Trump-Zelenskiy call, Trump vs the Fed, segregation and the IOC
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Today, Trump and Zelenskyy pledge to work together for an end to the war in Ukraine. The Federal Reserve is in no rush to cut rates. But Trump disagrees. Trump lifts a ban on segregated facilities and government contracts. And the International Olympic Committee gets ready to elect a new president. It's Thursday, March 20th.

This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the frontlines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Sharon Reich-Garson in New Jersey. And I'm Tara Oakes in Liverpool. U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky say they'll work together to end Russia's war with Ukraine.

In what the White House calls a "fantastic phone call," Trump briefed Zelensky on his discussion with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In their first conversation since an Oval Office shouting match, Zelensky thanked Trump for U.S. support, and the two leaders agreed that technical teams would meet in Saudi Arabia in the coming days.

Trump suggested to Zelensky that the U.S. could help run — and possibly own — Ukraine's nuclear power plants, according to a statement by the U.S. administration. Israeli military forces have resumed ground operations in central and southern Gaza. Footage released by the army shows troops patrolling Gaza City during the new offensive. Airstrikes continued for a second day, killing at least 48 Palestinians, according to local health workers.

Israel says it has intercepted a missile launched from Yemen early this morning. The intercept follows U.S. strikes on the Yemeni capital, Sana'a. That's according to a Houthi-run TV outlet. They're the latest hits in retaliation for Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. And Trump will sign a long-anticipated executive order today to shut down the Department of Education, fulfilling a key campaign pledge.

Markets cheered after the Fed signaled it still sees room to cut interest rates later this year. But the central bank's decision to stand pat on Wednesday drew the ire of President Trump. In a social media post, he says that the Fed will be better cutting off rates as tariffs kick in. Fed Chair Jerome Powell struck a more cautious note.

While there have been recent developments in some of these areas, especially trade policy, uncertainty around the changes and their effects on the economic outlook is high. Sharon spoke to FedWatcher Howard Schneider in Washington for the latest.

Interest rates are keeping steady. Yes. But what's the indication going forward? Will we see cuts in 2025? Yeah, that's what they penciled in. But listen, this was a real kind of like throw up your hands. We don't know what's going to happen kind of statement when you started to listen to Powell and read between the lines a little bit. And here's the thing. They see inflation actually rising through the year and ending up quite,

quite a bit, about three-tenths of a percentage point higher than they expected when they last did these projections back in December. That's consequential, right? That's a downgrade in the sense of what they're trying to do, which is get inflation back to 2%. But yet they still see cutting rates. Why? Because they see the economy weakening by quite a bit, growth falling to 1.7%. But as he said at one point, they just don't know what's going to happen. So how are markets responding to the news? Well,

Last I checked, stock markets love it. Powell was very clear on two points that are very important to investors. A, while they do see the tariffs causing inflation, they are clearly treating this as a pass-through.

right? Sort of a one-time shock that'll come and the price level will rise and then it'll disappear. The inflation rate will disappear. Now, this harkens back to the old transitory argument that we saw or heard them during the pandemic. And boy, they were wrong then. But that involved a really global supply shock. And they don't see that sort of emanating from this. What they see is a jump in prices this year largely, which kind of fades away next year.

And he also repeated time and time again, he feels long-term expectations at least are anchored. Trump has removed an explicit ban on segregated facilities like waiting rooms, restaurants, and drinking fountains for federal contractors. Race and Justice editor Kat Stafford is following the developments.

I think we're going to see in the coming weeks a lot of trying to figure out how to actually interpret what this means, right? Because U.S. companies are still required to abide by federal and state anti-discrimination laws. You cannot segregate. That is still the law. So I think right now the belief is that this is largely symbolic, but

It's a very important step, a lot of advocates are saying, because this does remove language, right? One of the executive orders that President Trump initially put in place was the undoing of 1965 provision executive order that was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, which required federal contractors to not discriminate, right? And so a lot of advocates in this moment and experts are saying this is the next step and potentially could

continuing the rollback of these rights that have been put in place for decades. And what other sorts of questions does this raise? One thing that I think is important about all of this that I think sometimes gets lost in the conversation is that the federal government for a very long time has been a pathway for many people of color, Black Americans, women, LGBTQ plus individuals as well to a certain degree,

to find their pathway toward the middle class, right, particularly for people of color. And I think the concern that you're seeing right now is you're seeing the implementation of DEI being, quote unquote, deemed illegal by the administration, these programs being rolled back. The question remains that I don't think we quite have the answer to yet is what is going to be the long term impact and ramifications on the groups that these provisions were put in place to protect?

Trump and his allies say his orders aim to remove what they call discrimination against other Americans, including white people and men. Canada has condemned China's execution of four Canadians on drug charges. Ottawa is requesting leniency for other Canadians sentenced to the death penalty by Beijing. Pope Francis has stopped using mechanical ventilation for help breathing at night. The Vatican says his doctors expect continued improvement.

And well done, Finland. They've taken the prize yet again for the happiest country. It's the eighth year in a row Finland has topped the World Happiness Report. When Thomas Bach won the International Olympic Committee presidency in 2013, one of the first people to call him with congratulations was Vladimir Putin. It underlines why this role is considered by some to be world sports' most powerful and influential.

Today, his successor will be chosen, with seven people in the running. Kouroulas Khroumen has been covering the IOC for nearly two decades. We caught up with him outside the meeting at a resort in Greece.

There is a good mix of candidates. You've got very experienced sports administrators like Sebastian Coe, who's headed the World Athletics for several years now. David Lappartien, the head of the International Cycling Union. Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., the son of the former president, who is an IOC vice president at the moment. Multiple Olympic swimming champion Kirstie Coventry, who is also Zimbabwe's sports minister.

Prince Faisal of Jordan, International Gymnastics Federation head Morinari Watanabe and Olympic newcomer and multi-millionaire Johan Elias, who heads the International Ski and Snowboard Federation.

How does the process work? It seems shrouded in secrecy. It is a very secretive process in the sense that you have 100 odd members who are eligible to vote, who are sports administrators, heads of international federations, billionaires and even royalty.

There will be a first round of voting. If there is no outright majority for the winner, then the candidate with the fewest votes gets eliminated. And then there is a second round, a third round and fourth round until there is one candidate who has 50 plus one or 51 percent of the vote, an outright majority. Is this IOC role more about politics than sport?

Yes, it is extremely important to be politically savvy. It's a complex, complicated election where you need to balance the needs of IOC members, your vision, but also to balance a wide variety of characters with completely different interests, needs and wishes for the IOC. Thomas Bach met

with more than 180 heads of state in his 12 years in charge. And obviously, the host of the next Olympics, which is Los Angeles, has the added issue of having to deal with the government of Donald Trump. Trump was in charge back in 2017 when Los Angeles was awarded the Olympics.

And he has expressed his support for the project. But definitely that will be a key in the next years for the IOC to unlock a successful working relationship with Donald Trump and his administration.

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the invisible cosmic force that powers the accelerated expansion is weakening. And that could change scientists' understanding of what's happening to our universe. You can find out more by following the link in the pod description. For more on any of the stories from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. Don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast player. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.