Town Hall News

LONDON (Reuters) -There is no evidence that the COVID-causing virus came from animals, the former head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday. George Gao, who was speaking at a London summit on preparing for pandemics, was the head of the agency when COVID first emerged in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019. “Even now, people think some animals are the host or […]

OSLO (Reuters) – Fifteen Russian diplomats expelled by Norway this week had sought to recruit sources, intercept communications and buy advanced technology, the Norwegian PST security police said on Friday. The diplomats’ real employers were the Russian GRU, FSB and SVR intelligence services, PST counterintelligence chief Inger Haugland told a news conference. “This lowers the threat from Russian intelligence in Norway by permanently reducing the number of intelligence officers operating […]

By Jonathan Landay, Idrees Ali and Arshad Mohammed WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The latest U.S. intelligence leak illustrates a paradox of spycraft: keeping secrets means limiting their distribution but protecting against dangers like another Sept. 11, 2001, attack means sharing them. Balancing those twin demands is a key challenge for U.S. President Joe Biden as his administration seeks to prevent leaks while protecting U.S. security and ensuring allies fearful of exposure keep […]

BENGALURU (Reuters) -Reliance Industries Ltd’s Viacom18 will receive an investment of 43.06 billion rupees ($527.84 million) from Bodhi Tree, about 70% less than what was planned by the joint venture between James Murdoch and a former Star India executive. Viacom18 said in a statement late on Thursday that Reliance was now leading the investment in the media company with a 108.39 billion rupees infusion. Last year, Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s […]

KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine will “test and use” any non-banned weapons to liberate its territory, including Russian-occupied Crimea, the head of its National Security and Defence Council said on Friday. Oleksiy Danilov’s comment comes with Kyiv expected to mount a counteroffensive in the coming weeks or months aimed at retaking Russian-held territory in the south and east. “Crimea is the territory of Ukraine, and we will test and use there […]

By Max Hunder KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine has barred its national sports teams from competing in Olympic, non-Olympic and Paralympic events that include competitors from Russia and Belarus, the sports ministry said in a decree published on Friday. The decision, criticised by some Ukrainian athletes, comes after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) angered Kyiv by paving the way for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals despite Russia’s invasion […]

By Elida Moreno PANAMA CITY (Reuters) – More than 400,000 migrants could cross the treacherous Darien Gap linking Panama with Colombia this year, the United Nations said on Friday, well up from nearly 250,000 in 2022 as the number of people making the journey surged over recent months. In the first months of 2023, some 100,000 migrants have crossed the dangerous stretch of jungle, six times more than in the […]

By Max Hunder KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine has barred its national sports teams from competing in Olympic, non-Olympic and Paralympic events that include competitors from Russia and Belarus, the sports ministry said in a decree published on Friday. The decision, criticised by some Ukrainian athletes, comes after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) angered Kyiv by paving the way for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals despite Russia’s invasion […]

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Brazilian Defense Minister Jose Mucio said late Thursday that countries such as Sweden and Colombia had expressed interest in buying Embraer’s KC-390 military cargo aircraft. Mucio said he held nearly 20 bilateral meetings during the LAAD defense and security fair this week and, in some of them, the KC-390 was on the agenda. “Evidently, these sales need to be planned, studied and evaluated, to have […]