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The National
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The National
The Blast (Re-run)
In the summer of 2020, Lebanon had already been experiencing some of its worst days, due to a deepening financial crisis and the global pandemic. On August 4, things took a much darker turn. Hundreds of tonnes of ammonium nitrate detonated at the Beirut port, ripping through the capital and wreaking havoc. More than 200 people were killed and thousands injured. It destroyed homes, overwhelmed the city and shattered livelihoods. This week, to mark the fifth anniversary of the Beirut explosion, Beyond the Headlines is revisiting a mini-series published in 2021, a year after the incident. It's a four-part investigation that follows the events before, during and after that fateful day. The Blast Episode 1: The Russian and the Rhosus How did the dangerous material end up in Beirut's port in the first place? It starts with a ship and its Russian captain, Boris Prokoshev. He speaks about the ill-fated voyage from the start, how a detour brought him and his crew to Beirut, and how they got stuck there. The Blast Episode 2: The six-year wait After the cargo was moved to a warehouse at the port, it sat there for years. This episode connects the dots to understand why the chemical, commonly used in fertilisers and explosives, was neglected for so long. We hear from officials and workers at the port, and we try to establish who knew about the ammonium nitrate all this time, and whose responsibility it was to make sure it was safe. The Blast Episode 3: Zero hour Ghassan Hassrouty was working with his colleagues at the port's grain silos. Sarah Copland, an Australian UN employee, was feeding her son Isaac, 2. And then, it's zero hour, the moment the blast tore through the city on August 4, 2020. This episode tells that story through witness accounts of people who were there. The Blast Episode 4: Fallout In the aftermath of the blast, residents took to the streets to sweep the shards of glass and piles of rubble. Meanwhile, politicians bickered and resigned. Judges were appointed to investigate the blast but one year on, had yet to publish their case. In this series finale we hear how people feel about their politicians, their country and their lives a year later.
Wall Street Journal
23-07-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Tom Hayes, Libor ‘Ringleader,' Wins U.K. Appeal to Clear His Name
Tom Hayes, the former trader who became the face of the Libor scandal, won a last-ditch appeal to clear his name, undoing one of the most high-profile cases to emerge from the global financial crisis. The U.K. Supreme Court on Wednesday quashed the landmark 2015 conviction, which saw Hayes spend more than five years in prison before he was released in 2021.
Reuters
07-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Fed paper says risk of falling back to near zero rates still in play
July 7 (Reuters) - The prospect of the Federal Reserve once again setting its short-term interest rate target at near zero levels at some point in coming years remains real despite current relatively high levels of short-term borrowing costs, a new paper, opens new tab published jointly between the New York and San Francisco Federal Reserve banks said. The medium- to long-term risk that the central bank's interest rate target will return to super low levels 'is currently at the lower end of the range observed over the past fifteen years,' said a paper that counted New York Fed President John Williams as a co-author. It was published on Monday. But the researchers added the chance of a return to near-zero rates 'remains significant over the medium to long term…due to recent elevated uncertainty.' A near-zero federal funds rate target is associated with troubled economic times and their aftermaths. The Fed pegged its short-term interest rate target at such levels from 2008 and the onset of the financial crisis until late 2015, and found itself again at such levels in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, before hiking interest rates aggressively starting into the spring of 2022 to combat the worst inflation readings seen in decades. A near zero level for the interest rate target the Fed uses to achieve its job and employment mandates creates substantial challenges for central bankers. To provide stimulus beyond what a super low target can provide, officials have had to turn to controversial bond buying programs aimed at lowering long-term rates, which have in turn massively increased the size of the Fed's balance sheet. The Fed has also had to resort to communications strategies which officials also hoped would bolster the stimulative power of low rates. The recent chapters of hitting near-zero rates came during what had been a multi-decade trend of declining rates amid a long-running trend of declining inflation pressures. The experience of the last few years has ushered in a new landscape for the central bank. High levels of pandemic-driven inflation have cooled considerably. But the Fed, at a current target rate of between 4.25% and 4.5%, is still at a level that is relatively high relative to recent years' experience. It also faces considerable uncertainty over the outlook due to trade policy. As of June, Fed officials expected to cut their target to 3.4% by 2027 and to start on that path this year. The central bank is also being pressured by President Donald Trump for aggressive easings. Meanwhile, officials have also been revising up the forecast of the rate that's neutral relative to the economy's performance. Now at 3%, that projection as well as the June forecasts suggests the Fed may have more of a buffer to cut rates without hitting zero relative to recent years. The paper, which based its analysis on interest rate derivatives, noted that even with the current buffer, the interest-rate outlook is complex. The risk of hitting near-zero rates 'tends to fall with higher expected levels of interest rates and tends to rise with interest rate uncertainty," the authors wrote.
