Town Hall News

(Reuters) – World XV coach Steve Hansen has welcomed the decision to raise the rainbow flag above Twickenham for their game against the Barbarians on Sunday after he named Israel Folau in his squad. Folau, an evangelical Christian, had his Wallabies contract terminated in 2019 after he posted a meme on social media that said “hell” awaits homosexual people and other groups. He then returned to international rugby last year […]

(Reuters) – Aston Martin’s Formula One engine partnership with Honda from 2026 will not affect ties to Mercedes on the road car side, according to the team’s CEO of performance technologies Martin Whitmarsh. Mercedes-Benz has a roughly 9.7% stake in the British sportscar maker famed for its association with fictional secret agent James Bond. The German carmaker is also currently the Formula One team’s engine provider. The Silverstone-based Formula One […]

By Alan Baldwin (Reuters) – Honda will return to Formula One as a full-blown engine manufacturer powering Aston Martin’s title ambitions when the sport enters a new era in 2026, the Japanese carmaker announced on Wednesday. The new ‘works’ partnership will transform Silverstone-based Aston Martin into Honda’s sole focus on the starting grid from their current position as one of four teams with Mercedes engines. “It is very, very difficult […]

By Lucy Craymer WELLINGTON (Reuters) -New Zealand’s central bank on Wednesday raised interest rates by 25 basis points to the highest in more than 14 years to 5.5% and reiterated inflation remains too high even as it still forecast a recession this year. The decision was in line with expectations from 21 of 25 economists in a Reuters poll forecasting the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) would raise rates […]

By Lucy Craymer WELLINGTON (Reuters) -New Zealand’s central bank on Wednesday raised interest rates by 25 basis points to the highest in more than 14 years to 5.5% and reiterated inflation remains too high even as it still forecast a recession this year. The decision was in line with expectations from 21 of 25 economists in a Reuters poll forecasting the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) would raise rates […]

(Reuters) – Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris will have a special ‘Triple Crown’ livery on their Formula One cars for this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix as part of McLaren’s 60th anniversary celebrations. The Triple Crown refers to the Indianapolis 500, Monaco Grand Prix and Le Mans 24 Hours races that the British team have won over the years. McLaren have won 15 times in Monaco since their first success with […]

(Reuters) – Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola would like the financial charges against the club to be dealt with “as soon as possible”. City, who secured their fifth league title in six seasons under Guardiola last weekend, were charged by the Premier League in February with more than 100 alleged breaches of the league’s financial rules between 2009 and 2018. They were also accused of not cooperating with the investigation […]

By Arlene Washington LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Hollywood should portray safer use of guns in television and film at a time of rampant gun violence in the United States, USC Annenberg’s Norman Lear Center for Hollywood, Health and Society said in a report released on Tuesday. “Trigger Warning: Gun Guidelines for the Media” encompasses more than 20 years of gun data and trends revolving around the statistic that firearms are […]

By Alistair Smout LONDON (Reuters) – Britain recruited a record number of international nurses in the last financial year to plug hospital staffing shortages, with as many as 10% coming from so-called “red-list” countries where health staff should not be actively recruited. Britain has long hired from abroad to staff its state-run National Health Service (NHS), and its vote to leave the European Union in 2016 meant the number of […]