9 mins read

Powell’s tenure as Fed chair marked by fight for independence while trying to tame inflation

WASHINGTON | When Jerome Powell was sworn in as chair of the Federal Reserve eight years ago, economists worried that inflation and interest rates were too low and that too few Americans had jobs. Now, as Powell steps down from the post after eight tumultuous years, the U.S. economy is transformed: Inflation soared after the […]

2 mins read

FBI offers $200,000 reward to catch ex-Air Force specialist wanted on espionage charges in Iran

WASHINGTON | The FBI is offering a $200,000 reward for information leading to capture and prosecution of a former U.S. Air Force counterintelligence specialist who defected to Iran in 2013 and was later charged with revealing classified information to the Tehran government. Monica Elfriede Witt, 47, was indicted by a federal grand jury in February […]

8 mins read

Palestinians in Gaza mark anniversary of 1948 mass expulsion and say today’s catastrophe is worse

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip | Blink and you might miss the few stone walls that are all that’s left of the village that Yusuf Abu Hamam’s family was forced to flee when he was an infant in 1948. The village, al-Joura, was demolished by the Israeli military at the time. It has since vanished under […]

7 mins read

Tensions flare near Strait of Hormuz as a ship is seized and another is sunk

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates | A ship anchored off the United Arab Emirates was seized and taken toward Iran and another — a cargo ship near Oman — sank after being attacked, authorities said Thursday, as tensions escalated near the Strait of Hormuz. It wasn’t immediately clear who was behind these incidents, but they happened […]

9 mins read

Trump and Xi wrap up summit claiming progress stabilizing US-China relations as differences persist

BEIJING | U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up critical talks on Friday, claiming important progress in stabilizing U.S.-China relations even as deep differences persist between the world’s two biggest powers on Iran, Taiwan and more. Following the trip, Trump said he had not yet made a determination on whether a […]

7 mins read

The world’s reaction to hantavirus is tinged by echoes of something else: COVID

NEW YORK | The lingering impact of COVID-19, a few years out from the declaration that the pandemic was over, is scattered across how we live today — the work-from-home jobs, the way some have decided wearing masks is their new normal, the hand sanitizer dispensers that remain ever present. Some of the other ripples, […]

5 mins read

What to know about Xi’s warning to Trump over the ‘Taiwan Question’

HONG KONG | China on Thursday stepped up its tough stance on Taiwan, an island democracy it deems its territory, warning the United States that Beijing and Washington will “have clashes and even conflicts” if the issue is not handled properly. China’s President Xi Jinping stressed during his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump that […]

4 mins read

Retail sales growth slowed in April from March as higher gas cost leaves less room for nonessentials

NEW YORK | Shoppers pulled back on spending in April as higher gas prices fueled by the Iran war meant less money left over for some nonessentials like clothing and furniture. But economists noted that consumer spending, propped up by generous income tax refunds, is still healthy. Still, they worry that spending will fall off […]

5 mins read

Trump’s talk of 51st US state met with near-silence in Venezuela

CARACAS, Venezuela | Twice this week, U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed interest in turning Venezuela into his country’s 51st state. The latest came via a Truth Social post Tuesday with a map showing the South American country filled with the U.S. flag. Previous statements doubting Venezuela’s sovereignty over the past 25 years have been […]