Town Hall News

By Sergio Goncalves LISBON (Reuters) – Fortitude Capital, founded by former Goldman Sachs partner Antonio Esteves, Brazilian bank BTG Pactual and Portuguese asset manager Atrium, has launched its first fund with a target size of up to 500 million euros ($550 million). Esteves said on Tuesday that, though focused on investing in Portugal, the fund would not exclude opportunities abroad, and was targeting any sector through instruments such as equity, […]

By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden and top Republican lawmakers will declare their positions face to face on raising the $31.4 trillion U.S. debt ceiling on Tuesday, with the looming prospect of an unprecedented default in three weeks if Congress does not act. Ahead of the 4 p.m. ET (2000 GMT) Oval Office session, there were no signs that either side would immediately agree to any concessions to […]

By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis said that when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires more than a decade ago, the Argentine government wanted “to cut my head off” by backing false accusations that he had collaborated with the military dictatorship of the 1970s. Francis made his comments on April 29 in a private conversation with Jesuits while he was visiting Hungary. Francis is also a Jesuit […]

(Reuters) – Walt Disney Co’s quarterly revenue growth is expected to hit its lowest in nearly two years, underlining the hurdles that Chief Executive Bob Iger faces in revitalizing a company that is now caught in what could be a long strike by Hollywood writers. The results, slated for Wednesday, will mark the first full quarter since Iger returned in November to kick off an overhaul that has seen the […]

By Jason Lange WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden’s public approval was at 40% in recent days, close to the lowest level of his presidency, with Americans unhappy about his handling of immigration and inflation, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll showed. The three-day poll, which ended on Sunday, showed a marginal increase in Biden’s popularity from last month, when 39% of respondents said they approved of his performance as president. […]

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Tuesday criticized the country’s judiciary as “rotten,” one day after the Supreme Court invalidated part of a set of electoral reforms he had championed. The Supreme Court on Monday voted 9-2 to strike down a measure curbing elections authority INE’s ability to police political communications. A separate part of the reform, which slashes the INE’s budget and staffing, is […]

By Emma Farge GENEVA (Reuters) – More than 50 people sentenced for plotting to overthrow the United Arab Emirates government are being held months and years after their jail terms have ended, family members and rights activists said on Tuesday. The dissidents are part of the so-called “UAE94” – a group of 94 lawyers, human rights defenders and academics tried in 2013 and whose jail terms began expiring in 2019. […]

By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis said that when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires more than a decade ago, the Argentine government wanted “to cut my head off” by backing false accusations that he had collaborated with the military dictatorship of the 1970s. Francis made his comments on April 29 in a private conversation with Jesuits while he was visiting Hungary. Francis is also a Jesuit […]

By Andrius Sytas RIGA (Reuters) -In a Stalinist skyscraper which dominates the skyline of Latvia’s capital, dozens of elderly Russians wait to take a basic Latvian language test as a proof of loyalty to a country where they have lived for decades. Clutching red Russian passports, the participants, mostly women, read their notes for last minute revision, fearing they may be expelled from the Baltic country if they fail. Speaking […]