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US President Donald Trump on Tuesday hailed cooler-than-expected April inflation data and reiterated his call for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, as analysts warned that his tariffs may still fuel price hikes in the months ahead.The April data covers the early days of Trump’s new levies against most countries — including steep duties on China — which spooked financial markets and raised fears of a spike in US prices.Trump has since scaled back some of the duties and paused others, helping to soothe nervous investors, though tariffs remain well above their recent historical average.The consumer price index (CPI) eased to 2.3 percent in April from a year ago, a tick below the 2.4 percent figure recorded in March, the Labor Department said in a statement.The April CPI release was the smallest 12-month increase since February 2021, and was slightly lower than the median estimate from surveys of economists conducted by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.”No Inflation, and Prices of Gasoline, Energy, Groceries, and practically everything else, are DOWN!!!” Trump wrote on social media.He also took aim again at Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over the central bank’s recent decision to continue holding interest rates steady.”What is wrong with Too Late Powell?” Trump said. “Not fair to America, which is ready to blossom? Just let it all happen, it will be a beautiful thing!”The inflation data did not make waves in the US financial markets, which ended the day mixed. – ‘Little relief’ -Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren took a very different view on the data to Trump. “Consumers and businesses will feel little relief from President Trump folding to Xi Jinping and are bracing for supply chain disruptions and even empty shelves,” she said in a statement, referring to the deal struck over the weekend between the United States and China to lower tariffs while continuing negotiations.Several analysts struck a cautious note about inflation on Tuesday, suggesting that now was not the time for the Fed to cut rates. “This may be the low point in 2025,” Nationwide senior economist Ben Ayers wrote in a note shared with AFP. “As tariff costs increasingly flow into consumer prices, we expect a jump in the CPI this summer, pushing the annual reading back above three percent,” he added.”Looking ahead, higher tariffs will lead to a renewed inflation impulse,” EY chief economist Gregory Daco said in a statement. But, he added, the recent tariff detente with China means that impulse will be slightly weaker than previously expected. Prices rose 0.2 percent from a month earlier, with “more than half” of the increase due to a 0.3 percent rise in shelter costs, according to the Labor Department.Excluding volatile food and energy costs, the inflation rate was 0.2 percent from a month earlier, and 2.8 percent over the past 12 months.The monthly figure was slightly below expectations, while the annual figure was in line with forecasts. – ‘Too early’ to tell -Despite the good news overall, there were nevertheless some signs of Trump’s tariffs in the data. The index for household furnishings and operations increased 1.0 percent in April after standing still in March, the Labor Department said. In a recent investor note, economists at Deutsche Bank had flagged that this data point would provide a good indication of how some “import-heavy categories” could be affected by tariffs.The energy index — which fell sharply in March — increased 0.7 percent in April, according to the Labor Department, spurred by a sharp rise in natural gas and electricity prices. The gasoline index decreased 0.1 percent over the month on a seasonally-adjusted basis, and by 11.8 percent over the past 12 months.The overall inflation data will likely be well-received by the Fed, which has indicated it is in no hurry to cut interest rates.

