Venezuela blasts U.S. for critique over barred opposition candidate

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s government on Saturday said it rejected the U.S. stance around the South American country’s upcoming elections, calling it “interference,” a day after the U.S. criticized Venezuela’s decision to disqualify an opposition candidate. Maria Corina Machado, one of the favorites to win the Venezuelan opposition’s nomination for president in an October primary,…

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Ukraine, US agree: counteroffensive creeps ahead, measured in blood

By Olena Harmash (Reuters) – Ukraine has been publicly cautious in counting gains in a counteroffensive it launched this month to reclaim territory occupied by Russian forces, and on Friday its president and a U.S. general acknowledged that progress is measured in blood. The top U.S. military officer, Army General Mark Milley, told an audience…

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Pope names Argentine bishop, author of kissing book, to top Vatican post

By Philip Pullella (Reuters) – Pope Francis has named an Argentine theologian and prolific author who decades ago wrote a book on the healing properties of kissing to be the Catholic Church’s new doctrinal chief, one of the Vatican’s top posts. A Vatican statement on Saturday said Francis had chosen fellow Argentine Archbishop Victor Manuel…

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China urges Netherlands to not abuse export control measures

BEIJING (Reuters) – China has urged the Netherlands to not hinder bilateral cooperation in the semiconductor industry and to not abuse export controls, China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement. The statement was made in response to questions from the media, it said. It also said the two countries have communicated frequently and at…

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Biden proposes new measures for student loan relief after Supreme Court defeat

By Steve Holland and Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden on Friday announced new measures to provide student loan relief to Americans and condemned the U.S. Supreme Court for blocking a plan to cancel hundreds of billions of dollars in debt that was popular with his voters. Thwarted by the conservative-leaning court, Biden told…

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Cambodia’s Hun Sen kicks off campaign for virtually unopposed election

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Saturday commenced his ruling party’s campaign for an election later this month – a poll that has been criticised as a sham after the main opposition party was prevented from running. The 70-year-old strongman, who has ruled the Southeast Asian nation of 16 million for…

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Sandoz launches rival version of AbbVie’s arthritis drug Humira

(Reuters) – Swiss drugmaker Sandoz said on Saturday it had launched a biosimilar version of AbbVie Inc’s big selling arthritis treatment Humira, adding to U.S. competition for the drug that started in January. The Novartis-owned company said its drug, Hyrimoz, will be priced at a 5% discount off Humira’s current list price of $6,922 per…

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