The Russian central bank will keep its benchmark rate on hold at 21% at a board meeting on April 25 .

The central bank hiked its key rate to the highest level since early 2000s last October .

The government maintained its growth estimate for 2025 at 2.5% , a new set of forecasts showed on Monday .

Conservation group The Nature Conservancy has tripled the size of the Bobcat Alley Initiative to protect wildlife in New Jersey .

The initiative was started in 2014 with the aim of preserving 32,000 acres of land to ensure state-Endangered bobcats had a corridor through which to migrate in and out of state.

New Jersey is one of the most developed states in the country, and fragmentation of habitat was increasing.

A simple blood test could reveal who is at high risk of skin cancer recurrence after tumor-removal surgery.

The test can detect fragments of tumor DNA with a simple blood draw to reveal the lingering presence of Stage III melanoma.

The presence of the tumor DNA predicted the return of the cancer 100% of the time; no one with a positive test escaped melanoma relapse.

Rapid Support Forces launched an offensive on el-Fasher , the provincial capital of North Darfur province, on Sunday .

Dozens of other people were wounded in the attack, the Resistance Committees in the city said.

The RSF grew out of the notorious Janjaweed militias, mobilized two decades ago by then-president Omar al-Bashir .

Since then, it has launched many attacks on the city and two major famine-hit camps.

Francis changed church policy on the death penalty and nuclear weapons but upheld it on abortion.

He described abortion as evidence of today’s “throwaway culture” and likened abortion to “hiring a hit man to resolve a problem” Francis allowed ordinary priests — not just bishops — to absolve Catholic women who had intentionally terminated a pregnancy.

Francis was the first pope to use scientific data in a major teaching document by calling global warming a largely human-caused problem.

He called the death penalty "inadmissible" in all cases, regardless of the severity of the crime.

He also called life in prison without parole a "hidden death penalty" and solitary confinement a "form of torture".

Francis denounced the “globalization of indifference” shown to migrants and urged Europe and other countries to open their doors to those seeking better lives.

As archbishop of Buenos Aires , he opposed efforts to legalize same-sex marriage and proposed, unsuccessfully, that the country approve civil unions instead.

He articulated support for those Argentine civil union protections in a 2019 interview with Televisa .

Overseas investors scooped up some 2.18 trillion yen ( $15.49 billion ) of JGBs with maturities of more than 10 years in March .

Trump ramped up levies over the course of last month , including a 25% tariff on cars and parts, in the runup to his April 2 announcement of sweeping duties that sent global markets into a broad tailspin.

U.S. short-term government bond funds received inflows of $18.1 billion so far this month .

April could see them get the highest inflows in two-and-a-half years .

Short-term bonds have rallied after the initial selloff, which analysts said showed they offer more safety.

The dollar has been sliding and the ripple effect on other currencies has brought a mix of relief and headache to central banks around the world.

The drop in the greenback has led other currencies to appreciate against it, especially safe havens such as the Japanese yen, the Swiss franc as well as the euro.

Currency devaluation is likely to be more of an active consideration across emerging markets, particularly in Asia .

The Swiss National Bank has grappled with a strong franc for much of the past 15 years .

Devaluing the currency poses the risk of stoking price growth and monetary authorities will be wary of inflation staying above their targets.

Whether a country can devalue its currency is influenced by several factors: the size of its FX reserves, exposure to foreign debt, its trade balance and sensitivity to imported inflation.

Netflix shares rose in premarket trading Monday morning as several analysts raised their price targets for the streaming giant's stock.

The company reported better-than-expected first-quarter results after the bell Thursday .

JPMorgan analysts said Netflix "continues to play offense in its business, while the stock remains defensive in the uncertain environment".

UnitedHealth Group's stock slides 5% in trading Monday as Wall Street revised down its price targets for the stock.

The company now expects its 2025 adjusted earnings per share to fall between $26 and $ 26.50 , down from $ 29.50-$30.50 .

The moves come days after UHG faced its worst trading day since 1998 .