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US health authorities are set Thursday to reassess Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), a treatment used by menopausal women around the world but long clouded by debate over its risks.HRT is taken to replace estrogen the body stops producing after menopause — when periods end permanently — and helps relieve symptoms such as hot flashes and vaginal discomfort.But its use has plummeted in recent years amid concerns over rare side effects, including a potential link to invasive breast cancer.Food and Drug Administration (FDA) chief Marty Makary, who convened Thursday’s meeting of outside experts, has long advocated for HRT, saying its risks have been overstated.”For decades, hormone replacement therapy for women — that is estrogen or estrogen plus progesterone — has helped women alleviate the symptoms of menopause, including hot flashes, dryness, mood swings, weight gain and poor sleep quality, to name a few,” he said in a video.He added that when initiated within a decade of the onset of the transitional period before menopause, HRT may even reduce cognitive decline, the risk of Alzheimer’s, and prevent osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease.Makary blamed the drop in HRT use on a landmark clinical trial, the Women’s Health Initiative, which was halted in the early 2000s after it flagged increased risks of breast cancer and stroke. But he said subsequent studies had not replicated the findings on breast cancer.Critics of the trial argue it was flawed because the participants were too far from menopause, and that the formulations used are now outdated.Still, the issue remains divisive within the medical community.The FDA’s own warning label for HRT — which can be administered through various means including orally, through skin patches, or vaginally — cites risks including endometrial cancer, breast cancer, and life-threatening blood clots.This week, the American Journal of Physicians published an editorial that found limited benefits and significant harms associated with HRT.”Menopause is a positive life experience for many women and should not be medicalized,” the authors concluded.The nature of the FDA expert meeting is also unusual. Unlike standard practice before the Trump administration, no agenda was publicly posted.Several of the named panelists have ties to companies offering menopause treatments or who belong to the advocacy group “Let’s Talk Menopause,” which receives funding from pharmaceutical companies and campaigns to revise the FDA warning label.

The US Senate approved early Thursday a package of spending cuts proposed by President Donald Trump that would cancel more than $9 billion in funding for foreign aid programs and public broadcasting.The upper chamber of Congress green-lit the measure in what was seen as the first test of how easily lawmakers could usher into law savings sought by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — in the aftermath of the tech mogul’s acrimonious exit from the government.Despite the cutbacks’ unpopularity in some sections of both parties, the Republican-led Senate passed the measure with 51 votes for and 48 against in a session that went more than two hours past midnight.The version of the text passed in June by the House of Representatives sought to eliminate $400 million in funding allocated to health programs, including the PEPFAR global AIDS relief fund created by then-president George W. Bush.But defunding PEPFAR — which has saved an estimated 26 million lives — was seen as a nonstarter among a handful of moderate Republican senators, and the proposal was dropped.South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham told AFP the bill was consistent with Trump’s promises to cut spending.”I’ve been a big fan of the foreign aid accounts… I’m a big hawkish guy, but you need foreign aid. You need soft power,” he said.”But when you start spending money on a bunch of junk, and liberal programs disconnected from the purpose of the aid package, it makes it difficult on a guy like me.” The bill now goes back to the House for final approval, with lawmakers up against the clock. Congress, which had already allocated the money, has to approve the cuts by Friday or the White House must spend the cash as originally intended.Legislation to claw back money already approved by Congress — known as a “rescissions package” — is extremely rare, and no such measure has passed in decades.- ‘Surrendering powers’ -Around a dozen Republicans had voiced concerns about allowing the White House to dictate spending cuts, placing them in the crosshairs of Trump, who last week threatened to withhold his endorsements from any rebels.The vote was the first in what Republicans have touted as a potential series of packages codifying the spending cuts made by DOGE. Musk was tapped by Trump to lead the task force after the tech billionaire spent $290 million helping him get elected.The SpaceX and Tesla boss boasted that he would be able to save $2 trillion in federal spending — but left the White House under a cloud in late May as he feuded with Trump over deficits and spending.DOGE acknowledges that it has saved taxpayers just $190 billion — and fact checkers even see that claim as dubious, given previous inaccuracies in its accounting. The rescissions package slashes around $8 billion in foreign aid, with much of that approved for humanitarian organization USAID, one of DOGE’s first targets. Around $1 billion is to be taken back from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which helps fund National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), as well as more than 1,500 local radio and television stations.Conservatives often accuse PBS and NPR of bias, and Trump signed an executive order in May to cease federal funding for both networks.Democrats say cutting the funding will not meaningfully reduce the deficit, but instead dismantle a trusted source of information for millions of Americans.”It is yet another example of the spirit and ideals of our Constitution being undermined in a terrible way. We are a nation that believes that (Congress) has a real role,” New Jersey Senator Cory Booker told AFP.”And this is a bunch of my colleagues in thrall of the president, surrendering the powers of us, and the urgency for us to work together and do it in a bipartisan way to improve budgets.”

