Supreme Court tariffs case, Fed chair pick loom as twin tests for Trump’s economic agenda in 2026
Two key economic policy decisions are on the horizon in Washington: a Supreme Court ruling on tariffs and the White House’s expected announcement of the next Federal Reserve chair. Both developments carry significant implications for trade, markets and the future of U.S. monetary policy. At the Supreme Court, two cases, which President Donald Trump has called “life or death” for the U.S., have forced the nation’s highest court to confront how far a president can go in redirecting U.S. trade policy. The suits — Learning Resources Inc. v. Trump and Trump v. V.O.S. Selections Inc. — were brought by an educational-toy manufacturer and a family-owned wine and spirits importer challenging Trump’s tariffs. ‘PERCEPTION VS. REALITY’: TRUMP’S ECONOMY PICKS UP SPEED — BUT VOTERS AREN’T BUYING IT YET Both cases turn on a central question: whether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) gave the president authority to impose the tariffs, or whether that move crossed constitutional lines. TRUMP DEFENDS TARIFFS, SAYS US HAS BEEN ‘THE KING OF BEING SCREWED’ BY TRADE IMBALANCE Tariffs are taxes the government places on imported goods. Although companies pay these taxes at the border, they often cover the added cost by raising prices, which means consumers ultimately shoulder much of the burden. Since Trump announced sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs in April, total duty revenue has climbed to $215.2 billion in fiscal year 2025, which ended Sept. 30, according to the Treasury Department’s Customs and Certain Excise Taxes report. That revenue strength has carried well into the new fiscal year. Since Oct. 1, the government has collected $96.5 billion in duties, according to Treasury’s latest statement. Meanwhile, two candidates are vying for a role that would shape the direction of U.S. monetary policy: Kevin Hassett and Kevin Warsh. The appointment to lead the world’s most powerful central bank comes as persistently high living costs test Trump’s economic agenda. The Federal Reserve, which sets borrowing costs and influences inflation, remains one of the most consequential institutions for Americans’ day-to-day affordability. FROM MORTGAGES TO CAR LOANS: HOW AFFORDABILITY RISES AND FALLS WITH THE FED The next Fed chair would assume one of the most influential posts in U.S. economic policymaking, overseeing interest-rate decisions and the central bank’s efforts to keep inflation in check. Warsh, a former Morgan Stanley banker, has emerged as a vocal critic of current Fed leadership, sharpening his attacks as he positioned himself as a potential replacement for Chair Jerome Powell. He became the youngest person to serve on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in 2006. A LOOK AT THE UNFOLDING BATTLE BETWEEN TRUMP AND POWELL OVER FED POLICY Hassett is Trump’s top economic adviser and a loyal defender of the administration’s policies. He currently serves as director of the White House’s National Economic Council, and held two senior roles during Trump’s first term and advised the president on economic policy during the 2024 campaign. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who helped shape Trump’s shortlist for the Fed’s top job, said he has known Warsh and Hassett for more than 20 years and views both as equally qualified. Trump has called for sharp rate cuts and urged the Federal Reserve to bring its benchmark interest rate down to 1% to jump-start economic growth. Trump’s criticism of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, whom he appointed to the role in 2017, has at times turned personal, with the president giving the Fed chair mocking nicknames. Powell is set to finish his term in May 2026, when the next chair will take over.
