ConocoPhillips, Marathon Oil get second US FTC request over $22.5 billion deal

(Reuters) – Top U.S. independent oil producer ConocoPhillips said on Friday it received a second request from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for information on its proposed acquisition of rival Marathon Oil. ConocoPhillips said both companies received the requests on July 11 and are working with the FTC to review the merger. CONTEXT Conoco said…

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Panama Papers law firm co-founder Ramon Fonseca dies in hospital, lawyer says

PANAMA CITY (Reuters) -Ramon Fonseca, who co-founded the now defunct law firm linked to the Panama Papers scandal, died overnight in hospital, his lawyer told Reuters on Thursday morning. “He had been hospitalized since the start of April,” Fonseca’s lawyer Guillermina McDonald said in a phone call, without saying for what Fonseca was being treated….

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US judge blocks some North Carolina restrictions on abortion pill

By Brendan Pierson (Reuters) -A federal judge has struck down parts of a North Carolina law restricting patients’ access to the abortion pill mifepristone, which has become the subject of legal battles nationwide. Chief U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles on Tuesday struck down the state’s requirements that mifepristone be prescribed only by doctors and only…

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UN nuclear watchdog’s board sets emergency meeting after Zaporizhzhia attacks

By Francois Murphy VIENNA (Reuters) -The U.N. nuclear watchdog’s Board of Governors will hold an emergency meeting on Thursday at the request of both Ukraine and Russia to discuss attacks on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, after the enemies accused each other of drone attacks. The International Atomic Energy Agency has said drones struck the…

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General Motors to shut manufacturing operations in Colombia, Ecuador -statement

BOGOTA (Reuters) -U.S. car maker General Motors will close its manufacturing operations in Colombia and Ecuador, the company said in a statement on Friday, as part of its shift towards producing next-generation vehicles. Manufacturing will cease at company’s Colmotores plant in Colombia from Friday, it said, while operations will halt at its factory in Ecuador…

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Google’s Vertex AI to use Mistral AI’s Codestral

PARIS (Reuters) – Google Cloud will use Mistral AI’s Codestral artificial intelligence model for Google’s Vertex AI service, Google Cloud said on Wednesday. WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: The partnership highlights the rapid growth and popularity of Mistral AI, which many analysts view as the European alternative to the Microsoft-backed OpenAI. Google, meanwhile, is building its own…

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