Town Hall News

BRASILIA (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro met on Monday with Brazilian leftist leader Luis Inacio Lula de Silva during his first visit to Brazil since 2015, taking advantage of warmer relations ahead of a regional summit. Brazil’s former hard-right President Jair Bolsonaro had banned Maduro from entering Brazil when he took office in 2019, a measure that Lula lifted when he returned to power this year. Lula and Maduro […]

By Shrivathsa Sridhar PARIS (Reuters) – Felix Auger-Aliassime said he needed to prioritise his health after the ailing world number 10 crashed out of the French Open on Monday following a 6-4 6-4 6-3 defeat by Italian veteran Fabio Fognini in the opening round. The 22-year-old pulled out of the Lyon quarter-finals last week with a shoulder problem and revealed that he had also been unwell during that tournament, with […]

By Canan Sevgili and Libby George LONDON/GDANSK (Reuters) – Turkey’s lira hit fresh record lows against the dollar on Monday, though stocks rallied, after President Tayyip Erdogan secured victory in Sunday’s presidential election, extending his increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade. Erdogan prevailed despite years of economic turmoil that critics blame on his unorthodox economic policies, which the opposition had pledged to reverse. The lira weakened to 20.1050 to […]

KYIV (Reuters) – A Ukrainian presidential aide said on Monday a demilitarised zone of 100-120 km (62-75 miles) should be established inside Russia along the border with Ukraine as part of a post-war settlement. The zone would be necessary to protect Ukrainian regions from Russian attacks, presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter. “The key theme of the post-war settlement should be the establishment of safeguards to avoid the recurrence […]

KAMPALA (Reuters) -Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has signed one of the world’s toughest anti-LGBTQ laws, including the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality”, drawing Western condemnations and risking sanctions from aid donors. Same-sex relations were already illegal in Uganda, as in more than 30 African countries, but the new law goes further. It stipulates capital punishment for “serial offenders” against the law and transmission of a terminal illness like HIV/AIDS through […]

KYIV (Reuters) – Two people were killed and eight wounded in a Russian attack on the city of Toretsk in the eastern region of Donetsk on Monday, regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said. Kyrylenko said Russia had used high-explosive aerial bombs in the attack at about 11:30 a.m. (0830 GMT), damaging a gas station and a multi-storey building in the small city which had a pre-war population of about 30,000 people. […]

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — One person was found overnight at the site of a collapsed apartment building in Iowa, bringing the total number of people rescued from the crumbling structure to eight, authorities said Monday. Davenport Fire Chief Michael Carlsten said at a news conference Monday that it was unclear if anyone was still missing after part of the six-story complex crashed to the ground in the eastern Iowa city. […]

By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – The Vatican urged bishops and high-profile lay Catholic leaders on Monday to tone down their comments on social media, saying some were causing division and stoking polemics that harmed the entire Church. The appeal was part of a 20-page document by the Vatican’s communications department titled, “Towards Full Presence. A Pastoral Reflection on Engagement with Social Media.” The document, addressed to all Catholics, […]

(Reuters) – Uganda has implemented one of the world’s toughest anti-LGBTQ laws, drawing widespread Western condemnation and outraging activists at home. Below is some reaction: LERATO, SOUTH AFRICAN FILMMAKER AND ACTIVIST “To reduce any kind of human being, irrespective of their sexuality, to a death sentence based on who they identify as and who, and how they choose to live their lives is something that we should all feel very […]