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Trump faces key legal test in effort to exert control over Federal Reserve | Federal Reserve

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Donald Trump’s battle to exert control over the Federal Reserve faces a key legal test today, with a governor of the central bank seeking a temporary block on his extraordinary attempt to fire her.

Lisa Cook sued the US president on Thursday, with her lawyers describing his attempt to dismiss her as “unprecedented and illegal”, and based on “pretextual” allegations.

The case is widely expected to be ultimately decided by the supreme court. While it makes it way through the courts, Cook is seeking a temporary restraining order against Trump’s attempt to “immediately” dismiss her from the Fed’s board.

A hearing on the motion is set for 10am in Washington on Friday. The case has been assigned to US district judge Jia Cobb, an appointee of Joe Biden.

Trump wrote to Cook on Monday, telling her that he was removing her from her position “effective immediately”, based on the allegation from one of his allies that she had obtained a mortgage on a second home she incorrectly described as her primary residence.

The president has spent months attacking the Fed, where most policymakers – including Cook – have so far defied his calls for interest rate cuts. He has spoken of rapidly building “a majority” on the central bank’s board, calling into question the future of its longstanding independence from political oversight.

Firing Cook, whose term is not due to expire until 2038, would enable Trump to nominate a replacement. But she has argued the president has “no authority” to remove her.

“An unsubstantiated allegation about private mortgage applications submitted by Governor Cook prior to her Senate confirmation is not [cause],” her lawyers argued in the complaint. “President Trump’s letter purporting to fire Governor Cook did not cite appropriate cause for removing her from the board of governors.”

The White House claimed on Thursday that Cook had been “credibly accused of lying” by the administration. But the accusations are unconfirmed, and her lawyers said Trump and his officials had not explicitly alleged that any error on her mortgage paperwork was intentional.

It comes as the Fed gears up to resume rate cuts as soon as next month, albeit not at the scale or pace Trump has repeatedly demanded – and its chair, Jerome Powell, has cautioned that the president’s tariffs and immigration crackdown have disrupted the global economy and knocked the US labor force.



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Ukraine war briefing: Poland’s allies decry ‘flagrant violation’; Warsaw sends troops to border to monitor Belarus drills | Ukraine

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  • Poland and about 40 of its allies on Friday denounced the intrusion of Russian drones into its airspace this week, calling on Moscow to avoid more “provocations”. Before an emergency meeting of the UN security council requested by Poland, deputy foreign minister Marcin Bosacki told reporters that Warsaw and its allies wanted to “draw the attention of the international community to yet another flagrant violation of international law and the Charter of the United Nations committed by the Russian Federation”, which had brought “the entire region closer to conflict than at any time in recent years”. The comments were from a statement signed by about 40 countries, including the 26 other members of the European Union, Ukraine, the United States, Japan and Canada. “We take this opportunity to reiterate our call on the Russian Federation to immediately cease its war of aggression against Ukraine, to renounce any further provocations, and to respect its obligations under the UN Charter,” he said. “Escalation cannot lead to peace.”

  • France, Germany and Denmark will contribute fighter jets and other military assets to an enhanced defence of Poland against future Russian drone incursions, Nato leaders announced at a press conference on Friday. The UK is also expected contribute to the Eastern Sentry mission, which will gradually be expanded from the Arctic in the north to the Black Sea and Mediterranean in the south to better tackle Russian drones and missiles.

  • The latest blow to faltering diplomacy came as Russia’s army staged major military drills with its key ally Belarus. The military drills started on Friday, and include exercises close to the border with Poland and Lithuania and in the Baltic and Barents seas. Russia’s defence ministry posted a video showing heavy military equipment – including armoured vehicles, helicopters and navy ships – taking part in the drills. Poland said it would station about 40,000 troops near the Belarus border for the duration of the drills.

  • Prince Harry laid a wreath at a flower and flag memorial to Ukraine’s war dead in Kyiv’s Maidan Square during a surprise visit to support the country in its fight against Russia, saying he wanted to do “everything possible” to help the thousands of military personnel who have been seriously injured in the war against Russia. During the trip to Kyiv, Harry and a team from his Invictus Games Foundation gave details of new initiatives to support the rehabilitation of the wounded, with the eventual aim of providing help to all areas of the country.

