Federal Reserve officials see risks of higher inflation ahead, support pause in rate cuts

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve officials at a meeting last month pointed to rising risks that inflation could worsen, a key reason they kept their benchmark interest rate unchanged. According to minutes of the Jan. 28-29 meeting, which were released Wednesday, Fed officials said that President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs and mass deportations of migrants, as well as strong consumer spending, were factors that could push inflation higher this year. The Fed’s 19 officials who participate in its interest-rate decisions indicated that “they would want to see further progress on inflation before making” any further cuts.

DOJ official urges quick dismissal of criminal case against NYC mayor

NEW YORK (AP) — A Justice Department official has pointed to sworn statements New York City Mayor Eric Adams made at a court hearing to urge a federal judge to quickly agree that corruption charges against him can be dismissed. Judge Dale E. Ho ended Wednesday’s hearing by saying he wouldn’t “shoot from the hip” but hoped to resolve the matter quickly. Adams told him under oath that nothing had been promised to get him to agree that dismissed charges could be restored after this year’s mayoral election. The dismissal request came Friday. A government lawyer defended it, citing an executive order by President Donald Trump. Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor resigned after she refused an order to do so.

2 people are dead after a small plane collision in southern Arizona, authorities say

(AP) — A midair collision involving two small planes in southern Arizona has killed two people. Federal air-safety investigators said each plane had two people aboard when they collided near Marana Regional Airport on the outskirts of Tucson. National Transportation Safety Board says one plane landed uneventfully. The other hit the ground near a runway and caught fire. The deadly collision comes more than a week a plane crash in Scottsdale killed a pilot of a private jet owned by Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil. It also followed four major aviation disasters that have occurred in North America in the last month.

White man who pleaded guilty to shooting a Black teen who rang a wrong doorbell dies

MISSION, Kan. (AP) — An 86-year-old Missouri man has died just days after pleading guilty in the 2023 shooting of Ralph Yarl, a Black honor student who rang the white man’s doorbell by mistake. That’s according to prosecutors on Wednesday. Andrew Lester, who is white, had been scheduled to stand trial this week on charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action in the shooting of the then-16-year-old, who survived. As part of a plea deal, Lester pleaded guilty Friday to second-degree assault, a charge that carries up to seven years behind bars. He was scheduled to be sentenced on March 7.