WASHINGTON (AP) — The International Monetary Fund has upgraded its outlook for the world economy this year, envisioning resilient growth led by the United States and a slower pace of inflation.

In its latest outlook, the 190-country lending agency said Tuesday that it now expects the global economy to grow 3.1% this year, unchanged from 2023 but better than the 2.9% it had predicted for 2024 in its previous estimate in October.

Worldwide, the IMF thinks

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia is considering reintroducing compulsory military service, its president said Tuesday, citing tensions in the Balkans and elsewhere in Europe.

President Aleksandar Vucic said top army commanders gave him “a strong argumentation” in favor of the reintroduction of a mandatory draft, which was suspended in 2011 in a push to professionalize the armed forces.

The populist Serbian president did not specify when the draft would return. He said the national parliament, which is dominated by his allies, would vote on

NEW YORK (AP) — The songwriters who gave us “Your Song,” “Tiny Dancer” and “Rocket Man” will add to their stuffed awards shelf later this year when and are awarded the Gershwin Prize.

said Tuesday that songwriter-performer John and lyricist Taupin will receive the library’s Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, called by the institution “one of the great songwriting duos of all time.”

They will be bestowed the prize at an all-star tribute concert in Washington, D.C

Only one-third of men correctly estimated how long a 60-year-old man in the U.S. could expect to live, according to a 2022 TIAA Institute survey. And fewer than half of women got it right for a 60-year-old woman.

Advisers call this — understanding how long you’ll live in your retirement years — longevity literacy. It’s a crucial part of your retirement strategy, and it’s important that you and your financial professional

Subway service has resumed on the TTC’s Line 2 after it was shut down for around two hours during the Tuesday morning commute as crews responded to an incident at a west end station.

Around 6:30 a.m., the TTC said trains were not running along Bloor-Danforth between Keele and St. George stations due to an injury on the tracks at Ossington Station.

In an update just after 8:30 a.m., the TTC said subway service had resumed.

Shuttle buses

A woman in her 60s is fighting for her life in hospital and police are appealing for witnesses after a collision involving a car and cyclist in Scarborough.

Toronto police say officers were called to the intersection of McNicoll Avenue and Brimley Road around 1:45 p.m. Monday for reports of a crash.

According to a police release, a 2010 Nissan Sentra was travelling westbound on McNicoll and attempting to make a left turn onto Brimley. While making the turn the car struck a female cyclist

MADRID (AP) — Catalan separatist lawmakers dealt Spain’s government a blow Tuesday by voting against a hugely divisive amnesty law that was aimed at helping hundreds of their supporters who were involved in Catalonia’s unsuccessful 2017 independence bid.

The most radical separatists, who want to ensure that their leader , a fugitive in Belgium, can return home, said the proposed law did not go far enough to protect him.

The bill must go back to a parliament commission to be drawn up again within two weeks

BEIJING (AP) — American and Chinese officials committed Tuesday to working together to into the United States, the head of a visiting U.S. delegation said. Their meeting was a hopeful sign of cooperation as the two global powers try to better manage their contentious ties.

The U.S. is seeking more information sharing and law enforcement cooperation and the designation and control of made-in-China chemicals that are ingredients for fentanyl made elsewhere, said Jen Daskal, a deputy homeland security advisor in the White House

LONDON (AP) — Elon Musk’s social media platform X has restored searches for after temporarily blocking users from seeing some results as pornographic circulated online.

Searches for the singer’s name on the site Tuesday turned up a list of tweets as normal.

A day earlier, and a prompt for users to retry their search, which added, “Don’t fret — it’s not your fault.” Users, however, had been able to get around the block by putting quote marks around her name