Category World News

Despite President Donald Trump’s mounting pressure to lower rates, the US Federal Reserve has kept its benchmark rate unchanged.

The Fed announced on Wednesday that it would maintain its short-term rate at 4.25 to 4.5%.

Interest rates haven’t been cut since December, but the central bank’s decision was generally in line with expectations.

The decision comes as economic policymakers weigh warning signs. In its yesterday report from the US Department of Commerce, US retail sales numbers decreased more than expected. The US Department of Labor reported a record number of jobless claims for the week, reaching 248, 000.

The unemployment rate, however, was stable at 4.2 percent, which suggests that the labor market is still relatively stable even though the last jobs report showed that.

The Committee wants to achieve the highest possible rate of inflation and employment over the long-term. The central bank stated in a statement that the outlook’s uncertainty has decreased but is still high.

According to Powell, the central bank was holding rates steady in response to uncertainty caused by Trump’s economic and immigration policies as well as consumer prices, a crucial inflation indicator for the Federal Reserve, and that the labor market was not a major source of inflationary pressures. A 2.1% increase for the month of April was revealed in the most recent report.

According to Powell, “we’ve seen goods inflation increase slightly.” More of that is anticipated over the course of the summer, according to the organization. Tariffs must pass through the distribution chain to the final consumer before they can be implemented. We are beginning to notice effects, he continued, and we anticipate seeing more in the upcoming months.

Economists concur.

The US economy is showing more resilience than expected, despite the Fed’s pressure to raise rates. Only 1.4 percent of the US’s overall growth forecast for 2025 is currently in place. The nominal growth rate would be the lowest since 2020 if inflation were to reach 2.4 percent as of the most recent reading. According to Global X’s SVP and head of investment strategy, Scott Helfstein, the US growth rate could increase, which is warranted waiting.

“The jobs number has consistently performed better than anticipated.” Full employment and price stability are the requirements of the Fed. While both risks have increased as a result of policy uncertainty, the data fails to account for labor weakness or an increase in inflation. That is the central point of this Fed calculus.

Jerome Powell, the former Fed Chair, doesn’t seem to feel too hot. However, if there had been any easing, it would have been “absolutely stimulative” and lowering the interest rate on US debt, according to Michael Ashley Schulman, the partner and chief investment officer at Running Point Capital Advisors.

Policymakers are considering the escalating Middle East tensions and the looming and consistently shifting changes to Trump’s tariff policies. Prior to Israel’s attack last week on Iran and its retaliatory strikes, oil prices were in decline, but worries about the Strait of Hormuz closing as tensions rise have grown. Prices may also be going up in the coming weeks.

Powell is the subject of Trump’s criticism.

Trump criticized the central bank’s decision to hold rates steady before the rate announcement, which he had previously expressed disappointment with.

He remarked on his desire for rate cuts, saying “Powell’s too late.” Because he’s always too late, I refer to him as “too late Powell.” Trump said, “If you look at him, you know that I always knew that when I did this, I always knew that he was mistaken.”

It is unclear what Trump meant by “may have to force something,” he added.

He also suggested that he should serve as central bank’s leader. Trump reportedly said, “Maybe I should contact the Fed.” Can I choose my own appointment at the Fed? I’d perform much better than these people.”

Trump has recently rebuffed his call to fire the central bank head, and Powell’s term is set to expire in May.

He leaves in about nine months, he has to, and fortunately, he is terminated, according to Biden, former president. Trump said, “I don’t know why that is, but I suppose he was a Democrat, who has done a poor job.”

Israeli forces have attacked numerous Palestinians’ food-related targets repeatedly. &nbsp,

A Tennessee law that forbids hormone replacement therapy and puberty blockers for transgender minors is still in effect, according to the US Supreme Court.

The high court’s six conservative judges voted for Tennessee and its three left-leaning judges joined together to argue their case on Wednesday, which splintered ideologically.

The majority’s opinion was written by Chief Justice John Roberts. He explained in it that the plaintiffs, three transgender minors, their parents, and a doctor, had failed to successfully challenge the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which guarantees equal protection under the law.

The plaintiffs claimed that because of their sex and gender, Tennessee’s SB1 law discriminated against them.

Roberts, however, disagreed. He noted that young men and women are equally subject to the ban.

He claimed that “SB1 does not conceal sex-based classifications.” The law does not forbid sexual activity that would otherwise be permitted. No minors may receive hormones or puberty blockers as part of SB1 to treat gender incongruence, gender identity disorder, or dysphoria.

Roberts also made the point that the Tennessee law still allows the use of puberty blockers to treat early puberty, disease, or injury in children. He wrote that any sex could submit that application.

According to Roberts, “SB1 does not exclude anyone from receiving medical care because of their transgender status, but rather removes one set of diagnoses from the spectrum of treatable conditions: gender dysphoria, gender identity disorder, and gender incongruence,”

Sometimes transgender youth receive hormone inhibitors to prevent the onset of puberty, preventing the development of secondary sexual traits like breasts, deeper voices, and facial hair.

According to LGBTQ advocates, this gender-affirming care is sometimes required to lessen the strain of such changes and lessen the need for additional surgeries in the future. Generally accepted, potenty blockers are safe and have a temporary effect.

Roberts noted that some medical professionals are urging more research into the drug’s long-term effects and citing “open questions” in the field.

According to Roberts, “Health authorities in a number of European countries have expressed serious concerns about the potential harms associated with the use of hormones and puberty blockers in the treatment of transgender minors.”

