NEW YORK : For more than a decade, US Bank pressured its employees to open fake accounts in their customers' names in order to meet unrealistic sales goals, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Thursday, in a case that is deeply similar to the sales practices scandal uncovered at Wells Fargo last decade. The CFPB alleged that US Bank accessed consumers credit reports to open checking and savings accounts, credit cards and lines of credit without their permission. Employees were encouraged to do so, in order to meet the bank's goals of selling multiple products to each customer with t

A strong earthquake set off landslides and damaged buildings in the northern Philippines on Wednesday, killing at least five people and injuring dozens. In the capital, hospital patients were evacuated and terrified people rushed outdoors. The 7-magnitude quake was centered in a mountainous area of Abra province, said Renato Solidum, the head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, who described the midmorning shaking as a major earthquake. “The ground shook like I was on a swing and the lights suddenly went out. We rushed out of the office, and I heard screams and some of

President Joe Biden is ending his COVID-19 isolation after testing negative for the virus on Tuesday night and again on Wednesday. That’s according to a letter the White House released Wednesday from Biden’s physician. Dr. Kevin O’Connor writes that Biden has completed his course of treatment with the drug Paxlovid and remains free of fever. O’Connor says that given those factors and the pair of negative tests, Biden will discontinue his “strict isolation” measures. In fact, Biden is scheduled to appear in the White House Rose Garden around midday Wednesday.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrived in Greece Tuesday on his first trip to a European Union country since the killing in 2018 of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi that triggered widespread international condemnation. Bin Salman, who is traveling with a large government and business delegation, met with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and will attend the signing of a series of bilateral investment and defense agreements. Khashoggi, a U.S.-based journalist, was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and his body was dismembered with a bone saw, according to Turkish officials. A U

A high-level World Health Organization (WHO) official on Tuesday said the rapidly spreading Monkeypox outbreak can be stopped with the right strategies. "We do at this moment still believe that this outbreak of Monkeypox can be stopped with the right strategies in the right groups," said Dr Rosamund Lewis, WHO Technical Lead on Monkeypox at a press briefing in Geneva. However, she added that time was going by and all need to get together to combat the malady. On Saturday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the spread of the virus to be a public health emergency of intern

Russia will opt out of the International Space Station after 2024 and focus on building its own orbiting outpost, the country's newly appointed space chief said Tuesday. Yuri Borisov, who was appointed earlier this month to lead the state-controlled space corporation Roscosmos, said during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin that Russia will fulfill its obligations to other partners at the International Space Station before it leaves the project. “The decision to leave the station after 2024 has been made,” Borisov said. Borisov's statement reaffirmed previous declarations by R

Following Turkey's forced deportations, 215 undocumented Afghan migrants will be sent back to Kabul from Istanbul today on several flights. The illegal migrants who are now waiting to be deported back to Afghan soil were transferred from Edirne to Istanbul, in northwestern Turkey, Khaama Press reported, citing the Turkish state-run Anatolian Agency. As per the reports by the Turkish Migration Management Directorate, almost 28,000 undocumented migrants have been deported from Turkey by Turkish authorities since the start of 2022, which showcases a 70 per cent rise in the number since 2021. Tur

Russian and Ukrainian officials have signed deals to end a standoff over grain exports brought on by the war in Ukraine. Ukraine is one of the world's key breadbaskets but a Russian blockade of its ports has threatened food security around the world. The two countries signed separate agreements Friday with Turkey and the United Nations so that Ukraine could export 22 million tons of grain and other agricultural products stuck in Black Sea ports by the war. The secretary-general of the U.N. and Turkey's president joined the signing ceremony in Istanbul. The U.N. chief called the deal ``a beaco

President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, underscoring the persistence of the highly contagious virus as new variants challenge the nation's efforts to resume normalcy after two and a half years of pandemic disruptions. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden was experiencing “mild symptoms" and has begun taking Paxlovid, an antiviral drug designed to reduce the severity of the disease. She said Biden “will isolate at the White House and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time. He has been in contact with members of the