Brazil blocks $8 million from alleged financiers of January riots to pay for damages

SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazil’s federal police said on Thursday the country had frozen roughly 40 million reais ($7.99 million) belonging to alleged financiers of the Jan. 8 riots in Brasilia in order to pay for damages caused to public property. The move was part of the 11th phase of an operation investigating people involved…

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Explainer-What’s at stake in Turkey’s landmark elections?

(Reuters) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan faces his toughest political challenge yet when the nation votes on Sunday, with the opposition sensing its best chance yet of ending his two decades in power and reversing his policies. The presidential and parliamentary votes, set for May 14 with a possible May 28 run-off, will decide not…

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Mexico suspends some migrant detention centers pending watchdog review

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s migration institute (INM) on Wednesday said it will suspend operations at 33 migrant detention centers as the country’s rights watchdog completes a review of the sites in the wake of a fire that killed 40 migrants in government custody. The facilities, located nationwide, can house up to 1,300 people at…

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Australia’s trade minister seeks end to trade curbs on visit to Beijing

BEIJING (Reuters) – Australia’s Trade Minister arrived in Beijing On Thursday to meet his Chinese counterpart, as Canberra pushes for the removal of all trade barriers and for diplomatic relations to stabilise. Trade Minister Don Farrell said he would meet Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao in Beijing and “be advocating strongly for the full resumption…

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Number of internally displaced people hits record due to war, climate change

GENEVA (Reuters) – The number of internally displaced people (IDPs) reached a record 71.1 million worldwide last year due to conflicts such as the war in Ukraine and climate calamities like the monsoon floods in Pakistan, according to data published on Thursday. The Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) said that figure represented a 20%…

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EU lawmakers’ committees agree tougher draft AI rules

By Foo Yun Chee, Martin Coulter and Supantha Mukherjee (Reuters) -European lawmakers came a step closer to passing new rules regulating artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT, following a crunch vote on Thursday where they agreed tougher draft legislation. The European Union’s highly anticipated AI Act looks set to be the world’s first comprehensive legislation…

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