Town Hall News

(Reuters) -Russia said on Wednesday it had appointed a new head of its peacekeeping force in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, as tensions rise again between Armenia and Azerbaijan. No reason for the change was given, but it was announced by the defence ministry hours after a telephone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Russian peacekeepers were deployed in 2020 to end a 44-day war […]

By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s Congress on Wednesday prepared to open an inquiry into the Jan. 8 storming of key government buildings in the capital by violent demonstrators who denied the electoral victory of the recently inaugurated President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Lula and his allies in parliament have tried to avoid the congressional inquiry, hoping to leave investigations to law enforcement and keep lawmakers’ focus on […]

(Reuters) -Chinese police have visited U.S. management consultancy Bain & Company’s office in Shanghai and questioned staff there, a company spokesperson said on Wednesday without elaborating. “We are cooperating as appropriate with the Chinese authorities,” the spokesperson told Reuters by email. “At this time, we have no further comment.” The U.S. embassy in China and the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai did not immediately respond to requests for comment. […]

By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s Congress on Wednesday prepared to open an inquiry into the Jan. 8 storming of key government buildings in the capital by violent demonstrators who denied the electoral victory of the recently inaugurated President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Lula and his allies in parliament have tried to avoid the congressional inquiry, hoping to leave investigations to law enforcement and keep lawmakers’ focus on […]

(Reuters) – Formula One statistics for Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, the fourth round of the 23-race 2023 world championship: Lap distance: 6.003 km. Total distance: 306.049km (51 laps) 2022 pole position: Charles Leclerc (Monaco) Ferrari one minute 41.359 seconds. 2022 winner: Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Red Bull Race lap record: Leclerc, 1:43.009. Ferrari, 2019 Start time: 1100GMT (1500 local) AZERBAIJAN Azerbaijan will be the first of six sprint weekends […]

By Jeff Mason, Trevor Hunnicutt and Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Incumbent President Joe Biden entered the 2024 election race on Tuesday with something he didn’t have two-and-a-half years ago: a record in the White House. He plans to run on it, highlighting his successes as an argument for another term, while opposition Republicans likely slam his White House performance. Biden, 80, promised on the 2020 campaign trail to fight […]

By Tim Reid (Reuters) – Former Republican Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson formally launched his 2024 presidential bid on Wednesday, in a speech that portrayed himself as a more moderate alternative to party frontrunner Donald Trump. Hutchinson, 72, who’s bid is considered a long-shot, had already broken with Trump this year after the Republican former president’s criminal indictment in March over hush payments to a porn star. Unlike all the other […]

By Mark Trevelyan (Reuters) – A leading Russian lawmaker said on Wednesday he had filed a complaint about an online art tool promoted by the country’s largest bank, saying it consistently generated negative images of Russia. Lender Sberbank features the “Kandinsky 2.1” design tool on its website, with versions in Russian and English. Visitors are invited to type in a word or phrase and get the “neural network” to produce […]

By Dan Peleschuk and Ethan Wang KYIV/BEIJING (Reuters) -Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke to Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy by telephone on Wednesday for the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, fulfilling a longstanding goal of Kyiv which had publicly sought such talks for months. Zelenskiy immediately signalled the importance of the chance to open closer relations with Russia’s most powerful friend, naming a former cabinet minister as Ukraine’s new ambassador […]