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Fed paper says risk of falling back to near zero rates still in play
By Michael S. Derby (Reuters) -The prospect of the Federal Reserve once again setting its short-term interest rate target at near zero levels at some point in coming years remains real despite current relatively high levels of short-term borrowing costs, a new paper published jointly between the New York and San Francisco Federal Reserve banks said. The medium- to long-term risk that the central bank's interest rate target will return to super low levels 'is currently at the lower end of the range observed over the past fifteen years,' said a paper that counted New York Fed President John Williams as a co-author. It was published on Monday. But the researchers added the chance of a return to near-zero rates 'remains significant over the medium to long term…due to recent elevated uncertainty.' A near-zero federal funds rate target is associated with troubled economic times and their aftermaths. The Fed pegged its short-term interest rate target at such levels from 2008 and the onset of the financial crisis until late 2015, and found itself again at such levels in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, before hiking interest rates aggressively starting into the spring of 2022 to combat the worst inflation readings seen in decades. A near zero level for the interest rate target the Fed uses to achieve its job and employment mandates creates substantial challenges for central bankers. To provide stimulus beyond what a super low target can provide, officials have had to turn to controversial bond buying programs aimed at lowering long-term rates, which have in turn massively increased the size of the Fed's balance sheet. The Fed has also had to resort to communications strategies which officials also hoped would bolster the stimulative power of low rates. The recent chapters of hitting near-zero rates came during what had been a multi-decade trend of declining rates amid a long-running trend of declining inflation pressures. The experience of the last few years has ushered in a new landscape for the central bank. High levels of pandemic-driven inflation have cooled considerably. But the Fed, at a current target rate of between 4.25% and 4.5%, is still at a level that is relatively high relative to recent years' experience. It also faces considerable uncertainty over the outlook due to trade policy. As of June, Fed officials expected to cut their target to 3.4% by 2027 and to start on that path this year. The central bank is also being pressured by President Donald Trump for aggressive easings. Meanwhile, officials have also been revising up the forecast of the rate that's neutral relative to the economy's performance. Now at 3%, that projection as well as the June forecasts suggests the Fed may have more of a buffer to cut rates without hitting zero relative to recent years. The paper, which based its analysis on interest rate derivatives, noted that even with the current buffer, the interest-rate outlook is complex. The risk of hitting near-zero rates 'tends to fall with higher expected levels of interest rates and tends to rise with interest rate uncertainty," the authors wrote.
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Fed paper says risk of falling back to near zero rates still in play
By Michael S. Derby (Reuters) -The prospect of the Federal Reserve once again setting its short-term interest rate target at near zero levels at some point in coming years remains real despite current relatively high levels of short-term borrowing costs, a new paper published jointly between the New York and San Francisco Federal Reserve banks said. The medium- to long-term risk that the central bank's interest rate target will return to super low levels 'is currently at the lower end of the range observed over the past fifteen years,' said a paper that counted New York Fed President John Williams as a co-author. It was published on Monday. But the researchers added the chance of a return to near-zero rates 'remains significant over the medium to long term…due to recent elevated uncertainty.' A near-zero federal funds rate target is associated with troubled economic times and their aftermaths. The Fed pegged its short-term interest rate target at such levels from 2008 and the onset of the financial crisis until late 2015, and found itself again at such levels in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, before hiking interest rates aggressively starting into the spring of 2022 to combat the worst inflation readings seen in decades. A near zero level for the interest rate target the Fed uses to achieve its job and employment mandates creates substantial challenges for central bankers. To provide stimulus beyond what a super low target can provide, officials have had to turn to controversial bond buying programs aimed at lowering long-term rates, which have in turn massively increased the size of the Fed's balance sheet. The Fed has also had to resort to communications strategies which officials also hoped would bolster the stimulative power of low rates. The recent chapters of hitting near-zero rates came during what had been a multi-decade trend of declining rates amid a long-running trend of declining inflation pressures. The experience of the last few years has ushered in a new landscape for the central bank. High levels of pandemic-driven inflation have cooled considerably. But the Fed, at a current target rate of between 4.25% and 4.5%, is still at a level that is relatively high relative to recent years' experience. It also faces considerable uncertainty over the outlook due to trade policy. As of June, Fed officials expected to cut their target to 3.4% by 2027 and to start on that path this year. The central bank is also being pressured by President Donald Trump for aggressive easings. Meanwhile, officials have also been revising up the forecast of the rate that's neutral relative to the economy's performance. Now at 3%, that projection as well as the June forecasts suggests the Fed may have more of a buffer to cut rates without hitting zero relative to recent years. The paper, which based its analysis on interest rate derivatives, noted that even with the current buffer, the interest-rate outlook is complex. The risk of hitting near-zero rates 'tends to fall with higher expected levels of interest rates and tends to rise with interest rate uncertainty," the authors wrote.
