Town Hall News

By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy held talks at the Vatican on Saturday with Pope Francis, who said in late April that the Holy See was involved in a peace mission to end the war with Russia. “It is a great honour,” Zelenskiy told Francis, putting his hand to his heart and bowing his head as he greeted the 86-year-old pope, who stood with a cane, […]

By Ali Kucukgocmen ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan held his last election rallies in Istanbul on Saturday, accusing the opposition of working with U.S. President Joe Biden to topple him while making a final appeal ahead of the biggest challenge to his 20-year rule. Polls show Erdogan trailing the main opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu a day ahead of one of the most consequential elections in Turkey’s modern history. […]

(Reuters) -The Russian news outlet Kommersant reported that two Russian fighter jets and two military helicopters had been shot down on Saturday close to the Ukrainian border, in what would be a spectacular coup for Kyiv if confirmed. Kommersant, a respected, independent business-focused daily, said on its website that the Su-34 fighter-bomber, Su-35 fighter and two Mi-8 helicopters had made up a raiding party, and had been “shot down almost […]

(Reuters) – The head of Russia’s federal crime agency on Saturday suggested that key sectors of the economy should be returned to state ownership to support Moscow’s war in Ukraine. Moscow has already seized assets or acquired them at a heavy discount from some Western firms that have quit Russia or scaled back their activities since the invasion. “We are essentially talking about economic security in a war,” Alexander Bastrykin, […]

(Reuters) – BlackRock Inc Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink has been preparing five key leaders to take his role whenever he decides to step down in the future, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Though Fink has no imminent plans to retire, he along with President Robert Kapito has been training these candidates for “The Great Race” – to choose the successor – in what Fink calls is the […]

ROME (Reuters) – World number two Carlos Alcaraz marked his Italian Open debut by shaking off a sluggish start to emerge with an efficient 6-4 6-1 second-round win over unseeded Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas on a rain-affected Saturday in Rome. Barcelona and Madrid champion Alcaraz, who is chasing his fifth title of 2023 and fourth on clay ahead of Roland Garros, overcame an early loss of serve amid heavy conditions at […]

BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombia’s flagship airline Avianca is backing down from a merger with Viva Air, blaming conditions set by the country’s aviation regulator, the company announced Saturday. In a statement, Avianca said conditions set by the regulator “would not allow Viva to be a financially and operationally viable airline,” and also put Avianca’s stability at risk. Among the reasons, Avianca said the deal gave little “regulatory flexibility” to reactivate […]

By Julia Harte (Reuters) -North Carolina Democratic Governor Roy Cooper on Saturday vetoed a bill that would ban most abortions after 12 weeks, a move the Republican supermajority in the state legislature is expected to quickly override, allowing the bill to become law. The measure would cut the window for most abortions in the state back from 20 weeks and curtail access to the procedure for millions of women across […]

KHARTOUM (Reuters) -Khartoum residents described fierce battles on Saturday with fighters roving the streets and little sign Sudan’s warring sides were respecting an agreement to protect civilians ahead of ceasefire talks due to resume in Saudi Arabia on Sunday. Fighting has rocked Khartoum and adjoining areas as well as Geneina in the Darfur region since the warring army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary force agreed a “declaration of principles” […]