Town Hall News

By Carien du Plessis , Nellie Peyton and Bhargav Acharya JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -The United States envoy to South Africa said on Thursday he was confident that a Russian ship had picked up weapons in South Africa last year, in a possible breach of Pretoria’s declared neutrality in the Ukraine conflict. The rand and South Africa’s 2030 government bond extended losses after the U.S. assertion as currency traders said they were […]

PARIS (Reuters) – Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy should stand trial on charges of corruption and illegal financing of an election campaign related to alleged Libyan funding of his successful 2007 presidential bid, France’s financial prosecutor (PNF) said. Prosecutors have investigated allegations that former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi sent Sarkozy’s election campaign millions of euros in cash, allegations that were first made by one of the sons of the late […]

By Michael Erman and Bhanvi Satija NEW YORK (Reuters) -Pfizer Inc Chief Executive Albert Bourla on Thursday called U.S. plans to negotiate drug prices for its Medicare health program “negotiation with a gun to your head” and said he expects drugmakers to sue in an attempt to halt the process. “It is not negotiation at all. It is price setting,” Bourla said at a Reuters newsmaker event on Thursday, referring […]

By Xie Yu HONG KONG (Reuters) – China’s securities watchdog on Thursday said that it was willing to work with its counterparts in the United States to promote regulatory cooperation on audits and safeguard the rights and interests of global investors. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) was commenting a day after a U.S. accounting watchdog said that it found unacceptable deficiencies in audits of U.S.-listed Chinese companies. “We noticed […]

(Reuters) – Southwest Airlines Co pilots’ union said on Thursday its members had approved a strike mandate by an overwhelming majority ahead of the busy summer travel season. The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA), which represents 10,000 pilots of the Dallas-based carrier, said 98% of its members participated in the vote and 99% voted in favor of authorizing a strike. Southwest said the vote result will not impact its operations: […]

ROME (Reuters) – World number two Aryna Sabalenka suffered an early shock at the Italian Open on Thursday as the in-form Belarusian crashed to a 7-6(4) 6-2 defeat by American Sofia Kenin in a high-octane second-round match. Sabalenka wobbled on serve early in her first match since claiming the Madrid title last week and squandered three chances to break Kenin before finding her groove to level a pulsating opening set […]

(Reuters) – Southwest Airlines Co pilots’ union said on Thursday its members had approved a strike mandate by an overwhelming majority ahead of the busy summer travel season. The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA), which represents 10,000 pilots of the Dallas-based carrier, said 98% of its members participated in the vote and 99% voted in favor of authorizing a strike. Southwest said the vote result will not impact its operations: […]

By Laurie Chen BEIJING (Reuters) – Teresa Xu did not anticipate that five years after she was denied an egg-freezing treatment at a Beijing hospital for being unmarried, her subsequent lawsuit would be at the centre of a debate over reproductive rights in China. Xu, 35, first lodged the claim against the Beijing Obstetrics and Gynaecology Hospital in 2019, in a landmark case of a Chinese woman fighting for her […]

By Lara Afghani and Henriette Chacar JERUSALEM (Reuters) – A year after Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot while covering an Israeli army raid, family and friends say her killers are yet to be held responsible. Abu Akleh, one of the most recognizable journalists covering Israeli-occupied territories, was shot dead on May 11, 2022 during an Israeli raid in the West Bank city of Jenin. After changing its […]