Town Hall News

By Susan Heavey WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Biden administration’s top security adviser met with China’s top diplomat this week and pledged to keep lines of communication open, the White House said on Thursday, in one of the countries’ first high-level meetings since a dispute over an alleged Chinese spy balloon dented relations in February. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Chinese top diplomat Wang Yi met in Vienna on Wednesday and […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Wholesale prices in the United States rose modestly last month, the latest sign that inflationary pressures may be easing more than a year after the Federal Reserve unleashed an aggressive campaign of steadily higher interest rates. From March to April, the government’s producer price index rose just 0.2% after falling 0.4% from February to March, held down by falling prices for food, transportation and warehousing. Compared with […]

KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Sudan’s capital has been devastated by a conflict between the army and paramilitary Rapid Response Forces (RSF) since mid-April. Here is a timeline of major events since fighting began: April 15 – After weeks of tensions building over a plan to hand power to civilians, heavy fighting erupts in Khartoum and clashes are reported in several other cities. RSF forces loyal to Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known […]

(Reuters) – NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service will be the home to live streaming coverage of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games, the media division of Comcast Corp said on Thursday. NBC said Peacock will stream every sport and event, including all 329 medal events, and will feature curated video clips and exclusive original programming, among other content. “Paris 2024 will have more programming hours on the NBC broadcast network than […]

By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis on Thursday announced that 21 Coptic Orthodox Christians beheaded by Islamic State in Libya in 2015 are being recognised as martyrs by the Vatican. He revealed the move during a meeting with Pope Tawadros II of the Coptic Orthodox Church and said he was doing so with Tawadros’ consent. The 21 Copts, 20 Egyptians and a Ghanaian, were lined up on […]

(Reuters) – A 60-year-old Russian woman was given a two-year suspended sentence on Thursday for leaving a note with an “insulting inscription” on the grave of President Vladimir Putin’s parents, independent news sites reported on Thursday. Prosecutors had sought a three-year suspended sentence for Irina Tsybaneva, who in October was charged with desecrating the grave in St Petersburg with a note referring to Putin’s mother and father as “the parents […]

By Nate Raymond (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday overturned the bribery conviction of Joseph Percoco, an ex-aide to Democratic former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, in a ruling that further limits the ability of federal prosecutors to pursue corruption cases. The justices ruled in favor of Joseph Percoco, Cuomo’s former executive deputy secretary who was charged in 2016 as part of a corruption crackdown by federal prosecutors in […]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. regulators hit units of Bank of Nova Scotia and HSBC Holdings with civil penalties for widespread recordkeeping violations through the use of personal apps for work communications. HSBC Securities Inc and Scotia Capital, which are registered brokers, have agreed to pay $15 million and $7.5 million, respectively, to settle charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the regulator said in a statement. Scotiabank and Scotia […]

By Samia Nakhoul ISTANBUL (Reuters) – For more than two decades, President Tayyip Erdogan has been the lord of all elections in Turkey.     With Sunday’s presidential vote putting him in a tight race with opposition rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu, it is hard to believe the feisty politician who has ruled Turkey with a strong arm graciously admitting defeat and quietly bowing out of office.     Uncertainty, anxiety, anticipation and tension […]