News Headlines - 20 May 2019
The economy unexpectedly grew at an annualized 2.1 percent in the January-March quarter, government data showed Monday, but it is likely to give little comfort to policymakers worried about economic momentum ahead of the looming consumption tax increase.
The biggest driver of the expansion was imports falling even faster than exports, meaning that net exports technically drove growth in the economy. Yet falling imports is actually a sign of underlying weakness in demand, so the result is somewhat misleading.
Billionaire investor Robert F. Smith's commitment to pay off the student loan debt for graduates of the historically black Morehouse College covers millions of dollars, the school said... Smith's gesture, which Thomas called "a liberation gift," will enable graduates to have more capital to do things like start businesses and support their families.
▽Watch as Nigel Farage hit by milkshake during Brexit Party campaign - The Scotsman
The Brexit Party leader became the latest victim of a protest which has seen other European election candidates such as Ukip's Carl Benjamin and ex-English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson suffer similar attacks... Last week, police apparently ordered a McDonald's outlet near a Brexit Party campaign rally to stop selling milkshakes and ice cream, the restaurant's staff have said.
▽Spina bifida: Keyhole surgery repairs baby spine in womb - BBC News
In a UK first, doctors have used keyhole surgery to successfully repair the spine of a baby with spina bifida while it was still inside the womb.
Surgeons at King's College Hospital say the procedure is not a cure, but could be the difference between some children learning to walk or not.
Sherrie Sharp and her son Jaxson had the operation 27 weeks into the pregnancy.
▽Germany legalises e-scooters but bans them from the pavement | Euronews
German lawmakers voted on Friday to allow e-scooters to take to the streets making the UK the last major European economy to still ban them.The text approved by the Bundesrat on Friday enables battery-powered scooters to circulate on roads and cycle paths but forbids them from being used on the pavements. Users must be 14 or over and must respect a 20 kilometres per hours speed limit.