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,409
These are the key developments from day 1,409 of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Published On 2 Jan 20262 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Here is where things stand on Saturday, January 3: Fighting Two people were killed, including a three-year-old child, and at least 31 people were wounded in a Russian ballistic missile attack on a five-storey residential building in the centre of Ukraine’s Kharkiv, the region’s governor Oleh Syniehubov wrote on Telegram. Russia’s Ministry of Defence denied responsibility for the attack, claiming it was caused by the detonation of Ukrainian ammunition and was meant as a distraction from a deadly attack the day before on the village of Khorly, in a Russian-occupied part of the Kherson region. The death toll from the drone strike on a hotel and cafe in Khorly rose to 28 people, the region’s Russian-installed governor, Vladimir Saldo, told Russia’s state-run TASS news agency. Saldo also said that more than 60 people were injured in the attack. Ukraine has responded to the strike by saying it does not target civilians. Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba said in a post on Facebook that Ukrainian authorities have decided to evacuate more than 3,000 children, along with their parents, from 44 front-line settlements in Ukraine’s Zaporizhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions due to Russian aggression. A Ukrainian attack on the electricity grid in the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia region of Ukraine left 1,777 households without power, Russian-installed regional governor, Yevgeniy Balitsky, wrote on Telegram. Russian forces shot down 64 Ukrainian drones overnight into Friday, Russia’s Defence Ministry said, according to TASS. Ukrainian monitoring site DeepState reported Russian forces seized more land in the Myrnohrad and Pokrovsk areas of Ukraine’s Donetsk region, as well as in Svitle in the Ternopil region. The Russian army captured more than 5,600 square kilometres (2,160 square miles), or nearly 1 percent, of Ukrainian territory in 2025, according to an analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which works with the Critical Threats Project. According to the AFP news agency, the land seized by Russian forces last year was more than in the previous two years combined, but less than the 60,000sq km (23,166sq miles) Russia took in 2022, the first year of its all-out invasion. Advertisement Politics and diplomacy Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy named Ukraine’s military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov as his presidential chief of staff on Friday, in the latest Ukrainian leadership shake-up. Zelenskyy also nominated Mykhailo Fedorov, a drone and digitalisation specialist who has served as first deputy prime minister and minister of digital transformation, as defence minister. Fedorov, whose appointment must be approved by parliament, will replace Denys Shmyhal, a former prime minister who was being offered a new government post. RecepTayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkiye, told reporters in Istanbul that he would hold a phone call with United States President Donald Trump on Monday to discuss peace efforts. Turkiye has been hosting intermittent peace talks during Russia’s war on Ukraine. Erdogan also said Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will attend a meeting of the “coalition of the willing”, a group of nations backing Ukraine, in Paris, in the coming days. Adblock test (Why?)
Iran urges UN to respond to Trump’s ‘reckless’ threats over protests
Letter to UN chief, UNSC comes after Trump says US will intervene if Tehran violently suppresses protests. Published On 3 Jan 20263 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Iran’s United Nations ambassador Amir Saeed Iravani has written to the UN secretary-general and the president of the UN Security Council (UNSC), urging them to condemn “unlawful threats” towards Tehran from United States President Donald Trump amid ongoing protests in the country. The letter sent on Friday came hours after Trump said the US was “locked and loaded and ready to go” if any more protesters were killed in the ongoing demonstrations in Iran over the cost of living. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Iravani called on UN chief Antonio Guterres and members of the UNSC to “unequivocally and firmly condemn” Trump’s “reckless and provocative statements”, describing them as a “serious violation” of the UN Charter and international law. “Any attempt to incite, encourage or legitimise internal unrest as a pretext for external pressure or military intervention is a gross violation of the sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Iravani said in the letter, which was published in full by the IRNA state news agency. The letter added that Iran’s government “reiterates its inherent right to defend its sovereignty” and that it will “exercise its rights in a decisive and proportionate manner”. “The United States of America bears full responsibility for any consequences arising from these illegal threats and any subsequent escalation of tensions,” Iravani added. IRNA reported earlier that protests continued across Iran on Friday, with people gathering in Qom, Marvdasht, Yasuj, Mashhad, and Hamedan as well as in the Tehran neighbourhoods of Tehranpars and Khak Sefid. Advertisement The protests have swept across the country after shopkeepers in Iran’s capital Tehran went on strike on Sunday over high prices and economic stagnation. At least nine people had been killed and 44 arrested in the unrest. The deputy governor of Qom province on Friday said that another person had died after a grenade exploded in his hand, in what the governor said was an attempt to incite unrest. In his post on Truth Social, Trump said that if Iran “violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue”. Ali Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, shot back that US interference “is equivalent to chaos across the entire region and the destruction of American interests”. Iran’s economic woes, including a collapsing currency and high inflation rates, follow years of severe drought in Tehran, a city with a population of some 10 million people, compounding multiple ongoing crises. Iranian leaders have struck a surprisingly conciliatory tone in response, with President Masoud Pezeshkian saying the government is at “fault” for the situation and promising to find solutions. Observers have noted the response is markedly different from the harsh reaction to past protests in the country. The United States bombed three Iranian nuclear sites in June this year during a 12-day escalation between Israel and Iran. Trump described the operation as a “very successful attack”. Last week, during a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said the US will “knock the hell out” of Iran if it advances its nuclear programme or ballistic weapons programme. The statement came amid an Israeli push to resume attacks on Iran. Pezeshkian has pledged a “severe” response to any aggression. Adblock test (Why?)
