The Evening: Fed expects lingering inflation in 2025

Also, California declared an emergency over bird flu.

View in browser|nytimes.com December 18, 2024 By Matthew Cullen Good evening. Here's the latest at the end of Wednesday. The Fed's third rate cut A bird flu emergency in California Plus, best picture Oscar buzz Jerome Powell, the Fed chair. Shawn Thew/EPA, via Shutterstock The Fed cut rates and signaled a long fight against inflation Federal Reserve officials made their third and final rate cut of 2024 today, reducing borrowing costs by a quarter of a percentage point. They also shook up financial markets by forecasting notably higher inflation and two fewer rate cuts in 2025 than they had previously expected. Stock markets dropped after the Fed announced its projections. The S&P 500 fell nearly 3 percent, its worst day since the beginning of August. Jerome Powell, the Fed chair, said that the central bank cut rates after each of its last three meetings because inflation had significantly slowed, but that it was a "closer call" this time. He added that he expects the Fed to cut interest rates more slowly next year, because inflation appears to be lingering. For more: Donald Trump's vows to cut taxes, impose high tariffs and crack down on immigration have added uncertainty to the economic forecasts. Maansi Srivastava for The New York Times The Supreme Court agreed to weigh in on the TikTok ban The Supreme Court agreed today to hear TikTok's challenge to a law that could ban the popular video app in the U.S. The justices set aside two hours for the argument on Jan. 10, an exceptionally fast track that could result in a ruling before the ban is set to go into effect on Jan. 19. "The court seems to recognize the gravity of banning an app used by 170 million Americans," my colleague Sapna Maheshwari, who reports on TikTok, told me. The law calls for TikTok to face a ban in the U.S. unless it is sold to a non-Chinese company. ByteDance, its parent company, argues that the law violates the First Amendment. The Biden administration argues that the law is necessary for national security reasons. In related news, the court also agreed to consider whether South Carolina can eliminate Medicaid funding for any services offered by Planned Parenthood. Former Representative Matt Gaetz at the Capitol in September. Maansi Srivastava/The New York Times House ethics panel voted to release the Gaetz report The House Ethics Committee secretly voted this month to release an investigative report into the conduct of former Representative Matt Gaetz, Trump's initial pick to run the Justice Department. Gaetz dropped his bid to become attorney general after the weight of allegations of sex trafficking and drug use made it clear he would not be confirmed by the Senate. Lawmakers on the panel plan to release the report after House members cast the final votes of the Congress this week. They previously voted against releasing the report. In other politics news: Trump condemned a congressional spending deal, raising fears of a government shutdown. The Senate approved an $895 defense bill that would deny transgender health coverage to minors who are children of service members. There's a rift among top Trump advisers over how to make America healthier. A new wave of election denialism is coming from the left. But top Democrats aren't interested. So-called crunchy moms are now more often associated with the political right. David Swanson/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images California declared an emergency over bird flu Gov. Gavin Newsom of California declared today that the outbreak of bird flu among the state's dairy cattle constituted an emergency, a stark acknowledgment of the increasing seriousness of the contagion's spread. Since the state first identified the virus — known as H5N1 — in cattle in August, California's Agriculture Department has found it in 645 dairy farms, about half of them in the past 30 days. The announcement followed news that an individual in Louisiana had been hospitalized with bird flu, the first severe case in a human identified so far in the U.S. More top news New York: Mayor Eric Adams's former top adviser is expected to be arraigned on bribery charges involving men who gave her son a $100,000 loan to buy a Porsche. Florida: State prosecutors filed charges against the man accused of trying to assassinate Donald Trump. Housing: Insurers are dropping homeowners over climate risks. The scale of that pullback is becoming public, and the result is a map that tracks the climate crisis in a new way. Weather: 2024 was the most