The Federal Reserve’s top policymaking body on Wednesday pulled the trigger on another increase in interest rates, the first since Donald Trump became president, and signaled there will be two more hikes this year.
The Federal Open Market Committee, which sets the key borrowing rate that affects interest payments on everything from mortgages to savings accounts, raised rates one-quarter of a percentage point. Still, the FOMC emphasized that it plans to nudge up interest rates gradually. The key rate now stands at between 3/4 of a percent and 1 percent.
Fed hikes interest rates, signals two more increases for 2017
FBI investigation continues into 'odd' computer link between Russian bank and Trump Organization
Federal investigators and computer scientists continue to examine whether there was a computer server connection between the Trump Organization and a Russian bank, sources close to the investigation tell CNN.
Questions about the possible connection were widely dismissed four months ago. But the FBI's investigation remains open, the sources said, and is in the hands of the FBI's counterintelligence team -- the same one looking into Russia's suspected interference in the 2016 election.
Hubble finds young super star cluster, giant star
NASA scientists have gotten a closer look at one of the largest stars ever discovered in a super star cluster, thanks to images from the Hubble Space Telescope.
A new image from Hubble has revealed a young super star cluster called Westerlund 1, home to a gigantic star known as Westerlund 1-26.
Westerlund 1 is a star cluster 15,000 light-years away from Earth in the Milky Way galaxy.
The coming GOP assault on regulations
While President Donald Trump has launched a noisy crusade to slash regulations that constrain American businesses, Republicans in Congress have embarked on a less prominent but potentially more lasting effort to make it much harder for federal agencies to create new regulations in the future.
There is a flurry of anti-regulatory legislation floating around Capitol Hill, but it is becoming clear that the key Republican vehicle to rein in rulemaking will be Ohio Senator Rob Portman’s Regulatory Accountability Act. A 16-page draft of the legislation obtained by POLITICO was significantly less radical than several aggressive bills recently passed by the House of Representatives, but industry groups have pinned their hopes on this one attracting support from enough moderate Democrats to overcome a Senate filibuster and make it to Trump’s desk. And even if the Portman bill won’t automatically ensure “the deconstruction of the administrative state” promised by White House adviser Steve Bannon, it could still dramatically curtail the power of government regulators in the long run.
Three misleading claims from Paul Ryan's Obamacare lecture
With his jacket off and sleeves rolled up, House Speaker Paul Ryan made the case for the Republican health care law Thursday, walking through a 35-minute PowerPoint presentation to a packed crowd of reporters and millions of viewers watching on the three cable TV networks. It was quintessential Ryan, calmly explaining the details of the American Health Care Act looking more like a college professor than a professional politician.
But in making his case, Ryan made a series of misleading statements, both about the current state of Obamacare and the details of the replacement bill. Three stand out:
San Francisco Asks Federal Judge to Block Trump’s Order on Sanctuary Cities
San Francisco has asked a federal judge to block President Trump’s order threatening to deny federal funding to sanctuary cities that don’t actively pursue undocumented immigrants. City authorities on Wednesday asked U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick for a preliminary injunction against the president’s executive order until a lawsuit against it can be heard.
The city’s motion argued that Trump’s order infringes on the sovereignty of cities and exceeds the president’s authority. City Attorney Dennis Herrera described Trump as a “bully” for threatening to withhold federal funding for public aid programs.
UN: Up to 450,000 IDPs expected in cramped Mosul camps
There may not be enough space in camps to accommodate the tens of thousands of internally displaced people (IDP) currently fleeing their homes in western Mosul amid intense fighting in the city, a United Nations official has said.
At least 50,000 people have made their way to the camps on the eastern side of the Tigris River, but the UN warns that if the number rapidly increases, they will be hard pressed to find a place for the new arrivals.
On International Women's Day, a statue of little girl defiantly stares down Wall Street bull
The iconic bull statue on Wall Street may have met his match, and she's female.
On the eve of International Women's Day, an asset management company placed a statue of a little girl in front of Manhattan’s iconic charging bull to highlight a lack of gender diversity and equality in the workplace.
Israel denies redress to thousands of Palestinians
Israel has given itself almost complete immunity from paying compensation in cases where its soldiers have killed, injured or disabled Palestinian civilians, an Israeli human rights group has warned.
In a report released on Wednesday, entitled Getting Off Scot-Free, B'Tselem said that Israel had violated its obligations under international law by denying many thousands of Palestinians redress in Israeli civil courts.
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