The US economy contracted in the beginning of the year at a much faster pace than previously reported, after new data factored in much weaker consumer spending.

Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic output, registered an annualized rate of -0.5% from January through March, the Commerce Department said Thursday in its third and final estimate. That’s worse than the 0.2% decline reported in the second estimate. GDP is adjusted for seasonal swings and inflation.

The latest estimate showed that consumer spending — the lifeblood of the US economy — was tepid in the beginning of the year. Spending in the first quarter grew at a rate of just 0.5%, down from 1.2% in an earlier estimate. That’s the weakest rate in more than four years.

Real-terms gains of $33.9tn for world’s richest 1% ‘enough to end annual global poverty 22 times over’, charity says

The wealth of the world’s 3,000 billionaires has surged by $6.5tn (£4.8tn) in real terms over the past decade, according to Oxfam, equivalent to 14.6% of global output.

In total the richest 1% of the global population has gained at least $33.9tn in real terms, which the charity said was “enough to end annual global poverty 22 times over”.

The figures come as various governments face growing calls to introduce a wealth tax on the international elite.

U.S. Sen. John Fetterman is more popular among Pennsylvania Republicans than fellow Democrats, according to a new poll of state voters.

Susquehanna Polling and Research president James Lee told PennLive Tuesday that Fetterman’s overall approval rating among state voters is a “mediocre” 41%, compared to 37% who disapprove of him.

However, the eyebrow-raising result that 45% of Republicans approve of Fetterman while just 40% of Democrats do will surely get political tongues wagging from Pennsylvania to Washington, D.C.

The New York Young Republican Club (NYYRC) has called on the federal government to strip Zohran Mamdani of his citizenship and deport him.

On Tuesday evening, Mamdani, a 33-year-old self-described democratic socialist, declared victory over Andrew Cuomo, former governor of the state of New York, in the Democratic primary for the 2025 New York mayoral election.

The outcome, one of the first major Democratic primaries since Donald Trump returned to office, is being considered as a barometer for the party's potential recalibration nationally, at a time when it remains ideologically divided about its future.

The official said the Justice Department was able to scrap a Texas law giving undocumented immigrants in-state tuition "in six hours” by working with state Attorney General Ken Paxton.

A top Justice Department official boasted at a private Republican gathering that the Trump administration was able to kill a Texas law that gave undocumented immigrants in-state tuition “in six hours” by coordinating with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, according to a recording obtained by NBC News.

On June 4, the Justice Department sued Texas over the Texas Dream Act, then quickly filed a joint motion with Texas asking a judge to declare the law unconstitutional and permanently enjoin Texas from enforcing the law. The same day, the judge did.

Outside organizations sought to invalidate the ruling Tuesday, arguing that the Justice Department and Paxton’s office “colluded to secure an agreed injunction” and engaged in improper “legal choreography” to obtain their desired outcome.

UK health officials launch study into side-effects of weight loss drugs after increased reports of acute pancreatitis

Hundreds of people have reported problems with their pancreas linked to taking weight loss and diabetes injections, prompting health officials to launch a study into side-effects.

Some cases of pancreatitis reported to be linked to GLP-1 medicines (glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists) have been fatal.

The move comes after an increase in reports of acute pancreatitis to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) Yellow Card scheme, which monitors any adverse reactions to medications and medical devices in the UK.

The Council of Europe will set up a special international tribunal to prosecute top Russian officials for the war in Ukraine. "Every war criminal must know there will be justice," Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed an agreement with the Council of Europe (CoE) on Wednesday to establish a special tribunal to prosecute those accused of orchestrating Russia's war in Ukraine.

Ukraine argues that the tribunal is urgently needed to hold Russia's leadership accountable for launching the full-scale invasion in February 2022.

"We need to show clearly aggression leads to punishment and we must make it happen together, all of Europe," Zelenskyy said after signing the accord with CoE Secretary General Alain Berset.

The family members of a U.S. citizen who was taken into custody by federal agents in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday are demanding answers as she was detained while on her way to work.

Andrea Velez, a Cal Poly Pomona grad working in merchandising at a shoe company, had just been dropped off by her mother and sister for the workday when they saw her being taken into custody, adding they had barely even driven a block before the arrest began.

"They didn't have vests that said ICE or anything," said Velez's sister Estrella Rosas. "Their cars didn't have license plates."

Abrego Garcia’s attorneys expressed concern that his release would lead to immediate detention by ICE and deportation

Kilmar Abrego Garcia will remain in jail for now after fears that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will swoop to deport him as soon as he is released.

Abrego Garcia’s attorneys expressed concern that his release would lead to immediate detention by ICE and deportation.

A federal judge ruled the Salvadoran father, who was criminally accused of human smuggling, has a right to be released and even set specific conditions.

But he will remain in jail for at least a few more days while attorneys spar over whether prosecutors can prevent Abrego Garcia's deportation if he is released to await trial.

Mike German, an ex-FBI agent, said immigration agents hiding their identities ‘highlights the illegitimacy of actions’

Some wear balaclavas. Some wear neck gators, sunglasses and hats. Some wear masks and casual clothes.

Across the country, armed federal immigration officers have increasingly hidden their identities while carrying out immigration raids, arresting protesters and roughing up prominent Democratic critics.

It’s a trend that has sparked alarm among civil rights and law enforcement experts alike.

Mike German, a former FBI agent, said officers’ widespread use of masks was unprecedented in US law enforcement and a sign of a rapidly eroding democracy. “Masking symbolizes the drift of law enforcement away from democratic controls,” he said.

At hearing, US attorney general claims she’s unaware of reports that officials have hid their faces during roundups

The attorney general, Pam Bondi, professed ignorance of reports of immigration officials hiding their faces with masks during roundups of undocumented people, despite widespread video evidence and reports that they are instilling pervasive fear and panic.

Challenged at a Wednesday Capitol Hill subcommittee hearing by Gary Peters, a Democratic senator for Michigan, Bondi, who as the country’s top law officer has a prominent role in the Trump administration’s hardline immigration policy, implied she was unaware of plain-clothed agents concealing their faces while carrying out arrests but suggested it was for self-protection.