US: President Biden signs rail deal averting 'economic catastrophe'

US President Joe Biden signed a bill Friday to avert a freight rail strike that he said could have plunged the U.S. into a catastrophic recession. At the White House, Biden signed a measure passed Thursday by the Senate and Wednesday by the House. It binds rail companies and workers to a proposed settlement that was reached between the railroads and union leaders in September but rejected by some of the union workers.