US President Donald Trump’s administration cut cancer research funding by 31 percent in the first three months of 2025 compared to the same period last year, according to a Senate report released Tuesday that accuses the White House of waging a “war on science.”The analysis, commissioned by the leftwing Senator Bernie Sanders, found that at least $13.5 billion in health funding had been terminated as of April, including 1,660 grants, while thousands of scientific staff were fired.Among the hardest hit was the National Cancer Institute, which lost more than $300 million from January to March compared to 2024, driving inflation-adjusted grant funding to its lowest level in over a decade. Its parent agency, the National Institutes of Health, lost $2.7 billion.”Since January, Trump has launched an unprecedented, illegal and outrageous attack on science and scientists,” said Sanders, the ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee.”Trump is not only denying scientific truth but actively seeking to undermine it.”The Health and Human Services department, led by vaccine-skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr, hit back. “Senator Sanders’ claim of a ‘war on science’ is unequivocally false. The report released by his office today is a politically motivated distortion that undermines the thousands of dedicated public health professionals across HHS, who remain steadfast in their commitment to delivering results for the American people,” the department said on X. Under Kennedy’s leadership, “HHS is streamlining programs, eliminating redundancies, and — above all else — prioritizing gold standard science,” it added.- ‘Complete chaos’ -The report, based on interviews with dozens of federal scientists and health workers, paints a picture of disarray across HHS.At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), at least 175 public health datasets were deleted, leaving doctors “without vetted guidance on how to treat patients,” one physician said.A 43-year-old colorectal cancer patient, already treated with surgery, radiation, and 48 rounds of chemotherapy, said her participation in a T-cell therapy trial at the NIH was delayed due to staff shortages.”The reality is that by reducing money and staff, the NIH will not be able to produce my treatment — and it might cost me my life,” she told Senate staff.At the NIH Clinical Center, researchers described “complete chaos” after entire labs were dismissed. “This administration has a lot of blood on their hands,” said one. “We just want to take care of people.”The report also highlighted the dangers of misinformation amid a growing measles outbreak, which has infected more than 1,000 people and killed three. Over 40 grants studying vaccine hesitancy have been canceled.Meanwhile, Kennedy has hired vaccine conspiracy theorist David Geier, previously disciplined for practicing medicine without a license and testing unproven drugs on autistic children, to investigate an alleged connection between vaccines and autism, debunked by dozens of prior studies.Even as Trump proposes a 26 percent cut to the HHS budget next year, he has earmarked $500 million for Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” initiative, which targets nutrition, physical activity, and “over-reliance on medication.”

Canada’s new government will relentlessly protect the nation’s sovereignty as it works to redefine fraught relations with the United States, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday as his cabinet was sworn in.  Carney’s election win two weeks ago was largely defined by threats from President Donald Trump, whose trade war and repeated talk of annexing the United States’ northern neighbor upended Canadian politics.Carney, a former central banker with experience leading through major financial crises, convinced enough voters that he was the right choice to take on Trump, whose tariffs on imported autos and other goods have already cost Canadian jobs. “Canadians elected this new government with a strong mandate to define a new economic and security relationship with the United States,” Carney said in a statement before his new ministers took their oaths. Addressing reporters after the ceremony, with a cabinet of Liberal Party loyalists assembled behind him, Carney said his “government will work relentlessly to keep Canada secure as a sovereign nation.”Trump discussed absorbing Canada into the United States on several occasions in his first Oval Office meeting with Carney last week.  The president insisted it would be a “wonderful marriage” if Canada agreed to his repeated calls to become the 51st US state.Carney replied the Canada “won’t be for sale, ever,” and referenced the deep hostility among Canadians towards the prospect of a political union with the United States. – ‘Core mission’ -Carney’s cabinet retains several key figures involved in negotiating with the Trump administration over tariffs, although some job titles have shifted. Dominic LeBlanc, who has dealt directly with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in recent weeks, has been named the minister responsible for Canada-US trade. Former foreign minister Melanie Joly has been moved to industry minister, with Anita Anand replacing her as Canada’s top diplomat.Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne is keeping his post. Since taking over from Justin Trudeau on March 14 as prime minister, Carney has tried to create distance from the previous Liberal regime, which became deeply unpopular over its decade in power. His cabinet includes Trudeau allies, but also brings in new faces. Evan Solomon, a prominent former journalist entering parliament for the first time, has been named minister for artificial intelligence, a new post nodding at Carney’s pledge to transform Canada’s economy. Carney said his cabinet will be focused on a “core mission,” which is “to create the strongest economy in the G7.”He promised to act fast on a middle class tax cut and remove inter-provincial trade barriers by Canada Day, on July 1, a move some economist believe could soften the impact of Trump’s tariffs. Carney had a lucrative career as an investment banker before serving as the governor of the Bank of Canada and Bank of England. He is a political novice who will be new to parliament when the House of Commons reconvenes on May 27, opening with a throne speech by King Charles III, the head of state in Canada, a member of the British Commonwealth. But Carney assured voters his experience in the private sector and as a central banker will help him rebuild Canada’s economy, a message that resonated with voters. Opinion polls showed the Liberals trailing the Conservatives by more than 20 points at the start of the year, but Carney’s replacing Trudeau, combined with Trump’s threats, sparked an unprecedented comeback. The Liberals fell just short of the 172 seats needed for majority control of Parliament, but with 170 confirmed wins they will be in a strong position to pass legislation.

