Town Hall News

By Phil Noble and Sarah Marsh LONDON/BERLIN (Reuters) – King Charles set off to Germany on Wednesday in his first state visit abroad since becoming British monarch, as part of efforts to turn the page on years of rocky relations between Britain and the European Union after its exit from the bloc. Charles, who succeeded his mother Queen Elizabeth as the British monarch in September, had been due to travel […]

(Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Wednesday it was not up to Russia to advise Chinese President Xi Jinping on whether he should visit Ukraine or not. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has extended an invitation to the Chinese leader to visit, the Associated Press reported earlier on Wednesday. “We know China’s balanced position, we value it highly and we believe the leader of China makes his own decisions on the […]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House is readying plans to push federal banking regulators to impose new rules on midsize banks after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank earlier this month, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing two people familiar with the preparations. The planned recommendations for Democratic U.S. President Joe Biden would push for rules to be reinstated for banks with between $100 billion and $250 billion that […]

(Reuters) -The Kremlin said on Wednesday that the International Olympic Committee’s guidelines that allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in international competitions as neutrals contain “elements of discrimination”. Athletes from Russia and Belarus, Moscow’s ally, were banned from most international competitions last year over the Ukraine war, but guidelines issued by the Lausanne-based IOC on Tuesday seek to allow for their gradual return to world sport. The guidelines have […]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday said she expected the U.S. nominee to head the World Bank, former Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga, to be elected as president of the multilateral development bank. In testimony prepared for the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, Yellen said Banga would be charged with helping evolve the institution to better address new challenges. “This […]

By Emma Farge STRASBOURG (Reuters) – Thousands of elderly Swiss women have joined forces in a groundbreaking case that opened on Wednesday at the European Court of Human Rights, arguing that their government’s “woefully inadequate” efforts to fight global warming violate their human rights. The first climate change case at the Strasbourg court has been brought by a group of Swiss female pensioners who claim that their country’s inaction in […]

By Emma Farge STRASBOURG (Reuters) – Thousands of elderly Swiss women have joined forces in a groundbreaking case that opened on Wednesday at the European Court of Human Rights, arguing that their government’s “woefully inadequate” efforts to fight global warming violate their human rights. The first climate change case at the Strasbourg court has been brought by a group of Swiss female pensioners who claim that their country’s inaction in […]

By Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS (Reuters) – With ten rounds of sanctions since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year, the European Union has rolled out its toughest punishment ever against a foreign country. The EU says its sanctions are meant to cut Moscow revenues and access to technology used in war. But the impact “will not be severe enough to limit Russia’s ability to wage war against Ukraine in 2023,” […]

(Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Wednesday that criteria announced by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) intended to enable Russian and Belarusian athletes to take part in international competitions contained “elements of discriminatory treatment”. Athletes from Russia and Belarus, Moscow’s ally, were banned from competition last year over the Ukraine war, but the rules announced at the IOC’s Lausanne headquarters seek to allow a gradual return to world sport. (Reporting […]