Town Hall News

Dec 4 (Reuters) – Hans Niemann quite literally made a splash on Wednesday, winning an underwater chess exhibition as festivities opened for the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Finals in Cape Town, where the world’s elite players gathered ahead of the main competition. The so-called “Diving Chess” format was devised in 2012 by London-based inventor Etan Ilfeld, founder of the Mind Sports Olympiad, with players making moves while holding their breath […]

By Simon Lewis WASHINGTON, Dec 4 – The U.S. will provide more than $1.6 billion to Kenya’s health system under a new five-year agreement signed on Thursday, the first such agreement reached under the Trump administration’s overhaul of foreign aid. The administration in September announced a new “America First Global Health Strategy” that calls for poorer nations to play a bigger role in fighting HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and polio in […]

WASHINGTON, Dec 4 (Reuters) – The Trump administration on Thursday authorized transactions with Lukoil retail gas stations outside of Russia, issuing a narrow waiver to sanctions the U.S. imposed in October for the role the company’s revenues play in supporting Moscow’s war in Ukraine. The transactions are authorized through April 29, 2026, a posting on the Treasury Department site said. Lukoil has about 200 branded gas stations in New Jersey, […]

LONDON, Dec 4 (Reuters) – Britain on Thursday announced new sanctions against Russia, including the entire GRU military intelligence agency that was singled out in a UK public inquiry into the 2018 death of a woman poisoned by the nerve agent Novichok. The government also summoned the Russian ambassador to demand a response to the inquiry’s findings and over what it called Moscow’s “ongoing campaign of hostile activity” against Britain. […]

Russian authorities said Thursday they have imposed restrictions on Apple’s video calling service FaceTime, the latest step in an effort to tighten control over the internet and communications online. State internet regulator Roskomnadzor alleged in a statement that the service is being “used to organize and conduct terrorist activities on the territory of the country, to recruit perpetrators (and) commit fraud and other crimes against our citizens.” Apple did not […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Ralph Lauren revealed Team USA’s Milan Cortina Winter Olympics looks Thursday, complete with Americana knit sweaters and plenty of vintage call-backs. The formal opening ceremony look pairs a patterned red, white and blue knit sweater with tailored cream trousers and a matching wool coat. Moving sportier, the closing ceremony outfit features a graphic puffer coat inspired by vintage ski kits over a color-blocked sweater. “We are […]

NEW YORK (AP) — The first full-length book by Pope Leo XIV to come out in the U.S. will be published next year. HarperOne announced Wednesday that it had acquired world rights to “Peace Be with You! My Words to the Church and to the World,” scheduled for release on Feb. 26. “Peace Be With You” includes sermons and addresses he has given since his election in May. HarperOne, an […]

PRAGUE (AP) — Theodor Pištěk, a Czech costume and stage designer and painter who won an Academy Award for his work on the 1984 film “Amadeus,” has died. He was 93. His death was announced on Thursday by the town of Mukařov, just east of Prague, where he lived and was confirmed by his family to the local CTK news agency. They said he died on Wednesday but gave no […]

JALALABAD, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan national charged in the shooting of two U.S. National Guard members last week had been previously trained by American forces, and his actions should not reflect on the people of Afghanistan, the country’s foreign minister said. The remarks by Amir Khan Muttaqi were the first public comments on the case by Afghanistan’s Taliban government. Muttaqi spoke during a meeting of community elders on Wednesday, […]