The US Senate’s top Democrat announced Tuesday he would hold up all Justice Department political appointees in protest over President Donald Trump’s acceptance of a $400 million luxury plane as a gift from Qatar.The Gulf state’s royal family has offered to donate a 747-8 jumbo jet as Trump awaits the delayed delivery of two new presidential planes from Boeing.But the move raises huge constitutional and ethical questions — as well as security concerns about using an aircraft donated by a foreign power for use as the ultra-sensitive Air Force One.”This is not just naked corruption, it is also a grave national security threat,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a floor speech Tuesday. Schumer’s blanket hold — the first time he has ever resorted to such a move — applies to dozens of would-be appointees, and could significantly delay their start dates in the Trump administration.But very few Trump nominees were benefiting from bipartisan agreements to fast-track them through the Senate in any case, meaning Schumer’s announcement will likely only have a limited practical impact. The US Constitution prohibits government officials from accepting gifts “from any King, Prince or foreign State,” in a section known as the Emoluments Clause.Schumer called for the Justice Department’s Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) unit to “disclose all activities by Qatari foreign agents inside the US that could benefit” Trump or his businesses.He also demanded information from the administration about the jet itself, such as whether it comes with security enhancements or would have to be upgraded by the United States. “How much will those modifications cost American taxpayers? Hundreds of billions of dollars? Hundreds of millions of dollars? Billions of dollars?” he asked.And he called for an explanation of what the jet means for future presidential planes that the government has already agreed to buy from Boeing.The veteran New York Democrat is also demanding that Attorney General Pam Bondi — who once served as a lobbyist for the Qatari government — testify before Congress to explain her approval of the gift.Although Democrats are out of power and cannot block Trump appointees on their own, several have announced holds on groups or individuals that make the confirmation process more drawn-out and unwieldy.Senator Chris Murphy has also pledged to force votes to block weapons sales to Qatar.Trump, on a trip this week to the Middle East including Qatar, has long been unhappy with the current Air Force One jets — two highly customized Boeing 747-200B series aircraft that entered service in 1990 under president George H.W. Bush.Under questioning from reporters on Monday, Trump angrily defended the arrangement with Qatar, saying he would be “stupid” not to accept such a gift.

