The Fed’s preferred inflation gauge stays cool, keeping a rate cut imminent
Inflation held steady in July on a yearly basis and consumer spending was robust, fresh data released Friday showed, the latest sign that progress toward cooler price increases remains firmly intact even as the economy holds up.
Brazil blocks X after Musk ignores court orders
RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil blocked the social network X on Friday after its owner, Elon Musk, refused to comply with a Brazilian judge’s orders to suspend certain accounts, the biggest test yet of the billionaire’s efforts to transform the site into a digital town square where just about anything goes.
A defensive Trump tries to limit the fallout of the Arlington clash
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Former President Donald Trump grappled Friday with the lingering fallout from his visit to Arlington National Cemetery this week, offering an extended defense of his campaign’s actions leading up to an altercation between a Trump 2024 staff member and a cemetery official.
Kiingi Tuheitia, king of the Maori in New Zealand, dies at 69
Kiingi Tuheitia, the Maori king who called for unity among New Zealand’s Indigenous tribes during his 18 years in his ceremonial but influential role, died Friday. He was 69.
Namibia, facing drought, plans to kill elephants for meat
The southern African nation of Namibia is planning to butcher hundreds of its most majestic animals to feed some of the 1.4 million people — nearly half the country — who are in a hunger crisis amid the worst drought in a century.
Harris grapples with how to use Biden on campaign trail
WASHINGTON — As she abruptly went from No. 2 on the Democratic ticket to No. 1, Vice President Kamala Harris had a decision to make: How should she deploy President Joe Biden on the campaign trail?
Paris is Utopia for paralympians until they leave the athletes’ village
PARIS — To many of the athletes arriving at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, the part of the city designed specifically for them amounted to something of a utopia.
‘A wave that’s on the decline?’ Trump totalk to parents leading the culture wars.
Former President Donald Trump is set to speak Friday evening to a gathering of Moms for Liberty, a conservative activist group whose priorities mirror much of his own education platform.
Will Walz’s rural upbringing lure small-town swing voters?
WINNEBAGO COUNTY, Wis. — The walls of the Fish Tales bait shop near the banks of Lake Winnebago in Wisconsin are lined with brightly colored bobs and lures. Big coolers hold leeches, butter worms and cans of Red Bull. On a recent morning, two fussy Dobermans were whining to be let out of a back room.
An obesity drug prevents COVID deaths, study suggests
Wegovy, the popular obesity drug, may have yet another surprising benefit. In a large clinical trial, people taking the drug during the pandemic were less likely to die of COVID-19, researchers reported Friday.
Whale beheading, bear carcass dumping and Trump boosting, oh my!
Our presidential folklore is awash with animal stories. Remember Franklin Roosevelt’s dog Fala? No? Well, it was a while ago. President Joe Biden is a big dog lover, but his pets were exiled to Delaware after multiple biting episodes. Jill Biden brought in a cat to fill the void.
Tim Walz is happy to help, content to be ignored
In their joint television interview Thursday night, Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota were seated in a way that made him appear twice her height. But Walz understood his main assignment: Don’t overshadow your running mate.
Postal Service overhaul runs into challenges
WASHINGTON — More than three years ago, the U.S. Postal Service unveiled a sweeping 10-year plan meant to steer the organization out of a financial crisis. The plan, which included consolidating locations, raising prices and lengthening promised delivery times, was meant to stabilize an agency that had lost $87 billion over the past 14 years.
A 4-year-old boy breaks a 3,500-year-old jar at an Israeli museum
A jar used for oil and wine during the Middle Bronze Age in the ancient Canaan region prevailed for thousands of years before it was put on display at the Hecht Museum in Israel.
Can tech executives be held responsible for what happens on their platforms?
LONDON — This month, the social platform X closed its Brazil operations after one of its executives was threatened with arrest for not taking down certain content. Last year, Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance, pleaded guilty to federal money-laundering violations that took place on his cryptocurrency platform. In 2021, Twitter executives in India faced arrest over posts that the government wanted removed from the site.
Sarah Palin is granted new libel trial against The New York Times
A federal appeals court Wednesday ordered a new trial in a closely watched libel lawsuit that Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska and Republican vice presidential nominee, brought against The New York Times.
House GOP releases Jan. 6 videos of Pelosi, seeking to shift blame from Trump
WASHINGTON — House Republicans on Wednesday made their latest attempt to rewrite the history of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, releasing a video compilation that sought to shift blame away from former President Donald Trump and onto former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was pursued that day by a violent mob of Trump supporters.
Serena Williams reflects on her life and legacy in a new docuseries
In March 2001, Serena Williams, then just 19, was booed mercilessly by the crowd during the tournament final of the Indian Wells Open in California. The jeering included racist slurs, and it was arguably the most terrifying and scarring thing to happen to Williams during her spectacular career.
Trump videos at Arlington stir more fallout after grave site visit
The family of a Green Beret who died by suicide after serving eight combat tours and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery expressed concern Wednesday that Donald Trump’s campaign had filmed his grave site without permission as Trump stood in an area where campaign photography isn’t allowed.
Don’t call the Telegram CEO’s arrest a free speech infringement — yet
The detention in France of Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of the messaging app Telegram, has sparked a loud outcry about free speech. Elon Musk has portrayed the arrest on his X account as an ominous threat to free speech, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. referred to the app as an “encrypted, uncensored” platform and said “the need to protect free speech has never been more urgent.”
