Argentina, transgender minors, Mexico and the Fed: the night's news

Argentina: Massive demonstration in support of Cristina Kirchner. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered Wednesday in central Buenos Aires to support former Argentine President Cristina Kirchner. Under house arrest since Tuesday to serve a six-year prison sentence for corruption, Ms. Kirchner sent the crowd, gathered in the famous Plaza de Mayo, “an eight-minute pre-recorded audio message,” in which she called on her movement, Peronism, to “reorganize,” stating that the government of President Javier Milei had “an expiration date,” summarizes La Nación . “We will return,” she promised. The former first lady (2003-2007), president (2007-2015), and vice president (2019-2023) is now ineligible for life.

United States: Supreme Court upholds ban on transgender minors. The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld laws “prohibiting medical care for transgender minors,” passed by “nearly half of the states in the country,” reports NPR . The case was brought before the Tennessee courts by transgender children and their parents claiming that the state’s ban on hormone treatments and puberty blockers for transgender minors constituted “unconstitutional” discrimination based on sex. The same treatments are indeed authorized “for other minors with conditions such as endometriosis and early or late puberty,” notes the American radio station. The Supreme Court, with a conservative majority, nevertheless ruled that these laws were not discriminatory.

Mexico prepares for the arrival of Hurricane Erick. Southern Mexico was preparing Wednesday for the arrival of Erick, a Category 3 hurricane of "major force" that could continue to strengthen overnight. Erick, which formed over the Pacific Ocean, "has intensified in recent hours and is expected to cause devastating winds and potentially deadly flash floods in several regions of southern Mexico starting tonight and lasting until Thursday," El Universal warns. It could also cause "significant damage to infrastructure, power outages and landslides," the newspaper adds. The hurricane is expected to make landfall Thursday morning (local time), at the junction of the coastal states of Guerrero and Oaxaca, particularly threatening Acapulco, already devastated by hurricanes in 2023 and 2024.

United States: Fed keeps interest rates unchanged. The US central bank on Wednesday kept its interest rates between 4.25% and 4.5%, the level they have been at since December. The Fed is responding to “expectations of rising inflation and slowing economic growth,” CNBC reported. Rate cuts could nevertheless occur “later this year,” the financial institution assured. Its boss, Jerome Powell, estimated that the customs duties imposed by Donald Trump would “ probably push prices up and weigh on economic activity” and that it would take “a few more months” to have “a real idea of ​​how this will be transmitted to inflation.” The American president, eager to see rates fall, once again insulted Mr. Powell, calling him on Wednesday a “stupid” and “politicized” person.