MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s most powerful mercenary on Thursday said he was sending back the bodies of a U.S. citizen who was killed in fighting in the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut and that of a Turkish citizen who was found dead in a blown up building. Mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group were shown in a…
By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Europe’s artificial intelligence (AI) rules are not for negotiation, EU industry chief Thierry Breton said on Thursday, as he criticised OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s threat to quit the continent if it cannot comply with the legislation. Altman’s comments at a conference a day earlier came as the European…
By Raphael Satter and James Pearson LONDON (Reuters) – Researchers have discovered Israeli-made Pegasus phone hacking software deployed against targets across Armenia, including reporters at a U.S. government-funded news organization, a report released on Thursday found. A team of researchers from digital rights group Access Now, human rights organization Amnesty International, Canadian internet watchdog Citizen…
MILAN (Reuters) -Italy’s Armani Group said on Thursday its sales jumped 18% in the first quarter thanks to a rebound in Asia and more modest growth in the United States, where a slowdown is expected in the coming months. The privately-owned luxury group added that its 2022 full year revenues were up 16.5% to 2.35…
By Burcu Karakas and Umit Ozdal ISTANBUL/DIYARBAKIR (Reuters) -Kurds opposed to President Tayyip Erdogan fear victory for him in Turkey’s presidential election could reinforce a crackdown the state has been waging against them for years, alarmed by a surge in nationalist rhetoric ahead of Sunday’s vote. Kurds, who make up around a fifth of Turkey’s…
ATHENS (Reuters) – Ioannis Sarmas, a senior judge, was sworn in as Greece’s caretaker prime minister on Thursday to lead the country to a repeat election on June 25 following Sunday’s inconclusive vote. Sarmas, the president of the Hellenic Court of Audit, one of Greece’s three top courts, is expected to form an interim cabinet…
By Ali Kucukgocmen and Ece Toksabay ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkey’s central bank kept its policy rate at 8.5% on Thursday as expected, holding steady for a third straight month, despite a market rout after the first round of elections which indicated President Tayyip Erdogan was poised to win in the runoff. After Erdogan’s solid lead in…
By Joan Faus BARCELONA (Reuters) – Scrawled across Barcelona’s opera house, along the city’s renowned La Rambla boulevard, is expletive-laden graffiti urging tourists to “go home”. In another district, the messaging is more emphatic still: “Tourism kills neighbourhoods”. The signs, which appeared in recent days, underline how anti-tourism sentiment is bubbling up in the Spanish…
By Giuseppe Fonte and Giulio Piovaccari MILAN (Reuters) – The Italian government, which is assessing tyre maker Pirelli’s new shareholder agreement, is concerned about plans to allow top shareholder China’s Sinochem to appoint more board members and potentially choose future CEOs, two sources said. Italy’s right-wing government has to approve the scheme under “Golden Power”…
By Mimosa Spencer PARIS (Reuters) – Chanel sales in the United States, one of the luxury label’s top three markets, have slowed to a single-digit growth rate over the past six months, it said on Thursday, adding to evidence that the post-pandemic spending splurge in the country has tapered off. “Clearly the trend has softened…
