The Scottish government is to scrap its flagship target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 75% by 2030.
The U.S. central bank released its latest snapshot on the health of the economy a day after Fed Chair Jerome Powell ditched previous guidance on when its benchmark interest rate may be cut and instead said monetary policy needs to be restrictive for longer due to a string of stronger-than-expected inflation readings. "Overall economic activity expanded slightly ... Ten out of twelve Districts experienced either slight or modest economic growth," the Fed said in the survey known as the "Beige Book," which polled business contacts across the central bank's 12 districts through April 8. "The economic outlook among contacts was cautiously optimistic, on balance."
At first glance, the all-male South Carolina Senate subcommittee deciding whether to approve a proposal to remove the sales tax from feminine hygiene products was a reminder that as recently as 2012 the state had no women in its Senate. The election of a sixth woman to the 46-member Senate in January pulled South Carolina up from last place in the U.S. in the percentage of women in its upper chamber. No one noted the composition of the all-male Senate Finance subcommittee and they listened to five women speak in favor of the bill before ceding the floor to Republican Sen. Katrina Shealy, who broke the chamber's four-year run with no women in 2013.