A journalist and pilot were among the people killed when a news helicopter reporting for NBC L.A. crashed. The Federal Reserve is set to decide whether to raise its key interest rate. And the opening acts for Ed Sheeran’s tour withdraw in protest of rapper Macklemore being dropped over his “Free Palestine” remarks.

Here’s what to know today.

3 dead after news helicopter crashes while covering fatal L.A. bus collision

A helicopter affiliated with NBC Los Angeles crashed while it was covering a fatal bus collision yesterday evening, killing the photojournalist and pilot on board and one person on the ground, the station and officials said.

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The aircraft crashed in a parking lot close to a self-storage facility in the community of Chatsworth, which is in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department and news video on the ground from NBC Los Angeles.

The helicopter was operated by Angel City Air and affiliated with the news station, which broadcast that it had lost contact with those on board.

“We knew it was a news chopper, we knew we’d lost contact with our people out there, and we’ve just received the confirmation that, in fact, NewsChopper 4 went down just before 7 o’clock tonight in Chatsworth,” anchor Colleen Williams said.

The victims aboard the helicopter were identified by NBC Los Angeles as Angel City Air employees Eliana Moreno, an aerial photojournalist familiar to viewers of the station and its Spanish-language sister station, Telemundo 52, and pilot George Marciniw. The two had been flying together since 2023. Here’s what we know about the victims.

The helicopter crash occurred after two people were killed and others were injured in a crash between a Los Angeles Metro bus and a passenger vehicle, according to the fire department.

Here’s what else we know about the crash.

Fed to announce interest rate decision as Trump calls for a cut

The Federal Reserve is set to announce today whether it will raise its key interest rate in the face of stubbornly high prices — or keep it steady yet again. Wall Street expects Fed Chair Kevin Warsh to announce a rate hike. President Donald Trump wants a rate cut. The Fed has not raised interest rates since 2023.

Several factors are stoking inflation. Energy prices have soared back to near all-time highs, with gas prices 45% higher than February, when the Iran war began, and diesel prices at their highest level ever. The Trump administration also entered a potentially protracted trade war with Canada.

Experts anticipate Trump’s reaction if rates rise.

Related coverage:

• A Congressional Budget Office report says the war with Iran is responsible for more than 40% of inflation in the second quarter of 2026 and that inflation will likely continue into 2027.

• For subscribers: Meanwhile, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note hit its highest rate since 2007. Here’s why these bond rates have a tremendous influence on the entire economy.
• European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney that she wants to open the door for Canada to become the European Union’s first associate member.

Board votes to close Kennedy Center for renovations

Trump’s handpicked Kennedy Center board voted to immediately shutter the performing arts center, shortly after a federal judge in Washington rejected the board’s latest effort to add Trump’s name to the building’s facade. The vote came the same day that Chief Financial Officer Donna Kauranen resigned from her position. The board cited the center’s “dire” structural condition in voting to close and warned it faces potential bankruptcy.

Attorneys for the board have said that legal action has kept them from doing necessary repairs, though the judge presiding over the case said in a hearing yesterday his earlier order preventing full closure still allowed for emergency repairs. Trump also joined the closed-door meeting and got into a shouting match with an ex-board member, according to a source who joined the virtual meeting.

Here’s what else happened in Tuesday’s hearing.

More politics news:

• Lawmakers pressed FBI Director Kash Patel during a contentious oversight hearing about his leadership of a bureau that has seen massive changes during Trump’s second term. He also found himself defending the bureau’s new policy on bestiality.

Support acts quit Ed Sheeran tour after Macklemore dropped over pro-Palestinian remarks

Ed Sheeran’s tour is now without any of its opening acts after Finneas and other musical artists withdrew in protest of Macklemore being dropped from the tour over his “Free Palestine” remarks during a recent show. The rapper announced Monday that he was no longer on the tour and claimed that New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft organized a boycott against him.

In addition to Finneas, Irish singer Aaron Rowe, Sheeran’s house band Beoga and Danish band Lukas Graham have dropped out. Sheeran put out a statement yesterday as the backlash against him grew, saying that it was not his decision to remove Macklemore from the tour.

What Sheeran and other artists are saying.

More Middle East news:

• The Trump administration plans to deliver powerful 2,000-pound bombs to Israel as part of an upcoming arms deal, weapons that prompted such concerns about the possibility of mass casualties in Gaza that the Biden administration paused their delivery two years ago.
• Gaza rescuers combed through the wreckage of a bombed-out apartment building that collapsed overnight, killing at least 16 Palestinians, including five children, and trapping dozens of others beneath the rubble.

Staff Pick: DHS is targeting foreign-born truckers. Both say safety is at stake.

My colleague Colin Sheeley and I noticed a social media post a few weeks ago from the Sikh Coalition alleging ICE was targeting Sikh Punjabi immigrant truckers across the country. This led to interviewing sources and advocates who told us that not only was ICE targeting Sikh truckers but also targeting immigrant truckers in general. The Trump administration took away their commercial drivers licenses and in many cases, detained these truckers. Now, a federal appeals court case could determine the fates of nearly 200,000 foreign-born truckers.

We spoke to several people affected by the Trump administration’s targeting of noncitizen truck drivers, as well as advocates about how the Sikh Punjabi community has been impacted. — Tavleen Tarrant, social newsgathering reporter

Read All About It 

• Prosecutors will not seek the death penalty against Nick Reiner in the killings of his parents after they consulted with the victims’ loved ones.

• A fourth death in Pennsylvania has been linked to measles, the state Health Department said. In all of last year, the U.S. recorded three measles deaths.

• A magazine checked out from a New Hampshire library has finally been returned — perhaps as long as 132 years late.

• The international sports competition Hyrox apologized after the winner of a recent event in Beijing was allowed to continue after defecating on herself during the event.

• For subscribers: Is Siri actually good now? Why senior tech analyst Joanna Stern says Apple’s latest software update is a major upgrade.

NBC Selected: Online Shopping, Simplified

Amazon just confirmed that Prime Big Deal Days are happening from Oct. 6 to Oct. 7. But Prime members don’t have to wait until next month to shop the sale. Amazon just dropped prices on dozens of products, including discounts up to 60% off. Shop Dyson, Garmin, Ninja and more now.

Sign up to The Selection newsletter for hands-on product reviews, expert shopping tips and a look at the best deals and sales each week.

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