Sean “Diddy” Combs’s former partner Casandra Ventura told jurors at the music mogul’s sex trafficking trial Tuesday how he “controlled” her life and brutally beat her to keep her in line.Jurors have heard accusations that the hip-hop star used violence and threats of reputational ruin to manipulate women, including Ventura, whom he allegedly abused for years.”Sean controlled a lot of my life — whether it was (my) career, the way I dressed,” said Ventura, who is heavily pregnant and will take regular breaks from her graphic testimony that could last several days.”He had many resources” to potentially use compromising sexual videos of Ventura to exploit the celebrated singer and model, she said, pausing to dab her eye with a tissue.”He would mash me in my head, knock me over, drag me, kick me, stomp me on the head if I was down,” she said, her voice shaking at points.In a hotel surveillance clip from March 2016 shown to jurors Monday, Combs is apparently seen brutally beating and dragging Ventura — widely known as “Cassie” — down a hallway.A former security officer at a Los Angeles-area InterContinental hotel, Israel Florez, told the court Monday that he was first on the scene after the incident and that Combs sought to pay him off.Florez’s testimony provided the foundation for the prosecution to introduce the security footage that was published by CNN last year.The panel of 12 jurors and six alternates responsible for determining Combs’s fate heard of the famed artist’s explosive outbursts and an attempt to preserve his own reputation and celebrity through bribery.But the 55-year-old’s defense team insisted while some of his behavior was questionable — at times constituting domestic abuse — it did not amount to evidence of racketeering and sex trafficking with which he is charged.- ‘Coercive and criminal’ -Combs has pleaded not guilty on all counts, including the racketeering charge that the hip-hop pioneer led a sex crime ring that included drug-fueled sex parties by use of force, threats and violence.Prosecutor Emily Johnson told jurors Combs had set a man’s car ablaze and dangled a woman from a balcony, and made impossible demands of his lovers and employees.”Let me be clear,” US attorney Johnson said, “this case is not about a celebrity’s private sexual preferences.””It’s coercive and criminal.”But Combs’s defense lawyer Teny Geragos told jurors the “case is about love, jealousy and infidelity and money.”Geragos called Combs’s accusers “capable, strong adult women,” and said his situation with Ventura was a “toxic relationship” but “between two people who loved each other.””Being a willing participant in your own sex life is not sex trafficking,” she said, adding that the defense would admit there was domestic violence — but that Combs is not charged with such crimes.Florez’s testimony was followed by a male dancer who engaged in a sexual relationship, often in exchange for money, with Combs and Ventura from 2012 to approximately the end of 2013. He concluded his testimony Tuesday.Ventura said of the so-called “freak-off” sex parties that she was “just in love and wanted to make (Combs) happy — to a point I didn’t feel like I had much of a choice.”Combs’s defense team said they would seek to emphasize that Ventura took drugs of her own free will, and behaved erratically.If convicted, the one-time rap producer and global superstar, who is often credited for his role in bringing hip-hop into the mainstream, could spend the rest of his life in prison. The proceedings are expected to last eight to 10 weeks, and Combs was joined in the courthouse by family members as well as former lovers including Misa Hylton.

Sean “Diddy” Combs’s former partner Casandra Ventura told jurors at the music mogul’s sex trafficking trial Tuesday how he “controlled” her life and wielded compromising sexual blackmail material to keep her in line.Jurors have heard the hip-hop icon used violence and threats of reputational ruin to manipulate women, including Ventura, whom he allegedly abused for years.”(Combs) controlled a lot of my life,” said Ventura, who is heavily pregnant and will take regular breaks from her graphic testimony that could last several days.”He had many resources” to potentially use compromising sexual videos of Ventura to exploit the celebrated singer and model, she said, pausing to dab her eye with a tissue.In a hotel surveillance clip from March 2016 shown to jurors Monday, Combs is apparently seen brutally beating and dragging Ventura — widely known as “Cassie” — down a hallway.A former security officer at a Los Angeles-area InterContinental hotel, Israel Florez, told the court Monday that he was first on the scene after the incident and that Combs sought to pay him off.Florez’s testimony provided the foundation for the prosecution to introduce the security footage that was published by CNN last year.The panel of 12 jurors and six alternates responsible for determining Combs’s fate heard of the famed artist’s explosive outbursts and an attempt to preserve his own reputation and celebrity through bribery.But the 55-year-old’s defense team insisted while some of his behavior was questionable — at times constituting domestic abuse — it did not amount to evidence of racketeering and sex trafficking with which he is charged.- ‘Coercive and criminal’ -Combs has pleaded not guilty on all counts, including the racketeering charge that the hip-hop pioneer led a sex crime ring that included drug-fueled sex parties by use of force, threats and violence.Prosecutor Emily Johnson told jurors Combs had set a man’s car ablaze and dangled a woman from a balcony, and made impossible demands of his lovers and employees.”Let me be clear,” US attorney Johnson said, “this case is not about a celebrity’s private sexual preferences.””It’s coercive and criminal.”But Combs’s defense lawyer Teny Geragos told jurors the “case is about love, jealousy and infidelity and money.”Geragos called Combs’s accusers “capable, strong adult women,” and said his situation with Ventura was a “toxic relationship” but “between two people who loved each other.””Being a willing participant in your own sex life is not sex trafficking,” she said, adding that the defense would admit there was domestic violence — but that Combs is not charged with such crimes.Florez’s testimony was followed by a male dancer who engaged in a sexual relationship, often in exchange for money, with Combs and Ventura from 2012 to approximately the end of 2013. He concluded his testimony Tuesday.If convicted, the one-time rap producer and global superstar, who is often credited for his role in bringing hip-hop into the mainstream, could spend the rest of his life in prison. The proceedings are expected to last eight to 10 weeks, and Combs was joined in the courthouse by family members as well as former lovers including Misa Hylton.

