The Federal Reserve emphasized that inflation has remained stubbornly high and said it doesn’t plan to cut interest rates until it has “greater confidence” that price increases are slowing sustainably to its 2% target. The Fed kept its key rate at a two-decade high of roughly 5.3%. Several hotter-than-expected reports have recently undercut the Fed’s belief that inflation was steadily easing. The combination of high rates and persistent inflation has also emerged as a potential threat to President Joe Biden’s re-election bid. “In recent months,” Chair Jerome Powell said, “inflation has shown a lack of further progress toward our 2% objective," adding, "It is likely that gaining greater confidence will take longer than previously expected.”

The Arizona Legislature has approved a repeal of a long-dormant ban on nearly all abortions. The vote to undo the 19th century law sent the bill to Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs. Two Republicans joined with 14 Democrats in the Arizona Senate on Wednesday to give final legislative approval to the repeal, which narrowly won approval a week ago from the Arizona House and is expected to be signed by Hobbs on Thursday. The near-total ban permits abortions only to save the patient’s life and provides no exceptions for survivors of rape or incest.

Returning briefly to the campaign trail, Donald Trump has called the judge presiding over his hush money trial “crooked” a day after being held in contempt of court and threatened with jail time for violating a gag order. The order bars him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and some others connected to his trial, but he is still free to criticize the judge. The former president is visiting the swing states of Wisconsin and Michigan on Wednesday during his one-day break from court. Trump is trying to achieve a balancing act unprecedented in American history by running for a second term while also fighting felony charges in New York.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met with Israeli leaders in his push for a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas to impress on them that “the time is now" for an agreement that would free hostages and bring a pause in the nearly seven months of war. The current round of talks appears to be serious, with Hamas considering a new proposal. But the sides remain far apart on the key issue of whether the war should end as part of an emerging deal. In talks with Blinken, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated his determination to carry out an offensive on the southern Gaza town of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians are sheltering.

Former President Donald Trump has secured another $1.6 billion worth of shares in Trump Media. That's according to a regulatory filing this week. Based on the company’s stock hitting certain price benchmarks, Trump was awarded an additional 36 million shares in the company that owns his social media platform Truth Social. That brings his total ownership to more than 114 million shares, which based on Tuesday's closing price, are worth $5.1 billion. For now, the value of those shares is considered “paper wealth.” Trump is prohibited from selling any shares for six months after Trump Media went public without securing a waiver from the company’s board.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene says she'll call a vote next week on ousting House Speaker Mike Johnson. The Georgia Republican is forcing her colleagues to choose sides after Democratic leaders announced they'd provide the votes to save the Republican speaker’s job. Speaking outside the Capitol on Wednesday, Greene railed against Republican Party leaders and pushed back against public entreaties from Donald Trump and others to avoid another messy political fight so close to the November election. With Greene was Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, one of the few lawmakers to join her effort. They said Johnson isn't up to the job. Johnson responded that the attempt to oust him is “wrong for the country.”

Authorities are expanding their investigation of clergy sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in New Orleans to include church leaders suspected of shielding predatory priests and failing to report crimes to law enforcement. Louisiana State Police last week carried out a sweeping search warrant at the Archdiocese of New Orleans targeting a long-secreted cache of church records and communications between church leaders and the Vatican about the handling of clergy sexual abuse claims. The warrant revealed new details about the sex-trafficking investigation. Church officials in New Orleans and the Vatican did not respond to requests for comment.