Strong U.S. demand eases pressure on Novo to show weight-loss drug’s health benefits

By Maggie Fick LONDON (Reuters) – Soaring U.S. demand for Novo Nordisk’s weight-loss drug has reduced the pressure from investors on the company to deliver strong results in its trial to test whether the drug also has medical benefits, eight investors and analysts say. Novo is expected to publish in August the results of a…

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UN agency calls for debt pause option as poverty rates rise

By Emma Farge and Marc Jones GENEVA/LONDON (Reuters) – A United Nations agency urged global finance ministers to give poor countries debt repayment breaks, estimating the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent surge in inflation and borrowing costs had pushed an extra 165 million people into poverty. The U.N. Development Programme said the jump meant more than…

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Factbox-Changes to Australia’s central bank following review

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s government announced on Friday that Michele Bullock, Deputy Governor at the Reserve Bank of Australia, will take over from Governor Philip Lowe in September, following a review that has recommended sweeping changes to the decades-old institution. In one of his final actions before the decision, Lowe on Wednesday outlined the changes…

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Founder of crypto lender Celsius Network pleads not guilty to fraud charges

By Luc Cohen and Hannah Lang NEW YORK (Reuters) – Alex Mashinsky, founder and former CEO of bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Celsius Network, pleaded not guilty Thursday to U.S. fraud charges that he misled customers and artificially inflated the value of his company’s propriety crypto token. Three federal regulatory agencies also sued Mashinsky and Celsius in…

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Singapore dodges recession after slight growth in Q2

By Chen Lin SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Singapore’s economy narrowly escaped a recession in the second quarter as global demand weakened and China’s slowdown dragged on trade flows, leading some economists to cut their growth forecasts for the year. The Southeast Asian economy grew a seasonally adjusted 0.3% quarter-on-quarter, following a 0.4% contraction in the first three…

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ASEAN foreign ministers repeat condemnation of Myanmar violence

By Kate Lamb and Stanley Widianto JAKARTA (Reuters) -Southeast Asian foreign ministers on Thursday reiterated condemnation of ongoing violence in Myanmar, as an intensifying conflict there tests the unity of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Myanmar, one of the bloc’s 10 members, has been beset by fighting since the military seized power in early…

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Smuggler jailed for 15 years for California crash that killed 13 migrants

(Reuters) – A Mexican national who coordinated a human-smuggling operation that led to the deaths of 13 migrants in a 2021 highway crash near the Mexico-California border was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Thursday by a U.S. federal judge. Jose Cruz Noguez, 49, a permanent U.S. resident from Mexicali, Mexico, received the sentence…

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G7 finance chiefs to meet July 16, will discuss Ukraine, global taxation – Suzuki

By Tetsushi Kajimoto TOKYO (Reuters) -Financial leaders from the Group of Seven (G7) advanced countries will hold talks on July 16 on the sidelines of the broader G20 meeting in India, Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Friday. The G7 groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. “Support for Ukraine,…

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