
Prices may be rising, but Americans shopped more than expected in January
CNN
Inflation is rampant in the pandemic economy, but that didn't keep Americans from opening up their wallets last month.
US retail sales rose by 3.8% in January from the month prior, adjusted for seasonal swings -- more than the 2% increase economists had predicted. That puts the sales total at $649.8 billion for the first month of 2022, the Census Bureau reported Wednesday.
It was also a reversal of the decline reported in December, when earlier than usual holiday shopping left little for the last month of the year. The December drop was revised even lower in Wednesday's report.

Two top House lawmakers emerged divided along party lines after a private briefing with the military official who oversaw September’s attack on an alleged drug vessel that included a so-called double-tap strike that killed surviving crew members, with a top Democrat calling video of the incident that was shared as part of the briefing “one of the most troubling things” he has seen as a lawmaker.

Authorities in Colombia are dealing with increasingly sophisticated criminals, who use advanced tech to produce and conceal the drugs they hope to export around the world. But police and the military are fighting back, using AI to flag suspicious passengers, cargo and mail - alongside more conventional air and sea patrols. CNN’s Isa Soares gets an inside look at Bogotá’s war on drugs.

As lawmakers demand answers over reports that the US military carried out a follow-up strike that killed survivors during an attacked on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, a career Navy SEAL who has spent most of his 30 years of military experience in special operations will be responsible for providing them.










