White House says no clear answer on how to return WSJ reporter detained in Russia

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden’s national security adviser said on Friday there was no clear answer on how to return Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter detained by Russia, to the United States. “I do not want to give false hope,” said the Biden aide, Jake Sullivan, in a briefing with reporters….

Read More

Biotech firms target weight-loss drugs without Wegovy’s side-effects

LONDON (Reuters) – Weight-loss drug Wegovy helped Rebecca Vogt achieve a major goal – shedding the weight she had not managed to drop since giving birth. But, after a particularly brutal day in the bathroom suffering from vomiting and diarrhoea, she called it quits. “The nausea is just so awful with this medication,” said Vogt,…

Read More

Factbox-Companies in Alzheimer’s race after US nod for Eisai/Biogen drug

(Reuters) – Eisai Co Ltd and Biogen Inc’s Leqembi emerged as the first Alzheimer’s treatment to win the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s standard approval on Thursday, a milestone in drug development for a disease that has seen multiple failures in the past. The following is a list of companies that are currently developing treatments…

Read More

Central bankers lay out digital currency cyber threat

By Marc Jones LONDON (Reuters) – The central bankers’ central bank, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), has laid out a seven-point plan designed to help countries prevent cyber hacks on the new wave of digital national currencies under development. Around 130 countries are now exploring central bank digital currencies (CBDC) to keep up with…

Read More

Blinken to press ASEAN to take tougher line on Myanmar, China – official

By David Brunnstrom and Simon Lewis WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Washington hopes to rally Southeast Asian nations to take tougher action against Myanmar’s military junta and to push back on China’s actions in the South China Sea as top U.S. diplomat Antony Blinken heads to the region for meetings next week, a State Department official said…

Read More

Syria brought Wagner Group fighters to heel as mutiny unfolded in Russia

By Suleiman Al-Khalidi, Maya Gebeily BEIRUT (Reuters) -As Wagner mercenaries advanced on Moscow in an attempted mutiny in late June, authorities in Syria and Russian military commanders there took a series of swift measures against local Wagner operatives to prevent the uprising spreading, according to six sources familiar with the matter. The previously unreported crackdown…

Read More