Nation & World Glance
U.S. hiring jumps after hurricanes as employers add 261K jobs
WASHINGTON — U.S. employers added a solid 261,000 jobs in October in a bounce-back from the hurricanes that slammed the Southeast in September.
The unemployment rate declined to 4.1 percent, the lowest in nearly 17 years, from 4.2 percent in September, the Labor Department said Friday. But the drop in the rate occurred mostly because many people stopped looking for work and so were no longer counted as unemployed.
October’s burst of hiring largely reflects a rebound from the hurricanes that temporarily depressed job gains in September. But it also shows that for all their fury, the storms didn’t knock the economy or the job market off course. Over the past three months, job growth has averaged 162,000, similar to the pace of hiring before the hurricanes.
“Hiring got a boost from the post-hurricane rebound, but the underlying trend remained steady,” said Jed Kolko, chief economist at Indeed, a job-search website.
In part because of the durability of the job market, the Federal Reserve is likely on track to raise its short-term interest rate in December. That could lead to slightly higher mortgage rates and other borrowing costs over time.
U.S. carries out 1st airstrikes against ISIS in Somalia
MOGADISHU, Somalia — The U.S. military for the first time has conducted two airstrikes against Islamic State group fighters in Somalia, where the group is a growing presence in a country long threatened by the al-Qaida-linked extremist group al-Shabab.
The U.S. Africa Command said the two drone strikes killed “several terrorists” in northeastern Somalia, with the first around midnight local time and the second later Friday morning. The U.S. said the strikes were carried out in coordination with Somalia’s government.
Local officials confirmed the strikes. At least six missiles struck in Buqa, a remote mountainous village roughly 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of Qandala town in the northern state of Puntland, a Somali security official told The Associated Press.
Assaults in Syria and Iraq oust IS from border bastions
DAMASCUS, Syria — Syrian troops ousted Islamic State extremists Friday from Deir el-Zour, a major city in eastern Syria, while Iraqi forces pushed into the group’s last major town across the border in Iraq in simultaneous assaults that dealt further territorial losses to the retreating militants.
With their self-proclaimed “caliphate” crumbling, the extremists have lost almost all their urban strongholds in Syria and Iraq. The defeats left the Syrian town of Boukamal as the only urban area still completely under IS control, along with scattered pockets of territory along the Syria-Iraq border.
Syrian troops backed by Russia and Kurdish-led forces supported by the United States are now racing toward Boukamal from opposite sides of the Euphrates River, triggering concerns that a proxy showdown could ensue between the two sides. Both the U.S. and Russia have embedded special forces with their respective partners and are supporting their advances with airstrikes.
Trump stops in Hawaii, eagerly awaits Pearl Harbor visit
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii — Embarking on his first official tour of Asia, President Donald Trump stopped first in Hawaii on Friday and said he eagerly anticipated a visit to Pearl Harbor, where thousands of service members paid the ultimate sacrifice following a surprise attack by Japan that plunged the U.S. into World War II.
“We are going to visit very shortly, Pearl Harbor, which I’ve read about, spoken about, heard about, studied, but I haven’t seen. And that is going to be very exciting for me,” Trump said at the start of a briefing with leaders of the U.S. Pacific Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the region.
Trump arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam late Friday after a daylong flight from Washington. He departs Saturday for Japan, the first stop on the fivenation, 11-day Asia journey that will also take him to South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines.
NYPD says it is building rape case against Harvey Weinstein
NEW YORK — New York City police said Friday that an actress’ rape allegations against Harvey Weinstein are credible, and if the movie mogul were in the state and the accusation more recent, they would move to arrest him immediately.
Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said investigators have interviewed actress Paz de la Huerta. She has publicly accused Weinstein of raping her twice in her apartment in 2010 and called police about it on Oct. 26.
Boyce said detectives found the “Boardwalk Empire” actress’ story believable and that two people corroborated portions of her account. They have subpoenaed people in the case.
“If this person was still in New York, and it was recent, we’d go right away and make the arrest. No doubt,” Boyce said of Weinstein. “But we’re talking about a 7-year-old case. And we have to move forward gathering evidence first.”
The factors that made her story credible included: “The ability to articulate each and every minute of the crime, where she was, where they met, where this happened and what he did,” he said.