Town Hall News

By Ayenat Mersie NAIROBI (Reuters) – Religious leaders and human rights groups in Kenya called for calm on Tuesday as a second week of protests against cost of living increases raised fears of further violence, while President William Ruto said criminals would be held to account. Opposition leader Raila Odinga, who lost to Ruto in last August’s election, is leading the protests against the high cost of basic staples and […]

By Daniela Desantis ASUNCION (Reuters) -Paraguay’s ruling Colorado Party – a conservative political machine that has dominated government in Asuncion for some eight decades – could be facing a major challenge at the ballot box next month. Voters say they want change and are fed up with internal party squabbles and allegations of graft – opening up the door for a broad opposition alliance to win power. The single-round election […]

(Reuters) – Investors cheered a major revamp of Alibaba Group as a sign Beijing’s crackdown on the corporate sector was nearing an end, sending shares of the Jack Ma-founded company and its peers soaring on Wednesday. Alibaba said on Tuesday it was planning to split into six units and explore fundraisings or listings for most of them, in the biggest restructuring of the technology conglomerate in its 24-year history. The […]

By Yantoultra Ngui and Anshuman Daga SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Australia’s largest private hospital operator Ramsay Health Care and Malaysian conglomerate Sime Darby plan to revive the sale of their Asia-focused healthcare joint venture in a deal that could value the business at some 6 billion ringgit ($1.36 billion), two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The companies are in talks with financial advisors to explore a sale of […]

RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s cabinet approved on Wednesday a decision to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, as Riyadh builds a long-term partnership with China despite U.S. security concerns. Saudi Arabia has approved a memorandum on granting the kingdom the status of a dialogue partner in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), state news agency SPA said. The SCO is a political and security union of countries spanning much of Eurasia, […]

LONDON (Reuters) – Veteran investment banker Sergio Ermotti is returning take the top job at UBS, replacing Ralph Hamers who succeeded him in late 2020, as the Swiss lender prepares for the mammoth task of integrating failed cross-town rival Credit Suisse. STORIES: ANDREAS VENDITTI, HEAD OF BANKS RESEARCH, BANK VONTOBEL “We welcome the appointment of Sergio Ermotti and believe that he is right person for the challenging task, given his […]

By Jyoti Narayan and Krystal Hu (Reuters) – Elon Musk and a group of artificial intelligence experts and industry executives are calling for a six-month pause in training systems more powerful than OpenAI’s newly launched model GPT-4, they said in an open letter, citing potential risks to society and humanity. The letter, issued by the non-profit Future of Life Institute and signed by more than 1,000 people including Musk, Stability […]

By John Revill ZURICH (Reuters) -UBS Group AG has rehired Sergio Ermotti as CEO to steer its massive takeover of neighbour Credit Suisse – a surprise move that seeks to take advantage of his experience in rebuilding the bank after the global financial crisis. His immediate challenges will include laying off thousands of staff, cutting back Credit Suisse’s investment bank and reassuring the world’s wealthy that UBS remains the best […]

By Jennifer Rigby LONDON (Reuters) – Drugs that combat obesity could for the first time be included on the World Health Organization’s “essential medicines list,” used to guide government purchasing decisions in low- and middle-income countries, the U.N. agency told Reuters.    A panel of advisers to the WHO will review new requests for drugs to be included next month, with an updated essential medicines list due in September. The request […]