Town Hall News

By Kim Vinnell PRISTINA, Kosovo (Reuters) – Kosovo could trigger new elections in Serb-majority municipalities rocked by violent protests if 20% of voters sign a petition asking for them, the president told Reuters. In an exclusive interview in her office, President Vjosa Osmani said she believed a petition was the most “democratic way” to proceed to new elections. “In this way, I think we would ensure the participation of Serbs […]

By Suban Abdulla LONDON (Reuters) -British house prices dropped on an annual basis in May for the first time in 11 years, mortgage lender Halifax said on Wednesday, as the drag on the housing market from rising interest rates became clearer. The average property price fell 1.0% compared with May last year, the first year-on-year decline since December 2012, in line with forecasts in a Reuters poll. Prices were unchanged in monthly […]

By Ludwig Burger and Maggie Fick (Reuters) -The British government will launch a pilot programme to explore how new injectable weight-loss drugs such as Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy can be given to more obese patients outside of specialist services in hospitals, it said on Wednesday. The 40 million pound ($50 million) pilot programme comes after the country’s drug cost-effectiveness watchdog NICE in March recommended the use of the weekly shot in […]

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The venture units of oil firms Saudi Aramco and Italy’s ENI have joined the world’s largest passenger carrier United Airlines to invest in British start-up OXCCU’s efforts to slash the prohibitively high cost of lower-carbon aviation fuel, the companies said on Wednesday. Aviation produces around 2% of the world’s planet-warming emissions and the sector’s own targets to emit no more than can be absorbed by natural […]

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Inflation expectations in financial markets seem overly optimistic, increasing the risk of renewed stress if monetary policy needs to be tightened for longer to tame inflation, Dutch central bank chief Klaas Knot said on Wednesday. “Financial markets are extraordinarily optimistic and are expecting inflation to drop as fast as it rose. For next year even rate decreases are already priced in,” Knot said in a hearing in […]

By Michael Holden and Sam Tobin LONDON (Reuters) – Prince Harry returns to the High Court in London on Wednesday for a second day of grilling over his claims that British tabloids targeted him with phone-hacking and other unlawful behaviour. The prince, who became the first senior British royal to appear in a witness box in more than a century on Tuesday, said the press had destroyed his relationships, and […]

By Samuel Indyk and Xie Yu LONDON (Reuters) – European stock markets dipped on Wednesday and the U.S. dollar nudged higher as weak Chinese trade data had investors fretting about softening global demand, with attention turning towards next week’s pivotal inflation data and Federal Reserve meeting. Meanwhile, Turkey’s lira plunged to a record low against the greenback as authorities appeared to loosen stabilising measures after the government signalled a pivot […]

By Michael Holden and Sam Tobin LONDON (Reuters) – Prince Harry returns to the High Court in London on Wednesday for a second day of grilling over his claims that British tabloids targeted him with phone-hacking and other unlawful behaviour. The prince, who became the first senior British royal to appear in a witness box in more than a century on Tuesday, said the press had destroyed his relationships, and […]

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Pope Francis, 86, will have surgery on his abdomen on Wednesday afternoon at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, the Vatican said in a statement. It added that his medical team had decided in recent days that surgery was required and that he was expected to stay in hospital for “several days” to recover. He will have the operation on his abdominal wall under a general anaesthetic, the Vatican said. […]