Recent developments only serve as further evidence that this area needs more flexibility in laws, he said.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a fierce dissent in opposition to the majority’s position. Given that transgender youth are more likely to commit suicide, self-harm, and bullying, puberty blockers can save lives, she argued.

The majority contorts logic and precedent to say otherwise, bizarrely declaring that it must support Tennessee’s categorical ban on lifesaving medical care as long as “any reasonably conceivable state of facts” might support it, Sotomayor wrote.

The Court “abandones transgender children and their families to political whims by reversing from meaningful judicial review precisely where it matters most.” I disagree with you in sadness.

She emphasized that there is general agreement in the US medical community regarding the use of puberty blockers when gender dysphoria is suspected of being diagnosed with comprehensive and accurate diagnosis.

According to Sotomayor, “transgender adolescents’ access to hormones and puberty blockers (also known as gender-affirming care) is not based on their appearance at all.” “As opposed to that, access to care can be a matter of life or death.”

She questioned why Tennessee lawmakers should be able to regulate medical decisions and why transgender youth could still use puberty blockers to combat issues like unwanted facial hair in adolescence but not gender equality.

No regard for the child’s parents or doctors’ opinions, Tennessee’s ban is in effect regardless of the minor’s medical history.
the extent to which a minor’s mental health conditions or individual child’s need for medical care,” Sotomayor said.

The transgender community in the US is at a precarious time as a result of Wednesday’s decision.

US President Donald Trump has taken steps to restrict transgender people’s rights since taking office for a second term in January. The Republican leader announced that the federal government would only recognize both sexes, male and female, on his first day back in the White House.

He then issued an additional executive order on January 27, effectively establishing a ban on transgender military personnel. Trump said that transgender people were “expressing a false “gender identity” and that their identity “conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle.”

That ban was also upheld by the Supreme Court. For transgender soldiers to self-identify and voluntarily leave the military, June 6 was the first day after that.

Trump has also stated that his administration will not fund transgender girls and women’s sports programs in schools. In states like Maine, where Democratic Governor Janet Mills has pledged to stand up to Trump, this decision has caused unrest.

The controversy over Tennessee’s ban on puberty blockers comes as a result of a string of similar laws. According to the ACLU, some 25 states have laws enforcing gender-affirming laws for transgender youth.

According to the group, those laws prevent around 100,000 transgender minors from receiving the medical care they might need.

The Supreme Court’s decision on Wednesday was initially challenged by a lower court, but the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the ruling while an appeal was pending.

The ACLU defended the Supreme Court’s decision as a setback but pledged to file legal challenges in the future. It made the claim in a statement that the Supreme Court had not overturned the general rule that transgender people should not be discriminated against.

The ACLU’s LGBTQ and HIV Project co-director, Chase Strangio, described today’s ruling as a “devastating loss for transgender people, our families, and everyone who cares about the Constitution.”

After the Japanese company struggled for 18 months to close the deal, Nippon Steel’s $ 14 billion acquisition of US Steel has given him an unusual amount of power.

According to the companies, the deal came to an end on Wednesday.

Nippon purchased 100% of US Steel shares for $55 per share, which was the company’s original price at December 2023, according to the agreement terms. A non-economic golden share and a national security agreement signed with the Trump administration are also disclosed in a press release about the filing.

The chairman and CEO of Nippon Steel, Eiji Hashimoto, thanked the president for his service. After a difficult path to approval, which high-level political opposition sparked, he claimed Nippon Steel agreed to represent an unusual level of control conceded by the companies to the government to save the deal.

As noted in a weekend social media post by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the golden share grants the US&nbsp, government veto power over a number of corporate decisions, including those regarding shutting down factories, reducing production capacity, and moving jobs overseas.

According to the release, the share gives the government a veto over any potential acquisitions of rival businesses, including a potential relocation of US Steel’s headquarters from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as well as job transfers abroad, name changes, and possible acquisitions of rival companies.

National security lawyers said on Monday that the inclusion of the golden share would require the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US to approve it in order for it to be approved.

Through the acquisition, US Steel will have $11 billion in investment through 2028, including $1 billion for a new US mill, which will increase by $3 billion in the future.

While its foreign competitors are subject to steel tariffs of 50%, it will also allow Nippon Steel, the fourth-largest steel producer in the world, to make money off of a number of infrastructure projects in America.

Additionally, the Japanese company can avoid paying the $565 million in breakup costs if the businesses don’t get their approvals.

Nippon Steel announced on Wednesday that its annual crude steel production capacity is expected to reach 86 million tonnes, which is more in line with its global strategic goal of 100 million tonnes of capacity.

Nippon Steel was referred to as a “great partner” by the president. In their campaign efforts to woo voters in Pennsylvania, a crucial swing state, both the Democratic Party and Trump, a Republican, came out against the deal last year.

Biden allegedly halted the deal on national security grounds shortly before he left office in January, causing lawsuits from the businesses, who argued the unbiased national security review they received. The charge was refuted by the Biden White House. The Trump administration’s opening of a new 45-day national security review into the proposed merger in April presented a new opportunity for the steel industry.

Trump’s comments in the press, which ranged from welcoming a straightforward “investment” by the Japanese company to vouching for Nippon Steel, created confusion.

Trump’s May 30 rally sparked hopes of approval, and a sign-off was finally achieved on Friday with an executive order allowing the businesses to combine if they signed an NSA grant to the US&nbsp, government, which they did.