While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Sept 18, 2025
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US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell speaking at a Sept 17 news conference, after the US Fed lowered interest rates for the first time this year.
PHOTO: AFP
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US Fed makes first rate cut of 2025 on employment risks
The US Federal Reserve on Sept 17 lowered interest rates for the first time this year, flagging slower job gains and risks to employment as policymakers face heightened pressure under President Donald Trump.
The Fed cut the benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points, to a range between 4 per cent and 4.25 per cent, while pencilling in two more cuts this year.
Fed chairman Jerome Powell stressed that the central bank remains “strongly committed” to maintaining its independence from politics, however, when asked about the addition of a key adviser to Mr Trump among its ranks this week.
He added that the Fed was “right to wait and see how tariffs and inflation and the labour market evolved” before lowering rates for the first time in nine months.
Trump hails UK special relationship on state visit
PHOTO: AFP
US President Donald Trump on Sept 17 hailed the special relationship between his country and Britain as he paid a gushing tribute to King Charles during his historic second state visit, calling it one of the highest honours of his life.
It was a day of unprecedented pomp for a foreign leader. Mr Trump and his wife Melania were treated to the full array of British pageantry.
Then, the president sang the praises of his nation’s close ally.
Only 40% of countries book lodging for COP30
PHOTO: REUTERS
Less than two months before the COP30 UN climate conference in Brazil, only 40 per cent of nations have booked accommodation in the Amazon city of Belem, where prices have soared, organisers said on Sept 17.
Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva championed the holding of the global conference in the world’s largest rainforest, but he has come under pressure about the hotel chaos in the poor northern city.
Organisers reported in a statement that only 79 of 198 countries have secured lodging, while 70 others were still in negotiations for places to sleep during the November meeting.
Air India crash victim families sue Boeing, Honeywell
PHOTO: REUTERS
The families of four passengers killed in the June 12 crash of an Air India Boeing 787 said in a lawsuit that the accident resulted from allegedly faulty fuel switches, which the US Federal Aviation Administration has said do not appear to have caused the accident that killed 260 people.
The lawsuit filed on Sept 16 in Delaware Superior Court blames Boeing and Honeywell, which made the switches, for the crash seconds after Flight 171 took off for London from the Indian city of Ahmedabad.
The plaintiffs point to a 2018 FAA advisory that recommended, but did not mandate, operators of several Boeing models, including the 787, inspect the fuel cutoff switches’ locking mechanism to ensure it could not be accidentally moved.
Olympic medallist Kerley joins Enhanced Games
PHOTO: REUTERS
Olympic 100 metres silver and bronze medallist Fred Kerley will compete in the inaugural Enhanced Games, the competition said on Sept 17, weeks after the Athletics Integrity Unit slapped the American with a provisional suspension for whereabouts failures.
The 2022 100m world champion is the first track athlete and first American man to join the event that permits athletes to use performance-enhancing drugs that are banned in official competition.
“I’m looking forward to this new chapter and competing at the Enhanced Games,” said Kerley. “The world record has always been the ultimate goal of my career. This now gives me the opportunity to dedicate all my energy to pushing my limits and becoming the fastest human to ever live.”
