Reuters

By Alexander Marrow and Elena Fabrichnaya

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Bank of Russia is likely to keep its benchmark interest rate at 16% on Friday but tighten its rhetoric, a Reuters poll showed on Monday, although a quarter of economists leaned towards a hike as the bank grapples with stubborn inflation.

The bank has become more hawkish in recent weeks, repeating several times that rates will need to stay high for a long time to bring... (continue reading...)

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli security forces killed a wanted Palestinian militant during a raid in the occupied West Bank on Monday, Israel's border police said.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said that two people were killed and six wounded in the Israeli raid near the city of Nablus.

Israel's border police said that after the armed militant was eliminated, other Palestinians opened fire on the security forces and a gun... (continue reading...)

(Refiles to fix typographical error to 'Virginia' in paragraph 3)

By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Research animal breeder Envigo pleaded guilty to animal welfare and environmental crimes on Monday, resolving a two-year U.S. Justice Department probe into its mistreatment of thousands of beagles, a department official said.

Envigo agreed in federal court in the Western District of Virginia to pay $22 million in fines,... (continue reading...)

By Carolina Mandl

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global hedge funds dumped equities last week, in a painful week for their portfolios as the U.S. main indexes fell and hit their long bets, Morgan Stanley said in a note.

The bank described last week as "ultimately one of the more challenging we have seen in recent months for the average L/S fund," or long/short fund, based on what they saw in their clients' portfolio. The pain was mostly... (continue reading...)

By James Pearson

LONDON (Reuters) - Russia has stepped up an online disinformation campaign which takes aim at France and the upcoming Paris Olympics, Microsoft said in a blog post published on Sunday.

The campaign, which includes falsified news websites and a feature-length documentary film, is specifically designed to denigrate the reputation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and create the impression that the summer games... (continue reading...)