Republican Rep. Randy Fine of Florida has joined the ranks of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. “HUGE NEWS: I’m proud to announce that I have officially joined the strongest group of conservative patriots in Congress,” he declared in a Thursday post on X. “The House @freedomcaucus exists to save our country and preserve freedom, not manage our decline. That’s what I love about this group. I look forward...

Oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively halted despite a U.S.-backed ceasefire that hinged on reopening the critical waterway, raising fresh questions about whether Iran is following through on a central condition of the truce. A backlog of roughly 3,200 vessels — among them 800 tankers and cargo ships — has built up west of the strait, with ships idling as operators wait for clarity on...

A new DoorDash report tracking millions of purchases shows inflation cooling ahead of the midterms, though the cost of everyday essentials still varies widely across the country. The findings offer a closer look at how those shifts are playing out for consumers, with affordability still shaped largely by where they live. The State of Local Commerce report highlights evolving spending patterns as price pressures ease in key categories....