Trump launches 'From the desk of Donald J. Trump' as potential Facebook ban looms

Reuters
India's Biocon developing its own version of Wegovy, clinical trial likely next year
Indian drugmaker Biocon, looking to grab a piece of the exploding weight-loss drug market as early as possible, is developing its own version of Novo Nordisk's wildly popular Wegovy and is prepared to conduct a clinical trial next year if needed, the CEO told Reuters. Wall Street has forecast the market for this new generation of obesity treatments reaching at least $100 billion by the end of the decade, and Biocon is taking steps to be a part of that windfall. "We're going to develop semaglutide for India even if it requires a clinical trial," Chief Executive Officer Siddharth Mittal said in an interview of the active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic.
6m ago
Reuters
US imposes new curbs on Iran's access to 'low-level' tech after attack on Israel
The U.S. is further restricting Iran's access to "low-level technology," in response to Iran's April 13 attack on Israel and its military support for Russia, according to a posting Thursday by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The U.S. is adding to the list of items that require a license for export or re-export to Iran, including items made abroad with U.S. technology, the posting said. The new restrictions build on the Commerce Department's February 2023 action targeting Iran's involvement in supplying drones to support Russia's war on Ukraine.
8m ago
AFP
Gazans search for remains after deadly Rafah strike
Birds sang and planes rumbled overhead as Abdeljabbar al-Arja dug the remains of his dead neighbours from the rubble in Gaza."We can see them under the rubble and we're unable to retrieve them," Al-Arja said.
14m ago
Associated Press
Average long-term US mortgage rate climbs above 7% to highest level since late November
Prospective homebuyers are facing higher costs to finance a home with the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate moving above 7% this week to its highest level in nearly five months. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage rose to 7.1% from 6.88% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. When mortgage rates rise, they can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, limiting how much they can afford at a time when the U.S. housing market remains constrained by relatively few homes for sale and rising home prices.
14m ago
Reuters
G7 eyeing using frozen Russian assets as collateral for Ukraine loans, EU official says
Group of Seven members are discussing using nearly $300 billion in frozen Russian assets as collateral to provide loans to Ukraine, European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said on Thursday. Dombrovskis said different options were under consideration, and the discussions were ongoing. He said he hoped the European Union - where the lion's share of the frozen assets are held - would approve a separate EU measure in coming months to use the profits or interest earned on the assets to help Ukraine.
15m ago
Reuters
Myanmar's Suu Kyi being used as 'human shield', son fears
Myanmar's detained former leader and Aung San Suu Kyi was moved from prison to house arrest possibly to be used by the Southeast Asian nation's ruling junta as a human shield in its conflict with resistance fighters, her son said on Thursday. Suu Kyi has been detained by the Myanmar military since it overthrew her government in a 2021 coup. The 78-year-old Nobel laureate was held under house arrest for a total of 15 years under a previous junta.
19m ago
AFP
Trump in court for jury selection in criminal trial
Donald Trump was back in court on Thursday as prosecutors and defense attorneys struggled to select a jury for the unprecedented criminal trial of a former US president.The criminal trial, expected to last six to eight weeks, is the first ever for a former US president and comes as Trump is taking on Democratic President Joe Biden in a bid to make a shock return to the White House in November.
20m ago
Reuters
US to spend $1 billion on food aid abroad amid global hunger crisis
The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Agency for International Development will distribute $1 billion in U.S. commodities to countries with high hunger rates, the agencies said on Thursday. The countries that will receive the aid - including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen, South Sudan, Sudan, and Haiti - are among the most stricken by hunger, according to the United Nations' World Food Programme. Global hunger is getting worse, with 745 million more people moderately to severely hungry worldwide in 2023 than in 2015, leaving the world off-track to meet a sustainable development goal of ending hunger by 2030, according to the United Nations.
29m ago
NBC News
Advertising heats up in Arizona Senate race, previewing a tough campaign
The ad war is heating up in the Arizona Senate race, with both sides launching digital attacks this week foreshadowing the battleground campaign to come.
30m ago
NBC News
How one Pennsylvania official is getting creative to combat voter apathy
Neil Makhija, a county commissioner in a key Pennsylvania county, recently held a Voter Hall of Fame to inspire more people to get out and vote.
