Rupert Murdoch, creator of Fox News, stepping down as head of News Corp. and Fox Corp.
NEW YORK (AP) — Media magnate Rupert Murdoch is stepping down as chairman of News Corp. and Fox Corp., the companies that he built into forces over the last 50 years. He will become chairman emeritus of both corporations, the company announced on Thursday. His son, Lachlan, will control both companies. The Australian has built an empire over the past 50 years, starting in his home country, moving to England and to the United States with the invention of Fox News and the purchases of both the New York Post and Wall Street Journal.
Stock market today: Stocks fall worldwide as allure grows to buy a Treasury bill and chill
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is slumping again as stock prices fell worldwide on expectations that U.S. interest rates will stay high well into next year. The S&P 500 was down 0.8% early Thursday. That follows a 0.9% drop a day earlier after the Federal Reserve indicated it may cut interest rates next year by only half of what it had earlier been predicting. The Fed has already hiked its main rate to the highest level since 2001. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.9%, and the Dow lost 202. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.46%, near it highest level since 2007.
Bank of England joins US Fed in keeping interest rates unchanged after inflation declines
LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England has paused nearly two years of interest rate increases after a surprising fall in U.K. inflation eased concerns about the pace of price rises. In a development Thursday that few predicted just two days ago, the central bank kept its main interest rate unchanged at a 15-year high of 5.25%. It comes to the relief of millions of homeowners who are facing higher mortgage rates. The U.S. Federal Reserve also held rates steady a day earlier. News Wednesday that inflation unexpectedly fell to 6.7% in August, its lowest level since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, clearly influenced the bank’s decision.
The US is allowing hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans in the country to work legally
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration says it’s granting temporary legal status to hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans already in the country. The move Wednesday to give Venezuelans who arrived in the country as of July 31 temporary protected status essentially makes it easier and faster for them to get authorization to work. That’s been a key demand of Democratic mayors and governors struggling to care for an increased number of migrants in their care. Venezuelans account for a large number of the migrants who’ve been arriving in the country in recent years. Eagle Pass, Texas, has announced a state of emergency over what it calls a “severe undocumented immigrant surge.”
Turkey’s central bank hikes interest rates again in further shift in economic policies
ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey’s central bank has raised its key interest rate by 5 percentage points to 30%. It’s another large but expected hike that signals a continued push toward more traditional economic policies under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The central bank says inflation was “above expectations” in July and August and that it will keep raising borrowing costs to target rampant inflation and control price instability. It takes Turkey further into a more typical economic approach after critics have blamed a series of rate cuts set by Erdogan for making a cost-of-living crisis worse.
Jeep maker Stellantis makes a new contract offer as auto workers prepare to expand their strike
Detroit carmakers are announcing more layoffs that they blame on fallout from the United Auto Workers strike. General Motors said Wednesday it idled a plant in Kansas with 2,000 workers because they don’t have auto parts to work with. The plant that makes those parts is on strike. And Stellantis, the maker of Jeep and Chrysler, says it expects to lay off more than 300 workers in Ohio and Indiana. The layoff are adding to tension just two days before the UAW is expected to call for expanding its strike, which right now is limited to three vehicle-assembly plants.
Homeowners face rising insurance rates as climate change makes wildfires, storms more common
NEW YORK (AP) — A growing number of Americans are finding it difficult to afford insurance on their homes, a problem only expected to worsen because insurers and lawmakers have underestimated the impact of climate change, a new report says. A report from the non-profit First Street Foundation released Wednesday says states such as California, Florida and Louisiana, which are prone to wildfires and damaging storms and flooding, are likely to see the most dramatic increases in premiums. But the fire that destroyed the Hawaiian community of Lahaina, as well as the historic flooding in Vermont and Maine, are recent examples of events that could drive up insurance costs for homeowners in other states.
First private US passenger rail line in 100 years is about to link Miami and Orlando at high speed
MIAMI (AP) — For the first time in a century, a private passenger rail service will launch new operations in the U.S. and this time it involves high-speed trains. Florida’s Brightline will begin running trains between Miami and Orlando on Friday, reaching speeds of 125 mph along the 235-mile route between the state’s biggest tourist hubs. The line joins the only other high-speed rail in the nation — Amtrak’s Acela line, which operates between Washington and Boston and is owned by the federal government. Some say it’s a chance to transform rail transit in the U.S., but others are concerned about its safety.