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Sanae Takaichi, a hawkish nationalist, wants to make her country great again.
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Walter Russell Mead
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Sanae Takaichi, a hawkish nationalist, wants to make her country great again.
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Walter Russell Mead
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In this photo provided by the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office, law enforcement personnel respond to a Wednesday evening, Sept. 17, 2025, helicopter crash near Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state. (Thurston County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
SEATTLE (AP) — Four U.S. Army soldiers who were part of an elite team that does nighttime missions died when the MH-60 Black Hawk helicopter they were aboard crashed earlier this week near a military base in Washington state, Army officials said Friday.
The helicopter was on a routine training mission west of the base when it crashed at about 9 p.m. Wednesday, the U.S. Army Special Operations Command said. The soldiers were part of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, Airborne, officials said.
Army officials said recovery efforts are underway, and the cause of the crash remains under investigation. They said they would release the soldiers’ names “when appropriate,” out of respect for the families.
“Our hearts are with the families, friends, and teammates of these Night Stalkers,” said Lt. Gen. Jonathan Braga, USASOC Commander. “They were elite warriors who embodied the highest values of the Army and the Army Special Operations, and their sacrifice will never be forgotten.”
The regiment’s mission is to organize, equip and employ Army special operations aviation forces around the world, according to the Army’s website.
“Known as Night Stalkers, these soldiers are recognized for their proficiency in nighttime operations,” the website said. “They are highly trained and ready to accomplish the very toughest missions in all environments, anywhere in the world, day or night, with unparalleled precision.”
Law enforcement, firefighters and specialty personnel from the joint base are conducting recovery efforts at the site of the crash, Braga said.
“We thank the skilled professionals who are working tirelessly, around the clock to bring our soldiers home,” Braga said.
The crash sparked a small wildfire that had grown to 1.25 acres (0.5 hectares) by Friday morning, the Washington Department of Natural Resources said. The agency said there was “pretty minimal fire activity” so they had one engine on the scene.
The base is about 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of Tacoma under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army Joint Base Headquarters.
In March 2024, two soldiers from that base were hospitalized when their Apache helicopter crashed at the base during a routine training exercise.
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Jordan Vawter
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Jodi and Chelsea are going all over the worldwide web this week, starting with updates on TikTok’s favorite courtroom drama, the Karen Read trial (5:50), before finally being ready to talk about the international implications of Hawk Tuah Girl (16:20). Then, Jodi tells Chelsea what she’s looking forward to this year, like the potential of Gladiator II and Wicked: Part One becoming 2024’s Barbenheimer (32:24), and a very Josh Hartnett summer (39:24). Finally, they talk about the last two episodes of Clipped, the portrayal of the notorious “silly rabbit” interview, and how the finale left them feeling (46:15), before sharing their personal obsessions of the week (1:0 0:15).
Hosts: Jodi Walker and Chelsea Stark-Jones
Producer: Sasha Ashall
Subscribe: Spotify / Apple Podcasts / Stitcher
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Jodi Walker
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New York Fed President John Williams on Thursday sounded content with the current level of interest rates, but said he will be watching data closely to make sure the level of rates is high enough to keep inflation moving down.
“We’ve done a lot,” Williams said during a discussion at a conference sponsored by Bloomberg News.
“Right now, we’ve…
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Federal Reserve Board Gov. Christopher Waller said Thursday he was not swayed by June’s benign consumer inflation data, and said he wants the central bank to go ahead with two more 25-basis-point rate hikes this year.
“I see two more 25-basis-point hikes in the target range over the four remaining meetings this year as necessary to keep inflation moving toward our target,” Waller said in a speech to bond-market experts, known as The Money Marketeers of New York University.
That would bring the Fed’s benchmark rate to a range of 5.5%-5.75%.
Waller said that, while the cooling of CPI data for June was welcome news, “one data points does not make a trend.”
“The report warmed my heart, but I have got to think with my head,” Waller said.
He noted that inflation slowed in the summer of 2021 before rocketing higher.
In his remarks, Waller said he is now more confident that the contagion from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in March will not create a significant problem for the economy.
“I see no reason why the first of those two hikes should not occur at our meeting later this month,” he said.
Traders in derivative markets have priced in high odds of a rate hike after the Fed’s meeting in two weeks. But traders have been skeptical the Fed will follow through with a second hike, even before the soft CPI data.
Waller said the timing of the second hike depends on the data.
