Town Hall News

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s economy grew at the weakest pace in 1-1/2 years last quarter as high prices and rising interest rates sapped consumer spending, while emerging signs pointed to further softness ahead amid elevated borrowing costs and a slowdown in global growth. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday showed real gross domestic product (GDP) rose 0.2% in the first quarter, easing from 0.5% in the previous […]

By Ismail Shakil OTTAWA (Reuters) -Authorities in New York, Toronto and Ottawa on Tuesday warned residents about the health risks from air polluted by smoke from unprecedented early summer wildfires in eastern Canada. An unusually early and intense start to wildfire season has set Canada on track for its worst-ever year as warm and dry conditions are forecast to persist for months. There are blazes in nearly all of Canada’s […]

By Lucy Craymer WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand and Fiji are finalising a defence agreement that will increase engagement between the two countries militaries and help build capacity and skills in the Fiji Defence Force, the Fijian prime minister said on Wednesday. Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka told media in Wellington, where he is meeting senior New Zealand government officials including the prime minister and opposition leader, that the agreement […]

By Lucy Craymer WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand and Fiji are finalising a defence agreement that will increase engagement between the two countries militaries and help build capacity and skills in the Fiji Defence Force, the Fijian prime minister said on Wednesday. Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka told media in Wellington, where he is meeting senior New Zealand government officials including the prime minister and opposition leader, that the agreement […]

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s economy grew at the weakest pace in 1-1/2 years last quarter as high prices and rising interest rates sapped consumer spending, and emerging signs suggest a further slowdown ahead amid a deceleration in global growth. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday showed real gross domestic product (GDP) rose 0.2% in the first quarter, easing from 0.5% in the previous quarter and under forecasts […]

(Reuters) -Two people were shot dead and five others wounded after a gunman opened fire in a park in Richmond, Virginia, on Tuesday as high school graduates and their families emerged from a theater where commencement exercises had just concluded, police said. Police arrested a suspect, an 19-year-old man, and planned to charge him with two counts of second-degree murder in addition to other possible offenses, interim Richmond Police Chief […]

By Jonathan Stempel, Hannah Lang and John McCrank NEW YORK (Reuters) – The top U.S. securities regulator sued cryptocurrency platform Coinbase on Tuesday, the second lawsuit in two days against a major crypto exchange, in a dramatic escalation of a crackdown on the industry and one that could dramatically transform a market that has largely operated outside regulation. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday took aim at […]

By Rae Wee SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The dollar edged lower on Wednesday as traders assessed the odds of a rate hike by the Federal Reserve next week, while the Aussie scaled a fresh three-week high in the wake of a rate increase and a decidedly hawkish stance by its central bank . The Australian dollar peaked at $0.6690 in early Asia trade, its highest since mid-May, buoyed by lingering effects […]

By Viktoriia Lakezina KHERSON, Ukraine (Reuters) – About 42,000 people were at risk from flooding in Russian and Ukrainian controlled areas along the Dnipro River after a dam collapsed, as the United Nations aid chief warned of “grave and far-reaching consequences.” Ukraine and Russia blame each other for the collapse of the massive dam on Tuesday, which sent floodwaters across a swathe of the war zone and forced thousands to […]