Updated

Sudan fighting flares but military approves ceasefire extension

By Khalid Abdelaziz and Nadine Awadalla KHARTOUM (Reuters) -Sudan’s army and a paramilitary force battled on Khartoum’s outskirts on Wednesday, undermining a truce in their 11-day conflict, but the army expressed willingness to extend the ceasefire. The army late on Wednesday said its leader, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, gave initial approval to a plan to …

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EU publishes proposed drug laws overhaul, setting up tussle with industry

By Maggie Fick LONDON (Reuters) – Brussels on Wednesday published a long-awaited draft of its proposed overhaul of laws governing the European Union’s pharmaceuticals industry, setting up a tussle with drugmakers which warn they will invest and innovate elsewhere. The biggest overhaul of existing medical laws in two decades is aimed at ensuring all Europeans …

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Kenyan cult leader told followers to starve themselves ahead of world’s end, sources say

By Duncan Miriri MALINDI, Kenya (Reuters) – The leader of a Kenyan cult told his followers the world would end on April 15 and instructed them to starve themselves to be the first to go to heaven, a relative of cult members and hospital staff told Reuters on Wednesday. Eighty-nine followers of the Good News …

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Nasdaq outperforms as investors cheer Microsoft, Dow transports sink

By Sinéad Carew, Ankika Biswas and Sruthi Shankar (Reuters) – The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed slightly higher on Wednesday after strong Microsoft Corp results boosted technology shares, but the S&P 500 and the Dow fell on lingering concerns about a weakening U.S. economy and the banking sector. Economically sensitive transport stocks had their weakest day in …

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Britain evacuates 536 people from Sudan as first nationals arrive home

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain has so far flown more than 530 people out of Sudan on six flights, the Foreign Office said on Wednesday, as the first rescued Britons landed at London’s Stansted airport. Britain began evacuating its citizens on Tuesday, following other governments in pulling people out of the North African country where clashes between …

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Xi holds first talks with Zelenskiy since Russian invasion of Ukraine

By Dan Peleschuk and Ethan Wang KYIV/BEIJING (Reuters) -Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke to Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday for the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, fulfilling a longstanding goal of Kyiv which had publicly sought such talks for months. Zelenskiy, describing the hour-long phone call as “long and meaningful”, signalled the importance …

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Tech powers Nasdaq gains; recession fears weigh on cyclicals, dollar

By Stephen Culp NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Nasdaq rose and the dollar weakened on Wednesday as investors weighed solid company earnings against weaker-than-expected economic data and ongoing wrangling in Washington over raising the debt ceiling. While surging tech shares helped the Nasdaq hold positive territory, the S&P 500 and the Dow were weighed down …

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