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Donald Trump says he has ‘no intention’ of firing Jay Powell

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Donald Trump says he has ‘no intention’ of firing Jay Powell

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Donald Trump has said he has “no intention” of firing US Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell, after indications that he could sack him sparked a sell-off in markets.

The president has repeatedly hit out against the Fed chair’s refusal to cut interest rates and last week signalled he believed he could dismiss Powell before his term as central bank head comes to an end in May 2026. 

Trump reiterated his complaints that the Fed needed to cut borrowing costs in comments in the Oval Office on Tuesday afternoon, but he added: “I don’t want to talk about that because I have no intention of firing him.”

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The remarks came after intense speculation that Powell would soon be dismissed over his refusal to cut borrowing costs.

US stock futures rose, pointing to gains for the benchmark S&P 500 index and tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 later on Wednesday. The dollar index extended a recovery and is up 0.9 per cent since the start of Tuesday, while the Japanese yen dropped by the same amount, with one dollar buying ¥142.10.

In Asia, markets rose on Wednesday morning with Japan’s broad Topix gaining 2 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng 2.3 per cent and Taiwan’s benchmark 3.6 per cent.

Investors said the president’s apparent U-turn on Powell proved there were at least some members of his inner circle who recognised that markets value the independence of America’s major institutions.

“This shows there are some guardrails around this president,” said Dec Mullarkey, managing director at fund manager SLC Management. “This feels like [Treasury secretary Scott] Bessent’s touch,” he added.

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“Clearly other folks have talked to [Trump] and explained that [firing Powell] would have caused huge volatility. Bessent recognises that the integrity of markets has to be maintained.”

Powell has repeatedly said that he would serve his full term as Fed chair and believed that his early dismissal would not be allowed under US law. 

Investors’ concerns over his tenure rose after Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said on Friday that Trump would “continue to study” the matter of dismissing Powell.

Hassett, then chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, backed Powell after the Fed chair and Trump fell out during his first term as president.

Financial markets sold off on Monday after Trump attacked Powell as “Mr Too Late” in a post on his Truth Social platform, with the dollar falling to a three-year low against a basket of currencies and the S&P 500 index dropping 2.4 per cent.

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US stocks and the dollar largely recouped their losses during regular trading on Tuesday after Bessent said a trade war with China was “unsustainable”.

The Fed has been on a collision course with Trump since shortly after he took office, but the attacks from the White House have intensified ever since the president launched his “reciprocal tariffs” on April 2. 

Rate-setters, including Powell, have made clear that they will postpone any interest rate cuts until they are confident that Trump’s trade policies will not lead to a persistent rise in inflation. 

The Fed chair and his colleagues have also made clear their concerns that Trump’s tariffs raise the prospect of lower growth and higher prices, weakening an economy that officials previously said was in good shape. 

Trump took to Truth Social last Thursday saying Powell’s termination “could not come fast enough” after the Fed chair confirmed the previous day that the central bank would not come to stock markets’ rescue and cut rates to counter fears that the tariffs will drive the US economy into recession.

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Additional reporting from George Steer and Peter Wells in New York and Arjun Neil Alim in Hong Kong

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Man Charged With Posting Bomb Instructions Used in New Orleans Attack

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Man Charged With Posting Bomb Instructions Used in New Orleans Attack

Federal prosecutors have filed charges against a former Army serviceman they accused of distributing instructions on how to build explosives that were used by a man who conducted a deadly attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day last year.

The former serviceman, Jordan A. Derrick, a 40-year-old from Missouri, was charged with one count of engaging in the business of manufacturing explosive materials without a license; one count of unlawful possession of an unregistered destructive device; and one count of distributing information relating to manufacturing explosives, according to a criminal complaint unsealed on Wednesday. The three charges together carry a maximum sentence of 40 years in federal prison.

Starting in September 2023, the authorities said, Mr. Derrick was using various social media sites to share videos of himself making explosive materials, including detonators. His videos provided step-by-step instructions, and he often engaged with viewers in comments, sometimes answering their questions about the chemistry behind the explosives.

The authorities said that Mr. Derrick’s videos were downloaded by Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, 42, who was accused of ramming a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on Jan. 1, 2025, in a terrorist attack that killed 14 people and injured dozens. Mr. Jabbar was killed in a shootout with the police. Before the attack, Mr. Jabbar had placed two explosives on Bourbon Street, the authorities said, but they did not detonate.

