USA

NEW YORK, April 26 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Federal Reserve may scramble in finding where to stop at a "neutral" rate, which is neither accommodative nor restrictive to economic activities, in this round of monetary tightening, according to a recent report by the Wall Street Journal.

Even in normal times, no one knows where this theoretical rate is and the neutral rate may be higher than Fed officials' recent estimate, taking into account elevated inflation, said the report.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX launched four astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA on Wednesday, less than two days after completing a flight chartered by millionaires.

It’s the first NASA crew comprised equally of men and women, including the first Black woman making a long-term spaceflight, Jessica Watkins.

“This is one of the most diversified, I think, crews that we’ve had in a really, really long time,” said NASA’s space operations mission chief Kathy Lueders.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Republicans hoping to emerge from crowded primaries this year stacked up on operatives with ties to former President Donald Trump, betting those connections would give them a leg up on landing critical endorsements that would help them win.

But as Trump wades into some of the most competitive primaries, the strategy is proving a bust.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Three days before Elon Musk agreed to buy Twitter, the world’s richest man tweeted a photo of Bill Gates and used a crude term to make fun of his belly.

Playful, aggressive and often juvenile, Musk’s past tweets show how he has used social media to craft his public image as a brash billionaire unafraid to offend. They may also reveal clues as to how Musk will govern the platform he hopes to own.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Russia and the United States have carried out a dramatic prisoner exchange, trading a Marine veteran jailed by Moscow for a convicted Russian drug trafficker serving a long prison sentence in America, both countries announced Wednesday.

The surprise deal involving Trevor Reed, an American imprisoned for nearly three years, would have been a notable diplomatic maneuver even in times of peace, but it was all the more extraordinary because it was done as Russia’s war with Ukraine has driven relations with the U.S. to their lowest point in decades.

27 April 2022; MEMO: Israeli officials said on Tuesday that the US is closer than ever to admitting defeat on President Joe Biden's stated goal of a return to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal with Iran, Israel Hayom has reported.

WASHINGTON, April 26 (Reuters) - Shoulder-fired Stinger missiles are in hot demand in Ukraine where they have successfully stopped Russian assaults from the air, but U.S. supplies have shrunk and producing more of the anti-aircraft weapons faces significant hurdles.

UNITED NATIONS, April 25 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday reaffirmed their commitment to ending the conflict in Ukraine and to creating conditions to end the suffering of civilians, said a UN spokesman.

Guterres met Erdogan in the Turkish capital Ankara on Monday. The UN chief expressed his support for Turkey's ongoing diplomatic efforts in relation to the conflict in Ukraine, Farhan Haq, Guterres' deputy spokesman, told reporters in New York.

LOS ANGELES, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The first U.S. private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS) returned to Earth on Monday.

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft splashed down off the coast of Jacksonville, in the southeastern U.S. state of Florida, at 1:06 p.m. Monday Eastern Time, SpaceX confirmed.

The crew undocked from the ISS at 9:10 p.m. Sunday Eastern Time, completing the first all-private astronaut mission to the orbiting laboratory.

WASHINGTON, April 26 (Xinhua) -- The White House said Monday that the U.S. immigration system is "broken" and has been "long overdue to be fixed."

"There needs to be more done to invest in smarter security, to have a more effective asylum processing system," press secretary Jen Psaki said during a daily briefing. "We would welcome any efforts to -- for any elected officials to work with us on that."

The White House spokesperson was fielding questions about Title 42, an asylum-limiting policy introduced by the U.S. government after the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020.