Town Hall News

By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Guests at President Joe Biden’s and first lady Jill Biden’s state dinner with their South Korean counterparts will feast on Maryland crab cakes and braised beef short ribs followed by banana splits for dessert, the White House said on Monday. The Bidens are hosting South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife Kim Keon Hee for a state visit on Wednesday that will conclude […]

(Reuters) -U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Gutterres told a meeting chaired by Russia’s foreign minister that the invasion of Ukraine is “causing massive suffering and devastation” while Moscow warned global risks were possibly worse than during the Cold War. DIPLOMACY * Finland said Russia could benefit from the crisis in Sudan and the European Union should do more to try to resolve it. * Security will be a key issue at a […]

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Comic actor Richard Lewis, a longtime regular on the HBO series “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” says he is under a doctor’s care for Parkinson’s disease but that despite giving up his standup act “everything is cool” as he focuses on writing and acting. Lewis, 75, disclosed his diagnosis in a brief video posted to Twitter on Sunday, saying he learned he had Parkinson’s, a chronic degenerative disorder […]

By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission has tweaked draft patent rules to make it easier for patent holders to sue companies over royalty disputes following criticism that an earlier draft favoured users while restricting patent owners from seeking injunctions. The EU executive, which will announce the draft rules on Wednesday, is hoping the move will end costly legal spats over patents essential to key technologies for […]

By Katherine Masters and Mimosa Spencer NEW YORK (Reuters) – The splashy reopening of Tiffany & Co’s flagship store on the corner of Fifth Avenue and East 57th Street is a renovation representing the billions of capital investment in one of New York City’s most iconic shopping districts. Real estate experts say the flow of cash is part of a bid to re-imagine an area of Midtown that extends from […]

By Khalid Abdelaziz and Aidan Lewis KHARTOUM (Reuters) -The U.S. said on Monday that the warring factions in Sudan had agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire, while Western, Arab and Asian nations raced to extract their citizens from the country. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the truce deal followed two days of intense negotiations and would begin on Tuesday. The two sides have not abided by several previous temporary […]

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Switching to clean energy from natural gas-fired electricity is the New York power industry’s top challenge this year, New York Power Authority’s chief executive said on Monday. “That’s the biggest challenge, I think, that we and the industry faces,” said Justin Driscoll, who heads the nation’s largest state-owned electric utility, at the BNEF Summit. New York State has set a target of generating 70% of its […]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden said on Monday he plans to run again as he gears up for a bruising re-election battle, amid expectations of a formal announcement via video as soon as Tuesday. “I told you I’m planning on running. I’ll let you know real soon when,” Biden said. (This story has been corrected to change Biden’s quote) (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Nandita Bose in Washington) Brought […]

By Mehnaz Yasmin (Reuters) -First Republic Bank shares sank more than 20% after the closing bell on Monday after the lender said deposits plunged by more than $100 billion in the first quarter and it was exploring options such as restructuring its balance sheet. The deposit slump overshadowed profits that beat expectations for the beleaguered lender, which was shored up through an injection of deposits by larger U.S. banks last […]