📌 Rate Cut, Second Explosive Wave, More

The Federal Reserve slashed interest rates aggressively Wednesday, announcing the first rate cut since March 2020.

The half-point move paves the way for lower borrowing costs on everything from mortgages to credit cards. It marks a crucial milestone for the central bank’s historic inflation fight, which kept rates at a bruising 23-year high for over a year.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank is “not behind” the curve, and the Fed’s decision to cut by half a point is “a sign of our commitment” to responding to the economy’s reality.

Fed officials penciled in more rate cuts by year’s end in their latest economic forecasts, compared to the single cut in 2024 that they projected in June. Central bankers expect unemployment to rise to 4.4% from August’s 4.2%.

Powell said: “The US economy is in good shape. It’s growing at a solid pace; inflation is coming down. The labor market is at a strong pace. We want to keep it there. That’s what we’re doing.”

Hand-held radios used by armed group Hezbollah detonated on Wednesday across Lebanon's south, stoking rising tensions.

Lebanon's health ministry said 20 people were killed and over 450 injured in Beirut's suburbs and the Bekaa Valley, while the death toll from Tuesday's explosions rose to 12, including two children, with nearly 3,000 injured.

Israeli officials have not commented on the blasts, but security sources said Israel's spy agency Mossad was responsible. One Hezbollah official said the episode was the biggest security breach in the group's history.

The operations, which appeared to throw Hezbollah into disarray, played out alongside Israel's 11-month-old war in Gaza and heightened fears of an escalation on its Lebanese border and the risk of a full-blown regional war.

Covid variant trackers are watching the rise of virus variant XEC spotted worldwide and in half of US states.

Unlike previous, more highly mutated strains that worried experts, health officials are not raising concerns. XEC's emergence comes as Covid trends remain "high" but are largely slowing after a summer wave of infections.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) modelers estimate the virus will likely climb again over the winter, peaking in mid-January. The CDC recommends that Americans get this fall and winter's round of updated Covid vaccines.

Labs in New Jersey have reported the most XEC infections of any state – at least 15. Only California and Virginia have also reported at least 10 cases.

New Jersey's detections come primarily from samples collected through the CDC's testing program for arriving travelers clearing Newark Liberty International Airport customs.

A report released today by the United Nations proposes that it oversees a global effort to monitor and govern AI.

The UN recommends creating a body similar to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to gather up-to-date information on AI and its risks.

The report comes as major powers — especially the US and China — jostle to lead in a technology promising huge economic, scientific, and military benefits and stake out their visions for using and controlling it.

The EU has introduced sweeping AI regulations with data usage controls that prompted some US companies to limit the availability of their products.

Joshua Meltzer, an expert at the think-tank Brookings Institute, said AI governance needs individual nations’ input. “You’ve got a fast-evolving technology, and the UN is clearly not set up to handle that.”

Alondra Nelson, a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study, says much will depend on how the UN and its member states choose to follow through on the blueprint for cooperation. “The devil will be in the details of implementation.”

Former CIA officer Brian Jeffrey Raymond was sentenced to 30 years for drugging and sexually assaulting over two dozen women.

Raymond, 48, pleaded guilty to four of 25 federal counts, including sexual abuse, coercion and transportation of obscene material. Prosecutors called him a serial predator who caused "immeasurable" harm while stationed overseas from 2006–2020.

Raymond's crimes were uncovered in 2020 when a naked woman screamed for help from his apartment balcony in Mexico City. This led to an investigation that revealed hundreds of images and videos of unconscious victims, many of whom had no memory of the assaults.

Prosecutors said Raymond had lured women he met on dating apps like Tinder to his government-leased apartment and drugged them. He spent hours posing their naked bodies while unconscious before photographing and assaulting them.

“My body looks like a corpse on his bed,” one victim said of the photos. "Now I have these nightmares of seeing myself dead.” As part of his sentence, Raymond was ordered to pay $10,000 to each of his 28 identified victims.

A majority of Americans support the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants, a Scripps News/Ipsos survey finds.

Fifty-four percent of respondents said they “strongly” or "somewhat support” the policy, including 86% of Republicans, 58% of independents, and 25% of Democrats.

The poll, which focuses on the most talked about immigration policies of the 2024 campaign, showcases significant partisan divides between voters on addressing one of the biggest topics of the presidential race.

Thirty-nine percent of respondents called immigration a top issue, second only to inflation, which topped the list at 57%. Trump has a 10-point advantage on who respondents think will do a better job handling immigration (44%–34%).

About half of Americans say they’re concerned about non-citizens voting in the 2024 election, driven chiefly by Republicans (83%), independents (46%), and a smaller share of Democrats (24%).

But there are areas of bipartisan support. Nearly nine in 10 Democrats and 52% of Republicans say they support a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who came to the country as children.

A sculpture in Northern Ireland of Queen Elizabeth II next to Prince Philip and their two corgis has divided opinion of its merits.

The statue, created by north Belfast artist Anto Brennan and unveiled in Antrim Castle Gardens last week, “captures Her Majesty in a dignified pose, reflecting her grace, steadfastness and lifelong dedication to public service," the Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council wrote on Facebook.

But many of the comments under the post disagreed. "It's actually an insult to Her Majesty's memory; it looks nothing like her," one said, while another called it "dreadful" and urged the council to "take it down." Another said, "More of an insult than a tribute, it looks absolutely horrendous, to be perfectly honest."

Other insults included "ridiculous," "blooming awful," and "not fit for purpose.” Another joked it looked "more like Mrs Doubtfire" than the late Queen. Several criticized the council for commissioning the sculpture.

A few did defend the statue. “Such a shame people can only find fault but don't think about the time and effort this guy has put in,” one said.

The council concluded: "While social media may amplify certain negative viewpoints … the sculpture stands as a lasting tribute to Her Majesty's remarkable legacy, and the council is proud to have it as part of the community's cultural landscape.”