World News

SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — South Korea's central bank on Thursday cut its policy rate for the first time in three years to shore up growth threatened by a trade dispute with Japan.

NEW YORK — "Hamilton" creator Lin-Manuel Miranda has joined protests in New York demanding the resignation of Puerto Rico's governor. Miranda led about 200 people, many from Puerto Rico, at a rally in Manhattan's Union Square on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON — With tweets and a vote, President Donald Trump and House Democrats established the sharp and emotionally raw contours of the 2020 election campaigns. In the process, they have created a fraught political frame: "racists" vs. "socialists.

GENEVA — The deadly Ebola outbreak in Congo is now an international health emergency, the World Health Organization announced Wednesday after a case was confirmed in a city of 2 million people .

LONDON — Paul McCartney is writing his first stage musical, an adaptation of the classic movie "It's a Wonderful Life." The ex-Beatle is collaborating with "Billy Elliot" playwright Lee Hall and West End producer Bill Kenwright.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The nation's former major suppliers of lead paint have agreed to pay California's largest cities and counties $305 million to settle a nearly 20-year-old lawsuit, attorneys said Wednesday.

WASHINGTON — Fewer mock commando raids to test nuclear power plants' defences against terrorist attacks. Fewer, smaller government inspections for plant safety issues. Less notice to the public and to state governors when problems arise.

NEW YORK — Federal prosecutors have told a judge in New York they have concluded their investigation into campaign finance crimes committed by President Donald Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen.

CHICAGO — The difference between R. Kelly's life in 2002 when he was last charged with child sex-related crimes and his arrest last week on even more serious charges was on full display when the R&B singer turned and slowly walked out of court.

NEW YORK — Mexican drug kingpin and escape artist Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was sentenced Wednesday to life behind bars in a U.S.