Town Hall News

By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. economic growth slowed more than expected in the first quarter as an acceleration in consumer spending was offset by businesses liquidating inventories in anticipation of weaker demand later this year amid higher borrowing costs. The first decline in private inventories in 1-1/2 years reported by the Commerce Department in its snapshot of first-quarter gross domestic product on Thursday is potentially good news for […]

(Reuters) – State legislatures are wrestling with how much to restrict or expand abortion access after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year. Here is a snapshot of pending and passed legislation seeking to restrict or protect access in 2023, including details on a law that took effect in North Dakota this week broadly banning abortion. RESTRICTIONS FLORIDA: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a six-week abortion ban […]

PHOENIX (Reuters) -U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner never lost hope during her near 10-month detention in Russia, the Phoenix Mercury center said on Thursday at her first press conference since returning home. The two-times Olympic gold medallist was released from one of Russia’s most notorious penal colonies in a high-profile prisoner exchange with the United States late last year after she was arrested in February 2022. “I’m no stranger to […]

KHARTOUM (Reuters) – The conflict between Sudan’s army and a paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has triggered a rush to extract foreign diplomats and citizens. Several countries have evacuated nationals by air, while some have gone via Port Sudan on the Red Sea, about 800 km (500 miles) by road from Khartoum. This is the status of some countries’ efforts: GERMANY As of Tuesday morning, a German […]

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists on Thursday unveiled the results of a project comparing the genomes of 240 mammal species – from aardvarks and aye-ayes to zebus and zebras, as well as people – to trace evolutionary changes spanning 100 million years, pinpointing genetic traits widely shared and those more uniquely human. The findings in the ambitious Zoonomia Project identified parts of the genome functionally important in people […]

By Lewis Krauskopf NEW YORK (Reuters) – Some market participants are warning that the U.S. market’s biggest tech and growth stocks may be getting too expensive, even as better-than-expected earnings reports stand to further boost their appeal. The Nasdaq 100 has rallied 19% this year, while four stocks that alone have a 40% weight in the index – Apple, Microsoft, Google parent Alphabet and Amazon – have posted an average […]

By Katharine Jackson WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate is set to vote on Thursday on a measure that could allow the Equal Rights Amendment to be added to the Constitution, though Republican opposition will likely doom the measure to failure. Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer called the amendment, known as the ERA, crucial since the Supreme Court last year ended the national right to abortion, sparking a wave of […]

By Chris Prentice and Hannah Lang NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Coinbase Global has reiterated its view to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it has not broken any securities laws in its formal response to a legal threat received from the regulator, the firm said on Thursday. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal said the crypto exchange would like to list securities in the future […]

(Reuters) – Double world champion Max Verstappen raised doubts on Thursday about his future in Formula One after his Red Bull contract runs out in 2028. The 25-year-old Red Bull driver is leading Mexican team mate Sergio Perez in the championship after winning two of three races in 2023 and could clinch a third title with plenty to spare. This weekend in Azerbaijan sees the first of six sprint races […]