ADB head: Developing Asia’s growth robust, tightening global finances a risk

(Reuters) – Asia’s developing economies have seen “very robust” growth but face risks from tightening global financial conditions due to rapid U.S. and European interest rate hikes, Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masatsugu Asakawa said on Thursday. In an online event, Asakawa also said stronger-than-expected growth in China’s economy may put additional inflationary pressure on…

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US adds Belarus, Bulgaria to intellectual property watch list

By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Trade Representative’s office added Belarus to an intellectual property rights watch list over a new law allowing the unauthorized use of copyrighted works from countries sanctioning Belarus for its support of Russia’s war in Ukraine. USTR’s 2023 Special 301 Report on U.S. trading partners intellectual property (IP)…

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Russians pound frontline positions in Bakhmut, Ukraine military says

(Reuters) – Russian forces pounded the city of Bakhmut, the months-old focal point of their attempts to capture the eastern Ukrainian industrial region of Donbas, and the head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary force said Ukrainian troops were pouring in ahead of an “inevitable” counter-offensive. The general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces, in a report on…

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Argentina govt to pay for Chinese imports in yuan rather than dollars

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) -Argentina will start to pay for Chinese imports in yuan rather than dollars, the government announced Wednesday, a measure that aims to relieve the country’s dwindling dollar reserves. In April, it aims to pay around $1 billion of Chinese imports in yuan instead of dollars and thereafter around $790 million of monthly…

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US challenges Tennessee ban on healthcare for transgender youth

By Kanishka Singh WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday filed a complaint challenging a new Tennessee law that bans doctors from providing gender-affirming medical treatment such as puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgery to transgender minors. The Justice Department said the law violated the U.S. Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment, which promises equal protection….

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Second judge says US not liable in Moderna COVID-19 vaccine patent case

By Blake Brittain (Reuters) – Moderna Inc failed to persuade a Delaware federal judge on Wednesday to shift liability from the company to the U.S. government for alleged patent infringement by Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. Chief Judge Colm Connolly’s ruling for Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc came just over a month after a different judge in Delaware rejected…

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Hyundai Motor to exit Russia, selling its plants – media report

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co plans to exit Russia and sell its manufacturing plants there to a Kazakh company, South Korean media reported on Wednesday. South Korean TV network MBC reported that negotiations to sell Hyundai’s factories in Russia are in the final stage, adding that the automaker has been waiting for…

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Geely’s EV brand Zeekr jumps on the ‘gigapress’ bandwagon

By Norihiko Shirouzu (Reuters) – Geely’s EV brand Zeekr is the latest to join a growing list of automakers that have turned to the “gigapress” die casting technique pioneered by Tesla to slash the cost of electric cars. Zeekr’s manufacturing technology chief Jiang Kehong told Reuters the Chinese carmaker had started using massive aluminium die…

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