Russia prefers US Vice President Kamala Harris in November's presidential election because she's been endorsed by President Joe Biden, Vladimir Putin said today. "Biden was our favorite but he dropped out of the race," the Russian president said at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok. His remark came a day after the Biden administration said Russia-backed entities pursued a sprawling, yearslong operation to meddle in the vote. In the weeks since a student-led protest movement in Bangladesh toppled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government, discontent with India, her biggest ally in the region, has bubbled to the surface. It adds to a growing list of security worries for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, including a new pro-China government in the Maldives, a spike in militant attacks in Pakistan and a long-running border standoff with China. Students protest next to a defaced mural of Hasina in Dhaka on Aug. 12. Photographer: Luis Tato/AFP/Getty Images Biden is preparing to block Nippon Steel's $14.1 billion takeover of United States Steel, sources say, while the American company said it would pursue all avenues to ensure the sale is completed, warning that thousands of jobs would be at risk without it. The proposed acquisition by the Japanese corporation has touched off an election-year firestorm in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania, where US Steel and the United Steelworkers union that opposes the deal are both based. Western companies that exited Russia immediately after Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine suffered big losses. Two years later, it's clear that was as good as it got, according to Punishing Putin, a new book by Bloomberg's Stephanie Baker. Others waited to find the right buyer to try to extract more value, a calculation that in some cases proved more costly than a quick exit. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he wants to control food distribution in Gaza needed to deal with the humanitarian crisis that followed his forces' invasion of the enclave after Hamas' attack on Israel on Oct. 7. Yet any direct involvement by the Israeli army in providing aid to Palestinians would risk angering some of his far-right coalition partners, who oppose letting supplies into Gaza. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim praised Putin during a visit to Russia today, the latest Asian leader to meet with the president in defiance of Western sanctions. Australia released options for mandatory guardrails for high-risk research and development of artificial intelligence, including establishing "meaningful" human oversight and ensuring any AI-created content is clearly labeled. South Africa's new multiparty government should implement bold reforms to achieve the economy's full potential, the International Monetary Fund said. |
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