US consumer inflation cooled slightly in April, but analysts warned prices could spike in the coming months as businesses grapple with President Donald Trump’s sweeping “liberation day” tariffs.The data released Tuesday covers the early days of Trump’s new levies against most countries — including steep duties on China — which spooked financial markets and raised fears of a spike in prices. The US president has since reversed some of the duties and paused others, helping to soothe nervous investors. The consumer price index (CPI) eased to 2.3 percent in April from a year ago, a tick below the 2.4 percent figure recorded in March, the Labor Department said in a statement.”The CPI report shows that the American people are experiencing real economic relief: grocery, gas, and egg prices are down, while real wages are up,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement.Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren took a different view on the data.”Consumers and businesses will feel little relief from President Trump folding to Xi Jinping and are bracing for supply chain disruptions and even empty shelves,” she said in a statement, referring to the deal struck over the weekend between the United States and China to lower tariffs. The April CPI release was the smallest 12-month increase since February 2021, and was slightly lower than the median estimate from surveys of economists conducted by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.”This may be the low point in 2025,” Nationwide senior economist Ben Ayers wrote in a note shared with AFP. “As tariff costs increasingly flow into consumer prices, we expect a jump in the CPI this summer, pushing the annual reading back above three percent,” he added.”Looking ahead, higher tariffs will lead to a renewed inflation impulse,” EY chief economist Gregory Daco said in a statement. But, he added, the recent tariff detente with China means that impulse will be slightly weaker than previously expected. Prices rose 0.2 percent from a month earlier, with “more than half” of the increase due to a 0.3 percent rise in shelter costs, according to the Labor Department.Excluding volatile food and energy costs, the inflation rate was 0.2 percent from a month earlier, and 2.8 percent over the past 12 months.The monthly figure was slightly below expectations, while the annual figure was in line with forecasts. US stocks were mixed in early trading. – ‘Too early’ to tell -Despite the good news overall, there were nevertheless some signs of Trump’s tariffs in the data. The index for household furnishings and operations increased 1.0 percent in April after standing still in March, the Labor Department said. In a recent investor note, economists at Deutsche Bank had flagged that this data point would provide a good indication of how some “import-heavy categories” could be affected by tariffs.But, they added, it was still “too early for tariffs to be evident in the aggregate numbers.” The energy index — which fell sharply in March — increased 0.7 percent in April, according to the Labor Department, spurred by a sharp rise in natural gas and electricity prices. The gasoline index decreased 0.1 percent over the month on a seasonally-adjusted basis, and by 11.8 percent over the past 12 months.The data will likely be well-received by the US Federal Reserve as it weighs when to cut interest rates.Futures traders see a roughly 90 percent chance the central bank will extend its recent pause at the next rate decision in June, holding its benchmark lending rate at between 4.25 and 4.50 percent, according to data from CME Group.

