Town Hall News

LONDON (Reuters) – Swim England announced an updated transgender and non-binary policy on Monday with a ‘female’ category restricted to athletes with a declared birth sex of female and a new ‘open’ category for everyone else. The national governing body for swimming in England said the policy, which comes into effect in September, would apply to its swimming, artistic swimming, diving and water polo competitions. The ‘open’ category will be […]

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The Dutch military will purchase U.S. and Israeli-made weapons systems to improve its long-range firepower on land, sea and air, the government said on Monday. State Secretary for Defence Chistophe van der Maat announced the decisions, representing at least 600 million euros ($653.04 million) worth of spending over the coming decade, in a letter to parliament. “The war in Ukraine shows once again that fire support over […]

By Lucia Mutikani, Jonathan Cable and Leika Kihara WASHINGTON/LONDON/TOKYO (Reuters) -Global factory activity weakened in March as consumers feeling the pinch from rising living costs cut back, surveys showed on Monday, suggesting a deteriorating outlook will remain a drag on economic recoveries and keep policymakers on their toes. U.S. manufacturing activity slumped to the lowest level in nearly three years as new orders continued to contract, a survey by the […]

By Lizbeth Diaz CIUDAD JUAREZ, MEXICO (Reuters) – Eduard Caraballo screamed for help. Thick suffocating smoke was filling the cell where he was held with over 60 other migrants in northern Mexico, but there was no way out. The single door was locked shut. “We screamed for them to open the cell door, but no one helped us,” Caraballo, 26, said through tears during a phone interview from his hospital […]

By Lizbeth Diaz CIUDAD JUAREZ, MEXICO (Reuters) – Eduard Caraballo screamed for help. Thick suffocating smoke was filling the cell where he was held with over 60 other migrants in northern Mexico, but there was no way out. The single door was locked shut. “We screamed for them to open the cell door, but no one helped us,” Caraballo, 26, said through tears during a phone interview from his hospital […]

By Ira Dugal and Ankur Banerjee MUMBAI (Reuters) – Mumbai resident Shivam Vahia cannot remember the last time he left home to shop. He spends about 30,000 rupees ($364) a month buying necessities like groceries, clothes and gadgets, all by tapping a few buttons on his mobile phone. “My only offline spends are bars and restaurants, when I go to meet friends,” said the 24-year-old engineering graduate. Vahia is one […]

By Steve Gorman (Reuters) – NASA on Monday named the first woman and the first African American ever assigned as astronauts to a lunar mission, introducing them as part of the four-member team chosen to fly as early as next year on what would be the first crewed voyage around the moon in more than 50 years. Christina Koch, an engineer who already holds the record for the longest continuous […]

(Reuters) -Mars Inc is buying veterinary equipment firm Heska Corp in a $1.3-billion deal as the maker of Pedigree dog food looks to expand its animal diagnostics business. In a joint statement issued on Monday, Mars said it would pay $120 per share to Heska’s shareholders, which is a premium of 22.9% over its last close. Shares of Heska were up 19.8% to $116.6, in early morning trading. The companies […]

By Dietrich Knauth (Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Monday approved Revlon Inc’s reorganization plan, allowing the cosmetics giant to cut $2.7 billion from its debt and exit bankruptcy later this month. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David Jones in Manhattan, who has been overseeing the company’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy, said Revlon had reached “a hard-fought multi-faceted settlement” that resolves a “series of enterprise-threatening” risks to the business, including “debilitating” litigation among […]