US, Ukraine’s top diplomats hold ‘important’ call before NATO summit

(Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said late on Sunday they held a phone call to discuss this week’s NATO summit and Kyiv’s counteroffensive campaign to reclaim land taken by Russia. “I had an important discussion with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba today ahead of this week’s…

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China’s state planner holds meeting with private firms, including Baidu

(Corrects to clarify Li Qiang is head of the State Council, not state planner) BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s state planner said on Monday it held a meeting with private firms including Baidu and LONGi Green Energy Technology. The next step will be to continue to improve the communication mechanism with private enterprises and address the…

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Analysis-U.S. military deals not enough to wean India off Russian arms yet

By Krishn Kaushik and David Brunnstrom NEW DELHI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – India’s multi-billion-dollar purchases of U.S. arms are less about shifting its reliance on Russian defence equipment and moving towards the West – it’s more about developing its own domestic weapons industry, security officials and analysts say. India is the world’s biggest arms importer but almost…

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What people are saying about Ant Group’s $984 million fine and share buyback

(Reuters) – China’s Ant Group has announced a surprise share buyback that values the fintech giant at $78.5 billion, well below the $315 billion touted in an abandoned IPO in 2020, in a move that may let some investors exit. The announcement came after China’s financial regulator on Friday fined the Alibaba Group affiliate $984…

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China urges ‘practical’ US action on sanctions after Yellen talks

By Joe Cash BEIJING (Reuters) – China on Monday called on the U.S. to take “practical action” in response to its “major concerns” about sanctions on Chinese firms, after U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wrapped up more than 10 hours of meetings with senior officials in Beijing. Yellen came to Beijing seeking to ease tensions…

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