The Trump administration rescinded an order to freeze federal aid funding. A judge temporarily blocked the pause on Tuesday, shortly before it was due to come into effect. The order sparked confusion among those relying on federal grants, including non-profit organisations, schools, and people receiving direct benefits from Medicaid, America’s health insurance for the poor.
Alibaba, a Chinese e-commerce giant, unveiled an AI model it claims outperforms DeepSeek’s, the Chinese startup which triggered a market rout on Monday. Stockmarkets in Asia and Europe recovered on Wednesday, boosted by strong earnings from ASML, a Dutch chipmaker. American tech stocks, meanwhile, continued to post losses, with Nvidia’s share price falling by 5%, after staging a partial recovery on Tuesday.
America’s Federal Reserve held its benchmark interest rate at a range of 4.25-4.5%. In a statement the central bank said inflation remained “somewhat elevated”. Its chair, Jerome Powell, said he had not had any contact with Donald Trump; last week Mr Trump insisted he would “demand” that the Fed lowers rates.
Dozens were killed during a stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela festival in India. Tens of millions of Hindus have flocked to Prayagraj, a city in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, for a holy dip in the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers. Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, reportedly called for “immediate support measures” for the victims.
Germany’s parliament narrowly approved a non-binding motion to restrict immigration at the border. The motion was proposed by opposition leader Friedrich Merz of the Christian Democratic Union, after two people in Bavaria were killed by an Afghan man whose request for asylum had been rejected. Alice Weidel, the leader of the hard-right Alternative for Germany, called the result “a historic day”.
Rachel Reeves, Britain’s finance minister, backed the construction of a third runway at Heathrow airport, stating that delays had hurt investment and exports. Arguing for faster economic growth, she also vowed to remove barriers to offshore wind projects, accelerate home-building and develop the Oxford-Cambridge corridor—a planned hub for tech and science—with better transport links and expanded housing.
Trump Media, the company behind Truth Social, Mr Trump’s social-media platform, launched Truth.Fi, a financial services brand. The firm will invest up to $250m through Charles Schwab, allocating funds to ETFs, managed accounts, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Shares in Trump Media rose 11% on the news. Mr Trump has pledged to make America the “crypto capital” of the world.
Figure of the day: 12, the number of the world’s 20 most traffic-congested cities that are in Asia. Read the full story.
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