United Airlines raises bag fees amid rising fuel costs and introduces tiered premium fares
Most travelers flying with United Airlines will pay $10 more to check their luggage beginning Friday, as higher jet fuel costs driven by the war in the Middle East push another major U.S. carrier to increase fees. The first piece of checked luggage will now cost customers $45 on flights...
The age-old obsession with living forever
LONDON — In the first room of “The Coming of Age,” an exhibition at the Wellcome Collection that explores experiences and perceptions of aging, a series of 13 portraits depicts incredibly, unbelievably old people. An engraving from 1635, titled “The Old, Old, Very Olde Man,” shows Thomas Parr, a sly-looking...
Artemis II’s moon-bound astronauts capture Earth’s brilliant blue beauty as they leave it behind
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The Artemis II astronauts have captured our blue planet’s brilliant beauty as they zoom ever closer to the moon. NASA released the crew’s first downlinked images Friday, 1 1/2 days into the first astronaut moonshot in more than half a century. The first photo taken by...
Moscow plans to send 2nd oil tanker to Cuba, Russian energy minister says
Keyword-slug: AP-EU-Russia-Cuba-Oil MOSCOW — Russia plans to send a second oil tanker to Cuba, the country’s Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilyov said on Thursday. The announcement comes just two days after sanctioned Russian tanker Anatoly Kolodkin docked at the Cuban port of Matanzas laden with 730,000 barrels of oil, marking the...
Eggs for Easter cost much less in the U.S. than last year
U.S. egg prices have fallen 60% from last year’s record highs, making it easier for consumers to fill their Easter baskets and Passover Seder plates. Bird flu was to blame for elevated retail prices during the first five months of 2025, and the course of the highly contagious disease is...
Fresh food distributors add surcharges as fuel costs rise
Jesse Filion, who raises chicken, pigs and cattle on 100 acres in Walterboro, South Carolina, made a tough decision in March. He will add a fuel surcharge of $5 for deliveries of his Keegan-Filion Farm meat to homes and the 20 restaurants he serves. Simply raising overall prices wasn’t an...
Rising gasoline prices are a double blow for drivers who use their own vehicles for work
Leslie Sherman-Shafer, an Uber driver in the San Francisco Bay Area, likes to start each shift with a full tank of gas. It used to cost her around $25 to fill up her Toyota Corolla. She’s spent closer to $40 since the Iran war began and pushed up the average...
Stocks swing through another shaky day as oil prices keep climbing
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks swung Monday as oil prices kept climbing because of uncertainty about when the war with Iran could end. The S&P 500 slipped 0.4% and deepened its loss since the war began to pull 9.1% below its record set early this year. The Dow Jones Industrial...
Powell says Fed is monitoring energy price spikes, but that it’s limited in what it can do
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Monday that it is important to closely monitor inflation amid a spike in energy prices from the Iran war. Powell, who spoke before nearly 400 students at Harvard University as gas prices inched toward an average of $4 per gallon in...
Democrats examine Elon Musk’s role in suspension of business disclosure law
Democratic lawmakers are seeking answers from the U.S. Treasury Department about Elon Musk’s possible role in dismantling a federal business accountability law. The group, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, sent a letter on Monday morning asking Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for all communications that could show Musk may...
Secret Service agent assigned to Jill Biden accidentally shoots himself in leg at airport
A U.S. Secret Service agent assigned to protect former first lady Jill Biden accidentally shot himself in the leg at Philadelphia International Airport on Friday, authorities said. Biden was not in the area when the agent was injured during a “negligent discharge” of his firearm Friday morning, Secret Service spokesman...
Pro-Iranian group claims credit for hack of FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal account
WASHINGTON — A pro-Iranian hacking group claimed Friday to have hacked an account of FBI Director Kash Patel and posted online what appear to be years-old photographs of him, along with a work resume and other personal documents dating back more than a decade. “Kash Patel, the current head of...
