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China reports huge rise in COVID-related deaths after data criticism

By Tony Munroe BEIJING (Reuters) -China said on Saturday nearly 60,000 people with COVID-19 had died in hospital since it abandoned its zero-COVID policy last month, a huge increase from previously reported figures that follows global criticism of the country’s coronavirus data. In early December, Beijing abruptly dismantled its strict three-year anti-virus regime of frequent …

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U.S. FDA, CDC see early signal of possible Pfizer bivalent COVID shot link to stroke

(This Jan. 13 story has been refiled with edited headline to clarify that the link to a stroke is possible, not definite) (Reuters) – A safety monitoring system flagged that U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech’s updated COVID-19 shot could be linked to a type of brain stroke in older adults, according to …

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Iran executes British-Iranian accused of spying, prompts Western condemnation

DUBAI/LONDON (Reuters) – Iran has executed a British-Iranian national who once served as its deputy defence minister, its judiciary said, defying calls from London and Washington for his release after he was handed the death sentence on charges of spying for Britain. Britain, which had declared the case against Alireza Akbari politically motivated, condemned the …

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Russian ex-President Medvedev says Japanese PM should disembowel himself

(Reuters) – Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev accused Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Saturday of shameful subservience to the United States and suggested he should ritually disembowel himself. It was the latest in a long line of shocking and provocative statements from Medvedev, who was once seen as a Western-leaning reformer but has reinvented …

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Brazil’s Americanas could face up to $8 billion early debt charges after accounting scandal, court warns

By Rodrigo Viga Gaier and Tatiana Bautzer RIO DE JANEIRO/SAO PAULO (Reuters) -A Brazilian court said on Friday Americanas SA could be liable to repay up to 40 billion reais ($7.9 billion) in debt earlier than planned, if the retailer is found in breach of covenant after reporting “accounting inconsistencies.” A group representing minority shareholders …

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S&P 500 ends at highest in month, indexes gain for week as earnings kick off

By Caroline Valetkevitch NEW YORK (Reuters) – The S&P 500 and Nasdaq finished at their highest levels in a month on Friday, with shares of JPMorgan Chase and other banks rising following their quarterly results, which kicked off the earnings season. All three major indexes also registered strong gains for the week, leaving the S&P …

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