By Farah Master and Clare Jim HONG KONG (Reuters) -Hong Kong’s coronavirus battle intensified on Thursday as authorities reported that new cases had multiplied by 60 times so far this month, and the city’s leader said city-wide testing was being consid…
Florida House passes ban on abortion after 15 weeks, sends bill to Senate
By Gabriella Borter (Reuters) -Florida’s House of Representatives passed a bill to ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy late on Wednesday, a measure several Republican-led states are pushing as the U.S. Supreme Court weighs the constitutionality o…
El Salvador’s Bukele tells bitcoin-wary U.S. senators to stay out of internal affairs
By Nelson Renteria MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – President Nayib Bukele on Wednesday asked U.S. senators to stay out of El Salvador’s “internal affairs” after they called for an investigation into the economic risks the United States faces due to the Central…
Private equity founder gets 15 months in prison in U.S. college scandal
BOSTON (Reuters) – A private equity financier was sentenced on Wednesday to 15 months in prison for participating in a vast U.S. college admissions fraud scheme by conspiring to pay bribes to secure spots for his children at top schools. The sentence i…
U.S. retail sales race to record high; economy shows strength ahead of rate hikes
By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. retail sales increased by the most in 10 months in January, lifting the level of sales to a record high amid a surge in purchases of motor vehicles and other goods, but higher prices could limit the boost t…
Jared Kushner ally pardoned by Trump pleads guilty to attempting to spy on ex-wife
By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) – Ken Kurson, a former editor of the New York Observer newspaper who was pardoned in January 2021 by then-U.S. President Donald Trump, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to two misdemeanor charges after being accused of …
Arbery killer shared racist messages, white supremacist song with friends
By Rich McKay and Brad Brooks BRUNSWICK, Ga. (Reuters) – The gunman convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man in Georgia, repeatedly used racist language in text messages with friends, and also shared a music video of a white supremacist singer…
Trump’s longtime accounting firm cuts ties, cannot stand behind statements – filing
By Karen Freifeld NEW YORK (Reuters) – The accounting firm that handled Donald Trump’s company’s financial statements dropped it as a client and said it could no longer stand behind a decade of statements, a court filing showed on Monday. Mazars USA, i…
Russia is still building up troops near Ukraine, say U.S. and NATO
By Alexander Marrow and Aleksandar Vasovic MOSCOW/KYIV (Reuters) -The United States and NATO said Russia was still building up troops around Ukraine on Wednesday despite Moscow’s insistence it was pulling back, questioning President Vladimir Putin’s st…
Exclusive-Short AstraZeneca shelf life complicates COVID vaccine rollout to world’s poorest
By Francesco Guarascio and Jennifer Rigby BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) -The relatively short shelf life of AstraZeneca Plc’s COVID-19 vaccine is complicating the rollout to the world’s poorest nations, according to officials and internal World Health Orga…