Latest news with #SupremeCourt
Business Recorder
35 minutes ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
US court ruling on tariffs lifts dollar, dragging Indian rupee lower
MUMBAI: The Indian rupee is set to open weaker on Thursday, weighed by the dollar's strength after a U.S. court blocked President Donald Trump's tariffs. The 1-month non-deliverable forward indicated the local currency would open in the 85.48-85.52 range, compared to a close of 85.36 in the previous session. 'When you think about it, it's a bit counterintuitive that Asia is lower on the back of the U.S. court blocking tariffs,' a currency trader at a Mumbai-based bank said. 'However, that's been the pattern — tariffs imply weaker U.S. growth and a softer dollar.' The trader expects the rupee to find support in the 85.50–85.60 zone, and reckons that the opening decline in the rupee will not sustain. Indian rupee to open nearly flat, holds upper hand as dollar remains vulnerable The dollar index climbed past the 100 level, Asian currencies were down between 0.1% and 0.6%, and U.S. equity futures rallied after a U.S. court blocked Trump from imposing tariffs, saying the U.S. Constitution provides Congress exclusive authority to regulate commerce. The Trump administration filed a notice of appeal and questioned the authority of the court. Trump's tariff plans on U.S. trading partners had drawn warnings from economists about the potential for higher inflation and uncertainty, which had weighed on the dollar. The U.S. court ruling blocking the tariffs brought relief to the dollar, at least for now. 'The question is what's next. First, we think tariffs will likely still be in force during the appeals process, with the Trump administration likely to take the appeals process all the way up to the Supreme Court,' MUFG Bank said in a note. The immediate reaction of the dollar strengthening and Asian currencies weakening may not last considering that the tariffs are likely to stay and with the legal uncertainty potentially crimping US growth and investment plans, it said.
Reuters
36 minutes ago
- Business
- Reuters
Gold hits over one-week low after US court blocks Trump's tariffs
May 29 (Reuters) - Gold touched a more than one-week low on Thursday after a U.S. federal court blocked President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs, dampening the metal's safe-haven allure, while a robust dollar further pressured the bullion. Spot gold was down 0.7% at $3,268 an ounce, as of 0242 GMT, after hitting its lowest since May 20. U.S. gold futures dropped 0.1% to $3,265. A U.S. trade court on Wednesday halted the enforcement of Trump's tariffs, ruling the president exceeded his authority by imposing universal duties on imports from nations with a trade surplus with the United States. "This was obviously the most important news driver and looking at the broad, dollar sort of rallied on that and obviously helped push gold lower," said Nicholas Frappell, global head of institutional markets at ABC Refinery. On April 2, Trump had levied "reciprocal tariffs" on multiple countries, stoking fears of a global recession. However, many of those country-specific tariffs were paused a week later. Following the trade court's ruling, the U.S. dollar index (.DXY), opens new tab rallied making greenback-priced gold more expensive, with Wall Street futures and Asian equities also climbing. Meanwhile, the Trump administration filed a notice of appeal, challenging the court's authority and signalling a potential escalation to the Supreme Court if necessary. But the gold market is still bullish as "longer term outlook suggests a weaker dollar and there's still likely to be some inflationary pressures near term," Frappell said. The minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's May 6-7 session showed that officials are concerned about the potential for concurrent rises in inflation and unemployment, a scenario that would necessitate a choice between implementing tighter monetary policy to combat inflation or lowering interest rates to support economic growth and employment. The market now awaits U.S. GDP data due later in the day, with core U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditures data for further cues on rate cut trajectory. Elsewhere, spot silver rose 0.4% to $33.12 an ounce, platinum was steady at $1,075.50 and palladium edged 0.9% higher to $971.30.
