Madonna’s North American concerts postponed as singer recovers

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Pop superstar Madonna said on Monday that all of the North American dates on her upcoming tour will be postponed while she recovers from a multi-day hospitalization for a serious infection. The “Celebration” tour had been scheduled to kick off this month in Vancouver. Now, the plan is to start the…

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Ukraine says Russian troops ‘trapped’ in eastern city of Bakhmut

KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine said on Monday its troops had caught occupying Russian troops “in a trap” in the shattered eastern city of Bakhmut, where its forces have been gaining ground as part of their counter offensive. Russian accounts of the fighting said Moscow’s forces have repelled or contained Ukrainian advances in the east and south….

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Nearly a sixth of Ecuador’s prisoners held without sentence -census

QUITO (Reuters) – Nearly a sixth of the inmates in Ecuador’s prisons have not been sentenced, a national census showed on Monday, as President Guillermo Lasso urged the judicial system to be speedier to help ease the burden on overcrowded jails. Lasso, who will leave office later this year after bringing forward elections, told journalists…

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Analysis-Thailand’s monarchy looms over battle for prime minister

By Panu Wongcha-um and Panarat Thepgumpanat BANGKOK (Reuters) – The role of the monarchy in Thailand is at the core of a looming deadlock that could tip Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy into crisis, with reformers once again vying to dislodge the grip on power of the royalist military establishment. Despite a stunning victory with its…

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U.S. Marine Corps in historic leadership limbo due to Republican block

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Marine Corps is now without a Senate-confirmed leader for the first time in over a century thanks to a Republican senator’s block on military nominations. Retiring Gen. David Berger formally relinquished command on Monday as the Marine Corps’ commandant, creating the first of several possible vacancies of Senate confirmed leaders on…

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Cuba says US responsible for 2021 protests, biggest in decades

By Nelson Acosta HAVANA (Reuters) -Cuba on Monday accused the U.S. government of bearing “direct responsibility” for the protests that rocked the Caribbean island two years ago, marking the largest demonstrations since Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution. “The United States has a direct responsibility for the disturbances of July 11 and 12, 2021,” the Communist Party-run…

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Judge orders Kansas to stop gender changes on driver’s licenses

By Kanishka Singh WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A judge on Monday ordered Kansas to stop allowing transgender people to change the gender listed on their driver’s licenses after a lawsuit filed by the state’s Republican attorney general. The state’s Democratic Governor Laura Kelly and Republican Attorney General Kris Kobach have been at odds over the issue,…

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