Town Hall News

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden signed 50 bills into law on Tuesday that include making the bald eagle the country’s official bird and one that stops members of Congress from collecting their pensions if convicted of crimes. Biden also established the first federal anti-hazing standard to address violence and deaths occurring on higher education campuses around the country. He also signed a bill supported by reality-TV star and heiress […]

CAIRO (Reuters) -Israel’s military intercepted a missile early on Wednesday that was launched from Yemen and crossed into Israeli territory, the army said. Sirens were activated due to the possibility of falling shrapnel from the interception, the army said in a statement. Magen David Adom ambulance service said in a statement that it had received reports of approximately nine people injured on their way to the protected area. “For the […]

LHOKNGA, Indonesia (AP) — Qurrata Ayuni, a 28-year-old survivor of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated her hometown two decades ago, has transformed her resilience into purpose. Defying Aceh’s male-dominated coffee culture, she runs a café that serves as a welcoming space for everyone, especially women, by employing and empowering them in the region worst hit by the tragedy. On Dec. 26, 2004, a powerful 9.1-magnitude earthquake, off the coast […]

HONOLULU (AP) — A Hawaii crime boss who died in federal detention this month was killed by an opioid overdose, Honolulu’s medical examiner said Tuesday. Michael Miske, 50, died of “toxicity of fentanyl and para-fluorofentanyl,” the medical examiner’s office said in a statement. The death appears to have been accidental but the case is still under investigation, it added, and an autopsy report will likely take at least another 30 […]

By Mariko Katsumura TOKYO (Reuters) – On the face of it, the duo hardly seem fit to inspire confidence as the brains behind Japan’s newest stock fund: one, a former comedian and the other, every bit the stereotypical “otaku” geek. But their maiden fund, announced on Wednesday, may be the Christmas gift that followers of the one-time entertainer, Toshiya Imura, have been waiting for since he revealed his plans for […]

By Keith Coffman Santa Claus took off early Christmas Eve aboard his reindeer-powered sleigh to deliver presents around the world. That is according to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), a joint-U.S. and Canadian military command at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs that for 69 years has provided a whimsical report tracking Father Christmas. Tracking would have gone ahead even if the federal government had shut down, a […]

By Liz Lee and Sakura Murakami BEIJING/TOKYO (Reuters) – Talks on seafood trade are expected to be on the agenda on Wednesday when Japan’s foreign minister visits China, Japan’s largest export market for aquatic products until Beijing placed a blanket ban in protest against Tokyo releasing treated radioactive wastewater into the ocean. It would be Takeshi Iwaya’s first visit to the Chinese capital since he became Japan’s foreign minister in […]

The Arizona Cardinals’ starting offensive tackles, Paris Johnson Jr. and Jonah Williams, will miss the rest of the season because of knee injuries. Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon initially ruled them out on Tuesday for Saturday’s game at the Los Angeles Rams (9-6), then the team later placed them on injured reserve. Arizona (7-8) has been eliminated from postseason contention. Johnson, 23, missed a game for the first time in his […]

LONDON (AP) — King Charles III is expected to use his annual Christmas message to highlight health workers, at the end of a year in which both he and the Princess of Wales were diagnosed with cancer. His King’s Speech, which will be broadcast in the afternoon on Christmas Day, was recorded at Fitzrovia Chapel in London, which was part of the now-demolished Middlesex Hospital where his first wife, Diana, […]