Author: Press Room

The history of slavery is filled with stories of momentous innovation and sheer resilience. One of these is how the slaves in Colombia devised ways to escape slavery through cornrows – a hairstyle resembling African pride and heritage. Cornrows, which have African origins, are now common all over the world. But this hairstyle is steeped in the history of rebellion and redemption. Cornrows are a “style of hair braiding, in which the hair is braided very close to the scalp, using an underhand, upward motion to make a continuous, raised row.” In the Caribbean Islands, they are also known as…

Pakistan’s ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan has arrived safely back at his Lahore residence after being freed on bail following days of nationwide protests over his arrest on corruption charges. After the court granted him bail, Khan spent hours in the courthouse in the capital, Islamabad, as he and his legal team were locked in apparent negotiations over his exit. As he headed to his home in the eastern city of Lahore, Khan put out a video statement from his vehicle saying the Islamabad police tried to keep him in the court through different tactics, and authorities allowed him to travel…

The House Foreign Affairs Committee plans to move forward with holding Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a congressional subpoena. The committee is aiming for a floor vote in early June, the panel’s Republican chairman told CBS News.”It’s a path I would rather not take, but it’s necessary,” committee Chairman Michael McCaul said in an interview on the eve of the May 11 deadline to provide State Department records to the House Committee. The GOP-led committee issued a subpoena in late March for an internal confidential State Department document known as a “dissent…

President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy emerged from a critical meeting at the White House on Tuesday with no consensus on how to end their impasse over the federal debt and spending just weeks before the nation is set to default on its obligations for the first time.With the economy hanging in the balance, the two leaders stuck to their opening positions, with Mr. Biden demanding that Congress raise the debt ceiling unconditionally to avoid a default and Mr. McCarthy insisting such a move be accompanied by serious spending restraints. But the two agreed to have aides meet later in…

European luxury goods are “on fire.” Despite the economic challenges posed by high inflation and war in Eastern Europe, the local luxury industry found a way to shine in this environment. Asian buyers are desperate to own European brands. But they are not alone. In fact, Americans have the largest share, of about 30% of the market. Luxury goods represent an indulgence rather than a necessity. Most of the industry comprises luxury hospitality, personal luxury goods, or luxury cars. The excess savings during the pandemic poured into European luxury goods. An index of ten European luxury companies (STOXX Europe Luxury…

A senior Federal Reserve official has warned recent US inflation and employment data had not convinced her that price pressures are under control as she left the door open to voting for more rate rises.Michelle Bowman, a voting member on the Fed’s policy-setting committee, said the US central bank’s attempt to tighten financial conditions and damp the economy were having the “desired” effect, but she stopped short of endorsing a pause in rate rises.“In my view, the most recent [consumer price inflation] and employment reports have not provided consistent evidence that inflation is on a downward path,” she said at…

G7 finance ministers have warned of “heightened uncertainty” surrounding the global economy and the need to address regulatory gaps in the banking system in the wake of financial sector turmoil.“The global economy has shown resilience against multiple shocks,” finance ministers of the world’s most advanced economies said in their final communique after a three-day ministerial meeting in Japan on Saturday. “Nevertheless, we need to remain vigilant and stay agile and flexible in our macroeconomic policy amid heightened uncertainty about the global economic outlook.” The finance ministers also noted the need to fill “data, supervisory and regulatory gaps” in the banking system…

This week in crypto, the US CPI inflation numbers were released and we looked at what it means for Bitcoin, Tether announced a profit of $1.48 billion for the first quarter of this year, Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital reported a profit of $134 million in Q1, PayPal disclosed it held nearly $1 billion in crypto, mainly BTC and ETH, Goldman Sachs said family offices were ramping up their crypto investments despite the market downturn, and MasterCard, PayPal, and Robinhood were set to facilitate crypto adoption through smoother on-ramps. The Central Bank of Ireland Governor likened unbacked cryptocurrencies to a “Ponzi…

Despite the continuing rise in opioid overdose deaths, one of the most effective treatments for opioid addiction is still drastically underprescribed in the United States, especially for Black patients, according to a large new study.From 2016 through 2019, scarcely more than 20 percent of patients diagnosed with opioid use disorder filled prescriptions for buprenorphine, the medication considered the gold standard in opioid addiction treatment, despite repeated visits to health care providers, according to the study, which was published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. Within six months following a high-risk event like an overdose, white patients filled buprenorphine…

Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England (BOE), during the Monetary Policy Report news conference at the bank’s headquarters in the City of London, UK, on Thursday, May 11, 2023.Bloomberg | Getty ImagesLONDON — Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey on Thursday defended an about-turn in the bank’s U.K. growth forecast, saying its “biggest upgrade” ever reflected the rapidly shifting economic landscape.At its policy meeting earlier Thursday, the central bank said it no longer expects the U.K. to enter into recession this year.related investing newsMonths earlier, it had predicted the county would face its longest-ever recession, which it then said…