Mōrena and welcome to your mid-week recap of the global political and business stories making headlines.
First today, Republicans in the Senate narrowly passed US President Donald Trump's new “mega” bill on tax and spending, passing a key hurdle for its survival, the BBC reported.
‘The One Big Beautiful Bill Act’ passed with Vice-President JD Vance casting a tie-breaking vote after lengthy debate. It now heads back to the House of Representatives, where it still faces stiff opposition.
Trump had given the Republican-controlled Congress a deadline of July 4 to send him a final version of the bill to sign into law. "The bill as amendment is passed," Vance said.
The BBC said disputes over the deficit, social programmes, and spending levels created challenges for Republicans.
US Vice President JD Vance.
Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, meanwhile, admitted the central bank would have cut interest rates by now if not for Trump’s global tariff plans, CNBC reported.
When asked during a panel if the Fed would have lowered rates again this year had Trump not announced his controversial plan, Powell responded, “I think that’s right ... In effect, we went on hold when we saw the size of the tariffs and essentially all inflation forecasts for the United States went up materially as a consequence of the tariffs,” Powell said.
The Fed has entered a holding pattern on interest rates despite pressure from Trump to provide rate relief. Last month, the Fed once again held the key borrowing rate steady.
Trump's decision to cut most US foreign aid funding could cause more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030, including 4.5 million children under five, according to new research, the BBC reported.
Researchers for The Lancet medical journal said the cuts could be likened to a pandemic or a major armed conflict.
Elsewhere, Russia rejected accusations that it attempted to "stall for time", as negotiations with Ukraine and the US ground to a halt on ending the conflict, Reuters reported.
US envoy Keith Kellogg made the accusation on social media. He urged Russia and Ukraine to agree to an "immediate ceasefire" and further talks to end the war.
"Russia cannot continue to stall for time while it bombs civilian targets in Ukraine."
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia was grateful to Trump's team for helping to facilitate talks. He denied any suggestion of stall tactics. "No one is delaying anything here," he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In Thailand, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was suspended and could face dismissal over a leaked phone call she had with Cambodia’s powerful former leader, CNN reported.
The country’s Constitutional Court accepted a petition by a group of 36 senators who accused Paetongtarn of violating the constitution for breaching ethical standards.
The court voted to suspend Paetongtarn until a verdict in the ethics case. She remains in Cabinet as culture minister following a reshuffle.
Finally, three food delivery companies in the UK plan to increase security checks for riders after politicians raised concerns about illegal workers, the Guardian reported.
Uber Eats, Deliveroo, and Just Eat promised to increase the use of facial verification checks and fraud detection technology.
Last week, shadow home secretary Chris Philp claimed people were working illegally for the companies after a visit to a hotel for asylum seekers.
The new checks will be rolled out over the next 90 days.
