Fed's Warsh kicks off with sweeping review

WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh opened a new era of U.S. monetary policy Wednesday, with officials agreeing to leave interest rates unchanged despite inflation stuck well above their target.

Warsh also announced five task forces, a review that could reshape how the central bank makes decisions and communicates with the public.

President Donald Trump, who pressured the central bank to cut interest rates, nominated Warsh. After taking over as Fed chief last month, Warsh made an immediate imprint in organizing a unanimous consensus around a stripped-down policy statement that jettisoned forward guidance on what actions the Fed might take, though new quarterly projections showed nine of 19 policymakers anticipate a rate hike by the end of this year.

GUN RIGHTS: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of a marijuana user Thursday, limiting the application of a federal law that bars drug users from owning guns and finding that certain prosecutions under the measure intrude on the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment right to "keep and bear arms."

GAZA: The number of Palestinians killed by Israel in Gaza reached more than 1,000 since a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in October, the enclave's health ministry said Thursday.

PARKS: The National Park Service removed at least 51 exhibits from 38 sites targeting displays that "inappropriately disparage Americans past or living," a court-ordered inventory showed in a filing Wednesday.

— Reuters