Reuters World News - Tsunami warnings, UK and Palestinian statehood, EPA reversal and alien probe

Episode Date: July 30, 2025

The Fed keeps rates unchanged despite Trump's pressure. A huge quake rattles Russia's Far East. Israel faces pressure as the UK joins France in saying it could recognize Palestinian statehood in September. Trump’s EPA targets key ruling underpinning all U.S. greenhouse gas rules. This episode has been updated to include the latest news on the Fed. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter here. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast here. Find the Recommended Read here. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, the Fed keeps rates unchanged despite Trump's pressure on Powell. A huge earthquake off Russia's Far East prompts tsunami warnings across the Pacific Ocean, including in the U.S. Israel fumes over the UK's move to recognize a Palestinian state. And Trump's EPA targets the legal basis for tackling climate change. It's Wednesday, July 30th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know, from the front lines and 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Kim Vannell and Wanganui, New Zealand.

And I'm Sharon Reich Garson in New Jersey. The Federal Reserve is holding its main interest rate steady, despite calls from U.S. President Donald Trump to lower borrowing costs. This week's meeting marks the first time in more than 30 years that two members of the Fed's Board of Governors voted against a rate decision. Fed reporter Howard Schneider is with us to break down what it all means. The president clearly does not like the fact that the Fed is so independent of his desires that Al can sit there and just say, what?

You know, no, I'm not cutting interest rates. So these two governors dissent, they happen to be Trump appointees. They will say, and I think there's cause there to argue, they're having a debate about this and there are reasons why you might want to cut rates now other than Donald Trump saying so. But the optics look like a step ahead for Donald Trump's capital. of the Fed. A massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck off the Russian coast on Wednesday, triggering

tsunami warnings as far away as Chile and French Polynesia. A volcano eruption soon followed on the Kamchataka Peninsula. Tsunami waves began hitting the Marquesas this morning, but were smaller than initially feared. were issued in Japan and Hawaii, where waves were more than four feet high, but were then downgraded. And by this morning, people were walking their dogs and surfing in Ocean Beach, California. Meanwhile in Russia, emergency workers removed rubble at a damaged kindergarten in Kamchatka cry. The shallow earthquake damaged buildings and injured several people in the remote Russian region. The UK will recognize the state of the state of the state of the country.

Palestine by the United Nations General Assembly in September. British Prime Minister Kea Stama warning Israel that the UK could follow in France's footsteps unless Israel ends its military campaign in Gaza and commits to peace. I want to ensure that this plays a part in changing the conditions on the ground and making sure that that aid gets in. If Stama follows through, the US will be the only. permanent member of the UN Security Council not to recognise a Palestinian state. Will James is following the story in London. It's certainly designed to make everyone think again about

the importance of the two-state solution. There's been an element of fatigue to what's been happening in the Gaza-Israel crisis, and I think the images of starving children have made people look at it again with fresh eyes. Stahma has said, I've calculated this to have the maximum impact. He thinks this is the moment where recognizing a Palestinian state will have that effect of pushing a two-state solution back to the front of the agenda. And obviously France has come to the same conclusion too. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the move, posting on social media site X, that Stama is rewarding Hamas's monstrous terrorism and punishing its victims. US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order implementing an additional 40% tariff on

Brazil, bringing the total tariff amount to 50%. The order exempts major exports like orange juice, some aircraft, wood pulp, and energy products. The U.S. tied the tariffs to Brazil's prosecution of former President Yaira Bolsonaro, who's been charged with plotting a coup to overturn his 2022 electoral loss. Also on Wednesday, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Brazilian Supreme Court Justice, Alexander de Morayesh, who's over there. overseeing the criminal case against Bolsonaro. A gunman who killed four people in a Manhattan skyscraper on Monday

had been flagged by security cameras as a potential threat seconds before he burst into the building's lobby and began firing. The shooter, named as Shane Tamura, was targeting the NFL over a brain disease he blamed on football. He left a suicide note saying he held the league responsible. Ruden management, the real estate company, that owns the tower, declined to comment on the camera system and whether it prompted any immediate actions from security staff. A Republican-led congressional committee has rejected Galane Maxwell's

request for immunity. Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for her role in Jeffrey Epstein's sex abuse, was subpoenaed to testify privately to the House Oversight Committee. Her lawyers say she won't risk further prosecution without formal immunity. It comes amid ongoing questions, about President Trump's past connections to Epstein and the handling of related records. Maxwell is also appealing her conviction to the Supreme Court. US pressure to make Russia stop the war in Ukraine is spilling over into U.S.-China trade negotiations.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant is warning Beijing the U.S. could charge up to 100% tariffs on Russian oil that it tries to sell on, and he says the U.S. won't be the only ones. heard from several of our European counterparts, NATO allies, even Canada, well, Canada, it is in NATO, that they will be following on that. So I think anyone who buys sanctioned Russian oil should be ready for this. Bessent was speaking after two days of trade talks with his Chinese counterparts in Stockholm, where the sides agreed to seek an extension of a 90-day tariff truce. President Donald Trump's approval rating has hit 40%

its lowest point of his second term, according to a new Reuters Ipsos poll. The poll finds that Americans are still concerned about his handling of the economy and immigration. People are deeply polarised, with 83% of Republicans and just 3% of Democrats approving of his performance. Australia is adding YouTube

to its world-first social media ban for teenagers. The expanded ban, which also covers Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok for anyone under 16, takes effect in December. YouTube disputes the classification and says it's a video sharing service, not social media. The Environmental Protection Agency plans to reverse the scientific finding that greenhouse gases endanger human health. It served as the legal foundation for all greenhouse gas regulations. The move, which marks the largest deregulatory action in U.S. history,

will almost certainly be challenged in the courts. Energy reporter Valerie Volkavici is in Washington. Valerie, why is the Trump administration doing this? They feel that by removing all of these regulations, they're going to lift all these burdens for business and for industry. However, it remains to be seen whether this will be something that is of benefit to industry or not, because for many companies, they have customers that have demanded less emitting vehicles or just more environmentally friendly products.

There has been kind of huge popular support for reducing emissions in some of these policies. So for business, it's not clear cut. The decision to remove the endangerment finding may or may not add regulatory certainty. Finally, if you've ever wondered if there's anything else out there, and by that I mean, alien type stuff, Harvard astrophysicist Avi Lueb has an object for your consideration. He says an interstellar object has been found traveling near planets close to the sun and that it is very, very rare. The unusual trajectory of this object offers the possibility that it might have been designed

so as to have some goals of a reconnaissance mission. He says it may end up being a comet, but we won't know until it gets closer to the sun. And for today's recommended read, how farmers in Australia, which is the world's driest inhabited continent, a defying climate doom, increasing crop yields through new agricultural techniques. We'll put a link to that story in today's podcast description. 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. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.