Town Hall News

BEIJING (Reuters) -A 78-year-old U.S. citizen and Hong Kong resident was on Monday convicted of espionage and sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in eastern China, a court statement said. John Shing-wan Leung was also stripped of his political rights after a brief trial on Monday, the Suzhou Intermediate People’s Court said in the statement. The court added that Leung was a Hong Kong resident and a U.S. passport […]

By Juan Gonzalez SANTA JUANA, Chile (Reuters) – In the southern Chilean city of Santa Juana, hit hard by wildfires earlier this year, locals have a special taskforce helping fight blazes: a herd of goats. The goats have already saved the native forest of the Bosques de Chacay once, preventing the park from being consumed by February forest fires – fueled by heatwaves and a punishing drought – that left […]

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia wants to introduce a law to decriminalise the possession and use of small quantities of illicit drugs, its home affairs minister said on Monday, citing a need to reduce prison overcrowding. The move is the latest in a series of criminal justice reforms pursued by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government, which this year abolished the mandatory death penalty and natural-life prison terms, and said it […]

By Huseyin Hayatsever and Jonathan Spicer ANKARA (Reuters) – President Tayyip Erdogan’s opponents face an uphill struggle to end his two-decade rule of Turkey in a runoff vote on May 28 after he performed better than predicted in a first round of voting on Sunday but fell short of an outright majority.   Turks woke on Monday to see support for Erdogan just below the 50% threshold needed to avoid […]

By Chayut Setboonsarng and Panu Wongcha-um BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s two main opposition parties agreed on Monday to form a ruling coalition after they trounced in a weekend election military-backed rivals that have controlled government for nearly a decade. The Move Forward party and opposition heavyweight Pheu Thai dominated Sunday’s ballot in a stunning rout of army-backed parties, but they could face challenges in mustering enough support, with parliamentary rules […]

By Leika Kihara and Kentaro Sugiyama TOKYO (Reuters) -A meeting of the government’s top economic council on Monday focused on whether recent rises in inflation and wage growth suggest Japan was approaching a sustained exit from deflation. With inflation accelerating globally and wage growth picking up in Japan, discussions also touched on the desirable timing to end the Bank of Japan’s ultra-loose monetary policy, a government official told reporters. “While […]

By Dan Peleschuk KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine’s military on Monday hailed recent advances around Bakhmut as its first successful counterattack in the battle against Russian forces fighting for control of the eastern city. But Kyiv also said the situation in Bakhmut was difficult. It cautioned that Moscow had not changed its goal of capturing the city and was sending assault troops to Bakhmut’s outskirts. The Ukrainian military said last week it […]

By Chayut Setboonsarng and Panu Wongcha-um BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s two main opposition parties agreed on Monday to form a ruling coalition after they trounced in a weekend election military-backed rivals that have controlled government for nearly a decade. The Move Forward party and opposition heavyweight Pheu Thai dominated Sunday’s ballot in a stunning rout of army-backed parties, but they could face challenges in mustering enough support, with parliamentary rules […]

By Dan Peleschuk KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine’s military on Monday hailed recent advances around Bakhmut as its first successful counterattack in the battle against Russian forces fighting for control of the eastern city. But Kyiv also said the situation in Bakhmut was difficult. It cautioned that Moscow had not changed its goal of capturing the city and was sending assault troops to Bakhmut’s outskirts. The Ukrainian military said last week it […]