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In the news today: President Donald Trump has said he has no plans to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell; gunmen shot and killed at least 26 tourists at a resort in Indian-controlled Kashmir; and coral bleaching has now hit 84% of ocean’s reefs. Also, spring allergies are back, and we have some tips to keep the symptoms at bay.

Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Jerome Powell speaks during an Economic Club of Chicago event, April 16. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

POLITICS

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. “I have no intention of firing him,” Trump told reporters. Read more. 

Why this matters:

• 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.
  
  

• Powell has said that Trump’s tariffs are creating uncertainty about slower growth and higher inflationary pressures, while the president maintains that inflationary worries are essentially non-existent. The president maintains that energy and grocery prices are falling, so the Fed should cut its benchmark rates because inflation is no longer a threat to the U.S. economy.
  
  

• Trump’s remarks indicated that he still plans to pressure a U.S. central bank committed to its mandate of stabilizing prices and maximizing employment. Trump’s frustration led him to post on social media last Thursday: “Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!” The Fed chair’s term ends in May 2026.

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• Orders to leave the country – some for US citizens – sow confusion among immigrants

   

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• Three more prosecutors resign in aftermath of dismissal of case against NYC mayor

   

• Cory Bowman, Vice President JD Vance’s half brother, runs for Cincinnati mayor

   

• U.S. Rep. Barr enters competitive race to succeed Sen. McConnell in Kentucky

   

• Colorado fights Trump administration bid to help imprisoned loyalist Tina Peters

WORLD NEWS

Militants kill at least 26 tourists at a resort in Indian-controlled Kashmir

Gunmen shot and killed at least 26 tourists Tuesday at a resort in Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said, in what appeared to be a major shift in a regional conflict in which tourists have largely been spared. Read more.

What to know:

• “Kashmir Resistance,” a previously unknown militant group, claimed responsibility for the attack in two messages on social media. The group said authorities had settled over 85,000 “outsiders” in the restive region and claimed that those targeted on Tuesday were not “ordinary tourists” but “were linked to and affiliated with Indian security agencies.” The group’s messages could not be independently verified.
  
  

• Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan each administer a part of Kashmir but both claim the territory in its entirety. New Delhi ended the region’s semi-autonomy in 2019 and drastically curbed dissent, civil liberties and media freedoms. This attack is the deadliest to target civilians in the territory since 2000 and has sparked fears of rising tensions, which have been simmering as India has intensified its counterinsurgency operations.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

• Disputed Kashmir has witnessed worst attack on civilians in years, sparking fear of rising tensions
  
  
• Indian-controlled Kashmir has been the scene of many violent attacks in past decades

CLIMATE

Global coral bleaching has now hit 84% of ocean’s reefs

Harmful bleaching of the world’s coral has grown to include 84% of the ocean’s reefs in the most intense event of its kind in recorded history, the International Coral Reef Initiative announced Wednesday. The bleaching event has been so severe that the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Coral Reef Watch program has had to add levels to its bleaching alert scale to account for the growing risk of coral death. Read more.

Why this matters:

• It’s not clear when the current crisis, which began in 2023 and is blamed on warming oceans, will end. Last year was Earth’s hottest year on record, and much of that heat is going into oceans. The average annual sea surface temperature of oceans away from the poles was a record 20.87 degrees Celsius (69.57 degrees Fahrenheit).
  
  

• Corals are key to seafood production, tourism and protecting coastlines from erosion and storms. Coral reefs are sometimes dubbed “rainforests of the sea” because they support high levels of biodiversity — approximately 25% of all marine species can be found in, on and around coral reefs.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

• Coral reefs in Vietnam face collapse. Can conservation efforts turn the tide?
  
  
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• Book Review: ‘Hope Dies Last’ visits visionaries fighting global warming

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IN OTHER NEWS

READ

The Vatican: St. Peter’s Basilica opens to the public to pay their respects to Pope Francis before his funeral

Yemen: Houthi rebels fire a missile toward northern Israel, a rare target for the group

Racist attack: A woman hugs the man who fatally shot her brother and 22 more at a Texas Walmart in 2019

Sarah Palin: Jury finds The New York Times did not libel the former Alaska governor

Doomsday beliefs: Lori Vallow Daybell convicted in Arizona of conspiring to kill her estranged husband

Jelly Roll: Tennessee board recommends that governor pardon country music star

Today in History: In 1971, Vietnam veterans stage a protest at the U.S. Capitol

WATCH

New Jersey: Forest fire prompts evacuations and closes a major highway

Tulips: Tulip festival dazzles the home of King Henry VIII

Radio City Rockettes: Dancers arrive in NYC for Rockettes audition

Academy Awards: The Oscars mandate voters watch all nominated movies

A CHANGE OF PACE

A bumblebee is covered in pollen in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, March 2023. (AP Photo/Martin Meissnerl)

Spring allergies are back. Here’s how to check pollen levels and keep from sneezing
Allergy season can be miserable for tens of millions of Americans when trees, grass, and other pollens cause runny noses, itchy eyes, coughing, and sneezing. Here are some tips from experts to keep allergy symptoms at bay — maybe even enough to allow you to enjoy the outdoors.

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