NATIONAL BRIEFS: Trump says he has 'no intention' of firing Federal Reserve chair

WASHINGTON

Trump says he has 'no intention' of firing Federal Reserve chair

President Donald Trump said Tuesday he has no plans to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, just days after his statement that he would like to terminate the head of the U.S. central bank caused a stock market selloff. Trump told reporters, "I have no intention of firing him." The U.S. president had previously insinuated otherwise, as he said he could fire Powell if he wanted to, having been frustrated by the Fed putting a pause on cuts to short-term interest rates.

NEW YORK

Musk says he'll spend less time in Washington and more time running Tesla after its profit plunges

Elon Musk says he'll be spending less time in Washington, slashing government costs, and more time running Tesla after his electric vehicle company reported a big drop in profits. Tesla struggled to sell vehicles as it faced angry protests over Musk's leadership of DOGE, a jobs-cutting group that has divided the country. The Austin, Texas, company reported a 71% drop in profits and a 9% decline in revenue for the first quarter. Tesla stuck with its predictions that it will be able to launch a paid driverless robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, in June and have much of its fleet operating by itself next year.

WASHINGTON

US Treasury secretary says trade war with China is not 'sustainable'

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a Tuesday speech that the ongoing tariffs showdown with China is unsustainable and expects a "de-escalation" in the trade war between the world's two largest economies. But in a private speech in Washington for JPMorgan Chase, Bessent also cautioned that talks between the United States and China had yet to formally start. President Donald Trump placed a 145% import tax on China, which countered with 125% tariffs on U.S. imports. Trump has placed tariffs on several dozen countries, causing the stock market to stumble and interest rates to increase on U.S. debt as investors worry about slower economic growth and higher inflationary pressures.

WASHINGTON

What is the highly coveted H-1B visa? The Trump administration's moves put attention on the program

The H-1B visa has long been a highly coveted employment visa for foreign citizens with specialized skills to live and work in the U.S. Recent requests from the Trump administration have put greater attention on the program. The requests for more information from people applying for or renewing H-1B visas come amid heightened tensions over immigration as President Donald Trump seeks to make good on his vow of mass deportations of people in the U.S. illegally. Much action has been focused on arresting people in the country illegally or reversing temporary deportation protections. There has been less attention on employment-based visas or other parts of the legal immigration system. The actions related to the H-1B reveal division within Trump's Republican Party on the program.

NEW YORK

Wall Street leaps nearly 3% as markets worldwide rally

U.S. stocks are leaping as a worldwide rally comes back around to Wall Street. The S&P 500 jumped 2.7% on Wednesday following updates from President Donald Trump about his plans for the Federal Reserve and his trade war, which investors found encouraging. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 877 points, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 3.5%. Treasury yields also eased in the U.S. bond market after Trump said he has no intention to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell and that his tariffs could come down on Chinese imports. Wall Street's rally followed strong moves higher for stocks across much of Europe and Asia.

NEW YORK

Tariff turmoil: How Tesla and other companies are dealing with the uncertainty of the trade war

Uncertainty over tariffs and an unpredictable trade war is weighing heavily on companies as they report their latest financial results and try to give investors financial forecasts. Some tariffs remain in place against key U.S. trading partners, but others have been postponed to give nations time to negotiate. The tariff and trade picture has been shifting for months now, sometimes changing drastically daily. Those shifts make it difficult for companies and investors to make a reliable assessment of any impact on costs and sales.

NEW YORK

Harvey Weinstein's rape retrial is set for opening statements at a different #MeToo moment

Five years after Harvey Weinstein's original #MeToo trial delivered a searing reckoning for one of Hollywood's most powerful figures, the ex-studio boss is on trial again after an appeals court threw out his landmark rape conviction. Opening statements are set for Wednesday in a trial that could take six weeks. Weinstein's retrial is happening at the same Manhattan courthouse as the 2020 trial, and two accusers from that trial are expected to testify again. Weinstein's retrial is playing out at a different cultural moment than the first, and along with the charges being retried, he faces an additional charge based on an allegation from a woman who wasn't a part of the first case.

