Happy Thursday and welcome to your morning wrap of the latest business and political headlines from around the world.
First up, multiple news outlets are leading with the story that US President Donald Trump has denied he plans to fire the chair of the Federal Reserve.
Bloomberg, citing an unidentified White House source, reported overnight that Trump was likely to dismiss Jerome Powell soon. The report caused the US dollar to briefly fall and Treasury bond yields to rise.
Trump said the report was not true but confirmed he had floated the idea to Republican lawmakers on Tuesday evening, Reuters reported. The US President has routinely criticised the head of the independent central bank for not cutting interest rates.
"I don't rule out anything, but I think it's highly unlikely unless he has to leave for fraud," Trump said earlier today.
The mention of fraud refers to recent White House and Republican lawmaker criticism of cost overruns in the renovation of the Fed’s headquarters. There has been no indication of fraud, and the Fed has pushed back against that criticism.
Trump has criticised costly rennovations of the Federal Reserve's historic headquarters.
Wall Street’s main indices pared their losses and edged slightly higher following the fresh comments from Trump.
“The markets would not like it if Powell was fired,” Blue Chip Daily Trend Report founder Larry Tentarelli was quoted as saying in CNBC. “It’s obviously a political hotbed ... but overall, most of the big market participants I know think Powell has done a very good job.”
In other news, Israel’s military struck the Syrian Defence Ministry in Damascus twice, as it intervened in violent clashes between the Syrian army and Druze fighters, The Guardian reported.
One person has been confirmed dead and 18 injured after the strikes collapsed four floors of the ministry, Syrian officials said.
It was the first time Israel has targeted Syria since May, with a spokesperson from the Israeli military saying the strike was a message to the Syrian President, Ahmed al-Sharaa, “regarding the events in Suweida”.
The Druze, a religious minority in Syria and the wider Middle East, make up the majority of Suweida province in the south of the country. Their negotiations with Islamist-led authorities in Damascus, aimed at achieving a degree of autonomy since the fall of Assad, broke down into violence on Sunday.
Israel has said it will not allow the Syrian army to deploy in the south of the country and that it will protect the Druze community. However, many within the Druze community have rejected Israel’s claim of patronage for fear of being viewed as a foreign proxy.
Staying in the Middle East, at least 20 people have been killed in a crush at an aid distribution centre in southern Gaza run by the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the BBC reported.
The GHF said 19 were trampled to death and one was stabbed at its site, adding that it believed people were armed and affiliated with militant group Hamas.
But Hamas denied the claim and accused the GHF of trying to “cover up” a crime.
Gaza kids charity organisation distributes food.
To Canada now, where Prime Minister Mark Carney said he would introduce a tariff rate quota for countries with which it has free trade agreements, excluding the United States, to protect its domestic steel industry, Reuters reported.
A 50% tariff will apply to imports from these countries that surpass 2024 volumes. However, the country will honour existing arrangements with its United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement trade partners.
Canada will also implement additional tariffs of 25% on steel imports from all countries containing steel that is melted and poured in China before the end of July.
Carney is responding to complaints from the domestic industry, which has said other countries have been diverting steel to Canada because of uncompetitive US tariffs.
Finally this morning, the head of Guinness’ owner is stepping down by “mutual agreement” after just two years in the role, CNN reported.
Diageo, whose brands also include Johnnie Walker whisky and Casamigos tequila and Guinness, has been affected by sluggish sales that have plagued the alcohol industry.
The London-based company announced that Debra Crew was leaving with immediate effect. During her tenure, the company’s stock has lost about 44% of its value.
