Town Hall News

By Adrian Portugal MANILA (Reuters) -A Philippine court on Friday acquitted of a drugs charge one of the fiercest critics of ex-President Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs”, a move welcomed by activists who called her incarceration a vindictive effort to harass and silence her. The court cleared former senator Leila de Lima, 63, of the second of three criminal charges against her, which stemmed from allegations made publicly by Duterte […]

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Dan Williams GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel on Saturday ruled out an immediate truce in Gaza, saying the onus was on Palestinian militants to stop launching rockets from an arsenal it suggested could be depleted within days, while its aircraft kept up strikes in the enclave. “We’re not holding ceasefire talks,” National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi told a municipal event near Jerusalem, adding that Israel’s top priority was […]

By Philip Pullella ROME (Reuters) -Rome promised its full backing for Ukraine on Saturday as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy began a visit for talks with Italian officials and Pope Francis, who said in late April the Vatican is involved in a peace mission to end the war with Russia. Zelenskiy, on his first trip to Italy since Russia invaded in February last year, met President Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinale Palace […]

(Reuters) – Rheinmetall has founded a joint venture with Ukrainian state-owned conglomerate Ukroboronprom to build and repair tanks in Ukraine, the company said on Saturday. Closing of the agreement to set up the joint venture is scheduled for late June with operations to begin from mid-July. The venture will begin by maintaining and repairing vehicles transferred to Ukraine by Germany, but will later seek to jointly produce some Rheinmetall products […]

By Asif Shahzad and Ariba Shahid ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -A Pakistani court ordered former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s release on bail for two weeks, his lawyer said on Friday, after his arrest in a land fraud case ignited deadly protests and a tussle with the military. Khan departed the court premises, headed towards his hometown Lahore, amidst high security. He had remained inside for hours after being granted bail, saying he […]

By YP Rajesh NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India’s main opposition Congress party was set to win elections in the southern state of Karnataka on Saturday, emphatically defeating the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a big boost to its prospects ahead of national elections due next year. The election is the first of five crucial state polls this year that are seen as setting the tone for parliamentary elections due in […]

(Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy began a visit to Rome on Saturday for talks with government officials and Pope Francis, who in late April said that the Vatican is involved in a peace mission to end the war with Russia. BATTLE FOR BAKHMUT * Moscow acknowledged on Friday that its forces had fallen back north of Ukraine’s battlefield city of Bakhmut after a new offensive, in a retreat that […]

(Fixes grammar in final paragraph to make clear that the missile found in April was not the one fired in November) WARSAW (Reuters) -An unidentified object that entered Polish airspace from the direction of Belarus was probably an observation balloon, Poland’s defence ministry said on Saturday on Twitter. NATO-member Poland is on alert for infractions of its airspace as war rages in neighbouring Ukraine after incidents in November and December […]

By Philip Pullella ROME (Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy began a visit to Rome on Saturday for talks with government officials and Pope Francis, who in late April said that the Vatican is involved in a peace mission to end the war with Russia. Zelenskiy, on his first trip to Italy since Russia invaded in February last year, held talks with President Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinale Palace and was […]