Town Hall News

By Philip Blenkinsop BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Commission proposed rules on Thursday to govern patents increasingly in demand for technologies used in smart devices such as drones, connected cars and mobile phones, to try to reduce litigation. The Commission said the system for what are known as standard-essential patents (SEPs), was fragmented, lacked transparency, led to lengthy disputes and that self-regulation had not worked. SEPs protect technology such as for […]

By Deena Beasley (Reuters) – Amgen Inc on Thursday reported lower first-quarter profit as expenses rose and a 2% increase in sales of its own drugs was offset by lower revenue from its deal to manufacture COVID-19 antibody treatments for Eli Lilly and Co. Product sales by volume grew 14% from a year earlier, but was partially offset by a 5% decline in net selling prices due to unfavorable foreign […]

(Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Thursday it welcomed anything that could bring the end of the Ukraine conflict closer when asked what it thought of a phone call a day earlier between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. But it said it still needed to achieve the aims of its “special military operation” in Ukraine. DIPLOMACY * Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said he had invited […]

(Reuters) – Meta Platforms has merged its advertising product, business messaging and commerce departments into one division, The Information reported on Thursday, citing an internal message by company executive John Hegeman. The move comes as part of a broader effort by the social media company to reduce the ranks of middle management across the company, the report said. Meta did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The […]

By Ted Hesson and Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States will ramp up deportations while also expanding legal pathways for would-be migrants as it braces for a possible spike in illegal border crossings when COVID-19 restrictions are set to end in May, U.S. officials said on Thursday. The U.S. will double or triple the number of deportation flights to some countries and aim to process migrants crossing the […]

(Reuters) – Meta Platforms has merged its advertising product, business messaging and commerce departments into one division, The Information reported on Thursday, citing an internal message by company executive John Hegeman. The move comes as part of a broader effort by the social media company to reduce the ranks of middle management across the company, the report said. Meta did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The […]

By Sarah Marsh and Andreas Rinke BERLIN (Reuters) – Berlin appointed its first conservative mayor in more than two decades on Thursday after the Christian Democrats (CDU) beat Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) in a repeat election in February, dislodging its centre-left coalition. Kai Wegner, 50, a former insurance salesman, was sworn in as mayor after a vote in local parliament, succeeding the SPD’s Franziska Giffey who had been […]

GENEVA/LONDON (Reuters) -The U.N. human rights chief called on the British government on Thursday to reverse legislation that would clamp down on protests by giving police in England and Wales more powers to act to prevent serious disruption. Britain’s Conservative government said the new powers are needed to prevent a small minority, who have been protesting mainly over environmental issues, disrupting the lives of the wider public. In recent years, […]

By Stephen Culp NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks rallied and Treasury yields resumed their climb on Thursday as market participants digested solid earnings amid signs of a dampening economy. All three major U.S. stock indexes were sharply higher, with megacap tech and tech-related companies putting the Nasdaq on track for its biggest one-day percentage gain since mid-March. The S&P 500 and the Dow have set a course for their […]