intense year for tornadoes in the U.S. in a decade. Nature: U.S. officials said that the "murder hornet" had been eliminated from the country. International Ivor Prickett/The New York Times Syria: Soldiers of Bashar al-Assad's regime are waiting in line to see if they will receive amnesty. Moscow: Russia detained a Uzbekistan citizen it accused of assassinating a Russian general on Ukraine's orders. France: Dominique Pelicot is France's most infamous predator. During the three months of his trial, judges and lawyers have tried to grasp his true nature. Congo: Measles is killing thousands of children in the country. Many families want vaccines but can't get them. Afghanistan: The Taliban embraced poppy and its extracted opium to finance the group's war. In two years, the same insurgents have all but eliminated the crop. TIME TO UNWIND The debate over best picture is heating up The year is winding down, but awards season is ramping up. So our columnist Kyle Buchanan is out today with his projections for the Oscars' top category. Kyle writes that the five strongest best picture contenders are what he calls the A-B-C-D-E movies: "Anora," "The Brutalist," "Conclave," "Dune: Part Two" and "Emilia Pérez." But the real debate is over which five other films will join them as nominees. Here's what we expect. More in movies: Our critic argues that the definition of a "New York movie" changed this year. Judy Garland in "Meet Me in St. Louis." Archive Photos/Moviepix, via Getty Images The making and remaking of a holiday classic "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" was not always a holiday staple. Judy Garland first performed it during the 1944 musical film "Meet Me in St. Louis," only after the lyrics were softened at her request. The song was far from the movie's biggest hit. But the tune endured, thanks in part to Frank Sinatra, who altered the lyrics again in 1957 to give it a cheerier postwar sheen. In recent decades, countless chart-topping artists recorded their own versions of the song — cementing its spot in the holiday canon. We're asking readers: What's the tradition, old or new, that you're most looking forward to this year? To share your thoughts, fill out this form. We may contact you to include your contribution in The Evening. Dinner table topics Year in photos: Take a look at the biggest stories of 2024 through our photographers' eyes. Giving away art: Leonard Lauder, the cosmetics heir, has created the model for the headline-grabbing donation that museums dream of today. "Romantic Poet": Will you fall in love with this poem? Our critic did. The perfect sauna: A writer took a 750-mile road trip around Lake Superior in search of sauna nirvana. WHAT TO DO TONIGHT Linda Xiao for The New York Times Cook: This deceptively simple black lime salmon is as striking in flavor as in appearance. Watch: "Didi" is one of this month's best under-the-radar streaming picks. Read: These books make for great gifts. Learn: Apple's new photos app is confusing. We have some tips. Manage: Here's how to keep "Christmas tree syndrome" symptoms at bay. Exercise: This 20-minute band workout can help you build strength. Play: Here are today's Spelling Bee, Wordle and Mini Crossword. Find all our games here. ONE LAST THING Tupi, a baby capybara, and his mother, Luna. San Antonio Zoo Tupi is just two weeks old. He's already famous. It has been a big year for cute baby zoo animals. Over the summer, a pygmy hippo named Moo Deng captured the world's admiration from a zoo in Thailand. Then Haggis, another baby hippo, got his own wave of interest in Scotland. Now a capybara named Tupi has become the latest social media star. He was born two weeks ago at the San Antonio Zoo, and received an outpouring of love after his introduction to the internet. But in a twist that seemed fitting to close out 2024, less than an hour after the announcement of his birth, the zoo put out a statement that Tupi and the zoo were not affiliated with a digital coin that had been named after the animal. Have a darling evening. Thanks for reading. I'll be back tomorrow. — Matthew Sean Kawasaki-Culligan was our photo editor today. We welcome your feedback. Write to us at evening@nytimes.com. Writer: Matthew Cullen Editors: Carole Landry, Whet Moser, Justin Porter, Jonathan Wolfe Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for The Evening from The New York Times. To stop receiving The Evening, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request. Subscribe to The TimesGet The New York Times app Connect with us on: Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018