WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Justice Department has closed its criminal investigation into whether a book by John Bolton about his time as President Donald Trump's national security adviser illegally disclosed classified information, Bolton's lawyer said on Wednesday.

Security forces set ablaze a village in central Myanmar after clashing there with opponents of the ruling junta, leaving at least two elderly people burned to death, several village residents said on Wednesday.

GENEVA (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden asked Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday how he would feel if someone carried out a ransomware attack on Russian oil pipelines, a pointed question during their summit that illustrated the breadth of their disagreements.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Federal Reserve on Wednesday brought forward its projections for the first post-pandemic interest rate hikes into 2023 and opened the debate on when and how it may be appropriate to start tapering the U.S. central bank's massive bond-buying program.

Markets were jostled Wednesday after U.S. Federal Reserve officials projected interest rate hikes sooner than expected, with stocks sliding and the dollar jumping on the news.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday promoted the Biden administration's efforts to advance voting rights when she met 16 fellow Democrats from the Texas state legislature who successfully blocked a bill they said would make it harder for Blacks and Hispanics to vote.

El Salvador has sought assistance from the World Bank as it implements its move to use bitcoin as a parallel legal tender alongside the U.S. dollar, Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya said on Wednesday.

Though the temporary local, state and federal policies put in place to fight the COVID-19 pandemic may be expiring, they have left an indelible mark on the legal landscape, particularly in the area of religious liberty, legal experts say.

The three main Wall Street indexes all closed down on Wednesday, as U.S. Federal Reserve officials unnerved investors with indications that the central bank could begin rising interest rates in 2023, a year earlier than expected.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. attorney general on Wednesday rescinded a Trump-era decision that made it harder for victims of domestic violence and gang violence to win asylum, the latest move by U.S. President Joe Biden to create what he says is a more humane immigration system.