The speech was brief and packed a punch. Climbing interest rates, slower growth and a softening of the labor market will “bring some pain to households and businesses,” but the Federal Reserve is laser-focused on tamping down decades-high inflation. Chairman Jerome Powell, in highly anticipated remarks from the annual Jackson Hole policy meeting, said in no uncertain terms that interest rates will keep rising and aren't likely to come down soon. But that's where the certainty ended. The size of a September rate hike hinges on the data, Powell said. Wall Street tumbled on the drumbeat of the hawkish— but not unexpected — comments, while some of the world’s biggest bond investors say the market is wrong to expect that central banks will score a long-term win in the global fight against inflation. 

The FBI affidavit used to get a search warrant for former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate was made public, though large sections were redacted to protect witnesses and the investigation. Details revealed: The FBI said Trump stashed classified defense and intelligence information at his home, including from human sources. Also included was a letter from Trump's attorney claiming he had "absolute" authority to declassify documents.

This week marked six months since Russia began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. For Vladimir Putin, it was a reminder of how much has gone wrong, with the Russian leader now boosting troop numbers as Western-backed Ukrainian forces remain defiant. But Europeans aren’t paying close attention to Russia’s strategy toward them: an energy crisis that undermines support for sanctions and even promotes civil unrest, Maria Tadeo writes in Bloomberg Opinion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the town of Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, on April 4. Photographer: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images

Rivers and reservoirs are turning to dust. From the Rhine and Danube in Europe, to China’s Yangtze and Lake Oroville reservoir in California, waterways disappearing amid climate change is endangering agriculture, shipping, energy and even drinking water. In China, factories have shut down, with daily hydropower generation down 51%. This could doom other hydro projects throughout Asia, David Fickling writes in Bloomberg Opinion.

The problems facing Liz Truss, favored to be the next UK prime minister, keep growing. More than half of UK households risk being pushed into energy poverty this winter by soaring bills. Inflation is expected to jump, and the Bank of England predicts a recession. Strikes are cropping up everywhere, including among dockworkers, threatening already fragile supply chains — and even Christmas.

Price cuts in the Hamptons would have been unimaginable a few months ago, but signs of a housing slowdown and rising mortgage rates are even dampening demand in the tony beach enclave. In New York City, which is experiencing its hottest rental market in decades, priced-out renters are looking deeper into Queens, Brooklyn or even outside the five boroughs to find an apartment.

An apartment building in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens, New York. Photographer: Ismail Ferdous/Bloomberg

• Moscow shuts off the key Nord Stream pipeline for maintenance.
• China's banks report amid slowing growth, the property crisis.
• NASA’s Artemis moon mission test launches an uncrewed rocket.
• US jobs day with signs the labor market remains tight. 
• Russian joint Vostok military drills include China, India.

20 Million US Homes Are Behind on Energy Bills

Some 21 million US households — about one in six — have fallen behind on utility bills. Underpinning those numbers is a blistering surge in electricity prices, propelled by soaring costs for natural gas. The result could be a “tsunami of shutoffs,” said Jean Su, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, which tracks utility disconnections. The power bill crisis is even more acute in Europe, but policy makers there have sprung to action to help struggling families pay their bills. There's no meaningful talk of doing anything similar in the US, where hand-wringing over energy costs has focused on the price at the pump.

Demonstrators gathered outside the Glasgow headquarters of ScottishPower in August to protest the rise in energy prices and the cost of living. Photographer: Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert / Alamy Stock Photo/www.alamy.com