Russian official says U.S. exerting ‘pressure and threats’ over jailed WSJ reporter

(Reuters) -A senior Russian official accused the United States on Tuesday of exerting “pressure and threats” on Moscow over the case of detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, state-owned news agencies reported. TASS quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying Moscow would ignore such tactics. He did not say what form the alleged…

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What to watch for in the Biden-McCarthy debt ceiling meeting

By Jarrett Renshaw and Trevor Hunnicutt WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden meets Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other congressional leaders at the White House on Tuesday afternoon for closed-door talks as a potentially catastrophic June default looms. The 4 p.m. EDT (2000 GMT) meeting is not expected to produce anything close to…

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China’s car sales rise 2.1% in April as price war effect fades

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s passenger vehicle sales rose by 2.1% in April from a month earlier, industry data showed, underscoring a slower pace of growth as the stimulus effect of price cuts and incentives faded. Car sales in April totalled 1.65 million units, 54.5% higher from a year earlier when COVID-19 lockdowns disrupted productions and…

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Australian lawmakers meet US envoy to seek release of Julian Assange

By Renju Jose and Kanishka Singh SYDNEY/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A cross-party delegation of Australian lawmakers said on Tuesday they met U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, urging her to help drop the pending extradition case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and allow him to return to Australia. The “Bring Julian Assange Home Parliamentary Group” said it had informed…

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