Town Hall News

By Gabriella Borter (Reuters) – Florida’s Republican-led House of Representatives on Thursday gave final approval to a six-week abortion ban, setting the stage for abortion access to be drastically curtailed in the state and across the U.S. South. Lawmakers in the Florida House approved the ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy in a 70-40 vote. The bill passed the state Senate by a vote of 26-13 on April […]

By Ingrid Melander and Elizabeth Pineau PARIS (Reuters) – France’s Constitutional Council will on Friday give its hotly-anticipated verdict on whether the government’s plans to increase the retirement age, which have triggered massive protests, are in line with constitutional rules. The stakes are high. The government hopes for a green light, likely with minor caveats, that could discourage protests and allow it to enact the bill, which increases the state […]

(Reuters) – France’s Constitutional Council is due to deliver its verdict on Friday on a deeply unpopular bill which will delay retirement by two years to 64, and on plans for a referendum to challenge it. Here is why this matters and what could happen: VERDICT ON THE PENSION BILL * The Council can strike down the bill altogether if it considers it breaches the Constitution. Opposition parties have asked […]

By Ingrid Melander and Elizabeth Pineau PARIS (Reuters) – France’s Constitutional Council will on Friday give its hotly-anticipated verdict on whether the government’s plans to increase the retirement age, which have triggered massive protests, are in line with constitutional rules. The stakes are high. The government hopes for a green light, likely with minor caveats, that could discourage protests and allow it to enact the bill, which increases the state […]

By Andrew Hayley and Trixie Yap (Reuters) -Oil prices rose on Friday on signs of lower Russian output and tighter supplies, with the market looking ahead to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) monthly report later in the day to clarify the global demand outlook. Brent crude futures climbed 34 cents, or 0.39%, to $86.43 per barrel by 0347 GMT. West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) rose 40 cents, or 0.49%, […]

By Ariba Shahid KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) -Pakistan’s debt continues to be sustainable, International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday, after the government reiterated it had completed all requirements to receive a critical bailout from the IMF. Pakistan has less than a month’s worth of foreign exchange reserves and is awaiting a bailout package of $1.1 billion from the IMF that has been delayed since November over […]

By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) -A Washington, D.C., appeals court on Thursday declined to shield Donald Trump from the first of two civil defamation lawsuits by E. Jean Carroll, a writer who said the former U.S. president raped her nearly three decades ago. The district’s highest local court, the Court of Appeals, said it did not have enough facts to decide whether Trump deserved immunity, after he accused the […]

By Stephen Nellis (Reuters) – Nvidia Corp said on Wednesday it is packing one of its mid-range chips for gamers with more artificial intelligence features to improve graphics, underscoring the importance of gaming for the company despite the segment’s slowing revenue. The new RTX 4070 chip, which Nvidia will start shipping on Thursday, will cost $599, putting it near the middle of the company’s range of graphics processing units (GPUs), […]

By Toby Sterling BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The body that unites Europe’s national privacy watchdogs said on Thursday it had set up a task force on ChatGPT, a potentially important first step toward a common policy on setting privacy rules on artificial intelligence. The move by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) follows a unilateral move by Italy last month to curb ChatGPT – a stance that Germany’s commissioner for data protection […]