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In Nigeria and much of Africa, Catholic same-sex couples see no blessings soon

By Abraham Achirga ABUJA (Reuters) – Nigerian Catholic couple Jane and Lucy have little hope their local parish church will bless their same-sex union anytime soon, as conservative priests across Africa choose to ignore a landmark Vatican ruling allowing such blessings. Conservative Catholics have condemned the Vatican’s declaration two weeks ago, which was approved by …

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Factbox-The Republicans challenging Trump for the US presidential nomination

(Reuters) -Five Republican candidates are seeking to challenge former U.S. President Donald Trump for the party’s nomination in the November 2024 presidential contest to take on President Joe Biden, a Democrat who is running for reelection. Here is a list of the Republican Party’s leading candidates: DONALD TRUMP Trump has embraced his indictments in four …

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Trump foes hope Constitution’s ‘insurrection’ ban will keep him off 2024 ballot

By Andrew Goudsward (Reuters) -Maine on Thursday became the second U.S. state to bar Donald Trump from a Republican presidential primary ballot, part of a flurry of legal challenges to his eligibility to run for president in 2024. The challenges are being filed under a provision in the U.S. Constitution banning officials who have engaged …

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Exclusive-Drugmakers set to raise U.S. prices on at least 500 drugs in January

By Michael Erman and Patrick Wingrove NEW YORK (Reuters) -Drugmakers including Pfizer, Sanofi and Takeda Pharmaceutical plan to raise prices in the United States on more than 500 drugs in early January, according to data analyzed by healthcare research firm 3 Axis Advisors. Excluding different doses and formulations, more than 140 brands of drugs will …

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Lack of safety practices behind 2020 Chesapeake oil-well blast: U.S. safety board

(Reuters) -A federal safety board investigation has found that Chesapeake Energy and its contractors failed to provide adequate control measures at the site of a 2020 fire at a company-operated oil well, that claimed three lives. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB), which investigates industrial chemical accidents, said in a report published earlier this week …

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Fog, haze in China as New Year travellers brace for potential disruptions

By Liz Lee BEIJING (Reuters) -Year-end holidaymakers across China were bracing for possible transport disruptions after the weather bureau on Friday warned that heavy fog and haze would shroud areas from Hebei province in the north to southern Shanghai for more than 24 hours. The Central Meteorological Observatory issued its first red alert for fog …

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Biggest two-month rally in decades rescues beaten-up bond markets

By Harry Robertson LONDON (Reuters) -A huge two-month rally in bond prices, powered by expectations that central banks will soon be cutting interest rates, has rescued fixed income markets from an almost unheard-of third straight year of declines. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield, the benchmark for borrowing costs globally, has dropped 46 basis points (bps) …

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India’s Nifty, Sensex post second-best year since 2017, among top global performers

By Bharath Rajeswaran BENGALURU (Reuters) – India’s blue-chip Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex rose around 20% in 2023, their second-best year since 2017, and were among the top-performing stock indexes globally. The rally was driven by sustained domestic mutual fund inflows, return of foreign buying, better-than-expected economic growth, and healthy corporate earnings. Foreign portfolio investors …

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US military’s secretive spaceplane launched on possible higher-orbit mission

By Joey Roulette and Steve Gorman CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) -The U.S. military’s secretive X-37B robot spaceplane blasted off from Florida on Thursday night on its seventh mission, the first launched atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket capable of delivering it to a higher orbit than ever before. The Falcon Heavy, composed of three liquid-fueled …

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India’s far-right cow vigilantes bolster clout before high-stake elections

By Rupam Jain CHAMDHERA, India (Reuters) – Vishnu Dabad attributes his rise from poverty to powerful local politician to an animal: the cow. The 30-year-old is one of many Gau Rakshaks, or cow protectors: activists who have taken Indian laws banning cattle slaughter and beef consumption into their own hands since Prime Minister Narendra Modi …

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