Federal judge temporarily blocks Pentagon from branding AI firm Anthropic a supply chain risk
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge has ruled in favor of artificial intelligence company Anthropic in temporarily blocking the Pentagon from labeling the company as a supply chain risk. U.S. District Judge Rita Lin on Thursday said she was also blocking President Donald Trump’s directive ordering all federal agencies to...
Wall Street has its worst day since the war with Iran started and crude oil prices rise
NEW YORK — Stocks fell sharply Thursday, and oil prices rose as doubt took over again from hope on Wall Street about a possible end to the war with Iran. The S&P 500 slumped 1.7% for its worst day since January and is back on track for a fifth straight...
U.S. Postal Service to hike prices as war drives up fuel costs
The U.S. Postal Service plans to raise prices to offset rising transportation expenses including the cost of fuel, a sign that the beleaguered mail carrier is feeling the strain of higher oil prices as the war in Iran continues. The USPS will increase prices by 8% on some packages until...
The lines, the prices, the anxiety: Can air travel get any worse?
War is raging in the Middle East, passengers are waiting in four-hour security lines, airfares are spiking and, now, a deadly runway collision at LaGuardia Airport has renewed questions about the safety of U.S. air traffic control. All this comes at one of the busiest travel periods of the year....
Judge questions Pentagon’s motives for labeling Anthropic as a security threat in battle over AI
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge weighing the merits of the Pentagon’s designation of rising Silicon Valley star Anthropic as a security threat repeatedly questioned the government’s reasons for vilifying the company following a dispute over how its artificial intelligence technology can be used in war During a 90-minute hearing...
Chances of a Federal Reserve rate hike fade as inflation worsens
WASHINGTON — The jump in gas prices stemming from the war in Iran has had another impact that may also affect many Americans’ finances: Higher interest rates. Longer-term interest rates have risen quickly since the war began Feb. 28, pushing up the cost of mortgage loans, auto loans, and business...
Spring is here. Do you care?
For the past several years, autumn has been the star season, its popularity helped along by social media videos of influencers in cozy knitwear against backdrops of gaudy foliage. More than a calendric event, fall has become an aesthetic, a lifestyle, a vibe, complete with its own TV show (comforting...
Despite spiking oil prices, there’s no talk of a boom in Texas oil country
MIDLAND, Texas — Drill rigs towered in dormant clusters along the main highway through Odessa, Texas. The bartender at a popular oil country bar complained of a noticeable slowdown. Workers in stained shirts from the nearby oil fields winced at the high price of diesel. “I’m not feeling good about...
Trump touted bigger tax refunds this year, but Americans will likely spend them on gas
WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy was supposed to start the year with a bang, fueled by an unusually large jump in tax refunds from President Donald Trump’s tax cut legislation. Yet spiking gas prices are on track to eat up those refunds, leaving most Americans with little extra to spend....
Democrats sharpen criticism of Vance as they look past Trump to the 2028 presidential campaign
FAIRFIELD, Ohio — Although President Donald Trump is the top Democratic nemesis, some of the party’s most ambitious leaders are increasingly looking past him and at Vice President JD Vance. In the latest example, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear traveled to Vance’s home county in Ohio, where on Saturday night he...
Running New York’s ‘toughest job’ shows challenges familiar to Pittsburgh leaders
NEW YORK — Erin Dalton, the new commissioner of the New York City Department of Social Services, comes into the role confronting a daunting list of challenges. There are 85,000 people in city shelters. Many thousands of New Yorkers are likely to lose their federal benefits, including health care and...
Bank of America agrees to settle claims it aided Epstein sex crimes
NEW YORK — Bank of America Corp. has agreed to settle a proposed class action lawsuit on behalf of Jeffrey Epstein victims who accused the bank of aiding in the deceased financier’s sex-trafficking, according to a court record. The agreement in principle was noted Monday in the court docket in...
Stocks climb to their best day since the Iran war began after oil prices ease
NEW YORK — A drop in oil prices on Monday helped send the U.S. stock market to its best day since the war in Iran began. The S&P 500 climbed 1% for its biggest gain in five weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 387 points, or 0.8%, and the...
