Archive July 30, 2025

Track and field’s governing body has set a deadline of September 1 for athletes to pass a gene test before competing in the world championships in addition to the previously announced rules regarding female eligibility.

For female athletes to qualify for elite-level events, World Athletics announced in March that chromosome testing by cheek swabs or dry blood-spot tests would be required.

World Athletics stated in a statement on Wednesday that the next worlds will begin on September 13 in Tokyo, and that September 1 is “the closing date for entries and the date the regulations come into effect.”

Since Caster Semenya won her first 800-meter world title as a teenager in 2009, the most recent rules update gives certainty for the 2025 championships.

Semenya’s years-long challenge to a previous version of track and field’s eligibility guidelines, which affect athletes with medical conditions known as “differences in sex development,” was resolved three weeks ago in Strasbourg, France. The court’s decision did not overturn the rules of track because she did not receive a fair hearing at the Swiss supreme court.

In order to compete in international women’s events, World Athletics imposed new rules on Semenya and other athletes who have DSD and have suppressed their elevated natural testosterone levels. Menya refused to give medication.

The track body, which is based in Monaco, now requires a “once-in-a-lifetime test” to determine whether a person’s Y chromosome matches criteria for biological male athletes.

For you to compete in the female category, you must be biologically female, according to World Athletics President Sebastian Coe, at the highest level.

With the national-level protocol being followed by its member federations, the governing body will cover up to $100 of the costs for each test. Within two weeks, test results should be available.

World Athletics claimed that the SRY test is incredibly accurate and that false positive or false is improbable.

Transitional rules allow “a very small number of known DSD athletes” to continue competing if they take medication to stop the production of natural testosterone, as World Athletics has combined their eligibility criteria for DSD and transgender athletes.

According to World Athletics, “the transitional provisions do not apply to transgender women because there are no transgender athletes competing at the highest international level under the current regulations.”

The second quarter’s recovery was more than anticipated, but the data overstates the country’s overall health because domestic demand increased at a slower pace than expected and imports fell for the majority of the improvement.

According to Commerce Department data released on Wednesday, the US economy increased by 3 percent at an annualized rate in the second quarter, beating expectations from economists.

After almost stopping in the first quarter, the US President Donald Trump’s tariffs caused uncertainty, but the consumer spending growth increased moderately by 1.4 percent across both goods and services.

Imports dramatically decreased following the rush to stockpile in the first quarter in an effort to avoid tariffs, which contributed 5% to growth.

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt praised the report, saying that “President Trump has delivered on his promise to make America wealthy again. He has reduced America’s reliance on foreign products, boosted investment in the US, and created thousands of jobs.” There are no more valid reasons for Powell to cut the rates until the data is clear.

Trump has been pressing the US Federal Reserve to cut interest rates for months, but Jerome Powell has repeatedly said the Fed will wait to see how the economy develops as a result before deciding to cut its key interest rate.

Policy-initiated slowdown

Despite claims that US investment has increased, the data indicates otherwise as private sector investment decreased by 15.6% in the second quarter.

The GDP release from today only adds to the policy-initiated slowdown that is already underway. In a statement released to Al Jazeera, Skanda Amarnath, executive director of Employ America and former Federal Reserve economist, said that the top-line number appears superficially better but only as a result of some backlash from the tariff-driven irks to trade and inventories, which temporarily impacted output in Q1.

This is in addition to a 3.2% decrease in non-durable goods manufacturing, which increased at a slower pace of 1.3 percent, compared to 2.3 percent in the previous quarter.

“This second quarter estimate reflects the chaotic trade environment caused by this administration, which saw a decrease in imports and nondurable goods.” According to Gbenga Ajilore, chief economist at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, there has also been a decline in exports, particularly for cars, engines, and parts, as a result of the current tariffs on steel, aluminum, and cars.

Job growth also slowed, contrary to what the White House claims. The US Labor Department’s employment report from last month revealed that some industries, including wholesale trade, are impacted by tariffs. Friday is the day before the Labor Department’s July report is scheduled to be released. ADP’s private sector payroll report, which was released on Wednesday, showed 104, 000 new jobs added in the previous month and revised numbers from the previous month, which represents a 23 000 job decline.

Final sales to private domestic customers, also known as business and consumers, increased by 1.2 percent for the quarter, a slowdown from the 1.9 percent seen in the first quarter of the year, according to the gross domestic product (GDP) report.

In a statement released to Al Jazeera, Daniel Hornung, senior fellow at MIT and former deputy director of the National Economic Council, it is clear that tariffs and uncertainty were slowing the economy even during the first half of the year.