Town Hall News

By Crispian Balmer VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – While the Vatican has looked to play down worries over Pope Francis’ health, his sudden hospitalisation has highlighted the 86-year-old pontiff’s increasing frailty. On Wednesday, the pope had appeared in good form at his regular, weekly audience, joking with bishops, hugging a young girl and letting a group of children ride with him in his open-top popemobile. But after returning to his Vatican […]

By Ayenat Mersie NAIROBI (Reuters) -Fresh demonstrations organised on Thursday by opponents of Kenyan President William Ruto were marked again by violent clashes, as stone-throwing protesters battled police and a local office of Ruto’s party was set ablaze. The previous protest called for by opposition leader Raila Odinga on Monday against high living costs and alleged fraud in last year’s election descended into apparent tit-for-tat attacks by both sides and […]

By Andrew Osborn and Felix Light LONDON (Reuters) -Russia’s FSB security service said on Thursday it had detained a reporter for U.S. newspaper The Wall Street Journal on suspicion of spying for Washington, the most serious public move against a foreign journalist since Russia invaded Ukraine. The Journal said the detention of U.S. national Evan Gershkovich was based on false allegations. The action will worsen already dire relations between Russia […]

By Sarah Marsh BERLIN (Reuters) – King Charles highlighted the historic ties between Britain and Germany while lauding their current unity in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in a landmark address to the Bundestag on Thursday. The king, on the second day of a three-day trip to Germany, alternated between German and English for the half-hour speech, which won a standing ovation from lawmakers. The address made no […]

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Early on Thursday Moshe Peretz and his team of volunteers gathered outside his Tel Aviv apartment block for what has become a regular activity – flag-making. The group say they have made more than half a million of them, distributed to protesters marching against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul drive, and production is not stopping, despite Netanyahu putting legislation on ice. “Israel won’t be a dictatorship. […]

By Katie Paul (Reuters) – Meta Platforms Inc said on Thursday it is now rolling out a long-promised system for advertisers to determine where their ads are shown, responding to their demands to distance their marketing from controversial posts on Facebook and Instagram. The system offers advertisers three risk levels they can select for their ad placements, with the most conservative option excluding placements above or below posts with sensitive […]

By Amruta Khandekar and Ankika Biswas (Reuters) -U.S. stocks were set to open higher on Thursday as fears of a banking crisis eased, while investor focus turned to key consumer spending data for cues on the Federal Reserve’s policy path. The banking turmoil, which started earlier this month with the collapse of two regional U.S. lenders, had sparked concerns about a broader financial crisis and led to a dramatic shift […]

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s Meizu on Thursday unveiled its first smartphone products since it was taken over by a venture belonging to Zhejiang Geely Holding’s founder, with the firms saying it marked their first step to integrating consumer electronics and travel. A company run by Geely Chairman Eric Li took a majority stake in Meizu last year, making the Volvo owner the first established carmaker to enter the premium smartphone […]

By Sarah Marsh BERLIN (Reuters) – King Charles highlighted the historic ties between Britain and Germany while lauding their current unity in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in a landmark address to the Bundestag on Thursday. The king, on the second day of a three-day trip to Germany, alternated between German and English for the half-hour speech, which won a standing ovation from lawmakers. The address made no […]