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In addition to measuring foreign exchange rates, an economist is using the price of a hamburger to examine inflation. The Economist magazine developed the Big Mac index in 1986 as an informal way to determine the “purchasing power parity” of different countries and currencies. B. Ravikumar, senior vice president and deputy director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, recently used the Big Mac index to analyze the U.S. consumer price index, which is widely used as the authoritative inflation measurement.

The Federal Trade Commission issued a final rule Tuesday to ban noncompete contracts that prevent employees from joining rival companies in a move that immediately drew a legal challenge. U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Suzanne Clark said the measure was illegal and would hurt businesses and workers.

Former U.S. Special Envoy for Haiti Dan Foote said in an exclusive interview on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show that former HP CEO Meg Whitman, who now serves as the U.S. Ambassador to Kenya, is the official behind the security deal between Kenya and Haiti.

Connecticut law enforcement officials released an illegal alien convicted of sex crimes against a minor while ignoring a detainer request, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE agents apprehended a 27-year-old Ecuadorian national convicted of indecent assault and second degree assault of a Connecticut child earlier this month, the agency announced in a press release on Wednesday. The agency is faulting local officials for releasing the alien, despite an immigration detainer placed on him.

The Associated Press is under fire for portraying the protests wracking college campuses across the United States as "anti-war demonstrations" while omitting how many of the demonstrations include violent rhetoric and have been connected to the assault of Jews. "When people are chanting in their protests, 'intifada now,' simply look up the definition of 'intifada' – that is not anti war," said Natalie Sanandaji, a New Yorker who survived the Nova music festival massacre, where more than 360 people were killed by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023. "To downplay it is to make these people feel like what they're doing is okay. We need to talk about how serious it is. Downplaying it is just putting more people at risk," she said on the "Just the News, No Noise" TV show.

The criminal case against former President Donald Trump for allegedly falsifying business records does not appear to be boosting President Joe Biden’s chances in November, with Biden’s once narrow lead over Trump disappearing in new polls. The trial appears to be largely impacting partisans, with Republicans saying they are more likely to support the former president and Democrats saying the opposite. However, the vast majority of independents and swing voters say the trial verdict will have no impact on their vote in November.

Past presidential elections have often seen public sentiment shift in response to a major ad campaign, a change of position from a major candidate, unexpected developments abroad, or an economic downturn, but sometimes small moments can prove pivotal.

Arizona U.S. House candidate Abe Hamadeh declared Attorney General Kris Mayes "illegitimate" in a Thursday appearance on Steve Bannon's War Room after she handed down indictments against Arizona Republicans and allies of former President Donald Trump for their role in the 2020 election contest. Hamadeh previously ran against Mayes in 2022 and continues to contest the results of the election. Mayes won by just 280 votes and Hamadeh contends there are about 9,000 uncounted ballots that would likely break in his favor.

The Stop Cop City movement reported on Thursday that Georgia State Police confronted its protesters as they attempted to create a pro-Palestine encampment on the Emory University campus. A post to the social media platform X by Stop Cop City activists claims "an encampment in the Emory quad" was established at 7:30 a.m. "to demand total divestment from Israeli apartheid and Cop City," the activists' preferred term for the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.

Governor Glenn Youngkin announced on Wednesday he will embark on a week-long "international trade mission" to Europe as lawmakers continue work on the biennial Virginia budget ahead of the May special legislative session. The governor's office confirmed Youngkin's "third international trade mission" will include stops in Germany, Denmark, Finland and Swizterland between April 28 to May 3. He plans to meet with business leaders, public officials and Finnish President Alexander Stubb.

A proposed University of Minnesota policy would require scholars to obtain permission from Native American groups when doing research involving their cultures. However, an anthropologist has concerns about the proposal.

Partisan divides remain for Pennsylvania’s energy future, but the state’s electric grid keeps posting drops in emissions. PJM, the 13-state grid that stretches from Illinois to North Carolina, noted a trend that’s continued for two decades: dramatic declines in pollutants.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster signed a measure that aims to help landowners use voluntary conservation easements to preserve working agricultural lands. H. 3951, the Working Agricultural Lands Preservation Act, creates the Working Farmland Protection Fund within the South Carolina Conservation Bank. The measure ostensibly complements the agricultural projects the bank funds by establishing a matching grant payment for qualified projects.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed two new bills Wednesday intended to strengthen Florida homes against hurricanes and other severe weather events. DeSantis signed Senate Bill 7028, which will add another $200 million in funding for the My Safe Florida Home Program which allows homes to be assessed after major storm events and assists in improving resilience in structures.

Federal regulators recently launched a lawsuit against popular convenience chain Sheetz that could have implications for whether businesses will be able to screen applicants for criminal convictions. The Equal Employment Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) suit, announced April 18, alleged that Sheetz discriminated against minority applicants by screening all job seekers for criminal convictions, arguing that doing so disproportionally targets black, Native American and multiracial applicants. Many businesses have already stopped screening employees based on earlier guidance and pressure from regulators, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.