The day before Bad Bunny kicked off his blockbuster residency that’s expected to bring hundreds of millions of dollars to Puerto Rico while showcasing its rich culture, he posted a simple message: Shop Local.The ethos is core to his 30-show concert series in San Juan which, after nine performaces exclusive to residents, will open up to fans from elsewhere — what many Boricuas, as Puerto Ricans are known, are hoping will serve as an exercise in responsible tourism.”It’s an incredible moment for the island,” said Davelyn Tardi of the promotional agency Discover Puerto Rico.The organization conservatively estimates the residency will bring in some $200 million to Puerto Rico over the approximately three-month run, which falls during the typically less-trafficked summer months.Azael Ayala works at a bar in one of San Juan’s popular nightlife zones, telling AFP that business was already booming even though the residency was only in its first weekend.It’s “completely changed,” the 29-year-old said, as crowds buzzed about La Placita where some bars were slinging Bad Bunny-themed cocktails.”We’re thrilled,” Ayala said. “The tips are through the roof.”The fact that people are coming from across the globe to see Bad Bunny “is a source of pride for Puerto Rico, too,” he added.Arely Ortiz, a 23-year-old student from Los Angeles, couldn’t score a ticket to a show — but said Bad Bunny was still the draw that prompted her to book her first trip to Puerto Rico.”I really love how outspoken he is about his community,” she said. “Just seeing him, that he can get so far, and he’s Latino, it encourages more Latinos to be able to go for what they want.””He has for sure empowered Latinos, like 100 percent.”- Tourism: it’s complicated -But while tourism has long been an economic engine for the Caribbean island that remains a territory of the United States, the relationship is complicated.Concerns around gentrification, displacement and cultural dilution have magnified on the archipelago beloved for stunning beaches with turquoise waters — especially as it’s become a hotspot for luxury development, short-term rentals and so-called “digital nomads” who work their laptop jobs remotely while traveling the world.Visiting foreigners sample the island’s beauty but are shielded from the struggle, say many locals who are coping with a chronic economic crisis exacerbated by natural disasters, as rents soar and massive blackouts are routine.Bad Bunny — who was born and raised Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio — himself has pointed to such issues and more in his metaphor and reference-laden lyrics.”In my life, you were a tourist,” reads one translation of his track “Turista.””You only saw the best of me and not how I was suffering.”Historian Jorell Melendez Badillo told AFP that Puerto Rico by design has long catered to foreign investment: “A lot of people see tourism as sort of like this colonial undertone,” he said.But when it comes to Bad Bunny and his residency at the affectionately nicknamed venue El Choli, “we cannot negate the fact that it’s going to bring millions of dollars” to the island, he added.”We can celebrate what Benito is doing while also looking at it critically, and having a conversation around what type of tourism will be incentivized by this residency.”Ana Rodado traveled to Puerto Rico from Spain after a friend native to the island gifted her a ticket.She booked a five-day trip with another friend that included a visit to beachside Vega Baja, the municipality where Bad Bunny grew up and worked bagging groceries before gaining fame.After posing for a photo in the town square, Rodado told AFP that she’d been trying to take the artist’s “shop local” plea to heart.”Tourism is a global problem,” she said. “To the extent possible, we have to be responsible with our consumer choices, and above all with the impact our trip has on each place.””We try to be respectful, and so far people have been really nice to us.”Ultimately, Bad Bunny’s residency is a love letter to his people — a show about and for Puerto Ricans whose narrative centers on heritage, pride and joy.”We’re here, damn it!” he shouted to ecstatic screams during his sweeping first show, which at times felt like a giant block party. “I’d come back for the next 100 years — if God lets me, I’ll be here.”

