Town Hall News

MILAN (Reuters) – Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, a billionaire businessman who created Italy’s largest media company before transforming the political landscape, has died on Monday, according to sources. Berlusconi, who was 86, had been suffering from leukaemia “for some time” and had recently developed a lung infection. Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party is part of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing coalition, and although he himself did not have a role […]

DUBAI (Reuters) -Iran and the United States could exchange prisoners soon if Washington shows goodwill, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday, a day after Iran’s supreme leader signalled the possibility of reaching a nuclear agreement with the West. “Regarding the issue of exchanging prisoners with America.. negotiations are ongoing through mediators…If the other party shows the same seriousness and goodwill, this can happen in the near future,” Nasser Kanaani […]

(Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to China next week for long-delayed talks aimed at stabilizing tense relations in what will be the first such visit by Washington’s top diplomat in five years. A U.S. official said he is expected to be there on June 18. Having postponed a February trip after a suspected Chinese spy balloon flew over U.S. airspace, Blinken is set to become the […]

By Tom Balmforth KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine said on Monday its troops had recaptured a fourth village in a cluster of settlements in the southeast, a day after reporting the first small gains of a counteroffensive against Russian forces. Soldiers held up the Ukrainian flag in Storozheve in the Donetsk region in unverified video footage posted online and the defence minister thanked the 35th Separate Brigade of Marines for regaining control […]

By Panarat Thepgumpanat and Chayut Setboonsarng BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s prime ministerial frontrunner Pita Limjareonrat will be investigated over whether he was qualified to run in last month’s election, a top official said on Monday, in another setback as he battles to win backing for his premiership. Pita, the 42-year-old leader of the progressive Move Forward party whose election victory stunned Thailand’s military-backed establishment, has faced multiple complaints from rivals, […]

By Rajendra Jadhav MUMBAI (Reuters) -A storm off India’s west coast has strengthened to become a powerful cyclone and could hit India’s western state of Gujarat and southern parts of Pakistan this week, the weather department said. The cyclone, named Biparjoy, is expected to make landfall on Thursday afternoon between Mandvi in Gujarat and Karachi in Pakistan with a maximum sustained wind speed of 125-135 km (78-84 miles) per hour, […]

(Reuters) -Billionaire financier George Soros is handing control of his massive empire to his son Alexander, a Soros spokesperson said on Sunday. The spokesperson confirmed the details from an interview with Soros published in The Wall Street Journal on Sunday. A hedge fund manager turned philanthropist and major backer of liberal causes, Soros, 92, said he previously didn’t want his Open Society Foundations (OSF) to be taken over by one […]

(Reuters) – Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Monday it has signed a contract with the Akhmat group of Chechen special forces, a day after Russia’s powerful mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin refused to do so. The signing followed an order that all “volunteer units” should sign contracts by July 1 bringing them under the control of Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, as Moscow tries to assert its control over private armies fighting […]

BERLIN (Reuters) – Volkswagen’s supervisory board will meet on Tuesday to discuss a planned savings programme ahead of its capital markets day on June 21, two sources close to the company said on Monday. The board will discuss cost-cutting measures amounting to at least 3 billion euros ($3.22 billion) across the Volkswagen, Seat, Skoda and Cupra brands, said one source. Germany daily Handelsblatt, which first reported on the savings programme, […]