Clearing Israel budget, Netanyahu hints at resumption of judicial overhaul

By Dan Williams JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secured a two-year Israeli national budget on Wednesday and suggested this could clear the way for a resumption of his religious-nationalist coalition’s contested judicial overhaul. Opposition politicians, who have been in compromise talks with the government over the proposed reforms since they were suspended in…

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US says Russia’s Wagner Group seeking to transit military equipment through Mali

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. State Department on Monday said Russia’s Wagner Group is trying to obscure its efforts to acquire military equipment for use in Ukraine, adding that Washington has been informed the mercenary force is seeking to move those acquisitions through Mali to aid Russia in its war. Wagner is willing to use…

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WHO condemns Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, rejects Moscow’s counter-proposal

LONDON (Reuters) -The World Health Organization assembly passed a motion on Wednesday condemning Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, including attacks on healthcare facilities. The motion passed by 80 votes to 9, with 52 abstentions and 36 countries absent. The Western-led motion, put forward at the U.N. agency’s annual meeting, also called for an assessment of the…

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Greece appoints caretaker PM ahead of June repeat election

By Lefteris Papadimas ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece’s president appointed a caretaker prime minister on Wednesday to form a government that will lead the country to a repeat election on June 25, after last weekend’s inconclusive vote. The conservative New Democracy party of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stormed to victory polling 40.1% last Sunday, but fell…

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Exclusive-Russian hypersonic scientist accused of betraying secrets to China – sources

By Filipp Lebedev, Lucy Papachristou and Mark Trevelyan LONDON (Reuters) – The director of a top Russian science institute, arrested on suspicion of treason along with two other hypersonic missile technology experts, stands accused of betraying secrets to China, two people familiar with the case told Reuters. Alexander Shiplyuk, head of Siberia’s Khristianovich Institute of…

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Australia refers PwC tax document leak scandal to police

By Lewis Jackson SYDNEY (Reuters) -The Australian Treasury has referred a confidential document leak scandal involving professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to police, Secretary to the Treasury Steven Kennedy said on Wednesday. The government, a PwC Australia client, has accused the firm of using confidential information about new anti-tax avoidance measures to win more business,…

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UN rights chief asks Sudan’s generals to stop ‘senseless violence’

By Emma Farge GENEVA (Reuters) – The United Nations human rights chief on Wednesday described the situation in Sudan as “heartbreaking” and made a direct call to the two warring generals to stop sexual violence and spare the lives of civilians. Fighting in Sudan that broke out more than a month ago has killed hundreds…

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Analysis-Ukraine war: Belgorod incursion may stretch Russia’s defences

By Tom Balmforth, Anna Dabrowska LONDON/KYIV (Reuters) -A two-day incursion from Ukraine into Russia’s western borderlands could force the Kremlin to divert troops from front lines as Kyiv prepares a major counteroffensive, and deal Moscow a psychological blow, according to military analysts. Though Kyiv has denied any role, the biggest cross-border raid from Ukraine since…

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