After a Kentucky teenager died by suicide this year, his parents discovered he had received threatening texts demanding $3,000 to suppress an AI-generated nude image of him.The tragedy underscores how so-called sextortion scams targeting children are growing around the world, particularly with the rapid proliferation of “nudify” apps — AI tools that digitally strip off clothing or generate sexualized imagery.Elijah Heacock, 16, was just one of thousands of American minors targeted by such digital blackmail, which has spurred calls for more action from tech platforms and regulators.His parents told US media that the text messages ordered him to pay up or an apparently AI-generated nude photo would be sent to his family and friends.”The people that are after our children are well organized,” John Burnett, the boy’s father, said in a CBS News interview.”They are well financed, and they are relentless. They don’t need the photos to be real, they can generate whatever they want, and then they use it to blackmail the child.”US investigators were looking into the case, which comes as nudify apps — which rose to prominence targeting celebrities — are being increasingly weaponized against children.The FBI has reported a “horrific increase” in sextortion cases targeting US minors, with victims typically males between the ages of 14 and 17. The threat has led to an “alarming number of suicides,” the agency warned.- Instruments of abuse -In a recent survey, Thorn, a non-profit focused on preventing online child exploitation, found that six percent of American teens have been a direct victim of deepfake nudes.”Reports of fakes and deepfakes — many of which are generated using these ‘nudifying’ services — seem to be closely linked with reports of financial sextortion, or blackmail with sexually explicit images,” the British watchdog Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) said in a report last year.”Perpetrators no longer need to source intimate images from children because images that are convincing enough to be harmful — maybe even as harmful as real images in some cases — can be produced using generative AI.”The IWF identified one “pedophile guide” developed by predators that explicitly encouraged perpetrators to use nudifying tools to generate material to blackmail children.  The author of the guide claimed to have successfully blackmailed some 13-year-old girls.The tools are a lucrative business.A new analysis of 85 websites selling nudify services found they may be collectively worth up to $36 million a year.The analysis from Indicator, a US publication investigating digital deception, estimates that 18 of the sites made between $2.6 million and $18.4 million over the six months to May.Most of the sites rely on tech infrastructure from Google, Amazon, and Cloudflare to operate, and remain profitable despite crackdowns by platforms and regulators, Indicator said.- ‘Whack-a-mole’ -The proliferation of AI tools has led to new forms of abuse impacting children, including pornography scandals at universities and schools worldwide, where teenagers created sexualized images of their own classmates.A recent Save the Children survey found that one in five young people in Spain have been victims of deepfake nudes, with those images shared online without their consent.Earlier this year, Spanish prosecutors said they were investigating three minors in the town of Puertollano for allegedly targeting their classmates and teachers with AI-generated pornographic content and distributing it in their school.In the United Kingdom, the government this year made creating sexually explicit deepfakes a criminal offense, with perpetrators facing up to two years in jail.And in May, US President Donald Trump signed the bipartisan “Take It Down Act,” which criminalizes the non-consensual publication of intimate images, while also mandating their removal from online platforms.Meta also recently announced it was filing a lawsuit against a Hong Kong company behind a nudify app called Crush AI, which it said repeatedly circumvented the tech giant’s rules to post ads on its platforms.But despite such measures, researchers say AI nudifying sites remain resilient.”To date, the fight against AI nudifiers has been a game of whack-a-mole,” Indicator said, calling the apps and sites “persistent and malicious adversaries.”burs-ac/des

The 500,000-strong Haitian community in the United States is in a state of panic as the Trump administration pushes to deport those who fled here after a huge 2010 earthquake.”I came here seeking refuge, and now they want to kick me out,” said Clarens, who obtained temporary protected status (TPS) following the quake that leveled much of his Caribbean island home.”I believed in the American dream, and I thought I could bring the rest of my family here. I thought we would be able to thrive in the United States.”In Miami and New York, where the Haitian diaspora is largest, fear of being returned to the destitute, violent, largely lawless and gang-ridden island is widespread.”It’s total panic, the whole community is suffering because even if your temporary status has not yet been revoked, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents are on the streets and can arrest anyone,” said Clarens, which is not his real name.After cancelling an extension of the protective status granted to 520,000 of Clarens’s countrymen to February 2026, Trump definitively cancelled it in June.While a New York court has blocked Trump’s move, Haitian-American immigration lawyer Stephanie Delia warned the reprieve will likely be short-lived.”If it ends February 3, which sadly we expect that it will, you’re talking about (people) who for 15 years have relied on something and have built their life on,” she said.In Brooklyn’s “Little Haiti” neighborhood, many in the diaspora are too afraid to go to church, work, or even the doctor for fear of being arrested by ICE agents.