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian told a Paris court on Tuesday she feared she would be killed by the masked men who robbed her at gunpoint of some $10 million of jewellery in her hotel room in 2016, but expressed her forgiveness despite the “trauma”.The trial of 10 suspects has attracted huge media attention, with close to 500 reporters accredited, and crowds flocking around the courthouse on Paris’s historic Ile de la Cite hoping for a glimpse of the celebrity.”Hi! I’m Kim Kardashian and I just want to thank everyone, especially the French authorities, for allowing me to testify today and tell my truth,” she told the packed court, wearing a black skirt suit and jewelled necklace.”I came to Paris for Fashion Week and Paris is always a place I love so much,” Kardashian said, giving the court her account of the night of October 2-3, 2016, when she was robbed while staying at an exclusive, discreet hotel in the centre of the city.- ‘Prayer for my family’ -She was in her room — “with my best friend downstairs, my sister and my friend and my mom… all out for the night” — when she heard “stomping” up the stairs.Then people “who I assumed were police officers because they were in uniform” entered her room, said Kardashian, who is among the world’s most followed people on Instagram and X. “Then I heard one of the gentlemen say ‘ring’ a few times over, ‘ring’, ‘ring’ and he pointed his finger with an accent,” she said, adding that she didn’t at first “understand it was for my jewellery”.The man found what he was looking for: a diamond ring given to Kardashian by her then-husband, rapper Kanye West, and valued at 3.5 million euros ($3.9 million).The attackers then began to look for more valuables, threatened Kardashian with a gun and tied her up with a zip tie, she said, visibly emotional.”I was certain that he was going to shoot me, so I said a prayer for my family.”Asked by the presiding judge if she feared she was going to be killed, Kardashian replied: “I absolutely did. I thought I was going to die.”She said she also feared she would be raped but the man with the gun “closed my legs and put a tape on my leg.”- ‘Absolutely terrifying’ -Kardashian said she was “grabbed and dragged into the other room” but not hit by the men. Their sudden appearance and the gun were, however, “absolutely terrifying”.From comments from one of the men, “I felt that he wanted me to know that I would be OK if I just shut up,” she said.”Ultimately I decided not to resist and stay calm. That calmness saved my life.”Those on trial are mainly men in their 60s and 70s with previous criminal records, with nicknames such as “Old Omar” and “Blue Eyes”.Sixty-eight-year-old Aomar Ait Khedache, known as “Old Omar”, has admitted to tying up Kardashian but denies being the mastermind of the robbery.Another suspect in the dock, 71-year-old Yunice Abbas, later wrote a book about the heist.- ‘I forgive you’ -Khedache, who according to his lawyers is no longer able to speak due to health problems, told Kardashian that he “regrets” his actions in a letter that was read out in court. He said he had been “moved and touched by your tears”.Kardashian, who appeared tearful during the reading, said: “I do appreciate the letter, for sure” and “I’ve always believed in the second chance.”She added: “I forgive you for what has taken place but it does not change the emotion, the feelings, the trauma and the way my life changed.”Kardashian has never viewed her security in the same way since the Paris robbery, she told the court. “It changed the way that I felt safe at home,” she said, adding she now relied on up to six security guards there.”We have security everywhere we go,” she said, adding she now longer posts her whereabouts in real time “unless it is on a public schedule”.Kardashian also said she had undergone therapy to deal with her fears because “I have babies that I have to raise,” but “I try to be strong.”Asked about suggestions made at the time that the robbery could have been a publicity stunt or insurance fraud, Kardashian said that those reports had been “really hurtful”.The US celebrity, sometimes described as being “famous for being famous”, became well known in the early 2000s through TV reality shows, before launching fashion brands and appearing in several films.The trial is scheduled to run until May 23.mdh-alv-edy-jh/rlp