Yahoo
37 minutes ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Gold hits over one-week low after US court blocks Trump's tariffs
By Anmol Choubey (Reuters) - Gold touched a more than one-week low on Thursday after a U.S. federal court blocked President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs, dampening the metal's safe-haven allure, while a robust dollar further pressured the bullion. Spot gold was down 0.7% at $3,268 an ounce, as of 0242 GMT, after hitting its lowest since May 20. U.S. gold futures dropped 0.1% to $3,265. A U.S. trade court on Wednesday halted the enforcement of Trump's tariffs, ruling the president exceeded his authority by imposing universal duties on imports from nations with a trade surplus with the United States. "This was obviously the most important news driver and looking at the broad, dollar sort of rallied on that and obviously helped push gold lower," said Nicholas Frappell, global head of institutional markets at ABC Refinery. On April 2, Trump had levied "reciprocal tariffs" on multiple countries, stoking fears of a global recession. However, many of those country-specific tariffs were paused a week later. Following the trade court's ruling, the U.S. dollar index rallied making greenback-priced gold more expensive, with Wall Street futures and Asian equities also climbing. [MKTS/GLOB][USD/] Meanwhile, the Trump administration filed a notice of appeal, challenging the court's authority and signalling a potential escalation to the Supreme Court if necessary. But the gold market is still bullish as "longer term outlook suggests a weaker dollar and there's still likely to be some inflationary pressures near term," Frappell said. The minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's May 6-7 session showed that officials are concerned about the potential for concurrent rises in inflation and unemployment, a scenario that would necessitate a choice between implementing tighter monetary policy to combat inflation or lowering interest rates to support economic growth and employment. The market now awaits U.S. GDP data due later in the day, with core U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditures data for further cues on rate cut trajectory. Elsewhere, spot silver rose 0.4% to $33.12 an ounce, platinum was steady at $1,075.50 and palladium edged 0.9% higher to $971.30.
The Hindu
43 minutes ago
- The Hindu
How has SC deviated from the POCSO Act in a recent judgment?
The story so far: On May 23, the Supreme Court (SC) declined to impose a sentence on a man convicted under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act), noting that the victim did not view the incident as a crime and had suffered more from the legal fallout. Why was POCSO enacted? Enacted in December 2012, the POCSO Act criminalises both penetrative and non-penetrative sexual assault, sexual harassment, and child pornography. A gender-neutral law, POCSO deems all minors under 18 incapable of 'consent', and mandates child-friendly procedures like special courts, in-camera trials, and video-recorded testimonies. With strict penalties, a presumption of guilt on the accused, and time-bound trials, the Act aims to fill critical legislative voids and deliver swift, victim-centric justice. What is the case? The case involved a 13-year-old girl from rural West Bengal, reported missing by her mother in May 2018, who was later found to have married a 25-year-old man (accused). Despite her mother's rescue efforts, she stayed with him and later gave birth to a daughter. Based on an FIR by her mother, a special judge in September 2022 convicted the accused under POCSO and IPC Sections 363 (kidnapping), 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her marriage etc), 376 (2)(n) (repeated rape on same woman) and 376 (3) (rape on woman under 16 years), sentencing him to 20 years imprisonment. However, the Calcutta HC overturned the conviction by invoking its inherent powers under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, despite POCSO's non-recognition of 'consensual relationships' with minors. It further recommended legislative amendments to exclude such relationships from POCSO's ambit. The judgment veered into a discourse on 'adolescent sexuality', attributing it to climate change, food habits, early puberty, and a 'taboo-free atmosphere' influenced by social media and pornography. This unscientific reasoning overlooked social factors and reinforced outdated gender norms. What did the SC state? On August 20, 2024, the top court in a suo motu proceeding set aside the HC's ruling, reaffirming that POCSO does not recognise 'consensual sex' with minors and its objective must not be diluted. Stressing that judgments must remain concise and law-focused, it criticised the HC for straying from 'legal reasoning' into personal opinions and social commentary. However, sentencing was deferred pending a report from a three-member expert panel tasked with meeting the victim and submitting findings. The expert committee found that the victim, now living in poverty and a temporary shelter, remains committed to the accused and faces significant hardship in tackling the police, society and legal system to secure his release. It flagged the inadequate implementation of the POCSO Act as a 'collective failure' and recommended keeping the family unit intact for the child's welfare, alongside providing financial, legal, and educational support. 'The society judged her, the legal system failed her, and her own family abandoned her', the SC observed, citing the report. Exercising Article 142 (extraordinary jurisdiction), it withheld sentencing and directed the West Bengal government to ensure her welfare and rehabilitation. What next? The unusual deviation from the child protection law in this case must not set a precedent, as the judgment emphasises. Any such exception risks weakening the core intent of the POCSO Act to protect minors from sexual exploitation. Opening the door to exceptions could lead to widespread misuse, with perpetrators hiding behind the guise of 'family protection' to exploit vulnerable girls. India urgently needs comprehensive sex education and a stigma-free curriculum. Kartikey Singh is a lawyer based in Delhi.
