The S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted record closing highs for a third straight day on Wednesday after inflation data came in softer than expected but the indexes ended off the day's highs as the Federal Reserve projected only one interest rate cut this year. The Fed's March projections included three quarter-percentage-point reductions. The U.S. central bank, in a statement at the end of its June 11-12 meeting, also said it left its policy rate unchanged, as expected. Stocks were choppy...

In the battle of man vs. machine, man is rapidly catching up in the car-jammed streets at the heart of New York City. As state and local officials are battling over a ditched plan to unclog Manhattan’s sclerotic arteries, the average travel speed in Midtown fell to 4.5 miles an hour in May, the lowest ever recorded for the month, said Sam Schwartz, a former New York City Department of Transportation official who has tracked traffic trends in the metropolis since the 1970s. It was the fifth...

Longtime Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell says he'll be in attendance on Thursday as Senate Republicans meet in the nation's capital with former President Donald Trump. It will be the first time Trump and McConnell will see each other in person in nearly four years. Trump, the GOP's presumptive presidential nominee, is holding behind closed doors meetings Thursday morning with House Republicans and Thursday afternoon with Senate Republicans. And McConnell told reporters on Wednesday...

Three senior groups backed President Biden’s reelection bid Wednesday based on his pledge to protect Social Security, but so far he has only offered vague promises to protect the program as insolvency looms. The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, which bucked its 38-year tradition of avoiding endorsements to back Mr. Biden in 2020, has done so again this election. Social Security Works PAC and the bipartisan National United Committee to Protect Pensions also said...

There’s nothing like a good consumer-price reading to make a Federal Reserve Chairman smile. The price index for May came in flat on Wednesday morning, which made for a confident Chairman Jerome Powell in the afternoon as he explained the latest Federal Open Market Committee decision after its two-day meeting this week. The May CPI came as a relief after three months in row in which inflation had rebounded after last year’s declines. That rebound clearly made an impression on the FOMC, whose...

At Upworthy, we love sharing the “best of humanity” with our audience, and this story out of Utah, originally reported by CBS News’ Steve Hartman, shows the power of love to break down barriers. When Schauna Austin, 48, was 20 years old, she got pregnant and knew she wasn’t ready to raise a child, so she made the difficult decision to give the baby up for adoption. She gave birth to a son she named Riley and only had 3 days to spend with him before surrendering him to his new family. So, she held him tight for 72 hours straight. "It was perfect," Austin said about those 3 emotionally-charged days. "I knew I would have him for a short time, so I made every minute count of it. I didn't sleep for three days." It must have been tough for Austin to give up her son because the grieving process can be incredibly difficult.Riley, renamed Steven, was given to Chris and Jennifer Schoebinger in a closed adoption, where Austin was not to be informed about the adoptive family. In Utah, closed adoptions are a rarity these days, with about 95% allowing some exchange of information between the birth and adoptive parents.However, about a week later, the Schoebingers had a change of heart.The Schoebingers decided Austin should be involved in Steven’s life. "It was like, 'OK, this is the way it should be. She was part of our family,'" Jennifer told CBS News. "You know, you can't have too many people loving you, right? Why couldn't he be both of ours?" Chris added.Every year, the Schoebingers sent Austin pictures and bound journals showing Steven's journey in deep detail. They even had lists of all the new words he learned each year. The books were titled “The Life and Times of ‘Riley,’” paying homage to Steven’s original name.The hope was that one day when the biological mother and son were ready, they could pick up where they left off. That moment came when Steven was 7 years old and Austin taught him to fish.He’s heeere!!! ? Our first grandchild. Welcome, Riley. You don’t know me yet, but our home will always be your home. No matter what life throws your way, you will be loved and accepted and we’ll eat pie! And ice cream. And you’ll wonder if that’s the only thing grandpa eats? ? pic.twitter.com/7ac8A0GVKI— Chris Schoebinger (@PUBGUY) August 19, 2022 The unique arrangement has been fantastic for both Austin and her biological son. "I was blessed beyond words," Austin said. "I kind of got the best of both worlds, for sure," Steven agreed. It may seem like relationships between children and those who gave them up for adoption would be complicated. But studies show that 84% of adoptees reported high levels of satisfaction when maintaining ongoing contact with their birth parents.Steven is now 27 and in August 2022, he and his wife, Kayla, had their first child, a boy they named Riley—the name Steven was originally given by his biological mother. Austin is now a grandmother.The remarkable story of Austin and the Schoebinger family proves that when we put walls between ourselves and others, we are often blocking everyone off from more love and support. "I think the lesson we learned is that sometimes we create barriers where barriers don't need to be. And when we pull down those barriers, we really find love on the other side," Chris said.

In his new book, 'The Friday Afternoon Club,' Dunne revisits the murder trial that nearly tore his family apart

In his new book, 'The Friday Afternoon Club,' Dunne revisits the murder trial that nearly tore his family apart