“The Apprentice” star Jeremy Strong — who was nominated for an Oscar for playing Donald Trump’s ruthless early mentor — said Tuesday that “truth is under assault”.Strong told reporters at the Cannes Film Festival that lawyer Roy Cohn, who he played in the controversial biopic, was the inventor of “fake news”.President Trump’s lawyers threatened to file a lawsuit against the film, which was released during last year’s presidential campaign.”Roy Cohn I see essentially as the progenitor of fake news and alternative facts, and we’re living in the aftermath of what I think he created,” said Strong, who is on the jury at Cannes.The actor, best known for his role in the series “Succession”, said we are living at a “time where truth is under assault, where truth is becoming increasingly in danger”.”Here specifically in this temple of film, the role of film is increasingly critical, because it can combat those forces in the entropy of truth, and it can communicate truths, individual truths, human truths, societal truths, and affirm and celebrate our shared humanity,” he said.”The Apprentice”, directed by Ali Abbasi, portrays a younger Trump as a nervous, naive outsider trying to make his way in cutthroat Manhattan.But in one shocking scene, it also shows him raping his first wife, Ivana, after she belittles him for growing overweight and bald.In real life, Ivana accused Trump of raping her during divorce proceedings, but later withdrew the allegation. She died in 2022.The movie also shows Trump suffering erectile dysfunction, and undergoing liposuction and surgery for hair loss.The film was eventually released in October last year before the presidential election that he won.In his first 100 days, his administration has slashed federal funding for disinformation research.Social media platforms have scaled back content moderation, with Meta suspending third-party fact-checking in the United States.

US consumer inflation cooled slightly in April to reach its lowest level since February 2021, beating expectations as President Donald Trump’s sweeping “liberation day” tariffs came into effect.The data covers the early days of Trump’s new levies against most countries — including steep duties on China — which spooked financial markets and raised fears of a spike in prices. The US president has since reversed some of the duties and paused others, helping to soothe nervous investors. The consumer price index (CPI) eased to 2.3 percent in April from a year ago, a tick below the 2.4 percent figure recorded in March, the Labor Department said in a statement. This was the smallest 12-month increase since February 2021, and was slightly lower than the median estimate from surveys of economists conducted by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.”This may be the low point in 2025,” Nationwide Senior Economist Ben Ayers wrote in a note shared with AFP. “As tariff costs increasingly flow into consumer prices, we expect a jump in the CPI this summer, pushing the annual reading back above three percent.”Inflation picked up to 0.2 percent from a month earlier, with “more than half” of the increase due to a 0.3 percent rise in shelter costs, according to the Labor Department.Excluding volatile food and energy costs, inflation increased 0.2 percent from a month earlier, and by 2.8 percent over the past 12 months.The monthly figure was slightly below expectations, while the annual figure was in line with forecasts. US stocks opened mixed on the news. – ‘Too early’ to tell -Despite the good news overall, there were nevertheless some signs of Trump’s tariffs in the data. The index for household furnishings and operations increased 1.0 percent in April after standing still in March, the Labor Department said. In a recent investor note, economists at Deutsche Bank had flagged that this data point would provide a good indication of how some “import-heavy categories” could be affected by tariffs.But, they added, it was still “too early for tariffs to be evident in the aggregate numbers.” The energy index — which fell sharply in March — increased 0.7 percent in April, according to the Labor Department, spurred by a sharp rise in natural gas and electricity prices. The gasoline index decreased 0.1 percent over the month on a seasonally-adjusted basis, and by 11.8 percent over the past 12 months.”And just like that, the markets’ twin fears — a tariff-induced recession and sticky inflation — have been greatly assuaged,” Northlight Asset Management chief investment officer Chris Zaccarelli said in a statement.”Fears of slowing growth and a recession caused by punitive tariffs drove markets lower in the first week of April,” he said. “But they’ve rebounded on the heels of a tariff pause and a Chinese trade breakthrough, and now a better-than-expected inflation report removes the last big overhang for the market.”The data will likely be well-received by the Federal Reserve as it weighs when to cut interest rates. Futures traders see a roughly 90 percent chance that it will extend its recent pause at the next rate decision in June, holding its benchmark lending rate at between 4.25 percent and 4.50 percent, according to data from CME Group.