Europe’s Euclid space telescope launched on mission to explore ‘dark universe’

By Steve Gorman (Reuters) -A European-built orbital satellite was launched to space on Saturday from Florida on a mission to shed new light on the mysterious cosmic phenomena known as dark energy and dark matter, unseen forces scientists say account for 95% of the known universe. The telescope dubbed Euclid, named for the ancient Greek…

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Bosnia envoy revokes Bosnian Serb laws defying the state, peace deal

By Daria Sito-Sucic SARAJEVO (Reuters) – Bosnia’s international peace overseer, Christian Schmidt, on Saturday annulled two laws that Bosnian Serb parliament had adopted defying the constitution and the terms of a peace deal that ended the Balkan country’s war in the 1990s. Schmidt, who as international High Representative in Bosnia has powers to impose laws…

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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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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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Belarus leader says nuclear arms will not be used

(Reuters) – Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, the Kremlin’s staunchest ally in its war in Ukraine, said on Friday he was certain Russian tactical nuclear weapons deployed in his country would never be used. Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin have acknowledged that some tactical weapons have arrived in Belarus and the remainder would be put…

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UK, Australia and Canada want reversal of Israel approval of new West Bank settlement units

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain, Australia and Canada have called on Israel’s government to reverse a decision to approve new settlement units in the West Bank, saying they are “deeply concerned” by an ongoing cycle of violence. This week, Israel approved over 5,700 new settlement units in the West Bank and earlier this month instituted changes…

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