We may receive commissions from some links to products on this page. Promotions are subject to availability and retailer terms. For much of the last two years, Americans have been battling inflation's economic repercussions. Not only has it made it more difficult to afford everyday living costs, but rampant inflation has also resulted in the Federal Reserve raising interest rates to their highest point in decades. That's caused borrowing costs to head up, too. This has left many investors looking for alternative ways to grow and protect their money. One such alternative is gold.Investing in the precious metal surged...

May V. Lee Zubeth Brotoski. Syer Ovoon Jean June Breenun. Victoria Lee Zubithruss. These are the names announced at the Thomas Jefferson University graduation ceremony – except the graduates were really named Maeve Elizabeth Brostoski, Sarah Virginia Brennan and Victoria Elizabeth Bruce.At the university's commencement ceremony for nursing students on Thursday, the person tasked with calling out graduates' names botched several of them – even ones as simple as Thomas.Video taken by @colleenb415 and shared on TikTok racked up nearly 8 million views and 16,000 comments on the platform in less than a day. It was shared by others across...

The Nebraska Supreme Court has upheld the murder conviction and life sentence of a woman in the 2017 death and dismemberment of a Nebraska hardware store clerk.Bailey Boswell, 30, was convicted in 2020 of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and improper disposal of human remains in the death of 24-year-old Sydney Loofe. Boswell's co-defendant and boyfriend at the time of the killing, 58-year-old Aubrey Trail, was convicted of the same charges in 2019 and sentenced to death in 2021.Prosecutors said Boswell and Trail had been planning to kill someone before Boswell met Loofe on the dating app Tinder. Boswell...

Americans love Olivia and Liam. Those names — followed by Noah and Emma — have topped the list of most popular baby names in the U.S. for the fifth year running, the Social Security Administration revealed Friday. And the vast majority of names within the top 10 for boys and girls were the same as last year. Mateo was the only newcomer to the top 10 in 2023, joining perennial favorites Henry, William and James.Here are the other top baby names of 2023.While some names didn't break into the top 10, they proved to have grown in popularity. The name Emryn...

Americans as far south as Alabama and Northern California could be treated to a show of the northern lights this weekend from a powerful geomagnetic storm heading toward Earth, officials said. If the weather conditions are right, people in several areas on a map could look up and see the aurora borealis.The storm has prompted government forecasters to warn of potential disruptions to communications systems, the power grid and satellite operations, but it could also put on a fantastic light display in the night sky."The gift from space weather is the aurora," Rob Steenburgh, a space scientist with the National...

We may receive commissions from some links to products on this page. Promotions are subject to availability and retailer terms. With home values soaring over the past few years, many homeowners are now sitting on significant amounts of home equity. In fact, as of the first quarter of 2024, nearly 46% of mortgaged residential properties in the U.S. were considered equity-rich, according to a recent report from ATTOM, a real estate data firm. This means the combined loan balances on the property were no more than 50% of the estimated market value.With the average homeowner sitting on about $193,000...

Powerful storms with damaging high winds threatened several states in the Southeast early Friday, as residents elsewhere in the U.S. cleared debris from deadly severe weather that produced twisters in Michigan, Tennessee and other states.Storms rolled into Tallahassee, Florida, where numerous trees were toppled around the state's capital city, authorities said Friday. Wind gusts of 71 mph were recorded by a weather station near the State Capitol Complex, the National Weather Service reported. Florida State University announced its campuses in Tallahassee were closed Friday due to the severe weather. Nonessential personnel, students and visitors should avoid campuses in Tallahassee until...

The glass case containing an original copy of the Magna Carta at the British Library in London was smashed by two environmental activists on Friday, causing minor damage to the reinforced box but leaving the historic document unscathed. The pair of protesters from Just Stop Oil, a group that has caused widespread disruption in Britain in its campaign to end to the world's reliance on fossil fuels, pounded on the case with a hammer and chisel.Video footage posted online shows the Rev. Sue Parfitt, 82, and Judy Bruce, an 85-year-old retired biology teacher, holding up a sign reading "The government is...

We may receive commissions from some links to products on this page. Promotions are subject to availability and retailer terms. For the last few years, issues with inflation have been putting the squeeze on millions of Americans. While today's inflation rate of 3.5% is significantly lower than it was at its peak in mid-2022, the reality is that the costs of everything from groceries to gasoline are still climbing. In turn, many households have found their budgets stretched increasingly thin. To try and combat inflation, the Federal Reserve has kept its benchmark rate paused at a 23-year high following an...

CBS Essentials is created independently of the CBS News editorial staff. We may receive commissions from some links to products on this page. Promotions are subject to availability and retailer terms. Our No. 1 CBS Essentials reader-loved fridge is more than $1,600 off right now when you buy it directly from Samsung. If you've been considering upgrading from your old refrigerator to a brand-new smart fridge, this 29-cubic-foot Samsung model is stylish and modern. It's one of the best refrigerators of 2024.The Samsung smart four-door Flex refrigerator with Family Hub has been our bestselling refrigerator since 2022. CBS Essentials...

