Town Hall News

By Lisa Richwine LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Walt Disney Co will shutter its immersive Star Wars-themed luxury hotel in Orlando this September, less than two years after it opened, as the media giant cuts costs throughout its entertainment and parks businesses. Disney announced the closing of the two-night “Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser” hotel and experience on Thursday but did not provide a reason. The hotel debuted with fanfare at Walt […]

By Byron Kaye and Lewis Jackson SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia’s Westpac Banking Corp said it will refinance loans for some borrowers who don’t meet an industry standard that assesses their ability to repay, putting pressure on the bank regulator to relax guidelines after a year of interest rate hikes. The country’s No. 2 mortgage provider has told mortgage brokers that “if a customer is unable to meet serviceability under the standard […]

(Reuters) – A French government plane is taking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to the Arab League Summit in Saudi Arabia and will later take him to the G7 leaders’ summit in the Japanese city of Hiroshima, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. Zelenskiy will attend the Arab League summit later on Friday, the source, who was speaking on condition of anonymity as the information is sensitive, said. The […]

By Pavel Polityuk KYIV (Reuters) – Russia launched a new wave of overnight air strikes on Ukraine early on Friday, setting ablaze several buildings in President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s hometown and seriously wounding a 64-year-old woman, Kyiv said. Moscow has stepped up its campaign of long-range attacks in the last month, shifting from a winter tactic of targeting energy infrastructure with weekly strikes to much more regular attacks that often come […]

By Hyonhee Shin SEOUL (Reuters) – President Yoon Suk Yeol plans to meet some South Korean survivors of the 1945 atomic bombing in the Japanese city of Hiroshima on the sidelines of a G7 summit, his office said on Friday. It is Yoon’s first such meeting since taking office a year ago, as he pushes to close a chapter on feuds over history that have dominated ties with Tokyo for […]

BEIJING (Reuters) – Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra will visit China on May 23-24, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Friday. Last Thursday, Hoekstra had said during a parliament debate that he would travel to China to speak, among others, with his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang and would raise “easy and difficult subjects”. (Reporting by Beijing newsroom, Charlotte Van Campenhout from Amsterdam; Editing by Toby Chopra) Brought to you by […]

(Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is on his way to the Arab League meeting in Saudi Arabia, a source familiar with the meeting told Reuters. Zelenskiy will then travel on to the G7 meeting in Hiroshima in Japan from the Saudi city of Jeddah on a French government plane, the source told Reuters. (Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Rachel Armstrong; Editing by Hugh Lawson) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

By Naomi Rovnick and Ankur Banerjee LONDON, SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Global shares rose to a one-month high and the dollar trounced major currencies on Friday as markets reflected increased hopes for a deal over the U.S. debt ceiling that could avoid a calamitous default. Europe’s STOXX 600 traded up 0.4%, while e-mini futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.2%, following a 0.9% gain for the benchmark Wall Street index overnight. MSCI’s […]

By Panarat Thepgumpanat and Chayut Setboonsarng BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s progressive Move Forward party on Friday said potential coalition partners need not support its controversial stance on amending the royal insult law, as it seeks to win the backing of other parties to form a government. Move Forward, led by Pita Limjaroenrat, won the most seats in the lower house in this week’s election, riding on a wave of youth […]