First Run News

WASHINGTON — Nearly a decade after the Federal Reserve embarked on an unprecedented effort to shore up the collapsing American economy, the central bank said on Wednesday that it would begin withdrawing some of the trillions of dollars it invested in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The decision, while widely expected, is nevertheless a significant sign that the Fed is confident that economic growth and low unemployment will continue. In other words, the central bank believes that the American economy has emerged safely from the crisis. “The basic message here is U.S.

SEOUL, South Korea — When President Moon Jae-in of South Korea sits down with President Trump and the Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, in New York on Thursday, he will be meeting two of his strongest allies in pressuring North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs. But Mr. Moon will also find himself a bit of the odd man out. As the three leaders prepared for their trilateral summit meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting this week, the White House has struck an increasingly bellicose tone toward North Korea. Mr.

President Trump is now fully engaged in two nuclear confrontations, one with Iran over a nuclear accord he finds an “embarrassment” and the other with North Korea that is forcing the Pentagon to contemplate for the first time in decades what a resumption of the Korean War might look like. The dynamics of those cases are entirely different, but they are also oddly interdependent. If Mr.

President Trump is seeking to revisit the nuclear agreement with Iran to toughen its provisions rather than scrap it right away as he has threatened, enlisting allies to pressure Tehran to return to the negotiating table, administration officials said Wednesday. Mr.

WASHINGTON — Paul J. Manafort, the former campaign chairman for President Trump who is at the center of investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, is working for allies of the leader of Iraq’s Kurdish region to help administer and promote a referendum on Kurdish independence from Iraq. The United States opposes the referendum, but Mr.

Hurricane Maria regained “major hurricane status” early Thursday as it marched toward the Dominican Republic, bringing heavy rainfall there even as Puerto Rico was battling extensive floodwaters. The eye of the storm moved off Puerto Rico’s coast Wednesday afternoon, but Maria was still causing catastrophic flooding on the island early Thursday, the National Weather Service said.

SAN JUAN, P.R.

WASHINGTON — Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, has asked the White House for documents about some of President Trump’s most scrutinized actions since taking office, including the firing of his national security adviser and F.B.I. director, according to White House officials. Mr. Mueller is also interested in an Oval Office meeting Mr. Trump had with Russian officials in which he said the dismissal of the F.B.I. director had relieved “great pressure” on him. The document requests provide the most details to date about the breadth of Mr.

WASHINGTON — Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, has asked the White House for documents about some of President Trump’s most scrutinized actions since taking office, including the firing of his national security adviser and F.B.I. director, according to White House officials. Mr. Mueller is also interested in an Oval Office meeting Mr. Trump had with Russian officials in which he said the dismissal of the F.B.I. director had relieved “great pressure” on him. The document requests provide the most details to date about the breadth of Mr.

President Donald Trump indicated Wednesday that he has made a decision on the future of the Iran nuclear deal, but refused to offer additional information. "I have decided," Trump told reporters three times this morning as he met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. "I'll let you know what the decision is." During his speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump hinted he would withdraw from the deal, which he called "one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into" and an "embarrassment" to the country.