2026-07-30
4 分钟The Economist.
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Donald Trump said America would deliver a, quote,
beating to Iran in response to its latest attacks on its forces in the Middle East.
After a days-long pause in fighting, America's Central Command called the intercepted missile strike a surprise.
The news pushed up oil prices, which had fallen to a two-week low.
America also said that, along with Saudi forces, it had carried out strikes on, quote, Iran-aligned terrorists in Iraq.
The Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.5% to 3.75%.
Three of the 12 members of the central bank's rate-setting panel voted for a quarter-point increase.
Kevin Walsh, its new chairman,
urged patience in bringing inflation down and said the Fed would not hesitate to act when necessary.
American stocks fell and two-year Treasury yields declined.
Meta reported $15.9 billion in profits in the second quarter, a 14% decline from the same period a year earlier.
Revenues grew by 28% to $60.8 billion.
Meta forecast revenues of between $61 billion and $64 billion next quarter, with a midpoint below what analysts expect.
Meanwhile, Microsoft's second quarter earnings beat forecasts,
strengthened by demand for its cloud business and AI tools.
Profits grew 31% to $35.8 billion.
The UN warned that violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank is only getting
worse despite the International Court of Justice deeming the annexation illegal two years ago.