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State treason trial of Russian physicist begins in St. Petersburg
(Reuters) – The criminal trial of a prominent Russian physicist accused of state treason opened in St Petersburg on Thursday amid tight secrecy and concerns over the health of the elderly defendant. Anatoly Maslov, 76,...
Michael Jordan’s 1992 Olympic practice jersey up for auction
By Jorge Garcia LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A sweat-stained jersey worn by U.S. basketball legend Michael Jordan in a practice session at the 1992 Olympic Games will hit the auction block in Los Angeles in June, estimated to sell at between $400,000 and $600,000. The white jersey with red, white and blue trim and ‘USA...
‘California is meant to burn’: Experts teach landowners art of prescribed burns
By Nathan Frandino GEORGETOWN, California (Reuters) – The prescribed burn begins on a California hill with a drip torch to light brush, needles and fallen branches, the flames spreading out on the forest floor far below the tree canopy. Students on this Saturday class learn how to keep the burn under control, while others stand...
Congo woman saves young mothers from unpaid maternity bills
By Paul Lorgerie KINSHASA (Reuters) – Three weeks after giving birth to twins, 16-year-old Annaelle felt like a hostage: the hospital would not let her leave until she’d paid her medical bills, but she had no money. Her mother was doing shifts there as a cleaner to stump up the cash. Then a woman Annaelle...
US sanctions Iranian operatives accused of overseas assassination plots
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on members and affiliates of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard and its external operations arm whom Washington accused of participating in terrorist plots targeting former U.S. government officials, dual U.S. and Iranian nationals and Iranian dissidents. The U.S. Treasury Department said the move targeted three Iran-...
Tunisia’s financial crisis leaves the sick struggling to find medicine
By Tarek Amara and Angus McDowall TUNIS (Reuters) – Sick Tunisians face a frantic struggle to find some medicines because the cash-strapped state has reduced imports, leaving doctors unable to control debilitating health problems and patients turning to informal markets for their medication. Hundreds of medicines have been missing for months, pharmacies say, including important...
US imposing sanctions against those perpetuating violence in Sudan
By Daphne Psaledakis and Nafisa Eltahir WASHINGTON/CAIRO (Reuters) – The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on companies it accused of fueling the conflict in Sudan, stepping up pressure on the army and a rival paramilitary force to bring an end to the fighting as ceasefire talks are at risk of collapse. The U.S. Treasury...
Canada’s military and U.S. firefighters to aid Nova Scotia’s wildfire fight
By Steve Scherer OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada’s government is sending the military to the Eastern province of Nova Scotia on Thursday to help tackle wildfires, and more U.S. firefighters will come to battle the early summer blazes, the minister responsible for emergencies said. Nova Scotia is battling two large fires that are threatening communities on...
More than 100,000 flee to Chad from Sudan conflict, UNHCR says
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – More than 100,000 people have fled violence in Sudan to neighbouring Chad and the numbers could double in the next three months, the U.N. refugee agency said on Thursday. The near seven-week conflict has pushed Sudan into a humanitarian crisis and turned one of Africa’s greatest cities – the three-part capital of...
‘Granary of China’ braces for more wheat-damaging rain
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s largest wheat-growing province of Henan is expected to be hit by more rain in the coming days, state weather forecasters said on Thursday, complicating efforts to harvest grain damaged by abnormally heavy precipitation in late May. Known as the “granary of China”, the south of Henan had been struck by higher-than-normal...
Brazil’s lower house approves curtailing environment, indigenous ministries
(Reuters) – Brazil’s lower house of Congress approved late on Wednesday a bill that curtails the powers of the ministries of the environment and Indigenous affairs. The approval marks a further setback for Lula’s environmental agenda, which was also handed a defeat on Tuesday when lawmakers passed a bill that limited the recognition of new...
Chinese graduates lower their ambitions in moribund jobs market
By Laurie Chen BEIJING (Reuters) – Applied maths graduate Liang Huaxiao tried to land a job with one of China’s tech giants for two years. Then she tried customer service and sales. Then she applied for assistant roles in a bakery and in a beauty parlour. Like a rising number of her highly educated peers,...
Australia says tougher laws needed on artificial intelligence
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia said on Thursday it planned to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) including a potential ban on deep fakes and realistic-looking but false content, amid concerns the technology could be misused. The move comes on the heels of a meeting of top AI executives earlier this week when they raised the “risk of...
1st June
Argentina eases access to ‘morning after pill’, broadening reproductive rights
By Anna-Catherine Brigida BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina will no longer require a prescription to obtain emergency contraception, commonly known as the ‘morning after pill’, the government said on Wednesday, broadening reproductive rights in the traditionally conservative South American country. The Catholic country and homeland of Pope Francis approved a law allowing abortion up to...
ISMC’s India chip plan stalls after Tower-Intel deal in setback to Modi
By Munsif Vengattil, Aditya Kalra and Jane Lanhee Lee NEW DELHI/OAKLAND, California (Reuters) – A planned $3 billion semiconductor facility in India by chip consortium ISMC that counted Israeli chipmaker Tower as a tech partner has been stalled due to the company’s ongoing takeover by Intel, three sources said, dashing India’s chip making plans. A...
