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ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Several dozen kids — 48 girls and one boy, from first-graders to teenagers — gathered recently at a gymnasium in northern St. Petersburg for a hobby horsing competition. The event looked exactly like a proper equestrian competition, but instead of a horse they rode a stick with a horse’s head. Hobby horsing aficionados say one can buy a stick horse or make one from scratch. […]

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski is to give a speech to parliament on Thursday in which he will lay out the government’s vision at a historically crucial moment with war across the border in Ukraine. Sikorski will lay out the priorities of the government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk as it seeks to show leadership in Europe with growing fears that Russian aggression will not stop […]

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares mostly declined Thursday as investors awaited a flood of global earnings reports, including updates from U.S. tech companies known as the “Magnificent Seven.” Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 slid 2.1% to 37,670.50. South Korea’s Kospi dropped 1.4% to 2,637.18. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained nearly 0.1% to 17,215.51, while the Shanghai Composite was virtually unchanged at 3,044.41. Trading was closed in Australia for a national holiday, […]

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Nearly 282 million people in 59 countries suffered from acute hunger in 2023, with war-torn Gaza as the territory with the largest number of people facing famine, according to the Global Report on Food Crises released Wednesday. The U.N. report said 24 million more people faced an acute lack of food than in 2022, due to the sharp deterioration in food security, especially in the Gaza […]

By Huw Jones LONDON (Reuters) -The London Stock Exchange Group said on Thursday its first quarter growth was in line with plans as products from its partnership with Microsoft are due to be rolled out in the first half of 2024, as expected. LSEG said total income, excluding recoveries, in the first quarter was 2.089 billion pounds ($2.61 billion), with gross profit of 1.893 billion pounds, in line with analysts’ […]

By Mathieu Rosemain PARIS (Reuters) -BNP Paribas beat first-quarter profit forecasts on Thursday as lower expenses and a decent performance in global banking helped offset a steep fall in its fixed income trading. The French posted a 20% fall on revenue from fixed income, currencies and commodities (FICC) trading, significantly underperforming big firms on Wall Street, where trading revenue declined by about 3% on average amid less volatile markets. In […]

(Reuters) – BHP Group said it made an offer to buy London-listed miner Anglo American, valuing its share capital at 31.1 billion pounds ($38.84 billion), a deal that would create the world’s biggest copper miner with around 10% of global output. BHP, the world’s largest listed miner, will offer Anglo American shareholders 25.08 pounds per share, including 4.86 pounds apiece in Anglo Platinum shares and 3.40 apiece in Kumba shares, […]

MOSCOW (Reuters) – A third man has been detained in a bribery investigation centring on Deputy Russian Defence Minister Timur Ivanov, the Moscow court service said on Thursday. It said Alexander Fomin, the co-founder of a construction company called Olimpsitistroy, was suspected of paying bribes to Ivanov, who was detained on Tuesday, and Sergei Borodin, a close associate of Ivanov who is also in custody. The scandal is the biggest […]

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Cubs reliever Luke Little said he had to change his glove before he entered Wednesday night’s 4-3 victory over the Houston Astros because of an American flag patch. Manager Craig Counsell went to insert Little with one out in the seventh inning. But as the 6-foot-8 left-hander went through the usual check by umpires for pitchers coming into the game, he was told he had to […]

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Cubs reliever Luke Little said he had to change his glove before he entered Wednesday night’s 4-3 victory over the Houston Astros because of an American flag patch. Manager Craig Counsell went to insert Little with one out in the seventh inning. But as the 6-foot-8 left-hander went through the usual check by umpires for pitchers coming into the game, he was told he had to […]