- ‘Slaughterhouse’ -“The number of TPS people, so mostly Haitians and people from Latin America, has dropped sharply at the clinic. From 300 to 30 a day. People are afraid,” said the head of a clinic in the neighborhood who requested anonymity.Guerline Jozef, director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, said she was aware of many people afraid to go outdoors, including one woman in “complete distress.” “She had to flee Haiti 20 years ago, and was able to get that protection in 2010. Now her fear is what is going to happen — primarily with her children,” Jozef said.Haitian activist Pascale Solages warned that without legal status, “people will no longer be able to work, pay their rent, and will end up on the street.”Faced with the choice of being arrested and removed, or “self-deporting”, some migrants are fleeing to Canada.”We are receiving many inquiries and calls. We are seeing 10 to 15 people per day,” said Marjorie VilleFranche, director of Maison d’Haiti, a support organization in Montreal, home to a large Haitian community.Under an agreement on safe third countries, Haitians in the United States can apply for asylum in Canada if they have family there. Others can cross the land border and request asylum within two weeks.Canada’s Border Services Agency said more than 8,000 asylum seekers crossed at the Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle crossing between Quebec and New York State in the first six months — up from 4,613 in the same period in 2024.Most of those were Haitian.Clarens said he could not imagine travelling to Canada without his family and waiting years for an asylum ruling.The prospect of returning home is even more daunting.Haiti is plagued by gang violence with more than 3,000 people killed in the first six months of 2025, the UN says. The gangs control most of the capital city, Port-au-Prince. Haiti is run by a weak, non-elected transitional government and has not held an election of any kind since 2016.”Gangs control everything — they have informants monitoring those who enter and leave the country. In their minds, if you live in the United States, you must have money,” Clarens said. “We’d be kidnap targets. Sending us back there is like sending us to our deaths, to the slaughterhouse.”

Nearly three in four American teenagers have used AI companions, with more than half qualifying as regular users despite growing safety concerns about these virtual relationships, according to a new survey released Wednesday.AI companions — chatbots designed for personal conversations rather than simple task completion — are available on platforms like Character.AI, Replika, and Nomi.Unlike traditional artificial intelligence assistants, these systems are programmed to form emotional connections with users. The findings come amid mounting concerns about the mental health risks posed by AI companions.The nationally representative study of 1,060 teens aged 13-17, conducted for Common Sense Media, found that 72 percent have used AI companions at least once, while 52 percent interact with such platforms a few times per month. Common Sense Media is a leading American nonprofit organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.The survey revealed that 30 percent of respondents use the platforms because “it’s entertaining” and 28 percent are driven by curiosity about the technology. However, concerning patterns emerged: one-third of users have chosen to discuss serious matters with AI companions instead of real people, while 24 percent have shared personal information including real names and locations.Perhaps most troubling, 34 percent of teen users reported feeling uncomfortable with something an AI companion had said or done, though such incidents were infrequent.”The reality that nearly three-quarters of teens have used these platforms, with half doing so regularly, means that even a small percentage experiencing harm translates to significant numbers of vulnerable young people at risk,” the report said.The survey revealed an age divide in trust levels. While half of all teens expressed distrust in AI companion advice, younger teens (ages 13-14) were more likely than older teens (15-17) to trust advice from these systems. Despite widespread usage, most teens maintained perspective on these relationships: two thirds found AI conversations less satisfying than human interactions, and 80 percent spent more time with real friends than AI companions.Based on the findings, Common Sense Media recommended that no one under 18 use AI companions until stronger safeguards are implemented.”Companies have put profits before kids’ well-being before, and we cannot make the same mistake with AI companions,” the report said.

