WARSAW, March 27 (Reuters) - Russian and Belarusian athletes should be banned from the 2024 Olympics in Paris unless Moscow pulls its forces out of Ukraine, according to Poland, Britain and the Baltic states, despite the IOC saying it plans to let them compete as neutrals.

The firearm in question, a Diamondback DB-15 multi-caliber AR style pistol, was recovered by Mexican authorities in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, following the abduction of the South Carolina residents on March 3.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) sanctioned Russia and Belarus after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 but is now reluctant to exclude their athletes from the Olympics entirely for fear of a return to the boycotts of the Cold War era.

March 22 (Reuters) - Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Wednesday the U.S.

Food and Drug Administration had approved the expanded use of its drug in children aged 5 to 11 years to treat an ultra-rare disease that causes high cholesterol.

'There is a correlation between the negligent practices of companies and the arms trafficking that leads to violence in Mexico, as well as other crimes such as human trafficking and drug trafficking, particularly of fentanyl,' it added.

TAIPEI, March 23 (Reuters) - Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said on Thursday that President Tsai Ing-wen's meeting with U.S.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in the United States is still in the process of being arranged.

The United States has been shoring up alliances in the Asia-Pacific seeking to counter China's assertiveness in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, as Beijing seeks to advance its territorial claims.

"The theater forces will maintain a high state of alert at all times and take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and security and peace and stability in the South China Sea," said Tian Junli, a spokesman for China's Southern Theatre Command.

The drug, Evkeeza, was approved in February 2021 as an additional treatment with other lipid-lowering therapies for patients aged 12 years and above with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH).

Lugardo-Moreno's apprehension took places just two days after the Mexican government announced it was appealing a civil lawsuit against United States-based gun manufacturers as part of its efforts to stem the illegal flow of firearms to criminal organizations.

During an interview with HSI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agents, Lugardo-Moreno confessed to having purchased on October 17, 2019, the weapon and several other firearms for a group that was going to hand them over to the Gulf Cartel.

Members (pictured) of the Gulf Cartel's Scorpions Group were abandoned on a Matamoros street and accused by the criminal organization of being behind last Friday's kidnapping of four Americans, including two who were killed.

'A favorable decision in the court of appeals will allow the government to prove its case on the merits - that the gun manufacturers' marketing and distribution practices amount to actively facilitating the trafficking of their guns into Mexico,' the Mexican government said in a statement.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) office in Harlingen, Texas, was alerted by law enforcement in Mexico on March 14 that the weapon used in the crime has been purchased in the U.S.

and dispatched agents who detained Lugardo-Moreno on Sunday.

The Diamondback AR-15 was used by the Gulf Cartel's armed wing, known as the Scorpions Group, to shoot the Americans after they were intercepted on a Matamoros street the morning of March 3, several hours after the had driven over from Brownsville, Texas.

"We strongly believe that now is not the time to consider the opening up of a pathway for Russian and Belarusian athletes to return to the Olympic Games in any status," the Polish foreign ministry said in a statement issued jointly with Britain, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

"While the IOC has made no final decisions yet, we strongly urge it to reconsider its plans and return to the original well-proven stance supported by the international community," the Polish statement said.