UN chief Guterres calls on Israel to reverse NGO ban in Gaza, West Bank
Guterres says pending ban targets groups ‘indispensable to life-saving’ work, undermines ceasefire progress. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on Israel to reverse a pending ban on 37 nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) working in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. In a statement on Friday, Guterres called the work of the groups “indispensable to life-saving humanitarian work”, according to spokesperson Stephane Dujarric. He added that the “suspension risks undermining the fragile progress made during the ceasefire”. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Israel banned the humanitarian groups for failing to meet new registration rules requiring aid groups working in the occupied territory to provide “detailed information on their staff members, funding and operations”. It has pledged to enforce the ban starting March 1. Experts have denounced the requirements as arbitrary and in violation of humanitarian principles. Aid groups have said that providing personal information about their Palestinian employees to Israel could put them at risk. The targeted groups include several country chapters of Doctors Without Borders (known by its French acronym, MSF), the Norwegian Refugee Council, and the International Rescue Committee. To date, Israel has killed about 500 aid workers and volunteers in Gaza throughout its genocidal war. All told, at least 71,271 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023. In his statement, Guterres said the NGO ban “comes on top of earlier restrictions that have already delayed critical food, medical, hygiene and shelter supplies from entering Gaza”. “This recent action will further exacerbate the humanitarian crisis facing Palestinians,” he said. Advertisement Nearly all of Gaza’s population has been displaced throughout the war, with many still living in tents and temporary shelters. Israel had maintained severe restrictions on aid entering the enclave prior to a ceasefire going into effect in October. Under the deal, Israel was meant to provide unhindered aid access. But humanitarian groups have said Israel has continued to prevent adequate aid flow. Ongoing restrictions include materials that could be used to provide better shelter and protection from flooding amid devastating winter storms, according to the UN. Earlier on Friday, the foreign ministers of Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkiye, Pakistan and Indonesia warned that “deteriorating” conditions threatened to take even more lives in Gaza. “Flooded camps, damaged tents, the collapse of damaged buildings, and exposure to cold temperatures coupled with malnutrition, have significantly heightened risks to civilian lives,” they said in a statement. They called on the international community “to pressure Israel, as the occupying power, to immediately lift constraints on the entry and distribution of essential supplies including tents, shelter materials, medical assistance, clean water, fuel, and sanitation support”. Adblock test (Why?)
Who is Barse Deva? Most-wanted Maoist commander and close associate of Madvi Hidma surrenders
Deva, aged 45 years, had been serving as the in-charge of Battalion Number 1 — considered the last core fighting unit of the Maoist organisation. He has held the rank of Area Zonal Committee Member (AZCM) since 2021. Deva was a close associate of top Maoist commander Madvi Hidma.
Indore contaminated water tragedy: More than 200 hospitalised, MP CM suspends two officials
According to Indore district Collector Shivam Verma, five deaths have been officially confirmed so far in the water contamination incident, and the total number of hospitalised patients has risen to 210.
Good News for Uttar Pradesh residents: New four-lane highway, built with cost of Rs 700 crore, to connect two national highways in THIS district, name is…
According to officials, the project will also include the construction of a two-lane bridge at Sultan Garh, which will further enhance connectivity in the area.
Delhi-NCR Weather Update: Air quality improves to ‘poor’, national capital wakes up to chilly morning; check area-wise AQI
Delhi Air Quality Index (AQI) has improved to ‘poor’ days after being in the ‘very poor’ category as the national capital woke up to a chilly and windy morning on Saturday.According to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the daily average AQI continued to decline, with the city recording an overall AQI of 222.
James Talarico reports raising nearly $7 million, continuing cash influx to U.S. Senate bid
The Democratic Senate hopeful’s campaign said virtually all the donations, 98%, were for $100 or less. Candidates must file updates by the end of the month.
Dallas County sues Trump administration over clawback of public health funds
Dallas is the second Texas county to sue over public health cuts after a judge ordered the Trump administration to return $20 million to Harris County last summer.