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Ukraine says Russia pulls back forces from river towns opposite Kherson

Ukraine says Russia pulls back forces from river towns opposite Kherson

TOM BALMFORTH UKRAINE'S military said Russia had pulled some troops from towns on the opposite bank of the Dnipro River from Kherson city, the first official Ukrainian report of a Russian withdrawal on what is now the main front line in the south. The statement gave only limited details and made no mention of any Ukrainian forces having crossed the Dnipro. Ukrainian officials also stressed that Russia had intensified shelling across the river, knocking out power again in Kherson where electricity had only begun to be restored nearly three weeks after Russian troops vacated the city and fled across the river. Since…
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Trump lawyer pins blame on ex-CFO as criminal tax fraud trial nears end

Trump lawyer pins blame on ex-CFO as criminal tax fraud trial nears end

LUC COHEN A defence lawyer urged jurors in the criminal tax fraud trial of former President Donald Trump's real estate company to blame a greedy former senior executive and not the Trump Organization itself for any wrongdoing. Susan Necheles, representing one unit of the Trump Organization, pointed the finger at Allen Weisselberg, the company's longtime chief financial officer, in her closing argument to the 12-member jury in a New York state court in Manhattan. Other lawyers for the company will address jurors later, followed by prosecutors. Closing arguments are expected to end on Friday, with jury deliberations beginning on Monday. Necheles said…
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China mourns former leader Jiang Zemin with bouquets, black front pages

China mourns former leader Jiang Zemin with bouquets, black front pages

CHINESE newspapers turned their front pages black and flags were put at half mast in mourning for the death of former president Jiang Zemin, while well-wishers laid piles of bouquets outside his childhood home. Jiang died in his home city of Shanghai just after noon on Wednesday of leukaemia and multiple organ failure, aged 96. His death has prompted a wave of nostalgia for the relatively more liberal times he oversaw. A date has yet to be set for his funeral. The front page of the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily devoted its whole front page to Jiang and carried a…
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Excitement, defiance for young Chinese in COVID ‘tipping point’ protests

Excitement, defiance for young Chinese in COVID ‘tipping point’ protests

JAMES POMFRET and MARTIN QUIN POLLARD WHEN Yang, a Shanghai office worker, saw video clips of a burning building in western China, a disaster in which 10 people were killed, she said she could not contain her anger over tough COVID-19 measures three years into the pandemic. Watching a World Cup soccer match in a Shanghai bar two days later with her boyfriend, she spotted calls on WeChat, China's ubiquitous messaging app, for a public gathering to mourn the victims. She rushed over by bicycle to attend. "Things reached a tipping point, we had to come out," Yang, 32, who declined to…
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Ukraine security service searches monastery, warns of ‘subversive activities’

Ukraine security service searches monastery, warns of ‘subversive activities’

MAX HUNDER UKRAINE'S SBU security service conducted a fresh search of a monastery in the west of the country on Wednesday in what it said was an operation to counter suspected "subversive activities by Russian special services." The search, in the Mukachevo diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Transcarpathia, was the latest in a series of raids conducted in the past week as Russia's war in Ukraine entered its tenth month. The historically Russian-backed wing of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church announced a formal severing of ties with Moscow in May, but is still mistrusted by many Ukrainians and frequently accused of…
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Royal aide steps down after racist comments -Buckingham Palace

Royal aide steps down after racist comments -Buckingham Palace

SARAH YOUNG and MICHAEL HOLDEN A member of the British royal family's household has left her role after making "unacceptable and deeply regrettable" comments about race and nationality to a woman at a grand reception at Buckingham Palace, a spokesperson said. Ngozi Fulani, who was born in Britain and works for a domestic abuse support group, wrote on Twitter that the royal aide had repeatedly asked her: "What part of Africa are you from?" when she attended an event hosted by King Charles's wife Camilla, the queen consort, on Tuesday. "We take this incident extremely seriously and have investigated immediately…
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Musk warns of Twitter bankruptcy as more senior executives quit

Musk warns of Twitter bankruptcy as more senior executives quit

KATIE PAUL and PARESH DAVE TWITTER Inc's new owner Elon Musk raised the possibility of the social media platform going bankrupt, capping a chaotic day that included a warning from a U.S. privacy regulator and the exit of the company's trust and safety leader. The billionaire on his first mass call with employees said that he could not rule out bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported, two weeks after buying it for $44 billion - a deal that credit experts say has left Twitter's finances in a precarious position. Earlier in the day, in his first company-wide email, Musk warned that Twitter…
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U.S. Senate up for grabs as Republicans move toward House majority

U.S. Senate up for grabs as Republicans move toward House majority

JOSEPH AX REPUBLICANS edged closer to securing a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives while control of the Senate hinged on a few tight races, two days after Democrats staved off an anticipated "red wave" of Republican gains in midterm elections. Republicans have captured at least 210 House seats, Edison Research projected, eight short of the 218 needed to wrest the House away from Democrats and effectively halt President Joe Biden's legislative agenda. While Republicans remain favoured, there were 33 House contests yet to be decided - including 21 of the 53 most competitive races, based on a Reuters analysis of the leading nonpartisan…
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Vatican hit with $9.25 million claim by ousted auditor and deputy

Vatican hit with $9.25 million claim by ousted auditor and deputy

PHILIP PULLELLA THE Vatican's first auditor general and his deputy, who were appointed in 2015 and fired two years later, are suing the Holy See for 9.3 million euros ($9.25 million) in damages, alleging they were sacked after discovering financial irregularities. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said on Thursday he had no comment on the lawsuit, which was filed last week with the Vatican prosecutor's office by lawyers for Libero Milone and Ferruccio Panicco. Milone, 74, a former chairman and CEO of Deloitte in Italy, was appointed by Pope Francis in 2015 as part of an effort to clean up Vatican finances and…
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