Town Hall News

(Reuters) – Troops from Azerbaijan and Armenia exchanged fire with weapons including mortars and drones on a joint border on Friday and an Armenian soldier was reported killed, two days before top-level talks on a long-term peace deal between the two neighbours. It was the second straight day of exchanges of fire – ahead of Sunday’s planned meeting in Brussels between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azeri President Ilham […]

By Ann Saphir, Andrea Shalal and Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday nominated Federal Reserve Governor Philip Jefferson to be the central bank’s vice chair, a key policy advisory role recently vacated when Lael Brainard took a top position in Biden’s White House economics team. Biden also nominated the World Bank’s U.S. executive director, Adriana Kugler, to be a Fed governor, adding a labor economist to […]

By Daina Beth Solomon and Julio-Cesar Chavez CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico/EL PASO, Texas (Reuters) -The Biden administration began implementing a sweeping policy shift at the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday as a COVID-era order that had allowed the swift expulsion of many migrants expired and new asylum restrictions took effect amid confusion and uncertainty. Several last-minute court actions added to questions about how President Joe Biden’s reworked border strategy will play out, […]

By Miguel Lo Bianco and Hernan Nessi BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) -Argentina’s annual inflation rate soared to 109% in April, the country’s statistics agency said on Friday, smashing past analyst forecasts and stoking anger among hard-hit consumers who are increasingly having to skimp and save to get by. The South American nation, an important grains exporter and the region’s no. 2 economy, posted 8.4% monthly inflation in April, well above analyst […]

CHICAGO (Reuters) – United Airlines pilots want higher pay than their counterparts at Delta Air Lines and at least similar improvements in work-life balance in their new contract, the head of their union said. Garth Thompson, in an interview late on Wednesday, told Reuters that any proposal that falls short of those expectations will have no takers. Delta’s landmark pilots contract, which offers $7 billion in higher pay and benefits, […]

By Kopano Gumbi, Wendell Roelf and Daphne Psaledakis JOHANNESBURG/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -South African officials on Friday hit back at U.S. accusations that a Russian ship had collected weapons from a naval base near Cape Town late last year, a move investors fear could lead Washington to impose sanctions. The U.S. ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety said on Thursday he was confident that a Russian ship under U.S. sanctions took aboard […]

By Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Washington standoff over raising the U.S. government’s $31.4 trillion borrowing limit is adding to global economic worries, as a new non-partisan congressional report cited “significant risk” of a historic default within the first two weeks of June. The U.S. Congressional Budget Office report, issued Friday morning, confirms Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s earlier warnings that a default could come as early as June 1. […]

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s foreign minister on Friday slammed a bill approved a day earlier by U.S. Republican lawmakers that would tighten immigration policy and restart work on a southwestern border wall, accusing backers of peddling racism against Mexicans. The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved the legislation, which would require asylum seekers to apply for U.S. protection outside the country. It would also resume work on the […]

By Orhan Coskun, Ece Toksabay and Huseyin Hayatsever ANKARA (Reuters) -Kemal Kilicdaroglu, main challenger of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, said on Friday his party has concrete evidence of Russia’s responsibility for the release of “deep fake” online content ahead of Sunday’s presidential elections. Kilicdaroglu, who has a slight poll lead over Erdogan two days ahead of the election, told Reuters in an interview it was unacceptable for Russia to interfere […]