30m ago
AFP
Stock markets rise as traders consider US rate outlook
Global stock markets mostly rose Thursday with traders mulling the outlook for US interest rates as Federal Reserve officials questioned the need for a cut anytime soon."The stock market has found it increasingly difficult to maintain intraday gains as participants have been in more of a de-risking mode following five straight monthly gains that have stretched valuations to a point that have clashed with rising interest rates," said market analyst Patrick O'Hare at Briefing.com.
31m ago
Time
Rachel Goldberg-Polin on the Days Since Oct. 7
For the families pressing relentlessly for the release of their loved ones taken hostage, moving forward is a contradiction.
37m ago
AFP
Biden to receive Kennedy family backing against RFK threat
The legendary Kennedy clan will endorse US President Joe Biden during a campaign trip to Philadelphia Thursday -- underscoring the election threat posed by family black sheep and independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Fifteen members of the politically influential family will back Biden amid fears that a strong showing by conspiracy theorist and vaccine-skeptic "RFK Jr" could tilt the victory to Donald Trump in November's US presidential vote.- Storied surname - The endorsement will not be
39m ago
Reuters
UN Security Council to vote Thursday on Palestinian UN membership
The U.N. Security Council is due to vote on Thursday on a Palestinian bid for full U.N. membership, said diplomats, a move that Israel ally the United States is expected to block because it would effectively recognize a Palestinian state. The 15-member council is scheduled to vote on a draft resolution that recommends to the 193-member U.N. General Assembly that "the State of Palestine be admitted to membership of the United Nations," diplomats said. The United States has said that establishing an independent Palestinian state should happen through direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians and not at the U.N.
43m ago
Politico
US and Israel meet on Rafah days after Iran’s attack
The virtual session comes days after Iran’s weekend attack.
49m ago
Reuters
Soldiers from Russia and Tajikistan stage counter-terrorist drills
Troops from Russia and Tajikistan on Thursday completed several days of joint exercises in the Central Asian country to rehearse scenarios for cross-border incursions by militants or illegal armed groups. Tajikistan shares a long border with Afghanistan, which is home to a branch of Islamic State. The Russian Defence Ministry released video of the drills, in which attack helicopters, drones, multiple launch rocket systems, howitzers and tanks were deployed in desert and mountain terrain against the mock enemy.
57m ago
Associated Press
Atlantic City mayor: I'm committed to my family and city while dealing with daughter abuse charges
Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small said Thursday he remains committed to his family and to his city as he deals with charges that he and his wife abused their teenage daughter. In his first public comments since prosecutors on Monday charged him and his wife, LaQuetta, the city's superintendent of schools, with physically and verbally abusing their 16-year-old daughter and endangering her welfare, Small said he would not be distracted from his duties. “But I pledge to each and every one of you, it doesn't change my commitment, number one, to my family, and it doesn't change my commitment here to the great city of Atlantic City,” the mayor said.
59m ago
CBS News
Google fires 28 workers after protest against contract with Israel
Nine workers arrested after demonstrations at the tech giant's offices n New York and California.
59m ago
Reuters
Maldives court overturns ex-president Yameen's jail term
MALE (Reuters) -A Maldives high court overturned former president Abdulla Yameen's 11-year jail term on Thursday and asked a lower court to restart criminal proceedings against him. Yameen was convicted in December 2022 of corruption and money laundering over kickbacks from a private company relating to the award of islands for tourism development while he was president. The high court overturned the prison sentence due to procedural irregularities and ordered the lower court to restart the trial on charges of bribery and money laundering.
1h ago
Associated Press
Armenian victims group asks International Criminal Court to investigate genocide claim
A human rights organization representing ethnic Armenians submitted evidence to the International Criminal Court on Thursday, arguing that Azerbaijan is committing an ongoing genocide against them. The neighboring countries have been at odds for decades over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, and are already facing off in a separate legal case stemming from that conflict. Lawyers for the California-based Center for Truth and Justice, or CFTJ, say there is sufficient evidence to open a formal investigation into Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and other top leaders for genocide.
1h ago

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