Chinese agent or private eye? Ex-NY cop’s ‘Fox Hunt’ trial kicks off
By Luc Cohen NEW YORK (Reuters) – A former New York City police sergeant charged with acting as an illegal Chinese agent for allegedly intimidating a U.S.-based fugitive from China went on trial on Wednesday and argued he did not know that country’s government was behind a private surveillance job he took. Federal prosecutors in...
Walmart is raising wages for pharmacists, opticians in healthcare push
By Siddharth Cavale BENTONVILLE, Ark. (Reuters) – Walmart is raising wages for thousands of U.S. pharmacists and opticians, the retailer said on Wednesday, part of its broader plan to expand primary care services across the country. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based chain said about 3,700 pharmacists would get a bump in pay starting on Wednesday, bringing their...
Senegal president promises fair election as tensions simmer
DAKAR (Reuters) – Senegal’s President Macky Sall on Wednesday said his government would ensure peaceful, free and transparent elections next year following weeks of fresh opposition unrest over fears he might run for a third term and sideline a key rival. Sporadic violent protests have broken out across Senegal since opposition leader Ousmane Sonko was...
White House announces new military aid package for Ukraine
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House on Wednesday announced the latest in a series of aid packages for Ukraine that includes up to $300 million worth of air defense systems, ammunition and other defense equipment. The security assistance package represents the 39th drawdown of equipment from the Department of Defense inventories, the Pentagon said. The...
North Korea satellite plunges in sea in ‘rushed’ failure, more launches expected
By Hyonhee Shin and Chang-Ran Kim SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) – A North Korean satellite launch on Wednesday ended in failure, sending the booster and payload plunging into the sea, North Korean state media said, and the South’s military said it had recovered parts of the launch vehicle. The new “Chollima-1” satellite launch rocket failed because of...
Scientists expand search for signs of intelligent alien life
By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists have expanded the search for technologically advanced extraterrestrial civilizations by monitoring a star-dense region toward the core of our galaxy for a type of signal that could be produced by potential intelligent aliens that until now has been ignored. Efforts to detect alien technological signatures previously have focused...
Indonesia, Malaysia freeze trade talks with EU over palm oil
(Reuters) – Indonesia and Malaysia will delay trade talks with the European Union (EU) while they seek fairer treatment for small palm oil producers, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof said the EU’s recently adopted law banning the import of products that come from land cleared of forests was...
New Zealand working to update surrogacy laws to make process easier
WELLINGTON (Reuters) – The New Zealand government will update the country’s surrogacy law to make the process easier and less discriminatory, New Zealand’s Justice Minister Kiri Allan said late on Tuesday. “Surrogacy has become an established method of forming a family for people unable to carry a child themselves. However, the laws that apply to...
Despite world-beating growth, India’s lack of jobs threatens its young
MUMBAI (Reuters) – On a hot summer afternoon, 23-year old Nizamudin Abdul Rahim Khan is playing cricket on a muddy, unpaved road in the Rafiq Nagar slum in India’s financial capital, Mumbai. Here, there is scant evidence of India’s fast-growing economy. Bordering what was once Asia’s largest garbage dumping ground, Rafiq Nagar and surrounding areas...
Australia’s Indigenous recognition bill passes first hurdle
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Legislation to hold a referendum to recognise Australia’s Indigenous people in the constitution cleared its first parliamentary hurdle on Wednesday as it was passed in the House of Representatives. Australians will be asked to vote in a referendum, likely to be held between October and December, on whether they support altering the...
Bangladesh to ratify ship recycling convention in June
DHAKA (Reuters) – Bangladesh is set to ratify an international convention in early June on recycling ships aimed at increasing safety and environmental standards, a senior official told Reuters. “We expect the first week of June for the official declaration,” said Mamunur Rashid, a deputy secretary with the Ministry of Industries, who said Bangladesh is...
State Farm stops new home insurance sales in California as wildfire risks grow
(Reuters) – State Farm said it would stop selling new insurance policies to homeowners in California, exacerbating troubles for thousands in the wildfire-prone state, who are already feeling the heat with coverage getting costlier or harder to come by. State Farm General Insurance Company – State Farm’s provider of homeowners insurance in California – said...
US agency says 8.3 million homes, businesses lack access to high-speed broadband
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -More than 8.3 million U.S. homes and businesses lack access to high-speed broadband internet, the Federal Communications Commission said Tuesday in unveiling its revised national broadband access map. The FCC said it has increased its estimates of homes and businesses without access by nearly 330,000 locations. The data is crucial for funding decisions....
House swaps and dog walks: Travelers find cheaper alternatives to lodging
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Lillian Smith has spent about eight of the last 12 months traveling around the world, hitting France, Morocco, Japan and South Korea. Her cost for lodgings in that time? About one night in a hotel, along with the time she spent walking dogs, watering plants and changing litter boxes. “I have...
Central African Republic plans referendum on scrapping presidential term limits
BANGUI (Reuters) -Central African Republic’s President Faustin-Archange Touadera said on Tuesday he would hold a referendum in July on his intention to change the constitution and remove term limits. Touadera’s allies proposed the change in May last year, arguing that presidential term limits were uncommon in many neighbouring countries. Critics and opposition parties held protests...