Kuwait Times
an hour ago
- Politics
- Kuwait Times
US ‘weaponizes' visas with curbs on opponents
WASHINGTON: The United States said Wednesday it will refuse visas to foreign officials who block Americans' social media posts, as President Donald Trump's administration wages a new battle over free expression. Secretary of State Marco Rubio – who has controversially rescinded visas for activists who criticize the Zionist entity and ramped up screening of foreign students' social media – said he was acting against 'flagrant censorship actions' overseas against US tech firms. He did not publicly name any official who would be denied a visa under the new policy. But last week he suggested to lawmakers that he was planning sanctions against a Brazilian Supreme Court judge, Alexandre de Moraes, who has battled X owner and Trump ally Elon Musk over alleged disinformation. The administration of Trump – himself a prolific and often confrontational social media user – has also sharply criticized Germany and Britain for restricting what the US allies' governments term hate and abusive speech. Rubio on Tuesday suspended further appointments for students seeking visas to the United States until the State Department drafts new guidelines on enhanced screening of applicants' social media postings. Rubio said the United States will begin to restrict visas to foreign nationals who are responsible for 'censorship of protected expression in the United States'. 'It is unacceptable for foreign officials to issue or threaten arrest warrants on US citizens or US residents for social media posts on American platforms while physically present on US soil,' Rubio said in a statement. 'It is similarly unacceptable for foreign officials to demand that American tech platforms adopt global content moderation policies or engage in censorship activity that reaches beyond their authority and into the United States,' he said. 'We will not tolerate encroachments upon American sovereignty, especially when such encroachments undermine the exercise of our fundamental right to free speech.' Rubio has said he has revoked the US visas for thousands of people, largely students who have protested against Israel's offensive in Gaza. Among the most visible cases has been Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University who had written an opinion piece in a student newspaper criticizing the school's position on Gaza. Masked agents arrested her on a Massachusetts street and took her away. A judge recently ordered her release. Social media regulation has become a rallying cry for many on the American right since Trump was suspended from Twitter, now X, and Facebook on safety grounds after his supporters attacked the US Capitol following his defeat in the 2020 election to Joe Biden. In Brazil, where supporters of Trump ally Jair Bolsonaro similarly stormed the presidential palace, Congress and Supreme Court in 2023 after Bolsonaro's election loss, Moraes has said he is seeking to protect democracy through his judicial power. Moraes temporarily blocked X across Brazil until it complied with his order to remove accounts accused of spreading disinformation. More recently he ordered a suspension of Rumble, a video-sharing platform popular with conservative and far-right voices over its refusal to block the account of a user based in the United States who was wanted for spreading disinformation. Germany – whose foreign minister met Wednesday with Rubio – restricts online hate speech and misinformation, saying it has learned a lesson from its Nazi past and will ostracize extremists. US Vice President JD Vance in a speech in Munich in February denounced Germany for shunning the far-right, noting the popularity of its anti-immigrant message. In an essay Tuesday, a State Department official pointed to social media regulations and said Europeans were following a 'similar strategy of censorship, demonization and bureaucratic weaponization' as witnessed against Trump and his supporters. 'What this reveals is that the global liberal project is not enabling the flourishing of democracy,' wrote Samuel Samson, a senior advisor for the State Department's human rights office. 'Rather, it is trampling democracy, and Western heritage along with it, in the name of a decadent governing class afraid of its own people.' The suspension of student visa processing came as Harvard students protested on Tuesday after the government said it intended to cancel all remaining financial contracts, Trump's latest attempt to force the institution to submit to unprecedented oversight. Trump is furious at Harvard for rejecting his administration's push for oversight on admissions and hiring, amid the president's claims the school is a hotbed of anti-Semitism and 'woke' liberal ideology. A judge issued a restraining order pending a hearing on the matter scheduled for Thursday, the same day as the university's graduation ceremony for which thousands of students and their families had gathered in Cambridge, Massachusetts near Boston. The White House, meanwhile, doubled down in its offensive, saying that public money should go to vocational schools that train electricians and plumbers. 'The president is more interested in giving that taxpayer money to trade schools and programs and state schools where they are promoting American values, but most importantly, educating the next generation based on skills that we need in our economy and our society,' spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Fox News Tuesday. Harvard itself has filed extensive legal challenges against Trump's measures. Alumni plan to file a legal brief against Trump on June 9, filmmaker Anurima Bhargava told a virtual meeting staged by Crimson Courage, a grassroots alumni group. The group is gathering thousands of signatures to show the courts the depth of support for the existing legal action. The Trump administration is also piling financial pressure on Harvard. It has announced the cutting of Harvard's government contracts, estimated by US media to be worth $100 million. – Agencies