  • Russia said peace talks with Ukraine were on “pause” as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Vladimir Putin still wanted to capture the whole of Ukraine. “Our negotiators have the opportunity to communicate through channels. But for now, it is probably more accurate to talk about a pause” in talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Speaking at a conference in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said the west should not trust Putin. “Putin’s goal is to occupy all of Ukraine. And no matter what he tells anyone, it is clear that he has set the war machine in motion to such an extent that he simply cannot stop it unless he is forced to fundamentally change his personal goals,” he said. The Ukrainian president also called on allies to encourage China to use its leverage with Russia to stop Moscow’s offensive.

  • Trump told Fox television his patience was being taxed by Russia’s refusal to end its invasion. “It’s sort of running out and running out fast, but it does take two to tango,” Trump told Fox television. “It’s amazing. When Putin wants to do it, Zelensky didn’t. When Zelensky wanted to do it, Putin didn’t. Now Zelensky wants to and Putin is a question mark. We’re going to have to come down very, very strong,” he added. The Ukrainian president has long been open to efforts to meet and agree a ceasefire.



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    Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford fight, odds: 1 bettor wagers $2 million on Terence Crawford to win

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    Terence Crawford and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez square off on Saturday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas in one of the biggest fights of the year.

    Several bettors will have a very large rooting interest.

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    A bettor at BetMGM wagered $2 million on Crawford to win the fight at +140 odds on Friday night. The wager would win $2.8 million and is the largest reported wager on the fight.

    One bettor at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas also wagered $715,000 on Crawford to win the fight at +140 odds, which would win just over $1 million ($1.001 million to be exact). Other sportsbooks have taken six-figure wagers on Crawford as well.

    “We just took a very large bet on Crawford to win and by KO,” Andrew Babakitis, risk manager at the Westgate Las Vegas Super Book, told Yahoo Sports via text message on Friday afternoon. “Price moved from -180 to -160 on Canelo. We have three times as many bets on Crawford. Book loses on both fighters by KO, we are likely going to need a decision if we want to win on the fight.”

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    Alvarez opened as a -200 favorite at BetMGM, but is down to -150 on the three-way line, while Crawford opened as a +175 underdog and is currently +150. While only 23% of wagers are on Alvarez to win, nearly half the total dollars wagered (42%) at BetMGM are on Canelo, while the betting public is backing the underdog, with 33% of wagers on Crawford to win.

    Nearly half the bets (44%) and total dollars wagered (44%) were on a tie, as of Friday morning.



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    ICE agent shoots dead man who tried to drive at agents, officials say

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    US immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shot and killed a man near Chicago on Friday after he allegedly drove his car at a group of agents.

    A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said ICE was trying to arrest the man, but he resisted and drove towards the group. An agent was then dragged along by his vehicle.

    The agent, who the department said feared for his life, drew his gun and opened fire.

    The driver, Silverio Villegas-Gonzales, was pronounced dead in hospital shortly after, officials said.

    “During a vehicle stop, the suspect resisted and attempted to drive his vehicle into the arrest team, striking an officer and subsequently dragging him as he fled the scene,” the statement said.

    The ICE agent suffered “severe injuries” in the incident, officials said, but was in a stable condition in hospital.

    The Department of Homeland security said Mr Villegas-Gonzales had a history of reckless driving and was an undocumented migrant. He entered the country “at an unknown date and time,” they said.

    A spokesperson for the local police department in Franklin Park said they were not involved in the incident.

    Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said in an online post: “This is a developing situation and the people of Illinois deserve a full, factual accounting of what’s happened today to ensure transparency and accountability.”

    Franklin Park is a suburb of around 18,000 people near O’Hare Airport north-west of Chicago. Around half of the population of the village is Hispanic.

    Immigration officials have been ramping up enforcement activities in the Chicago area this week on the orders of the Trump administration.



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