Town Hall News

By Krystal Hu and Jeffrey Dastin PALO ALTO, California (Reuters) – In December and January, several venture capitalists from the U.S. and Britain raced to Paris to vie for a stake in a new artificial intelligence company that could reshape how people work. The startup they courted, Dust, consisted of just two people. It had not been incorporated yet. And it rejected a generous proposal by top investment firm Coatue […]

By Amanda Cooper, Sruthi Shankar and Amruta Khandekar (Reuters) -Banking stocks fell sharply in Europe on Friday with heavyweights Deutsche Bank and UBS Group pummelled by worries that the worst problems in the sector since the 2008 financial crisis have not yet been contained. Deutsche Bank fell for a third day, sinking more than 11% after a sharp jump in the cost of insuring the German giant’s bonds against the […]

By Dominique Vidalon PARIS (Reuters) -King Charles’ state visit to France on Sunday has been postponed, the Elysee Palace said, after social unrest over President Emmanuel Macron’s changes to the pension system erupted into violence in Paris and cities across France. The Elysee said a joint decision was taken by the British and French governments after trade unions called for a further day of nationwide strikes and demonstrations during the […]

By Rupam Jain and Shivam Patel NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s opposition Congress party suffered a major blow on Friday when parliament disqualified its leader Rahul Gandhi, a day after a court convicted him for comments that many Indians deemed insulting to the prime minister. Gandhi “stands disqualified from the membership of Lok Sabha from the date of his conviction”, parliament said in a notice, referring to the lower house […]

By Amruta Khandekar and Ankika Biswas (Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures slipped into red on Friday as lingering concerns over the banking sector’s health steered investors away from financial stocks despite reassurances from authorities. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s reassurances that measures will be taken to keep Americans’ deposits safe amid turmoil in the banking sector, sparked by the collapse of two U.S regional banks, had driven Wall Street’s main […]

By Ashitha Shivaprasad (Reuters) – The El Nino weather pattern could boost yields in the second half of the year for U.S. cotton farmers, who were forced to abandon a big chunk of their cropland in 2022 after one of the worst droughts in years. While El Nino typically brings dry weather to Asia, with impacts already being felt in Australia, Indonesia and India, it is known for wet weather […]

By Elizabeth Pineau and Dominique Vidalon PARIS (Reuters) -President Emmanuel Macron was under pressure on Friday to find a way out of a crisis that has seen some of France’s worst street violence in years over a pension bill he has pushed through parliament without a vote. In Paris and many cities across the country, clean-up crews sifted through broken glass, charred garbage cans and shattered bus stops after violent […]

By Nathan Layne LACONIA, New Hampshire (Reuters) – Longtime Donald Trump supporter Doug Lambert agrees with the former president that the potential criminal charges he faces in New York are being cooked up by his enemies on the left. But, Lambert worries about the “messiness” of a Trump presidential candidacy and is leaning towards voting for someone else. Like other Republicans in New Hampshire, which traditionally holds the second nominating […]

By Anna Mehler Paperny and Ted Hesson TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada and the United States have reached a deal to return asylum seekers who cross the border via unofficial crossings, Canadian and U.S. officials told Reuters on Thursday, marking a major development at a time of record irregular crossings into Canada. WHAT IS IN THE DEAL? The deal will allow either country to return asylum seekers who cross the border […]