AP National News

AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Just a few weeks ago, the path ahead for the Federal Reserve looked straightforward: With inflation cooling and the job market slowing, the Fed appeared on track to steadily cut interest rates. In September, its officials predicted they would reduce their benchmark rate four times next year, on top

Associated Press SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) — A woman told police that she was sexually assaulted in 2017 by Pete Hegseth after he took her phone, blocked the door to a California hotel room and refused to let her leave, according to a detailed investigative report made public late Wednesday. Hegseth, a Fox News personality

Associated Press SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) — A major storm pummeled Northern California with rain and snow Thursday and threatened to cause flash flooding and rockslides in the latest wave of damaging weather to wash over the West Coast. The National Weather Service extended a flood watch into Saturday for areas north of San Francisco

Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea and Russia reached a new agreement for expanding economic cooperation at talks in Pyongyang this week. North Korean state media reported the agreement was signed Wednesday between its senior trade officials and a Russian delegation led by Alexandr Kozlov, the country’s minister of natural resources and

Associated Press BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — Countries of the world took turns rejecting a new but vague draft text released early Thursday which attempts to form the spine of any deal reached at United Nations climate talks on money for developing countries to transition to clean energy and adapt to climate change. The draft left

Associated Press VIENTIANE, Laos (AP) — Southeast Asian defense chiefs are meeting with China, the United States and other partner nations in Laos for security talks, which come as Beijing’s increasingly assertive stance in its claim to most of the South China Sea is leading to more confrontations. The closed-door talks put U.S. Secretary of

Associated Press A man who was charged with murdering his father’s fiancee when he was just 11 years old is suing four state troopers. Trial in Jordan Brown’s lawsuit against the former Pennsylvania State Police troopers is scheduled to get underway in Pittsburgh early next month. Brown spent seven years in juvenile custody for the

BOSTON (AP) — A Boston auctioneer is taking bidders out to the ballpark with an auction of a team executive’s Red Sox memorabilia — including four World Series trophies. Items belonging to former Red Sox President and CEO Larry Lucchino will be auctioned starting Saturday with proceeds going to his family foundation, which funds charities

Associated Press An Alabama prisoner convicted of the 1994 murder of a female hitchhiker is slated to become the third person executed by nitrogen gas. Carey Dale Grayson is scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m. Thursday at William C. Holman Correctional Facility in south Alabama. Grayson was one of four teenagers convicted of killing

Associated Press BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — The deadly collapse of a concrete roof at a rail station in Serbia has raised tensions across the Balkan county. It has fueled widespread anger toward the government and protests after the failure claimed 15 lives in the northern city of Novi Sad. The station was recently renovated as

AP Media Writer Two television networks with “NBC” in their names — MSNBC and CNBC — will no longer have any corporate connection to NBC News once a spinoff formally takes effect in about a year. Comcast is cutting loose several of its cable companies into a separate company in order to improve its bottom

Associated Press BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — In the sprawling pavilion section of the United Nations climate talks, where countries, nonprofits and tech companies use big, flashy signs to get the attention of the thousands of people walking through, small aqua and purple beverage cans sit conspicuously on a counter at the Singapore display. Those who

Associated Press FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — Rice borders on the sacred in Sierra Leone, which has one of the world’s highest consumption rates. But as prices soar, consumers are giving up on other food to buy it. The U.N. says that’s why most of the country’s population is suffering from food insecurity. Experts blame

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A previously unknown musical work written by composer Frederic Chopin appears to have been found in a library in New York City. The Morgan Library & Museum says the untitled and unsigned piece is the first new manuscript of the Romantic era virtuoso to be discovered in nearly a

Associated Press GRINDAVIK, Iceland (AP) — A volcano on the Reykjanes Peninsula in southwestern Iceland has erupted for the seventh time since December. The eruption started with little warning at 11:14 p.m. Wednesday and created a fissure around 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) long. The activity is estimated to be considerably smaller than the previous eruption

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — As incoming White House chief of staff, one of Susie Wiles ’ vexing challenges will be policing the buffet line of powerful interests who want something from Donald Trump. It’s a world she knows well. During Trump’s first presidency, she lobbied for many of them. Trump was first elected on

Associated Press VIENTIANE, Laos (AP) — An Australian teenager has died after drinking tainted alcohol in Laos in what Australia’s prime minister on Thursday called every parent’s nightmare. An American and two Danish tourists also died, officials said after reports that multiple people had been sickened in town popular with backpackers. Australian Prime Minister Anthony

Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A ban on New Zealanders wearing or displaying symbols of gang affiliation in public has taken effect, with police officers arresting a man for breaking the law three minutes later. The prohibition on displaying gang insignia anywhere outside private homes, including on clothing or in vehicles, is among

AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Global shares were mostly lower on Thursday as markets digested a strong profit report from U.S. chipmaker Nvidia. Nvidia again topped analysts’ expectations. But technology shares in Tokyo declined as they had already risen earlier in anticipation. In after-hours trading, Nvidia’s shares lost 2.5%. France’s CAC 40 lost nearly

Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia and China on Wednesday opposed a U.S.-led campaign to transform the Kenya-led multinational force in Haiti helping police to tackle escalating gang violence into a U.N. peacekeeping mission. The two allies called a U.N. Security Council meeting as gangs have intensified attacks, shooting at four aircraft which has