Ukrainian artillerymen praise US howitzers outside Russian-held town

By Max Hunder NEAR KREMINNA, Ukraine (Reuters) – The artillerymen of Ukraine’s 67th infantry brigade are delighted with the U.S.-supplied M119 howitzer amid an increase in military exchanges south of the Russian-held town of Kreminna. The men now stationed in Ukraine’s northeast have been redeployed from positions around the devastated town of Bakhmut – encircled…

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Blinken urges China’s vigilance on its firms providing tech to Russia

By Humeyra Pamuk BEIJING (Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday he had asked China’s government to be vigilant about private companies that may be providing Russia with technology that could be used against Ukraine, although he said he had seen no evidence Beijing is providing lethal assistance to Moscow. “What we…

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Biden criticizes U.S. senator’s hold on military nominations

By Trevor Hunnicutt and Nandita Bose (Reuters) – President Joe Biden on Monday criticized Republican U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville for holding up some 200 Pentagon nominees over a Defense Department abortion policy. “It’s just bizarre. I don’t remember it happening before, and I’ve been around,” Biden said of the actions of Tuberville at a fundraiser…

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Japan regulator sounded out top domestic banks about China risks, sources say

By Takaya Yamaguchi, Makiko Yamazaki and Paritosh Bansal TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s financial regulator has sounded out top domestic banks about China risks and whether they have plans in place if Sino-Western tensions escalate, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the matter.  The Financial Services Agency’s (FSA) request, which has not been previously reported, is to ensure Japan’s megabanks are…

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Xi, Blinken agree to stabilize US-China relations in Beijing talks

By Humeyra Pamuk BEIJING (Reuters) -China and the United States agreed on Monday to stabilize their intense rivalry so it does not veer into conflict, but failed to produce any major breakthrough during a rare visit to Beijing by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed “progress” after shaking hands with…

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US urges ‘orderly, responsible’ drawdown of UN peacekeepers from Mali

(Reuters) – The United States regrets a decision by Mali’s interim military authorities to ask a United Nations peacekeeping force to leave the country, the State Department said on Monday, calling for an “orderly and responsible” drawdown of the mission. Mali’s Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop made the request during a U.N. Security Council meeting on…

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Ukraine prepares ‘biggest blow’ as it claims recapture of eight villages from Russia

By Tom Balmforth and Pavel Polityuk KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine said on Monday it had driven Russian forces out of an eighth village in its two-week-old counteroffensive and a defence official vowed Kyiv’s “biggest blow” lay ahead despite tough resistance from Moscow’s troops. Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said Ukrainian forces had retaken Piatykhatky, a settlement…

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Honduras anti-corruption activist says she left country after threats

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) -One of Honduras’ leading anti-corruption advocates on Monday said she had left the Central American nation because of threats, weeks after accusing President Xiomara Castro’s government of nepotism. Gabriela Castellanos, executive director of the National Anti-Corruption Council (CNA), which has investigated public corruption in Honduras for nearly a decade, left the country on…

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