FTC chair defends tenure as lawmakers battle over consumer agency’s impact

By Diane Bartz and David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Lina Khan, the progressive head of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), faced tough questions on Thursday from a Republican-led House committee about court fights over multi-billion dollar mergers the agency opposed and lost. The hearing before the House Judiciary Committee came just two days after a…

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Goldman Sachs is about to report its worst quarterly earnings in years – Semafor

(Reuters) – Goldman Sachs will report its worst quarterly earnings in years next week, with a return on equity in the low single digits, Semafor reported on Thursday citing people familiar with the matter. Writedowns on Goldman’s GreenSky consumer-lending business and on holdings of commercial real estate, are likely to exceed $2 billion, the report…

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US Justice Department launches civil rights probe into ‘deeply concerning’ Atlanta-area jail

By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday launched a civil rights probe into conditions at the Fulton County jail in Atlanta, Georgia that will examine whether the facility is discriminating against incarcerated people with mental illnesses, a top department official said on Thursday. The probe will examine a wide range…

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Putin: foreign-made tanks are ‘priority target’ for Russian forces in Ukraine

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Western supplies of weapons to Ukraine would change nothing on the battlefield but only further escalate the conflict, adding that foreign-made tanks were a “priority target” for Moscow’s forces. Putin, in comments to state television made after a NATO summit in which Ukraine won…

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EU bank unveils new fund worth 400 million euros to help rebuild Ukraine

By Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union’s lending arm on Thursday unveiled a new fund worth 400 million euros ($447 mln) to spend on rebuilding Ukraine before the bloc’s longer-term reconstruction plan kicks in. Sixteen of the EU’s 27 countries said they would chip in to the European Investment Bank’s (EIB) Ukraine Trust…

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Congo opposition spokesman shot dead months before election

KINSHASA (Reuters) -The spokesman for one of Democratic Republic of Congo’s main opposition parties was shot dead on Thursday, authorities said, raising tensions ahead of national elections in December. Video shared on social media purported to show the bullet-ridden body of Cherubin Okende, a former transport minister who was also a member of parliament, slumped…

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