Town Hall News

LONDON (Reuters) -Associated British Foods, the owner of Primark and major sugar, foods and ingredients businesses, said it would buy dairy technology company National Milk Records for 48 million pounds ($59.7 million) to boost its agri-food unit. While it is best known for the value fashion retailer Primark which makes up almost half of its 17 billion pounds of revenue, AB Foods is also one of the largest UK food […]

By Andrea Shalal and Daphne Psaledakis WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House said on Monday recent dangerous encounters between U.S. and Chinese forces in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea reflect a growing aggressiveness by Beijing’s military that raises the risk of an error in which “somebody gets hurt.” Washington’s sharply worded warning followed the U.S. Navy’s release on Sunday of a video of what it called an “unsafe […]

By Stella Qiu SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia’s central bank on Tuesday raised interest rates by a quarter-point to an 11-year high, and warned that further tightening may be required to ensure that inflation returns to target. The hawkish message sent the local dollar surging and bond yields spiking, as markets quickly moved to price in an above even chance of a further rate increase next month. Wrapping up its June policy […]

Middle East Faces Grave Environmental Challenges as World Marks Environment Day Experts highlight depletion of existing water resources, reduction in rainfall, pollution, rising sea levels, and changes in ecosystems as some of the gravely worrisome issues the region faces By Debbie Mohnblatt/The Media Line As World Environment Day was marked around the globe onMonday, a spotlight has been turned on the Middle East, wherethe environment is facing grave issues that are expected to […]

By Corina Pons and Helen Reid MADRID (Reuters) – Investors will closely watch Zara owner Inditex’s profit margins for any signs of weakness after a stellar series of results confirmed its lead over smaller Swedish rival H&M. Inditex, the world’s largest fashion retailer, reports results for the February-April period on Wednesday. H&M will give an update on March-May sales on June 15. Both companies’ shares have performed strongly so far […]

KABUL (Reuters) – The deputy governor of Afghanistan’s northern Badakhshan province was killed by a car bomb on Tuesday, the provincial spokesperson said. “Nissar Ahmad Ahmadi, with his driver, has been killed and six civilians were injured,” said the head of the provincial information office, Mahzudeen Ahmadi. It was not clear who was behind the attack, which was the first known major blast in Afghanistan in several weeks. The Taliban […]

By Selena Li HONG KONG (Reuters) – BlackRock Inc’s head of China business, Tony Tang, is leaving the asset manager, the company said on Tuesday, after having played a key role in expanding operations in the world’s second-largest economy. BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, said Tang “has expressed an interest in exploring opportunities” outside the firm, in a statement responding to a Reuters query. Susan Chan, BlackRock’s deputy head […]

By Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Tuesday he has upgraded the country’s alliance with the United States to one that is “nuclear-based” in the face of North Korea’s growing military threat. Yoon was referring to his talks with U.S. President Joe Biden in April on Washington’s willingness to give Seoul more insight into its nuclear planning in the event of potential conflict […]

ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan appointed his spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin as the head of the National Intelligence Agency (MIT) on Monday, Erdogan’s communications office said. Hakan Fidan, who had been Turkey’s intelligence chief since 2010, was appointed foreign minister on Saturday. Kalin is a long-term confidant of Erdogan and has served as the spokesperson for the presidency and been a foreign policy adviser for the president since 2014. Kalin […]