9.17 | The return before goodbye

Myrna Brown (0:05)

Good morning. Secretary of State Marco Rubio heads south to deepen security partnerships in Latin America.

Marco Rubio (0:12)

The United States has said we're so happy you're doing that. It's important for us as well.

Mary Reichard (0:15)

Also changes in the Federal Food Assistance Program and the phenomenon of terminal lucidity, a short flash of life just before death, later making American history fun.

SPEAKER_4 (0:26)

We want to see if we can get one of the declaration replicates, like the name of one.

Myrna Brown (0:32)

Oh yeah?

Rachel Sheffield (0:32)

We really want to get one.

Mary Reichard (0:34)

And World Commentator David Closson on the surprise twist in Britain's latest push for assisted suicide.

Myrna Brown (0:46)

It's Thursday, September 17th. This is The World and Everything In It. From listeners supported World Radio, I'm Myrna Brown.

Mary Reichard (0:53)

And I'm Mary Reichard. Good morning.

Myrna Brown (0:57)

Up next, Kent Covington with Today's News.

Kent Covington (1:01)

The Federal Reserve is raising interest rates for the first time in three years as it tries to push down inflation. The increase is a quarter of a percentage point, taking the Fed's rate to just under 4 percent.

And several of the biggest banks are already passing it along, raising the base rate that credit cards are built on. Card rates usually rise within a month or two. Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh.

Kevin Warsh (1:24)

Job gains have kept pace with the workforce, and the unemployment rate has changed little. But inflation remains elevated.

Kent Covington (1:33)

The Labor Department says consumer prices were up 3.4 percent in August from a year earlier. The Fed wants that down around 2 percent. And in forecasts released with the decision, most Fed policy makers expected at least one more increase this year.

Kevin Warsh (1:48)

The plain fact is that inflation is too high and has been for too long. This summer's inflation readings do not tell me that underlying trends have meaningfully improved.

Kent Covington (2:01)

President Trump has been pushing for lower rates for months.

The White House says the war with Iran is set to move into a new phase. Vice President JD. Vance told the New York Post that there are two phases to this and the first is done. He said that meant destroying Iran's nuclear program and its conventional military.

The second, in his words, is to ensure they're not able to rebuild. Vance would not say what that would take or offer a firm timeline to completion. But his remarks came after President Trump last week predicted that the war would end just after the November election, saying Iran can't hold out any longer. Vance's remarks also came hours after this House vote.

SPEAKER_9 (2:41)

This vote, the ayes are 220, the nays are 204

Chris Wright (2:44)

The concurrent resolution is adopted.

SPEAKER_11 (2:46)

Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

Kent Covington (2:50)

The vote was on a resolution that calls for the Iran war to end unless lawmakers sign off on continuing. Seven Republicans joined Democrats, with most of the seven saying their vote was not denouncing the war but calling on Trump to get approval from Congress. The resolution makes a statement but nothing more. Two similar House resolutions passed this year but they were not binding, and this one is not either.

Another American oil company is planning a move into Venezuela. Oklahoma's Continental Resources announced a handshake deal Wednesday with Venezuela's state oil company to drill in the Orinico Belt. The company is not saying how much it's spending or how much oil it expects to pump, and the deal is not yet quite final.

Chris Wright (3:33)

But Energy Secretary Chris Wright told reporters, It's a milestone deal in the U.S.-Venezuelan relationship. It's a milestone deal in making the Western Hemisphere the center of the global energy system.

Kent Covington (3:48)

Chevron, an Italian energy company, Eni, signed on this month. Venezuela has more confirmed oil in the ground than any country on earth, and it's just a five-day sale from US. Gulf Coast refineries.

With global oil supplies disrupted by Middle East conflict, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum says this is good news for global energy.

SPEAKER_9 (4:08)

Moving the geopolitical center of energy away from the Middle East, away from geographic choke points, away from 50 years of oil-funded terrorism.

Kent Covington (4:22)

Acting Venezuelan President Delci Rodriguez was not elected to the post and no elections are yet scheduled. Critics, including opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, says an illegitimate government should not be selling Venezuela's oil drilling rights.

American consumers are still opening their wallets even with elevated gas prices. World's Benjamin Eicher reports.