FDA to issue plan banning menthol in cigarettes, cigars

The Food and Drug Administration is expected to release its plan to ban menthol cigarettes and cigars.

The Associated Press reported last week that the plan, according to the FDA, would potentially have hundreds of thousands of lives and stop billions of sales of tobacco products.

Menthol products account for more than a third of the U.S. cigarette market, the AP reported.

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Biden asks Congress for new $33 billion Ukraine aid package

President Joe Biden asked Congress on Thursday for an additional $33 billion to help Ukraine as it continues to battle back against the ongoing Russian invasion.

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The Associated Press reported the help will include $20 billion in military assistance and $8.5 billion in economic aid, according to sources who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the plan.

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U.S. economy shrank by 1.4% in Q1 but consumers kept spending

The U.S. economy shrank last quarter for the first time since the pandemic recession struck two years ago, contracting at a 1.4% annual rate, The Associated Press reports. However, consumers and businesses kept spending in a sign of economic durability.

“The economy’s overall decline in the January-March quarter does not mean a recession is likely in the coming months,” The AP’s Christopher Rugaber writes. Most economists expect a rebound this quarter as solid hiring and wage gains sustain growth.

Rugaber adds, “Instead, the steady spending by households and companies suggests that the economy will likely keep expanding this year even though the Federal Reserve plans to raise rates aggressively to fight the inflation surge.

“The first quarter was hampered mainly by a slower restocking of goods in stores and warehouses and by a sharp drop in exports.”

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