Beverage giant Coca-Cola has agreed to use real cane sugar in its US production, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday on social media.The company currently uses high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in its domestic beverages — a sweetener that has long drawn criticism from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his Make America Healthy Again movement.”I have been speaking to Coca-Cola about using REAL Cane Sugar in Coke in the United States, and they have agreed to do so,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.”I’d like to thank all of those in authority at Coca-Cola. This will be a very good move by them — You’ll see. It’s just better!”The US president did not explain what motivated his push for the change, which would not impact his well-known favorite beverage, Diet Coke.Since his return to the White House, Trump has re-installed a special button in the Oval Office which summons a helping of the sugar-free carbonated drink.Coca-Cola did not immediately confirm the ingredient shift.”We appreciate President Trump’s enthusiasm for our iconic Coca‑Cola brand. More details on new innovative offerings within our Coca‑Cola product range will be shared soon,” the company said in a short statement.HFCS became popular in the 1970s, with its use skyrocketing thanks to government subsidies for corn growers and high import tariffs on cane sugar.Any shift away from corn is likely to draw backlash in the Corn Belt, a Midwestern region that has been a stronghold of support for Trump.Both HFCS and sucrose (cane sugar) are composed of fructose and glucose. However, they differ structurally: HFCS contains free (unbonded) fructose and glucose in varying ratios — 55/45 in soft drinks — while sucrose consists of the two sugars chemically bonded together.These structural differences, however, don’t appear to significantly affect health outcomes. A 2022 review of clinical studies found no meaningful differences between HFCS and sucrose in terms of weight gain or heart health.The only notable distinction was an increase in a marker of inflammation in people consuming HFCS. Overall, both sweeteners appear similarly impactful when consumed at equal calorie levels.Despite this, Mexican Coke — which is made with cane sugar — is often sold at a premium in US stores and prized for its more “natural” flavor.Trump’s prized Diet Coke is sweetened with aspartame — a compound classified as a “possible carcinogen” by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

US President Donald Trump blasted his own supporters and “stupid” Republicans Wednesday as he went on the attack against anyone questioning his administration’s handling of the case of dead sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein.Trump took his most combative tone yet to try and shut down the issue, after days of struggling to brush off a conspiracy theory that his base has long embraced, but which he now claims is a Democratic hoax.Trump, 79, began on Wednesday by saying that “my PAST supporters have bought into this ‘bullshit’, hook, line and sinker”, in a post on his Truth Social network, and calling them “weaklings.”He later took aim at his own party.”It’s all been a big hoax, it’s perpetrated by the Democrats. And some stupid Republicans and foolish Republicans fall into the net and so they try and do the Democrats’ work,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.Trump is facing the most serious split in his loyal right-wing base since he returned to power, over claims that his administration is covering up lurid details of disgraced financier Epstein’s crimes to protect rich and powerful figures.Epstein died by suicide in a New York prison in 2019 — during Trump’s first term — after being charged with sex trafficking in a scheme where he allegedly groomed young and underage women for sexual abuse by the rich and powerful.The Trump-supporting far-right has long latched on to the scandal, claiming the existence of a still-secret list of Epstein’s powerful clients and that the late financier was in fact murdered in his cell as part of a cover-up.Trump supporters expected the Republican to answer their questions on his return to office this January but now find themselves being told the conspiracy theories are false.The Justice Department and FBI said in a memo made public earlier this month there is no evidence that the disgraced financier kept a “client list” or was blackmailing powerful figures.They also dismissed the claim that Epstein was murdered in jail, confirming his death by suicide, and said they would not be releasing any more information on the probe.- Trump’s changing tune -Trump doubled down when he faced repeated questions on the issue Wednesday during a visit with Bahrain’s visiting crown prince, pinning the blame for the wild conspiracy theories on his opponents.He then sought to deflect, rattling off what he said were a list of his economic and foreign policy achievements and complaining that people were instead “talking about a guy who obviously had some very serious problems who died three, four years ago.””And the sad part, it is people that are really doing the Democrats work. They’re stupid people.”Asked if his post describing supporters who questioned the White House’s line as “past” was effectively disowning them, Trump replied: “I lost a lot of faith in certain people, yes.”Trump is one of the many currently famous people who were formerly friends with Epstein, but denies having gone to his notorious US Virgin Islands home.He said ahead of his election he would have “no problem” releasing files on the case.But his administration’s attempts to brush the issue under the carpet instead have sparked fury among supporters.Beyond that, the issue has opened a schism within his administration, sparking a fiery blow-up between Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino, who is said to be considering resigning.Trump on Wednesday reiterated that Bondi could release “whatever’s credible” in the files.But criticism of Trump’s handling of the issue continued — even from some of his closest allies.Republican Senator Ted Cruz told reporters: “I have long said we should release everything.”Retired general Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security advisor in his first term who resigned after lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia, said the “roll out of this was terrible, no way around that.””It is NOT about Epstein or the left. It is about committing crimes against CHILDREN,” added Flynn, a frequent stoker of conspiracy theories whom Trump appointed to a board overseeing US military service academies back in March.

