Trump fires Labor Dept. official and gets a crack at reshaping the Fed

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Weekend Briefing

From Reuters Daily Briefing

By Robert MacMillan, Reuters.com Weekend Editor

Thanks for reading the Weekend Briefing. Listen to our first edition of On Assignment, our new podcast that digs into the most important stories with the time that they require. Today's edition focuses on the impact of ICE raids from California to a New York courthouse. Our World News podcast touches on President Trump's chances to reshape the Federal Reserve, the latest on Russia's dealings with the United States, and U.S. corporate earnings from the past week. Our latest edition of City Memo takes us to Dhaka. And have a look at this story to learn how Pakistan shot down an Indian Rafale fighter jet with Chinese gear.

Trump fires Labor Dept. official and gets a crack at reshaping the Fed

REUTERS/Jessica Koscielniak

Fired: The Labor Dept.'s statistics chief became a statistic after Trump ordered her fired, claiming without evidence that the weaker-than-expected July jobs numbers were rigged. Investors voiced doubt about the reliability of future data. The report highlighted a debate among Fed governors about whether it should have cut interest rates this week.
Prognosis negative: Global stock markets tumbled and various countries and companies looked for ways to cut better deals with the White House as Donald Trump pressed ahead with the highest tariff rates in nearly a century. Read our timeline for upcoming events and dates that could have a bearing on U.S. tariff policy.

How three of Israel's allies moved toward recognizing a Palestinian state

Exasperation: France, Britain and Canada worried for a year about the perception of rewarding Hamas, damaging relations with Israel and the U.S. and squandering diplomatic capital. Alarming images of malnourished children and West Bank settler attacks on locals spurred them to action. Two Israeli human-rights organizations said Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The enclave's health ministry said Israel's military offensive has killed more than 60,000 people.
Ukraine: Trump said he ordered two nuclear submarines to move to "appropriate regions" after former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned Trump that Moscow possesses Soviet-era nuclear-strike capabilities. Vladimir Putin appears disinclined to change his stance on peace talks with Ukraine despite a sanctions deadline from Washington.

Wegovy lowers weight as well as Novo's market cap

Shedding value: Novo Nordisk shares extended their recent losses and threatened to wipe out all the gains they made since the drugmaker introduced Wegovy four years ago. Shares declined across the sector after Trump told pharma firms to cut their U.S. drug prices. Novo this week also cut its profit forecast. Apple investors sold shares as they questioned whether a surge in iPhone sales driven by Trump's tariffs would last.
Chasers and cultures: AB InBev plans to push Budweiser and Corona sales from South America to Shanghai as it and rival Heineken face challenges in volume and sales growth. Europe's wine and spirits producers hope for tariff relief. Danone's sales of Oikos Greek yogurt in North America rose. So did the hackles of its legal team, which accused Chobani of copying its "Bright & Mellow" slogan and packaging for a rival cold-brew coffee.

Extreme rain pounds China

Floods: Torrential rain killed dozens in and around Beijing. Shanghai relocated more than 280,000 people as a tropical storm whipped the coast. In Romania, flooding killed three people and forced the evacuation of hundreds more. In contrast, the Danube's low water levels in Budapest prompted multitudes of mayflies to swarm before they should. In central Hungary, farmers are considering abandoning a vast agricultural flatland. And in Australia, farmers are using new agricultural techniques to defy climate doom.
Fires: Wildfires are raging in northern Portugal and central Spain, also in Turkey, Greece and Albania.

Before I forget…

The Smithsonian removed explicit reference to Donald Trump in an exhibit about impeachment at the National Museum of American History. Trump is the first U.S. president to have been impeached twice.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which distributes federal money to National Public Radio, the Public Broadcasting Service and 1,500 locally operated public-radio and TV stations, will close after it lost U.S. funding.
Tea suspended direct messaging following security breaches. The dating-advice app allows women to steer clear of unscrupulous men, and includes a feature that allows the tagging of men with red (bad) flags and green (good) flags.
Horst Mahler, co-founder of the radical anti-capitalist Red Army Faction in 1970 and later a right-wing Holocaust denier, died at the age of 89.
Delta Air Lines said it would not use AI to set personalized ticket prices for passengers. American Airlines last week said using artificial intelligence this way would hurt consumer trust.
Athletes will be eligible to compete in the female category for world ranking competitions only if they clear a one-time gene test, World Athletics said.
Potatoes: Shrouded in mystery no longer.

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