Town Hall News

BEIJING, July 28 (Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping hopes Slovakia will play a constructive role in the development of European Union’s relations with China, focusing on properly handling conflicts and differences, according to a report on Tuesday from state news agency Xinhua. The key is to engage in equal consultation and seek common ground while reserving differences, Xinhua cited Xi as saying to Slovak President Peter Pellegrini, who is […]

July 28 (Reuters) – French defence company Exosens said on Tuesday it would triple thermal-camera production capacity in 2026 to meet growing demand from drone and counter-drone applications, as it reported a 15.3% rise in first-half revenue and raised its full-year outlook. The night-vision gear maker said it now expected full-year revenue and adjusted EBITDA to come in toward the upper end of its respective guidance ranges of 520 million […]

DUBAI, July 28 (Reuters) – Iran’s foreign minister discussed issues related to the security of the Strait of Hormuz in separate phone calls with his Saudi and Omani counterparts on Monday evening, according to a statement published on his Telegram channel on Tuesday. The statement said Abbas Araqchi “discussed the latest bilateral and regional developments, and emphasized the need to strengthen cooperation and advance joint diplomatic efforts to establish stability […]

HONG KONG (AP) — South Korea’s Kospi index plunged more than 10% on Tuesday on heavy selling of chipmaking stocks that have gyrated recently due to concerns over the sustainability of the boom in artificial intelligence. The Kospi dropped to its lowest level since April as shares in chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix dropped sharply. Most other Asian markets also fell, with Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 down 3% and the […]

A corporate fad of “tokenmaxxing” on artificial intelligence technology is hitting its limits as workplaces throwing AI at everything are seeing the costs rise without a similar spike in productivity. What started as tech industry-fueled springtime hype over squeezing as much AI-generated work as possible out of products like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude has shifted to a summertime backlash. “It’s very easy to create something you don’t need with […]

PERTH, Australia (AP) — Lawyers were making closing statements Tuesday in the Australian trial of a British YouTuber and rapper known as Yung Filly on charges that he raped and choked a fan following a music performance two years ago. The 30-year-old entertainer, whose real name is Andres Felipe Valencia Barrientos, had pleaded not guilty in the District Court of Western Australia state to six charges of rape, three charges […]

HONG KONG, July 28 (Reuters) – Citigroup has appointed three senior traders to its foreign exchange options desk in Singapore as it seeks to boost its regional market-making and risk management capabilities, according to a company statement on Tuesday. The Wall Street lender appointed Eric Poon as director on its FX emerging markets options trading team in Asia, reporting to Akshay Saxena, head of FX options for Asia Pacific. Poon […]

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Early in-person voting begins Tuesday in swing state Wisconsin’s chaotic Democratic primary for governor, with a democratic socialist trying to overcome the incumbent governor’s choice to replace him. Democrats are hoping to retain control of the governor’s office and flip both chambers of the Legislature to earn full control of Wisconsin state government for the first time since 2010. But they have failed to coalesce around […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is expected to confirm Jay Clayton on Tuesday to become head of the nation’s intelligence agencies, ensuring that a permanent director is in place as the midterm elections approach. Clayton is expected to be confirmed along party lines after a contentious hearing two weeks ago in which he repeatedly refused to say that former President Joe Biden won the 2020 election. Still, Democrats have said […]