on the U.S. Capitol. In a deal with prosecutors, Alan Byerly, 55, admitted to wielding a stun gun while confronting officers who were trying to protect the Capitol...