“If inflation does not continue to show progress and there are no suggestions of a significant slowdown in economic activity, then a second 25-basis-point hike should come sooner rather than later, but that decision is for the future,” he said.
During a question-and-answer session, Waller stressed that September was a “live meeting,” meaning the Fed could hike rates at that time.
Some economists had thought the Fed was moving to an “every-other-meeting” pace of hikes, but Waller said he did not favor such mechanical moves, and that data should be the deciding factor.
Some Fed officials want the central bank to hold rates steady in July, and perhaps through the end of the year, thinking the economy is going to be hit by “lagged” effects from past rate hikes.
Waller said he believes the bulk of the effects from last year’s tightening have passed through the economy already.
“Pausing rates now, because you are waiting for long and variable lags to arrive, may leave you standing on the platform waiting for a train that has already left the station,” he said.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note
TMUBMUSD10Y,
has fallen to 3.77% this week after a lower-than-expected gain in jobs in the June report and the cooling of inflation. The yield had hit a recent high of 4.07% ahead of those softer reports.
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In the wake of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, conventional wisdom has been that banks will cut lending, known as a credit crunch, that will damage the economy.
On Thursday, St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said he was “less enamored’ with this forecast.
“Only about 20% of lending is going through the banking system…
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The Federal Reserve will meet on Wednesday and, for once, the outcome is unclear.
This is the most uncertain Fed meeting since 2008, said Jim Bianco, president of Bianco Research.
Fed officials, starting with former chair Ben Bernanke, have perfected the art of having the market price in what the central bank will do — at least regarding interest rates — at each upcoming meeting. That has happened 100% of the time, Bianco said on Twitter.
The Fed’s meeting this week is different because it follows the sudden collapse of confidence in the U.S. banking system following the government takeover of Silicon Valley Bank as well as the tremors around the world that have led to the shotgun wedding of Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse and its longtime rival, UBS.
At the moment, the market probabilities are 73% for a quarter-percentage-point move and 27% for no move, according to the CME FedWatch tool. The market seems to be growing in confidence of a hike, analysts said, based on movements on the front end of the curve.
The Fed’s decision will come on Wednesday at 2 p.m. Eastern and will be followed by a press conference from Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
“Depending on your perspective, the Fed’s decision will be seen as either capitulation to the markets or ivory-tower isolation from the markets,” said Ian Katz, a financial sector analyst with Capital Alpha Partners.
Here are the pros and cons for both a pause and a 25-basis-point hike.
The main rationale for a pause is that the banking system is under stress.
“While policymakers have responded aggressively to shore up the financial system, markets appear to be less than fully convinced that efforts to support small and midsize banks will prove sufficient. We think Fed officials will therefore share our view that stress in the banking system remains the most immediate concern for now,” said Jan Hatzius, chief economist at Goldman Sachs, in a note to clients Monday morning.
Former New York Fed President William Dudley said he would recommend a pause. “The case for zero is ‘do no harm,’” he said.
The case against a pause is that it could spark more worries about the banking system.
“I think if they pause, they are going to have to explain exactly what they are seeing, what is giving them more concern. I am not sure a pause is comforting,” said former Fed Vice Chair Roger Ferguson in a television interview on Monday
The main reason for a quarter-percentage-point rate increase, to a range of 4.75%-5%, is that it could project confidence.
“What you need from policymakers is steady hands, steady ship,” said Max Kettner, chief multi-asset strategist at HSBC. “You don’t need overaction … flip-flopping around in projections or opinions.”
The Fed should say that it has managed to contain confidence so far and that “we can press ahead with the inflation fight,” he added.
Oren Klachkin, lead U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, said he didn’t think “the recent bank failures pose systemic risks to the broad financial system and economy.”
He noted that “inflation is still running hot” and the Fed has better ways to alleviate banking-sector stress than interest rates.
The case against hiking is that doing so could further exacerbate concerns about the stability of the banking sector.
“A rate hike now might have to be quickly reversed to deal with a deeper, less contained recession and disinflation. Why would the Fed raise rates when it may be forced to cut rates so much sooner than previously hoped?” asked Diane Swonk, chief economist at KPMG.
Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY, said he thinks economic activity is slowing, which gives the Fed time.
“There is no rush to hike. We are not going to see hyperinflation as a result,” he said.
Stocks
DJIA,
SPX,
rose Monday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note
TMUBMUSD10Y,
inched up to 3.46%, still well below the 4% level seen prior to the banking crisis.
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