Ex-Fed chairs condemn Trump’s bid to weaken central bank’s independence

Every living former head of the Federal Reserve condemned an “unprecedented” attempt by the Trump administration to weaken the US central bank’s independence, after the Department of Justice opened a criminal investigation into its chair, Jerome Powell.Ex-Fed chairs Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke and Janet Yellen warned similar prosecutorial attacks in other countries had led to “highly negative consequences” for the cost of living – and argued they had “no place” in the US.Late on Sunday, it emerged that the justice department had served the Fed with grand jury subpoenas on Friday, threatening a criminal indictment related to Powell’s testimony before the Senate banking committee in June last year, regarding renovations to the Fed’s historic office buildings in Washington DC.In response, Powell argued he had been threatened with criminal charges because the Fed had set interest rates “based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the president”.The move amounts to a significant escalation in Donald Trump’s extraordinary attack on the Fed’s independence

Trump’s attempts to influence Fed risk 1970s-style inflation and global backlash’

Donald Trump’s attempts to influence the US Federal Reserve could risk plunging America into a period of 1970s-style inflation and trigger a global backlash in financial markets, economists have warned.After the US Department of Justice (DoJ) launched a criminal investigation into Jerome Powell, the current Fed chair, investors said efforts by the White House to pressure the US central bank to cut interest rates would put the world economy at risk.Analysts drew parallels with the 1970s when US inflation soared after the then president, Richard Nixon, pressured the then Fed chair, Arthur Burns, to ease monetary policy to help smooth his 1972 election campaign.Atakan Bakiskan, US economist at Berenberg bank, said: “If the Fed pursues an ultra-accommodative monetary policy despite higher inflation, the result could resemble the 1970s in a worst-case risk scenario.“Moreover, if the Fed acts on politics rather than data, foreign investors could pull back on financing the US debt and seek new safe havens

Malaysia blocks Elon Musk’s Grok AI over fake, sexualised images

Malaysia has become the second country to temporarily block access to Elon Musk’s Grok after a global outcry over the AI tool and its ability to produce fake, sexualised images.Malaysia said it would restrict access to Grok until effective safeguards were implemented, a day after similar action was taken by Indonesia.Several governments and regulators have taken action over Grok’s image tool, which is embedded in the X social media site and has provoked outrage as it allows users to manipulate images of women and children to remove their clothing and put them in sexual positions.The Musk-led company that developed Grok, xAI, said last week the ability to generate and edit images would be “limited to paying subscribers” on X. Such users have provided personal details to the company and can be identified if the function is misused

UK threatens action against X over sexualised AI images of women and children

Elon Musk’s X “is not doing enough to keep its customers safe online”, a minister has said, as the UK government prepares to outline possible action against the platform over the mass production of sexualised images of woman and children.Peter Kyle, the business secretary, said the government would fully support any action taken by Ofcom, the media regulator, against X – including the possibility that the platform could be blocked in the UK.Kyle said Ofcom had received information it had requested from X as part of a fast-tracked investigation into the use of platform’s built-in AI tool, Grok, to generate large numbers of manipulated images of people, often depicting them in minimal clothing or sexualised poses.The technology secretary, Liz Kendall, who said on Friday that she expected action from Ofcom within days, is due to give a statement to the Commons on Monday afternoon.Kyle told Sky News: “Let me be really clear about X: X is not doing enough to keep its customers safe online

Australian Open is drawing record crowds before the tournament has even begun

“Cricket’s in December,” Tennis Australia’s chief executive, Craig Tiley, says with a smile on a record-breaking first day of the Australian Open on Monday. The veteran may be rumoured to be considering a move to the US Tennis Association, but for now he remains focused on his sport’s summer dominance.“Our objective is we want to own January,” he says. At the launch of one of many Melbourne Park sponsor activations, conditions are ripe for Tiley to talk a big game. “We’re intense, and we’re intense because we’re 21 days, every day

‘It’s embarrassing’: riders say time is up for fossil fuel sponsorship of heat-affected Tour Down Under

The first time Maeve Plouffe trained in the heat, she was in Paris in the lead-up to the Olympics. It was supposed to be an easy ride to help get used to the conditions. When she returned, she fainted from heat sickness.“That’s how badly I was affected,” she says. “Racing in extreme heat is like playing chicken with your environment