Town Hall News

By Dan Peleschuk and Ethan Wang KYIV/BEIJING (Reuters) -Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke to Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy by telephone on Wednesday for the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, fulfilling a longstanding goal of Kyiv which had publicly sought such talks for months. Zelenskiy immediately signalled the importance of the chance to open closer relations with Russia’s most powerful friend, naming a former cabinet minister as Ukraine’s new ambassador […]

US-led Task Force Reports Significant Decline in IS Attacks US troops in the multinational task force fighting IS have transitioned into an advisory role, which officials say has been effective at preventing terrorism By Clint Van Winkle/The Media Line The multinational task force working on dismantling the Islamic State (IS) group announced on Monday that IS attacks have declined as US forces transition away from combat and into an advisory […]

(Reuters) – The family of a Japanese journalist killed while reporting on Myanmar’s 2007 “Saffron Revolution” released his last pictures on Wednesday, sharing footage from a recently obtained video camera missing since his fatal shooting 15 years ago. The final pictures from 50-year-old Kenji Nagai during an anti-government protest were obtained by Myanmar-focused news outlet the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), which returned the camera on Wednesday to Nagai’s family […]

By Luc Cohen NEW YORK (Reuters) – A dual Lebanese-Belgian citizen accused by the United States of financing Lebanon’s Hezbollah has been extradited from Romania and will face sanctions evasion and money laundering charges on Wednesday in Brooklyn federal court, prosecutors said. Mohammad Bazzi, who Washington says has provided millions of dollars to Hezbollah, was arrested in February on charges of covertly selling real estate he owned in Michigan and […]

By Luc Cohen NEW YORK (Reuters) – A dual Lebanese-Belgian citizen accused by the United States of financing Lebanon’s Hezbollah has been extradited from Romania and will face sanctions evasion and money laundering charges on Wednesday in Brooklyn federal court, prosecutors said. Mohammad Bazzi, who Washington says has provided millions of dollars to Hezbollah, was arrested in February on charges of covertly selling real estate he owned in Michigan and […]

By Alexander Marrow, Gleb Stolyarov and Anne Kauranen (Reuters) -The Kremlin warned on Wednesday it could seize more Western assets in retaliation for foreign moves against Russian companies, after taking temporary control of assets belonging to two European state-owned utilities. President Vladimir Putin late on Tuesday signed a decree establishing temporary control of the Russian assets of Finland’s Fortum and Germany’s Uniper, which both operate power plants in Russia. Fortum […]

By Alexander Marrow, Gleb Stolyarov and Anne Kauranen (Reuters) -The Kremlin warned on Wednesday it could seize more Western assets in retaliation for foreign moves against Russian companies, after taking temporary control of assets belonging to two European state-owned utilities. President Vladimir Putin late on Tuesday signed a decree establishing temporary control of the Russian assets of Finland’s Fortum and Germany’s Uniper, which both operate power plants in Russia. Fortum […]

By Joseph White and Stephen Nellis DETROIT (Reuters) – Germany’s Bosch Group has agreed to buy key assets of California chip manufacturer TSI Semiconductors and invest $1.5 billion to expand U.S. production of silicon carbide chips for electric vehicles. Bosch and TSI did not disclose a purchase price. Bosch said it plans to invest $1.5 billion to retool TSI’s chip production facilities in Roseville, California to start producing silicon carbide […]

(Reuters) -First Republic Bank’s shares hit a record low on Wednesday after a report said the U.S. government was unwilling to intervene in the rescue process, adding to concerns about the troubled lender’s plans to turn around its business. The company’s shares were last down 20% at $6.51, after losing nearly half of their value on Tuesday. U.S. government officials were currently unwilling to intervene in the First Republic rescue […]