Town Hall News

By Emma Farge GENEVA (Reuters) – Negotiations on new rules for dealing with pandemics are underway at the World Health Organization (WHO), with a target date of May 2024 for a legally binding agreement to be adopted by the U.N. health agency’s 194 member countries. A new pact is a priority for WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus who called it a “generational commitment that we will not go back to […]

By Mathieu Rosemain PARIS (Reuters) – Slawomir Krupa has one clear mission when he takes over at Societe Generale on Tuesday: remake France’s third-largest lender as a top-tier bank with a distinct identity. The 48-year-old, who has spent his whole career at SocGen, must perform a tricky balancing act, improving returns for shareholders without taking undue risk against a shaky backdrop for bank stocks. “It’s very important to clarify (things), […]

By Pavel Polityuk KYIV (Reuters) – Russian forces pressed on with a “counter-terrorism operation” in a border district on Tuesday, a regional governor said, a day after what appeared to be one of the biggest cross-border incursions from Ukraine since the war began 15 months ago. Russia said on Monday it was battling an incursion by Ukrainian saboteurs who crossed into the Belgorod region. A Ukrainian presidential adviser said on […]

By Pavel Polityuk KYIV (Reuters) – Russian forces pressed on with a “counter-terrorism operation” in a border district on Tuesday, a regional governor said, a day after what appeared to be one of the biggest cross-border incursions from Ukraine since the war began 15 months ago. Russia said on Monday it was battling an incursion by Ukrainian saboteurs who crossed into the Belgorod region. A Ukrainian presidential adviser said on […]

By Tom Westbrook and Kane Wu SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Asian stocks gave up morning gains on Tuesday after creeping to two-week highs, as investors stayed cautious amid the standoff over the U.S. debt ceiling, while awaiting industrial sector surveys in Europe and the United States. FTSE futures were largely flat while E-mini futures for the S&P 500 index rose 0.14%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down […]

By Julien Pretot PARIS (Reuters) – Paris 2024 organisers have been planning to install the Olympic flame on the Eiffel Tower, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Monday. The source added that the flame would not be put at the top of the Eiffel Tower, for technical reasons, and it was not clear whether it would stay on the monument throughout the Games but the […]

By Gopal Sharma KATHMANDU (Reuters) – A Nepali sherpa reached the summit of Mount Everest for a record 28th time on Tuesday, an official said, completing his second ascent in just a week, as the toll in this year’s climbing season reached 11. Kami Rita Sherpa, 53, reached the 8,849-metre (29,032-feet) summit by the traditional southeast ridge route, said Nepali tourism official Bigyan Koirala, following his 27th climb last week. […]

By Praveen Menon SYDNEY (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of overseas Indians are expected to cheer Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a rally in Sydney’s biggest sporting arena on Tuesday, a rare mass showing for a foreign leader in Australia. Modi, who is visiting Australia for the first time since 2014, will look to use his popularity among expatriate Indians to boost support at home ahead of a general election […]

By Gopal Sharma KATHMANDU (Reuters) – A Nepali sherpa reached the summit of Mount Everest for a record 28th time on Tuesday, an official said, completing his second ascent in just a week, as the toll in this year’s climbing season reached 11. Kami Rita Sherpa, 53, reached the 8,849-metre (29,032-feet) summit by the traditional southeast ridge route, said Nepali tourism official Bigyan Koirala, following his 27th climb last week. […]