Federal Reserve Pauses Rate Hikes: After increasing interest rates 10 meetings in a row, the Federal Reserve decided against an 11th increase for now. However, the dot plot that individual members of the Federal Open Market Committee use to indicate their expectations for rates further out appear to indicate two more increases of 0.25% each before the end of the year.
Interest rates currently sit between 5% and 5.25% with forecasters predicting a median rate of 5.6% by the end of the year. Read more at CNBC & Fox Business.
Tornado Storms Ravage the South: Many states across the south and southeast experienced heavy summer storms and tornadoes on Thursday resulting in the deaths of three people in Perryton, Texas; one person in Escambia County, Florida; and one person in Madison County, Mississippi. Another 50 to 75 people were treated for injuries in a Perryton hospital.
Governor Abbott has deployed emergency response teams to assist residents in Perryton. Read more at New York Times.
Trump Pleads Not Guilty to Mishandling Classified Documents: Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty in a Miami federal courthouse to all 37 counts of illegally retaining classified documents and obstructing the government's efforts to retrieve them.
After the court appearance, Trump told supporters at his Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in Bedminster, New Jersey, that he had every right to hold the documents and that he hadn't had a chance to go through all of the boxes yet. Read more at BBC & Axios.
Hundreds Missing After Smugglers' Vessel Capsizes in Ionian Sea: A boat carrying up to 750 people capsized 50 nautical miles off the coast of Pylos in southern Greece. 78 people are confirmed dead, while up to 500 people are believed to be missing. The ship was traveling from Tobruk, Libya, and capsized before reaching its destination in Italy.
The Greek coastguard stated that nine Greek nationals were arrested on suspicion of setting up a criminal organization, manslaughter by negligence, exposure to danger and causing a shipwreck.
Human rights advocates have accused the Greek coastguard of neglecting those on board. Read more at BBC & CNN.
Mass Shootings in US: This week, Gun Violence Archive reported a total of 15 mass shootings resulting in 62 victims injured and 15 victims dead.
Satellite Beams Solar Power Down to Earth: In what scientists are calling a first-of-its-kind demonstration, researchers have harvested solar energy in space and beamed it down to earth. The viability and practicality of this practice have long been questioned because a satellite would need a collecting area that is miles wide. Doing so would require hundreds of launches and assembly in orbit.
NASA planned a demonstration mission during the 1970s energy crisis, but the project would have taken over $1 trillion to complete due to technology limitations at the time. However, solar cells and microwave beams are now cheaper and more efficient, robots are now capable of assembling structures and will soon be in orbit and companies such as SpaceX have helped to slash the cost of launches.
It is suggested that giant orbiting generators will soon be be able to generate electricity at costs comparable to earthbound nuclear plants. Read more at Science.org.
Photo by David Erickson & Associated Press
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