The world - May 20, 2010

THURSDAY

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo began investigating eight banks to determine whether they misled credit rating agencies. The eight banks are Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Credit Agricole and Merrill Lynch, now owned by Bank of America.

New home foreclosures fell in April, the first year-over-year drop since January 2006. Lenders filed default notices on 103,762 properties in April, down 12 percent in the month and 27 from a record 142,000 one year ago.

Scientists in China identified nine chemicals from cigarette butts, including ni...