South Korea export downturn slows, trade balance swings to surplus

By Jihoon Lee SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s export downturn slowed in June, with auto exports extending robust rises and semiconductors narrowing their decline, as the bellwether Asian economy posted its first trade surplus since early last year. Shipments from Asia’s fourth-largest economy, offering one of the earliest snapshots of monthly global trade, fell 6.0%…

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Disney accused in lawsuit of ‘systematically’ paying women less than men in California

(Reuters) – Walt Disney has been accused of systematically underpaying women in California in a lawsuit that alleges the company’s female employees in the state earned $150 million less than their male counterparts over an eight year period. The Friday filing in Los Angeles County Superior Court seeks to persuade the judge to certify a…

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State Department review of 2021 Afghanistan evacuation critical of Biden, Trump

By Jonathan Landay WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A U.S. State Department report on Friday criticized the handling of the 2021 evacuation from Afghanistan, saying decisions by President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump to withdraw troops had “serious consequences for the viability” and security of the former U.S.-backed government. Adverse findings in the report also reflected…

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US chicken producers ordered to face price-fixing claims

By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) – A federal judge on Friday said Pilgrim’s Pride, Sanderson Farms, Tyson Foods and several other companies must face private antitrust litigation accusing them of conspiring to inflate broiler chicken prices by reducing supply. Restaurants, supermarkets, distributors and consumers have accused chicken producers of having conspired starting in 2008 to inflate…

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Bolsonaro barred from holding public office in Brazil until 2030

By Ricardo Brito and Gabriel Araujo BRASILIA (Reuters) – Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s political career was in tatters on Friday as Brazil’s federal electoral court (TSE) barred the far-right nationalist from public office until 2030 for his conduct during last year’s fraught election. Five out of seven justices voted to convict the 68-year-old Bolsonaro…

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Moms for Liberty emerges as a force in the 2024 U.S. presidential election

By Jarrett Renshaw and James Oliphant PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) -Top rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination on Friday addressed the national conference of Moms for Liberty, appealing to the conservative parents-rights advocacy group with vows to bolster education and keep discussion of gender identity out of the classroom. “Don’t mess with America’s moms,” former President…

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