Federal Reserve officials raised interest rates for the second time this year and upgraded their forecast to four total hikes for 2018, as the job market tightens and inflation speeds up. Check out the new dot plot here. If you're a fan of football, rather than the Fed, you're likely looking forward to the start of the World Cup on Thursday. Russia's hosting, so you can expect a tournament unlike any other.—Josh Petri

Here are today's top stories

Investors were quick to bet that a broader wave of mergers is coming, after AT&T got clearance to buy Time Warner late Tuesday. A wide swath of media companies are mulling possible deals.

Comcast wasted no time after the ruling, making a $65 billion offer to acquire much of 21st Century Fox on Wednesday afternoon, and setting up a bidding war with Disney.

Michael Cohen is splitting from his legal team. The longtime Trump fixer—under federal investigation and financial pressure—plans to hire a new lawyer for the next phase of the probe.

The U.S., Canada, and Mexico united long enough to secure the 2026 World Cup. Games will be played in 16 different cities, but the U.S. will host 60 of the 80 matches.

The humble battery has conquered the world. The lithium ion battery has been around for three decades, but it took the arrival of the electric car for the energy storage system to really take off.

Bitcoin extended its losses again today, as questions mount about whether the world’s biggest cryptocurrency was manipulated during last year’s record price surge.

What's Joe Weisenthal thinking? The Bloomberg news director is seeking the real reason why Tesla is eliminating 3000 jobs. From a financial perspective, it's not a major gamechanger. Often it seems, the objective of spending cuts is not the cost savings per se, but the demonstration that whoever is in charge can be tough and not driven by sentiment.

What you'll need to know tomorrow

• These women want to solve the pay gap. Are they discriminating against men? 
• Disasters are getting so costly that FEMA is buying reinsurance. 
• Volkswagen will pay a $1.2 billion fine for evading diesel-emission regulations.
• The women's libido pill is back, and so is the controversy.
• A layer of 300 million-year-old rock under I-95 could kill the lights from Washington to Boston.
• A huge Mars dust storm could mean the loss of a NASA rover.
• A billionaire's dream of splitting up California moved one step closer to reality.

What you'll want to read tonight

Amazon's Clever Machines Are Leaving the Warehouse

Machines are beating people at the critical inventory decisions that separate the winners and losers in retail. For the staffers deciding how many books, games or plastic pool toys to peddle, the tradeoff can be stark: Order too little and you miss out. Order too much and you’re forced into costly clearance sales. Amazon’s algorithms, refined through years of monitoring customer behavior, are getting the company out of the guessing game.

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