WORLD NEWS
US vetoes UN resolution calling for immediate ceasefire in Gaza

The US vetoed a United Nations resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, while the UK abstained from the vote.

The emergency meeting took place after a rare power “article 99" was invoked , the US was the only country to block the motion as 13 of the 15 security council members voted in favour of the ceasefire.

The United States and Israel oppose a ceasefire, saying it would only benefit Hamas.

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FINANCE
Bank of America fined $12 million for mortgage disclosure violations by federal watchdog

One of the largest mortgage lenders, Bank of America has been fined $12 million by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for providing false mortgage lending data to the federal government.

The bank was found to have violated the 1975 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), which requires lenders to accurately report demographic data about mortgage applications.

Bank of America failed to collect and report this information for a three-month period between 2016 and 2021. The violations began as early as 2013 for phone applications, and the bank did not take appropriate action until 2021.

In a separate announcement, the Justice Department revealed that it had recovered $107 million in relief for communities affected by illegal redlining.

Bank of America disputes the timeline of the violations but acknowledges that they occurred over a three-month period.

The fine will be paid to the CFPB's victims relief fund.

TECH
Scientists make breakthrough in understanding whale language

Researchers have discovered new elements in whale vocalizations that resemble human speech.

They found that the acoustic properties of clicks made by sperm whales are similar to human vowels and diphthongs. The researchers used an AI model to analyze a dataset of sperm whale vocalizations and confirmed that the whales exchanged codas with distinct formants, which they called "vowels."

They also identified frequency trajectories in these codas, similar to diphthongs in human language. The researchers suggest that whales control the frequency of their vocalizations, and if their findings are correct, it means that whale communication is more complex than previously thought.

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