Russian attacks kill 4 as Ukraine

drones target oil infrastructure

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian officials say a Russian drone attack on Odesa has killed two women and a toddler. The attack heavily damaged an apartment block, with rescuers pulling four people from the rubble. Eleven people were hospitalized, including a pregnant woman and two children. Russia has targeted civilian areas in Ukraine since its invasion over four years ago, killing more than 15,000 people, says the United Nations. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for partner countries to provide more air defenses. Meanwhile, Ukrainian long-range drones have targeted Russian oil facilities. Russia’s Defense Ministry claims air defenses downed 50 Ukrainian drones overnight.

US stocks drift a bit higher ahead

of Trump’s deadline to bomb Iran

NEW YORK — The U.S. stock market drifted higher in tentative trading ahead of a deadline President Donald Trump has set to bomb Iranian power plants. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.4%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.5%. Like stock indexes, oil prices seesawed through the day amid continued uncertainty about what will happen in the war with Iran and how long it will slow the global flow of crude oil. Trump warned again he will bomb Iran’s power plants if it doesn’t open the Strait of Hormuz. Treasury yields held relatively steady in the bond market.

Tailors age out of the workforce

as demand for their skills grows

NEW YORK — The ranks of tailors, dressmakers and custom sewers are shrinking in the U.S. even as their skills and services are finding fresh demand. Fashion industry experts say younger shoppers are enlisting tailors and seamstresses to give off-the-rack purchases a custom fit, to revive secondhand finds or to extend the lives of their wardrobes.

A veteran tailor in New York says weight-loss drugs like Zepbound and Wegovy have more Americans wanting their clothes resized. But there are fewer professionals doing alternations as skilled sewers age out of the workforce. The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York has teamed with Nordstrom to launch a training program to help address the growing labor shortage.

Key Fed official sees possible rate hike amid higher gasoline prices

WASHINGTON — A top Federal Reserve official said Monday that an interest rate hike could be appropriate if inflation remains persistently above the central bank’s 2% target, the latest sign that some policymakers are moving away from a bias toward reducing borrowing costs.

The comments by Beth Hammack, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, suggest a growing concern among at least some policymakers that inflation, which was elevated before the Iran war, may require rate hikes to tame further. Rate increases by the Fed would be a sharp shift from late last year, when the central bank cut its key rate three times.

Menopause products have hot minute,

but doctors urge women to be wary

DALLAS — Women suffering through the hot flashes, night sweats, mood changes and sleep problems that can come with menopause — all while looking in the mirror and noticing signs of aging — are being bombarded with products.

More open conversations about menopause and the period leading up to it — called perimenopause — are happening just as marketing has been supercharged by social media.

Doctors say that before spending money on products that make big promises, it’s important for women to talk to their doctors about what has actually been proven to help — and what could be harmful.

Samsung is discontinuing texting

app, tells impacted users to switch

NEW YORK — Samsung is saying goodbye its namesake texting app. According to an end of service announcement published on the tech giant’s U.S. support website, Samsung Messages will be discontinued in July. Impacted owners of Samsung smartphones and other gadgets are being asked to switch to Google Messages as their default in the meantime. The company says this will help maintain a consistent messaging experience on Android. All Samsung Galaxy phones run on Google’s Android operating system. Users of older Android operating systems (dating back to Android 11 or older) will not be impacted.

The Associated Press