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NEW YORK, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised its benchmark interest rates by 25 basis points to the range of 5.25 to 5.5 percent, the highest level in over two decades, as it continues to ramp up its fight against inflation.

It is the 11th interest rate increase since the Fed began its aggressive rate hiking campaign in March 2022, taking the federal funds rate to its highest level since early 2001.

NEW YORK (AP) — The day after Jan. 6, 2021, then-President Donald Trump denounced the rioters who violently stormed the Capitol building, breaking through barricades, battling law enforcement and sending members of Congress — who were set to formally certify his reelection loss — running for their lives.

“Like all Americans, I am outraged by the violence, lawlessness and mayhem,” he said in a video, condemning what he called a “heinous attack.”

NEW YORK (AP) — A tall construction crane caught fire in Manhattan on Wednesday morning, and its arm hit a building as it crashed to the street below.

Photos and videos posted on social media show flames bursting from the car of a crane hundreds of feet above 10th Avenue at 41st Street. The crane’s arm scraped the top floors of a skyscraper across the street as it fell.

There were no immediate reports of injuries from the crane fire and collapse, which happened shortly before 8 a.m.

NEW YORK, July 25. /TASS/: Twitter posts will be called "Xs" instead of "tweets" after the popular social media platform completes its rebranding into X, company owner Elon Musk tweeted on Tuesday.

"X's," the celebrity entrepreneur said, responding to a question about the new name for tweets after the rebranding. "Twitter was acquired by X Corp both to ensure freedom of speech and as an accelerant for X, the everything app. This is not simply a company renaming itself, but doing the same thing," Musk noted.

UNITED NATIONS, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Fighting in Sudan began 100 days ago and thousands of civilians have been killed or wounded and millions more displaced, UN humanitarians said on Monday.

"One hundred days of fighting have exacted a devastating toll on the civilian population," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said. "It is a senseless conflict, and it must stop now."

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported that during that same period, on average at least one child was injured or killed every hour of the conflict, OCHA said.

NEW YORK, July 23. /TASS/: The cost of a barrel of Russia's Urals oil has exceeded the price cap set at $60 in recent days, which indicates that Russia has won the battle for influence on the world oil markets, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing calculations of commodities-data firm Argus Media.

NEW YORK (AP) — Elon Musk said Sunday that he plans to change the logo of Twitter to an “X” from the famous blue bird, marking what would be the latest big change since he bought the social media platform for $44 billion last year.

In a series of posts on his Twitter account starting just after 12 a.m. ET, Twitter’s owner said that he’s looking to make the change worldwide as soon as Monday.

“And soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds,” Musk wrote on his account.

NEW YORK (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday downplayed the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol, saying it was not an insurrection but rather a “protest” that “ended up devolving, you know, in a way that was unfortunate, of course.”

DeSantis, speaking in an interview on the podcast of comedian Russell Brand, said the idea that Jan. 6 “was a plan to somehow overthrow the government of the United States is not true, and it’s something that the media had spun up.”

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s company and his former longtime lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen have settled a lawsuit over Cohen’s claims that he was unfairly stuck with big legal bills after getting entangled in investigations into the former president.

Lawyers for the two sides disclosed the settlement during a video conference with the judge Friday, three days before Cohen’s 2019 lawsuit was slated to go to trial in a Manhattan state court. Details of the agreement were not made public.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 21 (APP): Pakistan has welcomed as “bold and perhaps timely” UN Secretary-General’s new policy brief outlining his vision of a more robust multilateral framework to boost peace and security, for a world in flux.

Commenting on UN chief Antonio Guterres’ New Agenda for Peace, Ambassador Munir Akram said that his initiative comes at a time “when we may be at the dawn of a darker era of history.”