Author: Press Room

President Donald Trump’s firings at the Department of Health and Human Services included the entire office that sets federal poverty guidelines, which determine whether tens of millions of Americans are eligible for health programs such as Medicaid, food assistance, child care, and other services, former staff said.The small team, with technical data expertise, worked out of HHS’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, or ASPE. Their dismissal mirrored others across HHS, which came without warning and left officials puzzled as to why they were “RIF’ed” — as in “reduction in force,” the bureaucratic language used to describe…

If a player hits a running trick shot to save a break point, but later gets broken off three unforced errors and a double fault, is it good tennis? For Carlos Alcaraz, definitely.He delivered a signal example of the tension running through his documentary series, ‘My Way,’ just as Netflix released its trailer. While Alcaraz was oscillating between the sublime and the absurd on court against Daniel Altmaier at the Monte Carlo Masters in Monaco, the streaming company put out a snapshot of the series on YouTube.It asks some fundamental questions of tennis: how much should it require of its…

Lawyers for suspected assassin Luigi Mangione, an Ivy League graduate accused of gunning down Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare in New York City, have filed a motion in federal court asking the judge to block the Justice Department from pursuing the death penalty if he is convicted.Mangione’s lawyers argued that the federal case, which was filed after New York prosecutors leveled their own murder and terrorism charges against him, is “arbitrary and capricious” and that the directive for U.S. attorneys to seek capital punishment is politically motivated. In a second argument, they also took issue with a Justice Department Instagram…

The Trump administration has yet to land on a formula for tariffs on automotive parts, according to one of Premier Doug Ford’s top cabinet ministers who suggested the unfinished calculation is the primary reason why the sector was previously spared. On April 3, Canadian-made cars and trucks shipped to the United States were hit with a 25 per cent tariff. Federal officials have been told the U.S. plans to apply similar tariffs to certain auto parts on May 3 — with potential exclusions for parts that include American content — but is yet to do so.Industry associations have already warned…

Suzanne Morphet takes a freewheeling trip in Europe

European markets closed out a turbulent week with modest losses on Friday, as the intensifying tariff standoff between the United States and China continued to rattle global investor sentiment.The pan-European Stoxx 600 index slipped 0.1%, retracing slightly after logging its strongest session since March 2022 on Thursday. The UK’s FTSE 100 rose 0.64% after better-than-expected GDP data for February, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 was flat. Germany’s DAX declined 0.9% and France’s CAC 40 dipped 0.3%.The euro continued to strengthen, gaining 1.3% against the US dollar to reach $1.134 — its highest level since February 2022 — on the back…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.A recent plunge in oil prices, prompted by Donald Trump’s trade war, has started to deplete Vladimir Putin’s war chest. Moscow’s budget — about a third of which comes from oil and gas — may be as much as 2.5 per cent lower than expected in 2025 if crude prices stay at current levels. That would force the Kremlin to increase borrowing, cut nonmilitary spending or draw down its remaining reserves.The average price of Urals crude, Russia’s main export grade, has fallen…

As share prices tumbled at the beginning of this week, Denis Oakley, a 50-year-old entrepreneur from Loughborough, sold everything in his self-invested personal pension, apart from gilts. “I can’t see any upside at the moment and lots of potential downside,” he told FT Money on Wednesday. “It’s better to move to cash and sit out the market for six months because I have no idea what is going to happen.” Oakley, who teaches strategy to business leaders and has 15 to 20 years until he plans to retire, said there was “just too much uncertainty” and he was happier locking in a…

The small African nation of Gabon is voting on Saturday in its first executive elections since a military coup in 2023 ended the 50-year dynastic rule of the Bongo political family. Brice Clotaite Oligui Nguema, coup leader-turned-transition president, is the main candidate among four competitors and is widely expected to win the elections, despite controversial reforms he has put into place that experts say were tailored to make him eligible for the vote. Located in West-central Africa, on the Atlantic coast, Gabon is rich in extractives like crude oil. The country, with a population of 2.2 million, is also part…

A federal judge has upheld a Trump administration policy that allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to carry out enforcement operations at churches and other places of worship despite lawsuits against it from faith-based groups.U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, appointed by Trump during his first term, denied a request from more than two dozen Christian and Jewish organizations to block the policy. The groups said it infringes on religious freedoms and is causing drops in attendance, especially among immigrants worried about being detained by ICE.The court found little evidence that ICE is targeting churches or that the change in…