A Texas judge on Wednesday set a new execution date for an autistic man convicted in a problematic “shaken baby” case.Judge Austin Reeve Jackson set October 16 as the date for Robert Roberson to be executed by lethal injection for the 2002 death of his two-year-old daughter, Nikki.Roberson, 58, had been scheduled to die on October 17 of last year at the state penitentiary in Huntsville but his execution was put on hold after he was subpoenaed to testify before a Texas House of Representatives committee.The Texas Supreme Court temporarily stayed his execution in response to the extraordinary subpoena from state lawmakers looking into Roberson’s controversial conviction and the use of “junk science” in criminal prosecutions.A bipartisan group of 86 Texas lawmakers had urged clemency for Roberson, citing “voluminous new scientific evidence” that cast doubt on his guilt.Roberson would be the first person executed in the United States based on a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome, according to his lawyers.His case has drawn the attention of not only Texas lawmakers but also best-selling American novelist John Grisham, medical experts and the Innocence Project, which works to reverse wrongful convictions.Also among his supporters is the man who put him behind bars — Brian Wharton, the former chief detective in the town of Palestine — who has said “knowing everything that I know now, I am firmly convinced that Robert is an innocent man.”Gretchen Sween, one of Roberson’s attorneys, criticized the decision to set an execution date while the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is considering new evidence in the case.”Texans should be outraged that the court has scheduled an execution date for a demonstrably innocent man,” Sween said in a statement.”Everyone who has taken the time to look at the evidence of Robert Roberson’s innocence… has reached the same conclusion: Nikki’s death was a terrible tragedy.”Robert did not kill her. There was no crime.” Roberson has always maintained his innocence and his lawyers said his chronically ill daughter died of natural and accidental causes, not abuse.The diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome, made at the hospital where Roberson’s daughter died, was erroneous, they said, and the cause of death was pneumonia, aggravated by doctors prescribing improper medication.Roberson’s autism spectrum disorder, which was not diagnosed until 2018, also contributed to his arrest and conviction, according to his lawyers.There have been 26 executions in the United States this year, including four in Texas.

Goldman Sachs reported a jump in second-quarter profits Wednesday behind significant increases in financial advisory revenues that chief executive David Solomon said could presage an uptick in dealmaking.”Anecdotally, the level of dialogue is significantly increased,” Solomon told analysts on a conference call after the investment bank’s earnings surpassed analyst estimates.There is a greater “confidence level on the part of CEOs, that significant scaled industry consolidation is possible,” said Solomon, who attributed the shift to the Trump administration’s more favorable posture towards mergers compared with regulators in the Biden administration.Later in an interview with CNBC, Solomon also said he was sensing a “little bit of an acceleration” in the economy as sentiment has improved. In April he warned of increased recession as President Donald Trump’s aggressive initial tariff launch roiled markets.The comments came as the big US investment bank scored a 20 percent increase in profits to $3.5 billion compared with the year-ago period, easily topping analyst expectations.Revenues rose 15 percent to $14.6 billion.Goldman said increases in advisory fees reflected strength in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.Its investment banking fees backlog rose compared with the end of the first quarter, suggesting more mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and initial public offerings lie ahead.In its markets division, Goldman’s gains were particularly pronounced in equities, where it enjoyed significantly higher revenues in financing and “intermediation,” where Goldman acts as a middleman between two parties in a transaction.These increases helped to offset lower revenues in Goldman’s Asset and Wealth Management business.Goldman’s strong results — which echo those at JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and other large banks this week — add to the industry’s momentum at a time when the Trump administration has signaled regulatory relief expected to free up billions of dollars in capital that had been required after the 2008 financial crisis. – Tariff uncertainty -During the conference call, Solomon described the M&A market as “remarkably resilient.” Year-to-date dealmaking volumes are running 30 percent over the same period in 2024, even after sluggish activity in the first half of the quarter.Solomon pointed to NRG’s $12 billion acquisition of energy assets from LS Power Equity Advisors and Salesforce’s $8 billion purchase of Informatica as reflective of deal acceleration.Bankers had been bullish on dealmaking after Trump’s November election victory. But in the first quarter, investment banks said such activity was placed on the backburner as the White House focused on fast-changing trade policy. Executives at rival financial services companies expressed hope Tuesday for more deals, with clients opting to charge ahead despite tariff uncertainty. Trump has threatened steep tariff increases on countries that don’t reach trade deals with Washington.Solomon expressed measured optimism about the economy.”It’s hard to say that confidence is not higher on July 15 than it was on May 15,” Solomon told CNBC. “And if confidence is higher, you’re going to see that in behavior.”Shares of Goldman Sachs rose 0.4 percent in afternoon trading.