Morning Report

TODAY’S FINANCIAL story

Fed holds rates steady, bucking Trump pressure

What happened
The Federal Reserve yesterday voted to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.5% to 3.75%, resisting pressure from the White House for further cuts. It was the central bank’s first rate pause since July.

Who said what
“The economy has once again surprised us with its strength,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said at a news conference. The outlook “has clearly improved since the last meeting,” and while consumer spending is “uneven across income categories,” the “overall numbers are good.” Powell’s comments suggest that Fed officials are “comfortable staying put for some time — until new signs of labor-market weakness emerge or inflation convincingly makes progress toward the Fed’s goal” of 2%, The Wall Street Journal said.

President Donald Trump has “unabashedly tried to bend the Fed to his economic agenda,” threatening its independence, The Guardian said. Powell “largely avoided questions related to politics or the administration during the press conference,” Politico said. But he did call the Supreme Court’s upcoming decision on whether Trump can fire Fed board governor Lisa Cook “perhaps the most important legal case in the Fed’s 113-year history.”

What next?
Powell’s term as Fed chair is up in May. He “has the option of remaining as a Fed governor beyond May but told reporters he hadn’t made a decision about whether to stay or leave,” The Associated Press said. Every Fed chair since the early 1950s has opted to depart after their term, but “Powell’s decision is the last and only card he holds” against Trump’s pressure campaign, the Journal said. Trump is reportedly close to naming the next chair, and when asked yesterday, Powell offered his successor some advice: “Don’t get pulled into elected politics. Don’t do it.”

TODAY’S RELIGION Story

Church of England instates first woman leader

What happened
Sarah Mullally yesterday was formally confirmed as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury, making her the first woman to lead the Church of England. She also officially became the spiritual leader of the global Anglican Communion, a confederation of 42 Anglican provinces, some of which do not accept the ordination of woman priests. London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral was transformed into an ecclesiastical courtroom for her Confirmation of Election, a centuries-old legal ceremony set within a church service.

Who said what
“These are times of division and uncertainty for our fractured world,” Mullally said in a statement. “I pray that we will offer space to break bread together” and “pledge myself to this ministry of hospitality.” England’s former chief nursing officer, Mullally served as Bishop of London before the previous Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, stepped down last January amid allegations he mishandled a prominent case of child sexual abuse.

Mullally’s new position “has been a notoriously difficult one in terms of holding together people with a broad range of theological viewpoints both at home and abroad,” the BBC said. The Church of England has allowed women priests since the 1990s and had female bishops since 2015, but male bishops can “continue to refuse to ordain women if they choose,” and Mullally “will now lead such bishops” in England. “It is fair to say that I have, both in my secular role as well as in the church, experienced misogyny at times,” she told reporters, pledging to help ensure the issue is “brought into the open.”

What next?
Mullally will begin her public ministry after her installation ceremony at Canterbury Cathedral on March 25.

It’s not all bad

American kestrel falcons keep rodents and birds out of cherry orchards, dramatically lowering food-borne illnesses in the fruit, according to a new study from Michigan State University. Researchers found that Northern Michigan orchards with kestrel nesting boxes saw an 81% decrease in crop damage and 66% reduction in bird droppings on tree branches. The falcons are “not very expensive” to bring in, study lead author Olivia Smith told Inside Climate News, and people “just like kestrels a lot,” making this an “attractive strategy.”

Under the radar

India’s Nipah outbreak renews Covid-era monitoring

Two cases of the highly contagious Nipah virus have been confirmed in a hospital in West Bengal, India. Close to 200 people were also exposed to the zoonotic virus. As a result, several Asian countries have instituted Covid 19–era airport screenings to monitor the spread of an infection for which there’s currently no vaccine or cure.

This deadly disease originates from direct contact with infected animals — mainly flying fox bats and pigs — or their contaminated tissues and secretions. Nipah can spread easily from person to person through contact with bodily fluids and cause minor to severe infections. It has a fatality rate of between 40% and 70%.

Those infected are “typically sick for 3 to 14 days with fever, headache, cough, sore throat and difficulty breathing,” said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In more severe cases, people may experience “brain swelling (or encephalitis),” which can lead to coma in 24 to 48 hours.

The virus was first discovered in 1999. Since then, outbreaks have “occurred almost annually in Asia, particularly in Bangladesh and India,” between December and April, said The Washington Post. But this outbreak is West Bengal’s first since 2007.

India has “ensured timely containment” of the cases through “enhanced surveillance, laboratory testing and field investigations,” the Indian Ministry of Health said in a statement. And while no official cases have been identified outside of India, countries including China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal and Thailand have taken preventative measures. Airports are performing “health declarations, temperature checks and visual monitoring for arriving passengers,” said The Associated Press.

On this day

January 29, 2002

President George W. Bush first used the term “axis of evil” to refer to Iran, Iraq and North Korea. Bush’s comments, during his State of the Union address, came months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and more than a year before the U.S. invaded Iraq. Attributed to speechwriter David Frum, “axis of evil” was a recurring phrase in Bush’s foreign policy.

TODAY’S newspaperS

‘Trump playbook backfires’

“Trump playbook backfires in Minnesota,” The Wall Street Journal says on Thursday’s front page. “Amid furor over shooting, GOP softens its tone,” the Los Angeles Times says. “As Trump pivots for calm in Minn., his base bristles,” says The Washington Post. “ICE protesters say they’ve been threatened with terror list, database of details,” The Boston Globe says. “Court filings describe federal violations of rights, flouting of judicial orders,” as “other states redoubling attempts to restrict ICE,” says The Minnesota Star Tribune. “Ohio preps for ICE in Springfield,” The Columbus Dispatch says. “Trump sharpens Tehran threats, posting demands,” The New York Times says. “FBI raids election office in Fulton County” to “get the 2020 ballots,” says The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

► See the newspaper front pages

Tall tale

Adios, bonjour, meow

A runaway cat found his way back home to France, five months after going missing in Spain. Filou slipped out an open camper van window when his owners, Patrick and Evelyn Sire, stopped at a gas station during an August road trip. Earlier this month, a woman who lives a mile from their house in France took a stray cat she had been feeding to the vet. A microchip scan identified it as Filou. He traveled 155 miles “to get to us,” Patrick Sire told France3 News, and “we’ll never know” how.

Morning Report was written and edited by Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Rafi Schwartz, Peter Weber and Kari Wilkin, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.