By Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden will discuss Venezuela in wide-ranging talks with Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Thursday, including U.S. willingness to further ease sanctions on the OPEC nation only in return for concrete steps toward free elections there, a senior administration official said. Previewing the leaders’ first meeting, the official told…
By Jennifer Rigby and Emma Farge LONDON (Reuters) – People all over the world lost confidence in the importance of routine childhood vaccines against killer diseases like measles and polio during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from UNICEF. In 52 of the 55 countries surveyed, the public perception of vaccines for children…
By Khalid Abdelaziz and Nafisa Eltahir KHARTOUM/CAIRO (Reuters) -A new attempt at a ceasefire in fierce fighting between Sudanese troops and paramilitary forces in Khartoum failed on Wednesday, leaving people fearful about dwindling food supplies and a breakdown in medical services. The 24-hour ceasefire – lobbied for by countries trying to evacuate their citizens after…
By Alexander Ratz BERLIN (Reuters) – German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Wednesday described parts of her recent trip to China as “more than shocking” and said Beijing was increasingly becoming a systemic rival more than a trade partner and competitor. The blunt remarks followed Baerbock’s visit to Beijing last week where she warned that…
By Jack Queen (Reuters) – Fox News on Tuesday disposed of one legal threat with its $787.5 million defamation settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, but the network still faces a $2.7 billion lawsuit from another voting technology company, Smartmatic USA, over its coverage of debunked election-rigging claims. Dominion accused Fox and its parent company Fox…
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – South Asia is home to highest number of child brides in the world as increased financial pressures and school closures due to COVID-19 forced families to marry off their young daughters, according to new estimates released by UNICEF on Wednesday. There were 290 million child brides in the region, accounting for…
(Reuters) – Walt Disney World said on Wednesday it would break ground next year on a planned affordable housing development in Central Florida. The unit of Walt Disney Co said it plans to provide 1,400 housing units on 80 acres (32.4 hectares) of land “a few miles away” from the Magic Kingdom and near schools…
By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will convene envoys on Afghanistan from various countries next month to work on a unified approach to dealing with the Taliban authorities, the United Nations said on Wednesday. The closed-door meeting in Doha on May 1-2 was announced after U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed suggested…
By Richard Cowan and Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Republican U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday unveiled a plan to raise the nation’s debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion and cut federal spending by three times that amount, laying out an opening position in what is likely to be a tense partisan debate over government borrowing….
By Trevor Hunnicutt WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to meet top potential donors for his planned re-election campaign next week, according to two people with direct knowledge of the plans. The effort to organize prospective financial backers comes as Biden aides have ramped up planning for the long-expected launch of the…
