Town Hall News

By Pavel Polityuk and Olena Harmash KYIV (Reuters) – Russia said on Monday its military had hit Ukrainian air bases in overnight strikes and Ukrainian forces had shelled industrial facilities inside Russia as both sides sought the upper hand ahead of what Kyiv hopes will be a decisive counter-offensive. In a rare acknowledgement of damage to a military “target”, Ukraine said that work was under way to restore a runway […]

MADRID (Reuters) – The leader of Spain’s conservative opposition People’s Party (PP) on Monday welcomed the announcement of a snap general election in July and asked voters to give his party a “clear majority”. “The sooner (the election), the better,” Alberto Nunez Feijoo told a news conference, Feijoo said the first step to unseat Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was the PP’s strong showing in the local and regional elections […]

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”, in defiance of Western condemnations and potential sanctions from aid donors. Same-sex relations were already illegal in Uganda, as in more than 30 African countries, but the new law goes much further. It stipulates capital punishment for “serial offenders” against the law and transmission of a terminal illness […]

By Karolos Grohmann PARIS (Reuters) – Sloane Stephens relished every moment she spent on her favourite court in the world as the she cruised to a 6-0 6-4 first-round victory over former world number one Katerina Pliskova on Monday to put down an early marker at the French Open. The 30-year-old, runner-up in Paris five years ago, gave erratic Pliskova no chance on the main Philippe-Chatrier court, speeding through the […]

HONG KONG/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk is expected to visit China this week, three people with knowledge of the matter said, in what would be his first trip to the country in three years.     Musk is expected to meet senior Chinese officials and to visit Tesla’s Shanghai plant, two of the sources said. It was not immediately clear who Musk would meet and what they would […]

HONG KONG/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk is expected to visit China this week, three people with knowledge of the matter said, in what would be his first trip to the country in three years.     Musk is expected to meet senior Chinese officials and to visit Tesla’s Shanghai plant, two of the sources said. It was not immediately clear who Musk would meet and what they would […]

MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s far-right Vox party is open to forming national and regional governing coalitions with the mainstream conservative People’s Party (PP), Vox leader Santiago Abascal said on Monday after right-wing parties won a regional election. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called a snap national election for July earlier on Monday, in response to the heavy defeat that his Socialist Party (PSOE) and their far-left junior ally Podemos suffered in […]

LONDON (Reuters) – Chelsea confirmed the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino as head coach on Monday after the former Tottenham Hotspur and Paris St Germain manager signed a two-year contract with the option of a further year. Argentine Pochettino, 51, will take over from interim boss Frank Lampard on July 1. Chelsea finished 12th in the Premier League last season. “Mauricio is a world-class coach with an outstanding track record. We […]

By Andrius Sytas VILNIUS (Reuters) – Latvians woke up to go to work on Monday morning, only to find they didn’t have to. Their parliament had met at midnight to declare a holiday after the national ice hockey team chalked up its best-ever result at the world championship. Latvia, where hockey is the national sport, was co-hosting the men’s championship with Finland, and the Latvians’ extra-time victory over the U.S. […]