The authorities later recovered two laptops and a USB drive in a house that Mr. Jabbar had rented. The USB drive contained several videos created by Mr. Derrick that provided instructions on making explosives. The authorities said the explosives they recovered were consistent with the ones Mr. Derrick had posted about.

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Mr. Derrick’s lawyers did not respond to requests for comment.

Mr. Derrick was a combat engineer in the Army, where he provided personnel and vehicle support, the authorities said. He also helped supervise safety personnel during demolitions and various operations. He was honorably discharged in February 2013.

The authorities did not say whether Mr. Derrick had any communication with Mr. Jabbar, or whether the men had known each other. In some of Mr. Derrick’s videos and comments, he indicated that he was aware that his videos could be misused.

“There are a plethora of uh, moral, you know, entanglements with topics, any topic of teaching explosives, right?” he asked in one video, according to the affidavit. “Of course, the wrong people could get it.”

The authorities also said that an explosion occurred at a private residence in Odessa, Mo., on May 4, and the occupant of the residence told investigators that he had manufactured explosives after watching online tutorials from Mr. Derrick.

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Mr. Derrick’s YouTube account had more than 15,000 subscribers and 20 published videos, the affidavit said. He had also posted content on other platforms, including Odysee and Patreon. Some videos were accessible to the public for free, while others required a paid subscription to view.

“My responsibility to my countrymen is to make sure that I serve the function of the Second Amendment to strengthen it,” Mr. Derrick said in one of his videos, according to the affidavit. “This is how I serve my country for real.”

Outside of the income he received through content creation, Mr. Derrick did not have any known employment. He did receive a monthly disability check from Veterans Affairs, the affidavit stated.

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The Girls: “This isn’t ringing alarms to y’all?” : Embedded

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The Girls: “This isn’t ringing alarms to y’all?” : Embedded
Allegations pile up, but Child Protective Services declines to investigate and the school district continues to promote Ronnie Stoner. We include an update at the end of the episode. “The Girls” is a 4-part series from the Louisville Public Media’s investigative podcast, Dig.
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Chud the Builder, Known for Racist Confrontations, Charged With Attempted Murder

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Chud the Builder, Known for Racist Confrontations, Charged With Attempted Murder

A streamer known for hurling racist slurs in public settings under the nickname “Chud the Builder” was charged with attempted murder after a shooting outside a Tennessee courthouse on Wednesday, the authorities said.

The streamer, Dalton Eatherly, 28, was involved in a confrontation with an unidentified man that escalated to gunfire outside the Montgomery County Court in Clarksville, about 50 miles northwest of Nashville, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. Both men sustained gunshot wounds and were in stable condition, the office said.

In addition to attempted murder, Mr. Eatherly was charged with employing a firearm during dangerous felony, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, the sheriff’s office said.

Mr. Eatherly, who is white, has accumulated an online audience by livestreaming confrontations in which he uses racist language toward Black people in public.

Law enforcement did not provide any details about the second man involved in Wednesday’s shooting. Mr. Eatherly posted an audio recording online of paramedics treating his wounds in which he claims he shot the man in self-defense.

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A video posted by the website Clarksville Now shows Mr. Eatherly on a stretcher with a microphone attached to his lapel.

Mr. Eatherly is being held at the Montgomery County Jail, pending arraignment, the sheriff’s office said.

According to court records, Mr. Eatherly was scheduled to appear for a court hearing on Wednesday morning in an unrelated case brought by Midland Credit Management, a collections agency.

A lawyer listed in court records from a separate harassment case in which Mr. Eatherly was a defendant in November did not respond to a request for comment.

On Sunday, three days before the shooting in Clarksville, Mr. Eatherly was arrested in Nashville. According to a police affidavit, Mr. Eatherly live streamed his meal at a restaurant, Bob’s Steak and Chop House, on Saturday even though the restaurant had asked him ahead of time not to do so.

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When he was confronted, Mr. Eatherly “became disruptive and started making racial statements, yelling, screaming and otherwise creating a scene,” according to the affidavit.

He then refused to pay for his $370 meal. Mr. Eatherly was charged with theft of services, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. He was released on $5,000 bond.

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