(Reuters) – Scores of famous figures, including writers and actors, have signed an open letter urging Russian President Vladimir Putin to free opposition politician Alexei Navalny and to end what they called his torture in prison. Nobel prize-winning writers Svetlana Alexievich, JM Coetzee, Herta Mueller, Orhan Pamuk, Olga Tokarczuk and Mario Vargas Llosa were among…
By Vladimir Soldatkin, Elena Fabrichnaya and Alexander Marrow MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s central bank held its key interest rate at 7.5% on Friday, keeping the need for rate hikes on the table over lingering inflationary risks and flagging demand-side factors that could threaten its goal of returning inflation to target. Governor Elvira Nabiullina said the…
By Gabriella Borter and Sharon Bernstein (Reuters) – State legislatures are wrestling with how much to restrict or expand abortion access after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year. Here is a snapshot of pending and passed legislation seeking to restrict or protect access in 2023, including details on a law that…
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s infrastructure output expanded 3.6% year-on-year in March, its slowest pace in five months, in part dragged by a contraction in electricity and cement output, government data showed on Friday. The country’s infrastructure output last grew at a slower pace, of 0.1% year-on-year, in October 2022. Infrastructure output—which comprises eight sectors,…
By Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber GENEVA (Reuters) -A United Nations committee said on Friday it was deeply concerned about human rights violations by Russian forces and private military companies in Ukraine, including enforced disappearances, torture, rape and extrajudicial executions. In its findings on Russia, the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination called on the Russian…
By Gavin Jones and Giuseppe Fonte ROME (Reuters) -Italy’s economy grew by 0.5% in the first quarter from the previous three months, preliminary data showed on Friday, a stronger recovery than expected after a slight contraction at the end of last year. On a year-on-year basis, first quarter gross domestic product in the euro zone’s…
By Fabian Cambero SANTIAGO (Reuters) -While Chile’s plan to take control of its lithium industry has caused global shockwaves, state-led production of the metal used to make electric vehicle batteries is seen by analysts as likely years away given technical and political challenges. President Gabriel Boric last week said he would move to gradually nationalize…
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Chipmakers STMicroelectronics and GlobalFoundries secured EU approval on Friday to build a chip factory with French state aid in France. The companies announced their plan in July last year, with the new facility to be situated next to STM’s existing plant in Crolles and targeted to reach full capacity by 2026, with…
A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Mike Dolan After mega tech earnings inspired the best day for Wall St stocks in almost 4 months, online retail giant Amazon cooled the frenzy somewhat on Friday – even as chipmaker Intel attempted to pick up the torch. But the dramatic re-acceleration…
(Reuters) – Russian Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, who was sanctioned by the West and dubbed the “Butcher of Mariupol” for his role in the Ukraine war, has been removed as deputy defence minister, according to a military blogger and a leading news website. Mizintsev orchestrated the siege of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol in the…
