US EPA proposes tighter rules for lead exposure in residential buildings

By Kanishka Singh WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday proposed stricter regulations for lead exposure in residential buildings and childcare facilities. Any amount of lead found in a building will be regarded as hazardous, according to the proposed rule from the EPA that would lower its lead dust hazard level…

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Biden to host Italian PM Meloni at White House on July 27

By Angelo Amante and Kanishka Singh VILNIUS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden will host Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Washington on July 27, and the two leaders will discuss issues including the Ukraine war and transatlantic cooperation regarding China, the White House said on Wednesday. The leaders will also discuss developments in North Africa…

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Wall Street cheers cool CPI with stock rally; dollar, yields decline

By Lawrence Delevingne (Reuters) -Wall Street stocks advanced on Wednesday and the dollar and Treasury yields fell after new U.S. inflation data showed a slowdown in the seemingly relentless rise of consumer prices. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) gained just 0.2% last month, the Labor Department said on Wednesday, lifted by rises in gasoline prices…

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Russian hackers lured embassy workers in Ukraine with ad for a cheap BMW

By James Pearson LONDON (Reuters) -Hackers suspected of working for Russia’s foreign intelligence agency targeted dozens of diplomats at embassies in Ukraine with a fake used car advert in a bid to break into their computers, according to a cybersecurity firm report published on Wednesday. The wide-reaching espionage activity targeted diplomats working in at least…

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Steve Bannon, Michael Flynn must answer questions in Smartmatic US defamation case

By Jack Queen (Reuters) – Steve Bannon and Michael Flynn, two allies of former U.S. President Donald Trump, must answer questions under oath in voting technology company Smartmatic’s defamation lawsuit against right-wing media outlet Newsmax, court records showed on Wednesday. Florida-based Smartmatic served subpoenas on Bannon, who served as a White House strategist under Trump,…

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US State Dept says it has no reason to doubt Microsoft’s attribution of hack to China hackers

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The State Department on Wednesday said it has no reason to doubt Microsoft’s accusation that Chinese state-linked hackers since May have secretly accessed email accounts at around 25 organizations, including U.S. government accounts, in a stealthy cyberespionage campaign. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the agency had detected anomalous activity in June…

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With 735 million people hungry, UN says world is ‘off track’ to meet its 2030 goal

By Leah Douglas (Reuters) – About 735 million people worldwide faced chronic hunger in 2022, a figure much higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic and which threatens progress towards a global goal to end hunger by 2030, said the United Nations on Wednesday. A multi-year upward trend in hunger rates leveled off last year as…

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US economy shifts into disinflation mode; consumer prices rise modestly

By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. consumer prices rose modestly in June and registered their smallest annual increase in more than two years as inflation subsided further, but probably not fast enough to dissuade the Federal Reserve from resuming raising interest rates this month. The report from the Labor Department on Wednesday also showed…

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