Philippines earthquake, Fed rate hike, Mega Millions jackpot tops $1B

Top headlines for July 27, 2022:

Deadly earthquake rocks the Philippines – A large 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit a northern Filipino island on Wednesday sending tremors throughout the capital city. Four people were initially reported dead with another 60 people injured. Nearly 200 buildings were damaged and 58 landslides have been reported in the earthquake’s wake.

“We will continue to provide information as it comes in as you can imagine this situation continues to develop and it will do so for the next few days,” Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said. “But I think that everything that can be done has been done. We have even anticipated the needs of those who have become victims of this very strong earthquake.”

Federal interest rate hikes again – With the Federal Reserve expected to hike its key interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point on Wednesday to battle high inflation, focus will shift to how deeply signs of an economic slowdown have registered with its policymakers. The anticipated increase in the target federal funds rate, the Fed’s key tool in trying to lower inflation from a four-decade high, will bring the U.S. central bank to a mile marker of sorts as it reaches a level of around 2.4% that is estimated to no longer encourage economic activity.

The Fed has a difficult task at hand in quelling inflation while avoiding a recession. The expected rate hike comes a day after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) sounded the alarm of a potential global recession.

“The outlook has darkened significantly since April,” IMF Research Department Director Pierre-Olivier Gourincha said Tuesday. “The world may soon be teetering on the edge of a global recession, only two years after the last one.”

Fourth largest jackpot ever – A giant Mega Millions lottery jackpot ballooned to $1.02 billion after no one matched all six numbers Tuesday night and won the top prize. The new estimated jackpot will be the nation’s fourth-largest lottery prize ever.

The $1.02 billion prize is for winners who choose the annuity option, paid annually over 30 years. Most winners opt for the cash option, which for the next drawing Friday night is an estimated $602.5 million.

The jackpot has grown so large because no one has matched the game’s six selected numbers since April 15. That’s 29 consecutive drawings without a big winner.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this article.