WASHINGTON

Google faces off with the US government in an attempt to break up the company in a search monopoly case

Google on Monday began confronting an existential threat as the U.S. government tries to break up the company as punishment for turning its revolutionary search engine into a ruthless monopoly. The drama began to unfold Monday in a Washington courtroom as three weeks of hearings kicked off to determine how the company should be penalized for operating an illegal monopoly in search. The proceedings, known in legal parlance as a "remedy hearing," feature a parade of witnesses that includes Google CEO Sundar Pichai. The moment of reckoning comes four-and-a-half years after the U.S. Justice Department filed a landmark lawsuit alleging Google's search engine had been abusing its power as the internet's main gateway.

SAN FRANCISCO

Big Tech's 'Magnificent Seven' heads into earnings season reeling from Trump turbulence

As Big Tech kicks off its quarterly earnings season this week, the industry's bellwether companies have been thrust into a cauldron of uncertainty and turmoil that they didn't anticipate when Donald Trump re-entered the White House less than 100 days ago. Since Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration, Big Tech stocks have been on a see-sawing ride that has eviscerated trillions of dollars in shareholder wealth amid an onslaught of revolving tariffs and other potentially detrimental actions. It's the polar opposite of what the industry had envisioned when Big Tech CEOs assembled behind Trump during his second inauguration with high hopes his policies would propel the industry to even greater heights.

US

Ex-OpenAI workers ask California and Delaware AGs to block for-profit conversion of ChatGPT maker

Former employees of OpenAI are appealing to the top law enforcement officers in California and Delaware to halt the company's move to transfer control of its artificial intelligence technology from a nonprofit charity to a for-profit business. A letter to the state attorneys general Wednesday was signed by 10 former employees and a coalition of experts and advocates, including three Nobel Prize winners. It represents those concerned about the threats to humanity posed by the ChatGPT maker's ambition to build AI that outperforms humans.

US

Norfolk Southern's derailment insurance payments provide a boost, but even without that, profits were up

Norfolk Southern's first-quarter profits got another boost from insurance payments related to its disastrous 2023 derailment in eastern Ohio. The railroad hauled 1% more freight in the quarter, driving profits higher even before the insurance windfall. The railroad reported a major rebound in its results with a $750 million profit. Last year, its $53 million profit was held down by the cost of a $600 million settlement related to the East Palestine derailment. Without the impact of the derailment, Norfolk Southern estimated it would have made $2.69 per share this year. That's 3 cents per share better than what Wall Street predicted.

NEW YORK

Worries about flying seem to be taking off. Here's how to cope with in-flight anxiety

The evidence is anecdotal, but psychologists and flight attendants say they are seeing and hearing increased worries about flying. That comes after some high-profile air crashes, including the deadliest U.S. air disaster in almost a quarter century: when an American Airlines jet collided with a helicopter over Washington, D.C., in January. Being at least a little nervous about flying is common. But for some people, it causes deep anxiety that could require professional help. Fear of flying—sometimes called aerophobia — is an intense form of anxiety that centers on certain aspects of air travel. Some research has suggested it affects about 25 million U.S. adults.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.

Tennessee board recommends that the governor pardon country star Jelly Roll

The Tennessee Board of Parole has recommended a pardon for country music star Jelly Roll, a Nashville native who has spoken openly about his criminal history and what it has taken to overcome it. The board's action Tuesday leaves the final decision of whether to pardon him up to Gov. Bill Lee. The board issued its nonbinding recommendation unanimously after a hearing that lasted about an hour and 45 minutes, with several witnesses advocating for the musician, including Nashville's sheriff. A pardon is a statement of forgiveness by the state for a crime or crimes.

— AP REPORTS