Town Hall News

By Pavel Polityuk KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine said on Thursday Russian forces had made some gains inside the eastern battlefield city of Bakhmut, but at a heavy price in lives lost that has blunted Moscow’s offensive as Ukraine prepares a counterstrike of its own. In a potential escalation of Moscow’s diplomatic feud with Washington, Russia’s FSB security service arrested an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Evan Gershkovich, on suspicion […]

By Crispian Balmer and Alvise Armellini VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Pope Francis’s health is improving after he was hospitalised with a respiratory infection and he has resumed working while treatment continues, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement on Thursday. “His Holiness Pope Francis rested well during the night. His clinical picture is gradually improving and he is continuing his planned treatment,” the statement said. “This morning after breakfast, he […]

By Crispian Balmer and Alvise Armellini VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Pope Francis’s health is improving after he was hospitalised with a respiratory infection and he has resumed working while treatment continues, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement on Thursday. “His Holiness Pope Francis rested well during the night. His clinical picture is gradually improving and he is continuing his planned treatment,” the statement said. “This morning after breakfast, he […]

By Philip Blenkinsop BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A hardening of China’s position from an era of reform and opening to one of security and control requires Europe to “de-risk” diplomatically and economically, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday. Ahead of next week’s visit to China with French President Emmanuel Macron, von der Leyen delivered a sober assessment of Chinese policies, acknowledging that relations with Beijing have become […]

(Reuters) – Alexei Moskalyov, a Russian who has been sentenced to two years in prison for discrediting the army and seen his daughter taken into care, has been detained in Belarus after fleeing house arrest, lawyer Dmitry Zakhvatov told Reuters on Thursday. Zakhvatov said Moskalyov, 54, had been arrested in Minsk, most likely as a result of turning on his mobile phone and giving away his location. “Apparently someone made […]

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The Dutch government on Thursday said it would investigate an air strike against an alleged Islamic State headquarters in northern Iraq in 2016, which might have killed seven civilians. A bomb dropped by a Dutch F-16 fighter jet taking part in U.S.-led counter-terrorism operations on March 22, 2016, destroyed a building in Mosul, which was believed to be the headquarters of the militant group. But the Dutch […]

By Luc Cohen NEW YORK (Reuters) – Indicted FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried is expected to plead not guilty on Thursday to new U.S. criminal charges, which include conspiring to violate campaign finance laws and bribe Chinese authorities. Bankman-Fried, 31, had earlier pleaded not guilty to eight counts of fraud and conspiracy for allegedly stealing billions in FTX customer funds to plug losses at his hedge fund, Alameda Research. […]

By Krishna N. Das NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Indian authorities have cancelled or suspended licences of some domestic drug companies as part of action taken against 76 pharmaceutical firms this month for selling adulterated or fake products, a government source said on Thursday. India is known as the ‘pharmacy of the world’ and its pharmaceuticals exports have more than doubled over the past decade to $24.5 billion in 2021-22. But […]

(Reuters) – Meta Platforms Inc executives are discussing a company-wide ban on political advertising in Europe due to concerns that Facebook and Instagram will be unable to comply with upcoming EU regulations targeting online campaigns, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. EU lawmakers in February agreed to tougher rules on targeted political advertising aimed at countering misinformation during elections. The proposed rules require U.S. tech giants to provide more data […]