Town Hall News

By Mai Shams El-Din CAIRO (Reuters) – As Sudan collapsed into fighting last week that has trapped civilians in their city neighbourhoods, cutting off access to water, food and healthcare, community groups, websites and apps have sprung up to mobilise medical help and find basic supplies. The violent power struggle between the heads of the army and a big paramilitary force, who previously governed together, has killed hundreds of civilians […]

By Nivedita Balu and Tiyashi Datta (Reuters) – A quarter into record layoffs, investors in U.S. tech giants will scrutinize if the cost cuts boosted profits to their satisfaction, while the companies emphasize how artificial intelligence will be their next growth driver. Microsoft Corp, Google parent Alphabet Inc, Instagram owner Meta Platforms Inc and Amazon.com Inc all report quarterly results this week. Together, they command more than $5 trillion in […]

By Lucinda Elliott and Daniela Desantis ASUNCION (Reuters) – From Paraguayan capital Asuncion to Taipei and Washington, diplomats, officials – and farmers – are closely watching a tight election race that could determine Paraguay’s future ties with Taiwan. Paraguay will vote for its next president on April 30, choosing between a ruling party candidate pledging to extend decades-long diplomatic relations with Taiwan and an opposition rival who favors switching ties […]

MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Monday that President Vladimir Putin would decide whether to attend a BRICS conference in South Africa in August closer to the time. South Africa, a party to the International Criminal Court (ICC), maintains good relations with Russia but would be theoretically required to arrest Putin under an ICC indictment issued in March over Moscow’s actions in Ukraine. Asked at a regular briefing whether […]

NAIROBI (Reuters) -Kenyan police have recovered 58 bodies from mass graves in the Shakahola forest in eastern Kenya, thought to be followers of a Christian cult who believed they would go to heaven if they starved themselves, the country’s police chief said on Monday. The death toll, which has been rising steadily over the past two days as exhumations have been carried out, could rise further as the Kenyan Red […]

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan’s defence ministry said on Monday that a Chinese carrier group led by the Shandong was about 120 nautical miles off the southeast of the island’s coast, the same ship that took part in China’s war games around the island earlier this month. Taiwan previously reported that the Shandong, commissioned in 2019, had sailed into waters in the Western Pacific through the Bashi Channel that separates the […]

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia on Monday urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to comply with a 2020 ceasefire agreement, expressing “serious concern” about escalating tensions between the two countries over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Azerbaijan on Sunday established a checkpoint at the start of the Lachin Corridor, the only road route linking Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh, in what Armenia called a “gross violation” of a Moscow-brokered 2020 ceasefire agreement between the two sides. […]

By Yew Lun Tian BEIJING (Reuters) – Outrage over China’s ambassador to France questioning the sovereignty of former Soviet countries like Ukraine reverberated across Europe on Monday as Beijing distanced itself from the envoy’s remarks by reaffirming its respect for their status. It is not the first time Lu Shaye, 58, a prominent practitioner of China’s abrasive ‘wolf warrior’ diplomacy, has courted controversy since taking up his post in Paris […]

NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenya’s main opposition party said on Monday it will resume protests over high living costs and alleged election fraud because of what it called the government’s lack of commitment to talks. Opposition leader Raila Odinga halted nationwide demonstrations in early April after an appeal from President William Ruto, who agreed to talks and to reform the election commission – one of the opposition’s main demands. Thousands had […]