(CNN) — Passenger airplanes traveling eastbound across the Atlantic are knocking more than an hour off their flight times as they hit speeds exceeding 761 mph — the speed of sound. Thanks to the jet stream, some flights have reached cruising speeds around 200 mph faster than normal.
Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day.
1. Israel
Israeli forces bombed the densely-populated Jabalya refugee camp in Gaza for the second time in two days on Wednesday, prompting UN warnings that the airstrikes “could amount to war crimes.” Both Israeli airstrikes this week targeted Hamas, killing or injuring hundreds, according to medics in the region. Israel’s weekslong bombardment in Gaza has killed at least 8,700 people, according to figures released by the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Ministry of Health. Israel is defending the strikes as key to eliminating Hamas militants. Separately, a breakthrough after weeks of talks allowed hundreds of foreign nationals, including US citizens, to depart Gaza on Wednesday. The development was hailed as a critical first step in getting thousands of others out of the war-torn strip.
2. Trump family
Former President Donald Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., testified on Wednesday that he was not involved in the preparation of his father’ s financial statements at any point in time. He was pressed on his involvement in the financial documents at the center of the $250 million lawsuit brought by the New York attorney general’s office against the Trump family and their business dealings. The lawsuit accuses Trump Jr. and his brother Eric of knowingly participating in a scheme to inflate their father’s net worth to obtain financial benefits like better loan and insurance policy terms. A banking expert also testified Wednesday that Donald Trump and his company saved more than $168 million in loan interest by obtaining favorable terms on transactions where the former president personally guaranteed the loans.
3. Economy
The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady Wednesday for the second consecutive time, leaving the central bank’s benchmark lending rate at its highest level in 22 years. Economists and financial markets had expected the pause in the Fed’s aggressive rate-hiking campaign after several Fed officials signaled they anticipate a further slowing of the US economy as it continues to absorb the effects of higher borrowing costs. Despite the Fed aggressively raising interest rates 11 times since March 2022 in a bid to combat inflation, the economy has not only avoided a recession so far but instead expanded at a blistering rate, mostly due to solid consumer spending.
4. France power outages
At least one person in France has been killed and 1.2 million people there are without electricity as one of the strongest storms in decades hit northwestern Europe and barreled toward southern England. Parts of northwest France saw winds of over 75 mph with gusts at hurricane-force levels of more than 124 mph, according to the country’s meteorological agency. Around 780,000 of those without power are in the northwestern region of Brittany, where the coast was put on a state of “red alert,” France’s highest weather warning.
5. World Series
The Texas Rangers have won the club’s first World Series title in the franchise’s 63-season history following a victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 5 on Wednesday. But their win in Phoenix — giving them the best-of-seven series 4 games to 1 — didn’t come easily. The game was scoreless through six innings as Diamondbacks starting pitcher Zac Gallen was dominating, not allowing a hit through those stanzas. Then, the Rangers pounced on Arizona in the ninth inning highlighted by a monster Marcus Semien 2-run home run to achieve an insurmountable 5-0 lead. With the historic championship, the Rangers’ Bruce Bochy also became the sixth manager to win at least four World Series titles.
