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The Supreme Court has given President Trump the power to fire the heads of independent agencies, such as the Federal Trade Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the National Labor Relations Board. The court's decision, which overturns a 91-year-old precedent that said the agencies must be independent of the president, creates a limited carve-out to preserve Federal Reserve independence. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a dissent with fellow Democratic appointees Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, observed: “Dozens of independent commissions are now likely to become purely executive agencies, shifting tremendous power over broad swaths of American life into the president’s hands.” The Competitive Enterprise Institute said the opinion “continues the healing process as we dismantle an unchecked regulatory state.”

 

The Hill

Bloomberg

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U.S. retailers are bringing forward orders from China by four to six weeks to secure stock for the Black Friday and Christmas shopping season before expected increases in U.S. import tariffs later this year, according to shipping executives. The move reflects continued uncertainty over U.S. trade policy despite last month's meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese leaders, with the current 10% universal tariff due to expire on 24 July and higher duties widely anticipated. The U.S. Trade Representative has also proposed a 12.5% tariff on imports from China and other countries following a forced labor investigation. The early ordering has led to stronger-than-usual shipping demand during May and June, rather than the traditional July-to-September peak season. Shipping group Maersk said container capacity on China-U.S. routes has tightened since mid-May due to stronger customer demand and earlier seasonal bookings, while maritime consultancy Drewry reported that freight rates from Shanghai to New York have risen 25% year-on-year to $7,149 per 40-foot container. Rates to Los Angeles have climbed 54% over the same period to $5,750.

 

Reuters

Apple has changed its software release strategy by making security updates available earlier than planned in response to growing concerns that artificial intelligence is enabling hackers to develop and exploit cyber threats more quickly. Rather than waiting to bundle security patches into its next major iOS release, the company is releasing fixes ahead of schedule to shorten the window between vulnerabilities being disclosed and protections reaching users. The move marks a significant shift from Apple's longstanding practice of delivering most security updates alongside broader iOS upgrades. Although the company said there is no evidence that the latest vulnerabilities have been actively exploited, it believes the rapid pace of AI-assisted cyberattacks requires faster deployment of security fixes to better protect customers.

 

Reuters

Korea is ramping up domestic cybersecurity and AI initiatives following the White House's export ban on Anthropic's AI models. The country is launching two key projects: one focuses on enhancing AI security through the white-hat hacker community, while the other aims to develop homegrown foundation models for public and national security. Despite the challenges, experts are stressing the importance of building independent AI infrastructure. “When we used to warn that the United States could suddenly cut off . . . access, people treated it as a hypothetical,” said a source in the IT industry who requested anonymity. “Now that it's actually happened, most countries are scrambling, but Korea moved early enough that we're still able to create a response team.”

 

Korea Joongang Daily

Ford Motor has brought back so-called “gray beard” engineers to help train younger staff and reprogram AI tools to address quality problems. The hiring of these 350 veterans over the last three years to address what were seemingly intractable quality issues that have cost the company billions has helped Ford become the top mainstream brand in the latest JD Power Initial Quality Survey. Charles Poon, Ford’s vice president of vehicle hardware engineering, said: “Over prior years, we didn’t pay as much attention as we should have to the experience of our most knowledgeable engineers that have been with us through many product cycles.” Ford chief operating officer, Kumar Galhotra, explained: “We had been relying more and more on automated quality systems” and not getting the desired results, adding that the rehired technical specialists “hunt for failure points before a part ever reaches the plant floor.”

 

Bloomberg

Finland’s National Defense Course is designed to get leaders, and future leaders, thinking about how to plan for, and respond to, worst-case scenarios so that they can help keep the country functioning during a national emergency. The highly coveted invitations to the secretive training program are sent to Finland’s most influential chief executives four times year. Former Nokia Oyj CEO Pekka Lundmark says the training changed how he approached new executive roles; each time he stepped into a new one, he would review a company’s crisis plan.

 

Bloomberg

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating a number of "continuation vehicles" (CVs) - funds typically used by private equity firms and other money managers to hold ​on to assets they either cannot or do not wish to sell. The SEC's enforcement division is said to be probing potential conflicts of interest around the CVs, how managers are valuing the assets, and whether investor disclosures are sufficient and consistent.

 

Reuters

Reuters reports on research which suggests that complexity in financial ​regulation is useful because it can make rules harder to ​get around. Moves toward simplification in the U.S. and U.K. could make the system less safe, with rules more likely to be gamed as lenders shift risks elsewhere ​in the system, according to the study. "Our evidence suggests the U.S. rollback risks going too far," the authors of the research, including Stockholm School of Economics professor Mariassunta ⁠Giannetti, said. They added that Britain was also slowly moving in the same direction.

 

Reuters

​The Chemours Company has agreed a $450m settlement with the Department of Justice over the release of so-called "forever chemicals" in West Virginia, North Carolina and New ‌Jersey. The settlement includes a $22.5m civil penalty and $90m in funding to control per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which have been linked to cancer and other risks, and remove them from drinking water. "This is the first comprehensive settlement by the federal government to resolve enforcement claims over ​pollution by a manufacturer of forever chemicals," DOJ said. The settlement “delivers on the Trump administration’s promise to make polluters pay and stop PFAS contamination at the source,” said Jeffrey Hall, assistant EPA administrator for enforcement and compliance assurance.

 

CBS News

New York Times

Reuters

The Guardian

The Supreme Court has ruled 5-4 to block President Trump's attempt to fire Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the President didn't provide Cook enough process to contest allegations of mortgage fraud. “To be clear, the ultimate question of whether the President can remove Cook for cause will depend in part on the underlying facts,” Roberts wrote. “In this opinion, we have not addressed the facts , as they have yet to be found or analyzed under the relevant legal standards. Rather, we have simply addressed the parties' arguments about the appropriate legal standards under which the facts must be evaluated,” he continued.  Allowing Trump to remove Cook would open the door for “the President to remove a member of the Federal Reserve at any time, for any reason, without any notice before and without any judicial check after”, the chief justice wrote.

 

The Hill

CNBC

NPR / National Public Radio

Google-owned YouTube has settled a lawsuit filed by a minor who claimed the platform negatively impacted his mental health. The settlement terms remain confidential; the other defendants named in the suit - Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok - are still set to face trial in July. John Morgan and Emily Jeffcott, attorneys for the plaintiff, known by his initials R.K.C., said: “YouTube's decision to resolve this case before having to face a jury speaks for itself . . . We will continue fighting on behalf of all those affected by social media addiction ‌to bring these companies to justice and compel them to prioritize the safety of their young users over their bottom lines.” Google spokesperson Jose ⁠Castaneda ‌said: “Our focus remains ⁠on building age-appropriate products and parental controls that deliver on that promise.” 

 

CNBC

China's new law on ethnic unity allows the government to target individuals outside its borders who undermine it. The law, which was passed in ‌March to create a "shared" national identity among the country's 55 ethnic minority groups, goes into effect on July 1, and includes a clause saying that people and groups beyond the borders of the People's Republic ​of China can be held legally accountable for undermining "ethnic unity and progress or inciting ⁠ethnic ⁠separatism." Vice Justice Minister Hu Weilie said: "This provision is based on China's national conditions, conforms to legal principles, and is consistent with international practice. It is a legitimate, lawful, necessary, and feasible legal provision . . . Countries around the world all have the right to prevent separatist and destructive activities, and to maintain social solidarity and normal order, through domestic legislation."

 

U.S. News