OCTOBER 6, 2025
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt — Israeli and Hamas officials were set to gather Monday in Egypt for high-stakes negotiations over a U.S.-backed plan to end the Gaza war, even as Israel continued to pummel the enclave with heavy air and artillery strikes.
The two sides will converge for indirect talks after months of deadlock to hash out the details of...
OCTOBER 5, 2025
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth addresses senior military officers at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Quantico, Virginia, on September 30, 2025. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth on Tuesday told a rare gathering of top brass called back from bases around the world that the US military will be reformed to end what he called
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) thinks Secretary...
OCTOBER 3, 2025
British passport holders – as well as other “third-country nationals” from the US, Canada, Australia and elsewhere – are about to become subject to the European Union’s entry-exit system (EES). The digital border scheme begins on Sunday 12 October. Many readers of The Independent have posed questions about EES, and this Q&A distils the key issues.
What’s the big idea?
The long-awaited entry-exit...
OCTOBER 1, 2025
Tipping: Here's where Dave Ramsey draws the line.
Tipping has become ubiquitous, but many Americans are burning out.
According to a recent survey by WalletHub, nearly nine in 10 believe tipping culture has “gotten out of control,” and 83% think automatic service charges should be banned.
Nearly 3 in 5 Americans think businesses are replacing employee salaries with customer tips.
On...
OCOTBER 1, 2025
U.S. dollar banknotes are seen in this illustration taken March 10, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
LONDON/NEW YORK - The U.S. dollar slid to two-week lows against the yen on Wednesday after data showed private-sector jobs in the world's largest economy contracted last month, boosting expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates two more times this year.
Against the...
OCTOBER 1, 2025
S&P 500 Futures Inch Up and Alibaba Stock Jumps.
Stocks were slightly higher Wednesday after the government shut down. Gold futures set another high, hitting $3,900, while Treasury yields and the dollar slipped.
The open was lower, reflecting shutdown concerns. Stocks perked up modestly later, driven in part by sharp gains across the pharmaceutical sector following Tuesday’s announcements.
Wednesday morning’s...
OCTOBER 1, 2025
Lately, some employees are noticing an ominous trend in their career trajectories.
A new report from career platform My Perfect Resume found that nearly two-thirds of U.S. workers say that they've experienced "ghost growth," or surface-level career growth that doesn't translate to meaningful changes in pay or title, based on a survey of 1,000 employed Americans.
Nearly half of respondents felt that their...
OCTOBER 1, 2025
Data the Fed can watch, like reports from the Conference Board, are showing recession fears, while BLS data goes unpublished during a government lockdown. - Chip Somodevilla - Getty Images
Wall Street remains optimistic about avoiding recession, but consumer confidence is sliding, with the Conference Board’s Expectations Index falling further into recessionary territory in September. Confidence in business conditions...
OCTOBER 1, 2025
US Government Shutdowns usually strike federal employees in the form of furloughs, with pay delayed until the government reopens. - Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg News
The federal government shutdown began at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday after Democrats and Republicans failed to reach a deal on a short-term spending plan.
Shutdowns can squeeze the economy in different ways, from missed paychecks for hundreds of thousands of...
SEPTEMBER 30, 2025
Qian Zhang has lived in Lisbon since 2023.
When Qian Zhang boarded a flight from Shanghai to Boston at age 18, she thought she was heading toward the "best version" of her life. It was 2009, during President Barack Obama's first term, when the U.S. economy was rebounding and opportunities for well-educated workers seemed plentiful.
She was bound for...