Some anti-abortion rights groups are selling a procedure called "abortion pill reversal," which they claim can help women halt medical abortions. That claim is now being challenged by state officials who allege the groups are veering into false advertising and fraud. Heartbeat International, an anti-abortion rights group, and 11 other anti-abortion organizations were sued Monday by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who alleged the organizations are making "false and misleading statements to advertise an unproven treatment." The complaint follows a similar lawsuit filed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta in September.Heartbeat has countersued, asking the courts to throw out California's lawsuit...

CBS Essentials is created independently of the CBS News editorial staff. We may receive commissions from some links to products on this page. Promotions are subject to availability and retailer terms. The Florida Panthers face the Boston Bruins for Game 3 of the teams' NHL Playoffs series. The series is tied 1-1, giving tonight's victor the advantage coming out of Game 3.Keep reading to find out how and when to watch the Panthers vs. Bruins game tonight.How and when to watch the Florida Panthers vs. Boston Bruins gameGame 3 of the Florida Panthers vs. Boston Bruins NHL Playoffs series...

More than two decades after University of Georgia student Tara Baker was murdered, authorities announced they arrested a suspect. Edrick Lamont Faust, 48, was charged with murder and faces various other charges in connection with the 23-year-old first-year law student's death, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced. "Tara Louise Baker was a hardworking student with a bright future ahead of her," GBI Director Chris Hosey said Thursday in a news release. "Tara's life was stolen from her in a horrific act of violence. While this arrest does not bring her back to us, I pray that it helps bring closure to the...

Washington — A three-judge appeals court panel upheld the criminal conviction of former Trump White House chief strategist Steve Bannon in a unanimous decision on Friday, ruling they found "no basis" to depart from binding legal precedent. Bannon was found guilty in 2022 of two misdemeanor counts of contempt of Congress for not responding to a subpoena from the now-defunct House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. At the time, he maintained that he could not testify because of executive privilege concerns raised by former President Donald Trump and said that his one-time attorney, Robert...

We may receive commissions from some links to products on this page. Promotions are subject to availability and retailer terms. Social Security is running low, just not as quickly as initially expected. That was the big news for seniors this week after the Social Security Board of Trustees released its annual report, projecting that it may not need to cut benefits until 2035, or one year later than originally predicted. Still, if that cut does eventually come to fruition, it will be a painful one at 17% less in monthly payments. That's a substantial cut for the 70 million...

London — One of the youngest children in the world to receive a new type of gene therapy to treat genetic deafness can now hear for the first time in her life. The family of the toddler taking part in a medical trial has called the change in their daughter "mind-blowing."Opal Sandy, now 18 months old, was born with total deafness due to a fault in the OTOF gene, which makes a protein called Otoferlin. Otoferlin enables communication between cells of the inner ear, or cochlea, and the brain.As part of a trial run by Cambridge University, Opal received...

We may receive commissions from some links to products on this page. Promotions are subject to availability and retailer terms. If you had to go into debt in recent years — whether it was because of overspending on your credit cards or due to unforeseen events like medical emergencies — getting out of that hole is now particularly difficult due to high interest rates. And, as the costs for essentials like housing, cars, insurance and food keep going up due to inflation, many people have been struggling to pay their bills. That can also lead to debt and make...

Target is cutting back on the number of its stores that will cary Pride Month-related merchandise in June, a decision that comes after the retail chain last year faced a backlash and threats over some of the products. Minneapolis-based Target said in a statement that its Pride merchandise will be available next month "in select stores, based on historical sales performance." A spokeswoman declined to disclose the number of stores that won't be carrying the merchandise. But a full assortment will be offered online, Target said.In prior years, Target had typically sold the full Pride assortment across its 2,000 stores, but...

The Emmy Award-winning "CBS News Sunday Morning" is broadcast on CBS Sundays beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET.  "Sunday Morning" also streams on the CBS News app beginning at 12:00 p.m. ET. (Download it here.) Hosted by Jane Pauley       COVER STORY: Why does product design sometimes fail? It's complicatedEverywhere you look, products are getting too complicated, with more and more features aimed at attracting consumers. But designing things to do more can often lead to frustrated and unhappy customers. For designers, it's a constant and complex balance to get it just right. Correspondent David Pogue looks at how complicated lives – full...

Racine, Wisconsin — Sheree Robinson was excited about being invited to ride in President Joe Biden's motorcade during his trip to Wisconsin Wednesday. The Black mother of two and longtime resident of Racine said education funding in Mr. Biden's American Rescue Plan enabled her to earn a HSED, a High School Equivalency Diploma. "Our conversation was just so natural," she said of the president. "He definitely has my vote, and I will talk to everyone else and let them know he needs their vote, too."Asked if she thought he'd win this November, Robinson replied, "Why wouldn't he?"Mr. Biden has a head...