Town Hall News

By Steve Gorman and Brendan O’Brien LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of storm-weary Californians were without power and under evacuation warnings on Wednesday as the latest storm packing wind-blown rain and snow threatened to bring more flooding to the rain-soaked state. The “atmospheric river” storm could dump more than an additional 1 inch (3 cm) of rain throughout the day in parts of the already-saturated Southern and Central […]

By Hannah Lang and Pete Schroeder (Reuters) – In the United States and many other countries, the government guarantees a certain amount of each customer’s deposits in the event of a bank failure, to protect both consumers and the broader financial system. With the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank and the U.S. government backstopping all deposits at those firms, here is the state of play of deposit […]

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Prince William made an unannounced trip to Poland on Wednesday to thank British and Polish troops involved in providing support to Ukraine, before meeting refugees who have fled the conflict with Russia to hear of their experiences. The heir-to-the throne travelled to Rzeszow in southeast Poland where he was to meet the country’s Defence Minister, Mariusz Blaszczak, and speak to members of the Polish defence force […]

By Byron Kaye and Praveen Menon SYDNEY (Reuters) – When David McMillan stole A$5,000 from his dying father’s small business last year, he knew it was time to kick a gambling habit that had consumed his life since he started emptying paycheques into slot machines at 17. “It wasn’t an intentional thing, but before I knew it there was no money left,” said the 33-year-old air conditioning technician from Sydney, […]

VIENNA (Reuters) – A Vienna museum where climate activists recently attacked the glass screen shielding a Gustav Klimt painting has responded with an exhibit entitled ‘A Few Degrees More’ that tilts works to draw attention to the need for action on climate change. Activists from the group Last Generation smeared the screen in front of Klimt’s “Death and Life” at the Leopold Museum in Vienna and glued one of their […]

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – A Chinese start-up inspired by lockdown isolation has invented a long-distance kissing machine that transmits users’ kiss data collected through motion sensors hidden in silicon lips, which simultaneously move when replaying kisses received.     The MUA – named after the sound people commonly make when blowing a kiss – also captures and replays sound and warms up slightly during kissing, making the experience more authentic, said […]

By Sharon Bernstein (Reuters) – Florida is looking to expand its ban on teaching young children about sexual orientation and gender identity issues to include all students in its public schools under a new rule set for a vote by the state Board of Education next month. The proposed rule is the latest move by the administration of Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who is expected to seek his party’s 2024 […]

(Reuters) – President Joe Biden plans to have a brief meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s biggest political rival during an official visit to Canada that begins on Thursday, a senior administration official said. The official said Biden will have a “pull aside” with Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who was elected last year to spearhead the party’s bid to oust the Liberals and Trudeau. It’s not uncommon for a […]

(Reuters) – BHP Group on Thursday signed an agreement with an engineering and project management firm Hatch to design an electric smelting furnace pilot plant in Australia in an attempt to slash its greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. The facility will help lower carbon dioxide intensity in steel production using iron ore from the global miner’s Pilbara mines. The plant will be able to produce steel from iron […]