Federal Reserve hikes interest rates 0.25 percentage point
CBSN
The Federal Reserve is raising its benchmark interest rate a quarter of a percentage point, officials with the central bank said on Wednesday, its eighth consecutive hike as policy makers try to subdue inflation.
The latest increase in the federal funds rate — what banks charge each other for short-term loans — is smaller than the Fed's 0.5 percentage point increase in December as well as a string of three-quarter point moves over the course of 2022.
With the latest increase, the Fed's target interest rate is set in a range between 4.50% and 4.75% — its highest level since late 2007.
Two more black-footed ferrets have been cloned from the genes used for the first clone of an endangered species in the U.S., bringing to three the number of slinky predators genetically identical to one of the last such animals found in the wild, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Wednesday.
There were 56 wild, endangered Puerto Rican parrots living around El Yunque National Forest before Hurricane Maria in 2017. After the storm, there was only one survivor. Wood thrushes, found across the eastern U.S.; 60% of them are gone. Baltimore orioles, also an eastern bird; two-fifths have been lost. Western meadowlarks, prevalent in the central and western U.S.; three-fourths have disappeared.
Tybee Island, Ga. — Thousands of Black college students expected this weekend for an annual spring bash at Georgia's largest public beach will be greeted by dozens of extra police officers and barricades closing off neighborhood streets. While the beach will remain open, officials are blocking access to nearby parking.
The United States government and victims of former USA Gymnastics physician Larry Nassar are close to finalizing a deal that will resolve claims by abuse victims that the FBI failed to properly investigate allegations of wrongdoing against the doctor, according to a source familiar with the negotiations.