Town Hall News

KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine on Saturday hailed the return of 45 Azov battalion fighters captured during the battle for Mariupol while Russia said three of its pilots had been released by Kyiv, but neither side gave a full account of the apparent prisoner swap. The freed Ukrainian prisoners included 42 men and three women from the Azov battalion, said Andriy Yermak, the head of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office. Azov battalion […]

By Aziz El Yaakoubi and Nafisa Eltahir RIYADH (Reuters) -Envoys from Sudan’s warring military factions – the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces – were in Jeddah for talks on Saturday, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said, as international mediators pressed for an end to the three-week old conflict. The U.S.-Saudi initiative is the first serious attempt to end fighting that has turned parts of the Sudanese capital Khartoum into […]

(Reuters) -Early favourite Forte has been scratched from the Kentucky Derby hours before post time for the first leg of U.S. thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown due to concerns about a bruised front foot, Churchill Downs said on Saturday. The Todd Pletcher-trained dark bay colt had brought a five-race win streak to the 1-1/4-mile Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs and was installed as the early 3-1 favourite. The decision to scratch […]

By Ruma Paul DHAKA (Reuters) -Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh said on Saturday they would not return to Myanmar to “be confined in camps” after making their first return visit as part of efforts to encourage their voluntary repatriation. Nearly a million Rohingya Muslims live in squalid camps in the Bangladeshi border district of Cox’s Bazar. Most have been there since fleeing a military-led crackdown in Buddhist-majority Myanmar in 2017 and […]

By Michael Holden, Kate Holton and Andrew MacAskill LONDON (Reuters) -King Charles III was anointed and crowned on Saturday in Britain’s biggest ceremonial event for seven decades, a display of pomp and pageantry that sought to marry 1,000 years of history with a monarchy fit for a new era. In front of a congregation including about 100 world leaders and a television audience of millions, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the […]

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s air force claimed Saturday to have downed a Russian hypersonic missile over Kyiv using newly acquired American Patriot defense systems, the first known time the country has been able to intercept one of Moscow’s most modern missiles. Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk said in a Telegram post that the Kinzhal-type ballistic missile had been intercepted in an overnight attack on the Ukrainian capital earlier in […]

DUBAI (Reuters) -Iran on Saturday executed a Swedish-Iranian dissident convicted of leading an Arab separatist group accused of attacks including one on a military parade in 2018 that killed 25 people, the Iranian judiciary said. The Swedish foreign ministry said it had summoned Iran’s deputy ambassador to protest the execution of Habib Farajollah Chaab, which it confirmed took place earlier in the day. Chaab had been sentenced to death for […]

By Jonathan Stempel OMAHA, Nebraska (Reuters) – Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc posted a $35.5 billion first-quarter profit on Saturday, reflecting gains from stocks such as Apple Inc, while higher investment income and a rebound at car insurer Geico bolstered operating results. Berkshire also sped up repurchases of its own stock, buying back $4.4 billion, while paring its investments in other stocks such as Chevron Corp, which is still a […]

MILAN (Reuters) – Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi sent a video message to his Forza Italia party on Saturday in his first appearance since being hospitalised a month ago, saying he is ready to return to work. Wearing a blue shirt and suit and heavy make-up, Berlusconi, 86, appeared sitting at a desk with the Italian and European flags behind him next to a Forza Italia banner. “I never […]