The U.S. economy slowed sharply from January through March, decelerating to just a 1.1% annual pace as higher interest rates hammered the housing market and businesses reduced inventories. Thursday’s estimate from the Commerce Department showed that the nation’s gross domestic product — the broadest gauge of economic output — weakened...
Leaders Say SF Boycott of Anti-LGBTQ+ States Does ‘More Harm Than Good’
San Francisco is repealing a ban on city-funded travel to 30 states that it says restrict abortion, voting and LGBTQ+ rights after determining the boycott is doing more harm than good. The Board of Supervisors voted 7-4 on Tuesday to repeal a section of the city's administrative code that prohibits staff from visiting...
Fresno Mom, Who Lost Son to Fentanyl, Pushes Lawmakers to Get Tough
Pamela Smith remembers vividly the last time she saw her only son alive. It was 3:18 a.m. on July 3, 2016, in Fresno and 22-year-old Jackson Smith was lying motionless on a table in an emergency room while a nurse performed chest compressions. Earlier that night, he had taken an...
House Republicans Pass US Debt Bill, Push Biden on Spending
WASHINGTON — House Republicans passed sweeping legislation Wednesday that would raise the government's legal debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion in exchange for steep spending restrictions, a tactical victory for Speaker Kevin McCarthy as he challenges President Joe Biden to negotiate and prevent a catastrophic federal default this summer. The bill passed by a razor-thin 217-215...
Border Wall Fundraiser Going to Prison for Stealing Donor Money
The co-founder of a fundraising group linked to Steve Bannon that promised to help Donald Trump construct a wall along the southern U.S. border was sentenced to four years and three months in prison on Wednesday for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from donors. Brian Kolfage, a decorated Air...
Taliban Kill Mastermind of Kabul Airport Bombing
A ground assault by the Taliban killed the Islamic State militant who spearheaded the August 2021 suicide bombing at the Kabul airport that left 13 U.S. troops and about 170 Afghans dead during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, U.S. officials said. Initially, neither the U.S. nor apparently the Taliban were aware...
Man Executed by Hanging for Helping Buy 2 Pounds of Cannabis in Singapore
Singapore on Wednesday executed a man accused of coordinating a cannabis delivery, despite pleas for clemency from his family and protests from activists that he was convicted on weak evidence. Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, was sentenced to death in 2018 for abetting the trafficking of 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of cannabis....
China, Ukraine Leaders Speak for First Time Since Russian Invasion
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping had a “long and meaningful” phone conversation Wednesday, their first known contact since Russia invaded Ukraine more than a year ago. The phone call, which officials said lasted nearly an hour, was seen as a significant development in efforts...
Bud Light Execs on Leave as Company Fumbles Partnership With Transgender Star
Bud Light may have fumbled its attempt to broaden its customer base by partnering with a transgender influencer. But experts say inclusive marketing is simply good business — and it’s here to stay. “A few years from now, we will look back on this ‘controversy’ with the same embarrassment that...
Did Ed Sheeran Hit Pilfer Marvin Gaye Classic? Trial to Tell
NEW YORK — Opening statements were set to occur Tuesday after a jury was chosen in a trial that mashes up Ed Sheeran's “Thinking Out Loud” with Marvin Gaye's “Let's Get It On.” The heirs of Ed Townsend, Gaye's co-writer of the 1973 soul classic, sued Sheeran, alleging the English pop star's hit...