Town Hall News

By Michael Church DOHA (Reuters) – Holders and hosts Qatar will take on China, Tajikistan and Lebanon in the group stages of the Asian Cup finals in January after the draw was conducted in Doha on Thursday. Qatar, who won the title for the first time when the tournament was held in the United Arab Emirates in 2019, will open their defence on Jan. 12 against the Lebanese in Group […]

By Michael Church DOHA (Reuters) – Holders and hosts Qatar will take on China, Tajikistan and Lebanon in the group stages of the Asian Cup finals in January after the draw was conducted in Doha on Thursday. Qatar, who won the title for the first time when the tournament was held in the United Arab Emirates in 2019, will open their defence on Jan. 12 against the Lebanese in Group […]

OSLO (Reuters) – Norway on Thursday took over the chairmanship of the Arctic Council from Russia despite a freeze in cooperation between the Western Arctic states and Moscow on the regional polar body due to the invasion of Ukraine. Norway offered to organise a meeting of the Arctic Council in 2025, the statement said, a significant move because all members participate in meetings, meaning that Russia would also be invited. […]

By Shadia Nasralla LONDON (Reuters) -Oil prices erased earlier gains on Thursday during U.S. trading hours as a political standoff about the U.S. debt ceiling overshadowed a G7 finance leaders’ meeting, raising jitters about a possible recession in the world’s biggest oil consumer. Brent crude was down 27 cents, or 0.4%, to $76.14 a barrel at 1200 GMT, while U.S. crude futures dipped 29 cents, or 0.4%, to $72.27. Both […]

By Shreyashi Sanyal and Shristi Achar A (Reuters) – Dow futures came under pressure from a drop in shares of Disney after the company reported a decline in subscriber growth, while investors awaited more evidence to see if inflation was cooling. Data on Wednesday showed consumer prices in April slowed slightly from a year earlier, raising hopes that the Federal Reserve could pause its rate-hike campaign. Market participants will now […]

(Reuters) -The head of Russia’s Wagner private army said on Thursday that Ukrainian units had begun their counterattack, and were approaching Bakhmut from the flanks, while Russia’s defence ministry said its paratroopers were supporting an advance on the west of the city. Reuters could not independently verify either of the assertions, which came amid an escalating dispute between Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Russian defence ministry over the conduct […]

By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA (Reuters) – Israeli air strikes killed the head of Islamic Jihad’s rocket force in Gaza early on Thursday, part of an operation that has killed 25 people including women and children this week and that has been met with hundreds of rockets fired from the enclave. Egypt was set to host senior Islamic Jihad official Mohammad al-Hindi in Cairo later in the day, part of mediation […]

(Corrects sixth paragraph to say ‘through its platform’, not ‘machines’) By Ariba Shahid KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) -Point-of-sale transactions routed through Pakistan’s main digital payments system fell by nearly 50% the day after former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s arrest ignited countrywide protests and prompted authorities to shut down mobile internet services, data showed on Thursday. The reason for the slump was primarily the mobile broadband suspension, in addition to lower footfall […]

By Angelo Amante ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s school population will shrink by one million in the coming decade because of the plunging birth rate and continuing brain drain, the education minister said on Thursday. National statistics bureau ISTAT has said births in Italy dropped to a historic low below 400,000 in 2022, the 14th consecutive fall, with the overall population declining by 179,000 to 58.85 million. A shrinking and ageing […]