National News

A top Federal Reserve official said he's increasingly confident that inflation will continue falling this year back to the Fed’s 2% target level, after two years of accelerating price spikes that hurt millions of American households. The official, Christopher Waller, an influential member of the Fed’s Board of Governors, noted that inflation is slowing even as growth and hiring remain solid — a combination that he called “almost as good as it gets.” Waller’s remarks follow recent comments from other senior Fed officials that suggest the central bank remains on track to cut its benchmark short-term interest rate this year. In December, the Fed’s policymakers collectively forecast that they would cut their rate three times in 2024.

The Biden administration is expected to soon announce plans to redesignate Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen as a specially designated global terrorists. That's according to two people familiar with the White House decision and a U.S. official. The move comes as the Houthis have launched dozens of attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea. The group says it’s attacked the ships in response to Israel’s military operations in Gaza in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. The three people familiar with the decision were not authorized to comment and requested anonymity to discuss the matter ahead of the expected formal announcement. The Red Sea attacks have already caused significant disruptions to global trade.

A day after Donald Trump won Iowa’s caucuses, the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination has turned to New Hampshire. Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley are holding events in the first-in-the-nation GOP primary state on Tuesday, hoping to capitalize on their performances in Iowa. Trump won by more than 30 percentage points, while DeSantis narrowly edged Haley for second place. Disappointing finishes in Iowa by biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson led to their exits from the race.

Parts of Oregon are bracing for freezing rain after a weekend of extreme winds knocked down trees and cut power to thousands. Across the U.S., perilously cold weather on Tuesday closed schools and put electricity supplies at risk. Tennessee Valley Authority, which provides electricity to millions of people, asked customers in seven states to voluntarily cut back. A similar plea came from the grid operator in Texas. New York City’s Central Park recorded at least an inch of snow in a day for the first time since 2022. Philadelphia snapped a similar dry streak. In Washington, D.C., a friendly snowball fight broke out on the National Mall during a government snow day.

Apple is prepared to remove the blood-oxygen sensor from its internet-connected watches if a court doesn’t give it more leeway while it pursues a bid to overturn a ruling that has blocked its use of the technology. A potential redesign of two Apple Watch models, the Series 9 and Ultra 2, that would exclude the blood oxygen sensor has been approved by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. That's according to a Monday court filing by Masimo, a Southern California company pursuing the patent claim. The blood oxygen sensor will remain in the watches if an appeals court sides with Apple.

Former President Donald Trump left his defamation trial before a lawyer told jurors in an opening statement that Trump had used “the world's biggest microphone” to destroy a New York columnist's reputation after she said he had sexually abused her. Before leaving Tuesday, though, Trump showed his displeasure with the courts and the current trial in particular. The jury must decide what, if anything, Trump owes columnist E. Jean Carroll. Trump, sitting at the defense table, shook his head in disgust as the judge told prospective jurors that another jury had already decided that the former president had sexually abused Carroll in a luxury department store in the 1990s.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ team had knocked on 947,000 doors across Iowa while the candidate had visited all 99 counties. It turns out Iowans just weren’t into him. On Monday, Iowa Republican caucus participants overwhelmingly chose former President Donald Trump in the absence of a clear alternative with a winning look. Nikki Haley argued she’s the one, where DeSantis failed to meet his own expectations of winning Iowa. She will have a lot to prove in New Hampshire next week, based on the depth of feelings for Trump in Iowa. The first voters to cast ballots in the 2024 presidential election sent a clear message from Iowa that their party belongs to Trump.