Town Hall News

By Kirsty Needham SYDNEY (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden and his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, will join Pacific Islands leaders next month for a “historic” future-oriented meeting, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said on Sunday. “This is a historic first and at the same time a ‘going forward’ futuristic meeting of global superpowers, in the biggest country in the Pacific,” Marape said in a statement. Biden’s May […]

By Lidia Kelly (Reuters) -Ukraine remains in control of a key supply route into Bakhmut, a military spokesperson said on Saturday, as the head of Russia’s mercenary Wagner Group threatened to withdraw some of his troops from the eastern city if Moscow did not send more ammunition. Russian forces have been trying for 10 months to punch their way into the shattered remains of what was once a city of […]

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday, in a possible preview of a 2024 presidential campaign theme, attacked news outlets he said used “lies told for profit and power” to stir up hatred in the United States, as he coupled his remarks with pointed jokes about Fox News. Speaking at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, Biden referred to “truth buried by lies,” in […]

By Lidia Kelly (Reuters) -Ukraine remains in control of a key supply route into Bakhmut, a military spokesperson said on Saturday, as the head of Russia’s mercenary Wagner Group threatened to withdraw some of his troops from the eastern city if Moscow did not send more ammunition. Russian forces have been trying for 10 months to punch their way into the shattered remains of what was once a city of […]

(Reuters) – Ukraine remains in control of a key supply route into Bakhmut, but the situation remains “really difficult” in the besieged eastern city, a Ukrainian military spokesman said on Saturday. FIGHTING * A drone strike caused a fire at a fuel storage facility in the Crimean port of Sevastopol, sending a vast column of black smoke into the sky before it was extinguished, the city’s Moscow-installed governor said. * […]

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Former Italy midfielder Alessandro Diamanti has drawn down the curtain on a career that took him through 15 clubs on three continents over 23 seasons, retiring as “the happiest man in the world” after his final A-League match for Western United. The charismatic Italian, who scored the winning penalty when Italy knocked England out of the quarter-finals in a shootout at Euro 2012, played his final match […]

TAKASAKI (Reuters) – European Union tech regulation chief Margrethe Vestager said on Sunday the bloc will likely reach a political agreement this year that will pave the way for the world’s first major artificial intelligence (AI) legislation. This would follow a preliminary deal reached on Thursday on the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act. In an interview with Reuters at a Group of Seven digital ministers’ meeting in Takasaki, Japan, Vestager suggested […]

By Ellen Zhang and Ryan Woo BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s manufacturing activity unexpectedly shrank in April, official data showed on Sunday, raising pressure on policymakers seeking to boost an economy struggling for a post-COVID lift-off amid subdued global demand and persistent property weakness. The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) declined to 49.2 from 51.9 in March, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, below the 50-point mark that […]

(Reuters) – Ukraine remains in control of a key supply route into Bakhmut, but the situation remains “really difficult” in the besieged eastern city, a Ukrainian military spokesman said on Saturday. Russian forces have been trying for 10 months to punch their way into the shattered remains of what was once a city of 70,000. Kyiv has pledged to defend Bakhmut, which Russia sees as a stepping stone to attacking […]