World

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Democratic U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema said yesterday she agreed to “move forward” on a $430 billion drug pricing, energy and tax bill, subject to a Senate arbiter’s approval of the bill, which Democrats intend to pass over Republican objections.  

(Reuters) – U.S. conspiracy theorist Alex Jones should pay parents of a child killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre at least $4.1 million for falsely claiming the shooting was a hoax, a Texas jury said yesterday.

ISTANBUL/KYIV, (Reuters) – Three ships carrying a total of 58,041 tonnes of corn have been authorised to leave Ukrainian ports today  as part of a deal to unblock grain exports, as a Russian offensive forced Ukraine to cede territory in the east.

KYIV/WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Ukraine said Russia had started creating a military strike force aimed at President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih, as NATO moved closer to the most significant expansion of the alliance in decades as it responds to the invasion of Ukraine.

UNITED NATIONS,  (Reuters) – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres today slammed the “grotesque greed” of oil and gas companies and their financial backers and urged governments globally to “tax these excessive profits” to support the most vulnerable people.

(Reuters) – Republican voters yesterday chose a raft of candidates supporting Donald Trump’s 2020 election falsehoods in multiple party primaries for the November general election – a stark display of the former president’s grip on his party.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Two Hellfire missiles fired from a drone killed the leader of al Qaeda, causing surprisingly little damage beyond the target, suggesting they may be a version of the missile shrouded in secrecy and used by the United States to avoid non-combatant casualties.

TAIPEI,  (Reuters) – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi addressed Taiwan’s parliament yesterday and was due to meet with its president as well as human rights activists during a visit to the island that has infuriated Beijing.

ISTANBUL/LONDON,  (Reuters) – Russia has accused the United States of direct involvement in the Ukraine war, while the first ship carrying Ukrainian grain to world markets since Moscow’s invasion is due to be inspected in Turkey today.

(Reuters) – Kansas voters yesterday rejected a state constitutional amendment that would have declared there is no right to abortion, Edison Research projected, delivering a win to abortion rights advocates in a deeply conservative state.

ADEN,  (Reuters) – Yemen’s warring sides agreed to renew a two-month truce expiring yesterday, the United Nations envoy said, despite international pressure for an extended and expanded deal that would build on the longest stretch of relative calm in over seven years.

TAIPEI,  (Reuters) – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan late today on a trip she said was intended to express American solidarity with the Chinese-claimed island, the first such visit in 25 years and one that risks pushing relations between Washington and Beijing to a new low.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The United States killed al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a strike in Afghanistan over the weekend, President Joe Biden said yesterday, the biggest blow to the militant group since its founder Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011.

KYIV, (Reuters) – The first ship to carry Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea since Russia invaded Ukraine five months ago left the port of Odesa for Lebanon yesterday under a safe passage deal described as a glimmer of hope in a worsening global food crisis.

TAIPEI/BEIJING, (Reuters) – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi was set to visit Taiwan today, two people briefed on the matter said, as China warned that its military would never “sit idly by” if she visited the self-ruled island claimed by Beijing.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The United States killed al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a strike in Afghanistan over the weekend, President Joe Biden said today, the biggest blow to the militant group since its founder Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011.

KYIV, (Reuters) – A ship carrying grain left the Ukrainian port of Odesa for Lebanon today under a safe passage agreement, Ukrainian and Turkish officials said, the first departure since the Russian invasion blocked shipping through the Black Sea five months ago.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Anatoly Chubais, the former privatisation tsar of post-Soviet Russia who quit his post as a Kremlin special envoy due to the war in Ukraine, is in intensive care in Europe with a rare immune disorder, two sources close to Chubais told Reuters.

KYIV,  (Reuters) – Russian missiles pounded the southern Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv yesterday, killing the owner of a major grain exporter, while a drone strike on Russia’s Black Sea naval base in Sevastopol was launched from within the city in a “terrorist attack,” a Russian lawmaker said.

BEIJING,  (Reuters) – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi started a tour of four Asian countries yesterday, her office said, without mentioning Taiwan amid intense speculation she might visit the self-ruled island claimed by China.