Search results for

The Federal Reserve cuts the federal funds rate by half a point. It's the first reduction in more than four years and it's twice as large a cut as many economists were predicting.

The Federal Reserve's response to the crisis in the housing market was Chairman Ben Bernanke's biggest move since he took office. It comes in a week of publicity about his predecessor Alan Greenspan. But the real pressure stemmed from an economy at risk and the lives of consumers disrupted.

President Bush nominated Judge Michael Mukasey to be the next attorney general. And if the Senate confirms him, he will have only 16 months on the job. That's a short amount of time to accomplish a long list of tasks, including restoring morale at the Department of Justice and domestic spying.

Federal Reserve policy makers are expected to cut a key interest rate today, in what would be the first cut to the federal funds rate in more than four years. Those calling for the cut say it could will make it easier to borrow — and reassure jittery financial markets hard-hit by this year's mortgage meltdown.

The Senate rejects passage of legislation that would have given Guantanamo detainees and others the right to challenge their detentions in federal court. The 56-43 vote was just four short of what was needed.

German officials say that they've disrupted a terrorist plot to attack Frankfurt's international airport, as well as the U.S. military base at Ramstein. A German federal prosecutor says the three suspects trained in Pakistan and aimed to make bombs larger than those used in previous attacks in London and Madrid.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton unveils the final piece of her health plan, which would guarantee insurance to all Americans. The New York senator has become a consensus builder, working with conservative Republicans like Newt Gingrich on computerized medical records.

Pakistan may be facing an uncharacteristically dramatic presidential campaign this fall, as President and Army Chief Pervez Musharraf faces a likely challenge from two former prime ministers, Benazir Bhutto, and Nawaz Sharif.

Kurt Vonnegut Jr., the acclaimed author of more than a dozen novels, short stories, essays and plays, died in Manhattan Wednesday. He was 84. His most famous work, Slaughterhouse-Five, was an iconic novel born out of his memories of war and its absurdities.

In what has become the deadliest shooting at a U.S. college campus, more than 20 people are dead after a gunman fired on people at a Virginia Tech dorm and classroom. The shooter is also said to have died.