Reuters World News - Fed showdown, France, Mamdani and Tayvis

Starting point is 00:00:01 Today, Lisa Cook vows to fight Trump's Fed-firing in court, setting up another legal showdown testing the limits of presidential authority. Stinging US tariffs take hold in India. France's government is on the rocks for the third time in just over a year. Congratulations are in order for Tavis and Zoran Mamdani's hip-hop roots. It's Wednesday, August 27th. This is Reuters World News. bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week.

Starting point is 00:00:41 I'm Kim Vinal in Wonganui, New Zealand. Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook is preparing to sue the Trump administration to block her removal from the central bank, setting the stage for a legal showdown that could redefine presidential power over independent agencies. President Donald Trump is citing what he calls deceitful and potential criminal conduct over mortgage applications Cook filed before joining the Fed. Cook's denied wrongdoing, but Trump is already preparing for what's next. And we'll have a majority very shortly, so that'll be great.

Starting point is 00:01:24 Here's reporter Dan Wisner, who is tracking the legal arguments at the heart of this case. Trump says he has caused because Cook allegedly committed mortgage fraud by stating that two separate properties were both her primary residence. part of what will happen in this lawsuit is trying to figure out whether that is sufficient cause to remove someone from the Fed. Regardless, the administration will likely also argue that the president, in fact, doesn't need any cause to remove a member of the Fed and that he should be able to do so in order to effectuate his economic policies. Dan says Trump's firing of other federal workers may also come into play. In most of those cases, the laws actually define cause to be malfeasance or neglect or inefficiency. And the Trump administration has actually argued that those protections are unconstitutional because they improperly limit the president's control of the executive branch.

Starting point is 00:02:26 What is unclear is whether those arguments also extend to the Fed, which has a very unique structure in history. The Fed is a quasi-governmental agency. Simply put, the work that the Fed does, such as setting interest rates, is seen as too vital to the national and global economies to be left to the whims of whichever party is in power or to politicians who may be concerned with next year's election and with long-term financial stability. The Federal Reserve says it still considers Lisa Cook a board member, but will abide by any court ruling. Indian leather exporter, Shamim Azad, says his buyers in the US have cancelled their orders because of new tariffs, and that some factories have had to shut down. US tariffs on India are in effect as of today, and they're among the highest in the world. Indian products now face up to 50% tariffs going into the US.

Starting point is 00:03:32 Trump up the rate because New Delhi is continuing to buy Russian oil. Investors are bracing for Nvidia's earnings out later today with its China business and a recent profit-sharing deal with the Trump administration in focus. Trade is abracing for a $260 billion swing in its market value and say a strong result could lift some of the more speculative corners of the AI trade. The US dollar is frail as investors remain nervous about attacks on Federal Reserve autonomy. That steepened the Treasury yield curve with, two-year yields hitting their lowest since May. A spokesperson for the Israeli military says two

Starting point is 00:04:20 journalists for Reuters and the Associated Press, who were killed in Israeli strikes, were not a target. Israeli forces struck Nasser Hospital in the south of the Gaza Strip on Monday, killing at least 20 people, including five journalists in total. None of the journalists were among the alleged militant targets, the military named in a statement. The army says it's ordering a further inquiry, into how the decision to strike the hospital was made. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, will chair a meeting on Gaza at the White House later today, according to U.S. Special Envoy Steve Whitkoff. He didn't say who will be going.

Starting point is 00:05:02 Woodcoff did say Washington expects the war in Gaza to be settled by the end of the year. As Gaza continues to be bombarded, Israelis rallied in support of families of hostages held in the strip. Thousands turned out, blocking roads in Tel Aviv and elsewhere in the country, calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach an agreement with Hamas to end the war and release the captives. France's government could collapse within weeks. Prime Minister Francois-Bavu called an emergency parliamentary session

Starting point is 00:05:47 to face a confidence vote over his plan to cut debt by about $50 billion. a year. Opposition parties rejected the proposal. Gabriel Stargarda in Paris explains how Parliament remains deeply divided, especially over the budget. Now, Beiru is the latest unlucky soul to be tasked with the job of resolving this issue. He surprised everyone by essentially fast-forwarding what was going to be an inevitable problem coming down the road, passing the budget. He said, you know what, how about we have a confidence vote on me and on whether or not I am the man to push this debt issue through? Because someone has to do it.

Starting point is 00:06:31 And I think he thought that he would maybe wrong foot his opponents by doing that. But actually, they said, wonderful, we would relish the opportunity to bring you down. And I think that's maybe where he underestimated how much opposition there was to his debt slimming plans. If Beiru falls, Macon could dissolve Parliament or launch a fresh legislative election, but there is one last hope for the current Prime Minister. Markets reacted very badly to this news, so that could in a way focus minds, I think.

Starting point is 00:07:08 Cracker barrel is keeping its old logo after a backlash, including from Donald Trump, over a planned rebrand. The chain had briefly removed its long time. mascot, Uncle Herschel, in a move some saw as a raising a symbol of the chain's southern down-home identity, calling it woke. After Cracker Barrel announced the reversal, President Trump took to Truth Social to congratulate the chain, saying fans appreciate it very much. Shares jumped 7% after the announcement, recovering some losses from last week's fallout. Travis Kelsey and Taylor Swift are engaged and the world wants your reactions are...

Starting point is 00:07:51 Well, I wish I'm a lot, a lot. Well wishes for pop star Taylor Swift and NFL player Travis Kelsey are coming in from all corners, including from Trump in the Oval Office, after the pair announced their engagement. In a joint post on Instagram, the couple wrote, Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married. Before he was a rising political star, New York Democratic mayoral candidate Sohran Mamdani was a rapper,

Starting point is 00:08:20 performing under the name Mr Cardamom. Now, his past life in music is drawing fresh attention. Here's Donna Bryson. I think it's something that people have known is that he's a multicultural guy. But the fact that he embraces it in these videos and his music career is a new window on that. There's one of the songs are looking at the lyrics now.

Starting point is 00:08:53 I got the same history as Chapati, origins of India, but born in Yugi, for Uganda, of course. It gives him lots of connections with lots of different kinds of New Yorkers, and he's comfortable with that, comfortable with himself. I think he put aside the music career when he first ran for State Assembly, so that was back in 2020. But it's still part of his biography. Our reporter looked at his financial declarations from this year and he mentioned that he's a rap career. Not making a lot of money off it anymore. Not a lot of residuals there,

Starting point is 00:09:31 but it's still part of his life that he doesn't deny no reason for him to do that. For today's recommended read. There we go. Read and watch SpaceX's latest test flight. It's been deemed a success after. after a series of failures, would the Starship rocket deploying its first batch of Mock Starlink satellites? There's a link to the full story in the pod description.

Starting point is 00:10:06 For more on any of the stories from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. Don't forget to follow us on your favourite podcast player. And if you're listening on a smart speaker, just ask for the latest news from Reuters seven days a week. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.

Reuters World News - Fed showdown, France, Mamdani and Tayvis

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