Town Hall News

(Reuters) – Montana took the unusual step on Wednesday of banning Chinese-owned short video app TikTok, with lawmakers of the sparsely populated western U.S. state saying they aimed to protect residents from alleged intelligence gathering by China. TikTok, which is wildly popular with American teens and owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, is already banned on government-issued devices in around 30 U.S. states and for employees of the country’s federal […]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A group of five TikTok users, who also create content posted on the short-video app, filed suit in U.S. District Court in Montana on Thursday seeking to block the state’s new ban on the Chinese-owned platform. Montana Governor Greg Gianforte on Wednesday signed legislation to ban TikTok in the state, effective Jan. 1. The five users seek to block the law, which makes it unlawful for the […]

By Ivan Lyubysh-Kirdey NEAR BAKHMUT, Ukraine (Reuters) -The Ukrainian military and Russia’s Wagner private army both reported further Russian retreats around the city of Bakhmut on Thursday, as Kyiv pressed on with its biggest advance for six months ahead of a planned counteroffensive. Ukrainian troops near the front line said Russia was bombarding access roads to slow the Ukrainian assault, which has shifted momentum after months of slow Russian gains […]

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 David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. and Taiwan reached agreement on the first part of their “21st Century” trade initiative covering customs and trade facilitation, regulatory practices, and small business, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office said on Thursday. After the initial agreement of the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade is signed, negotiations will commence on other trade areas including agriculture, digital trade, labor and environmental standards, state-owned […]

By Tiyashi Datta and Stephen Nellis (Reuters) – Semiconductor manufacturing tools maker Applied Materials Inc forecast third-quarter revenue above market estimates on Thursday, as governments around the world pour funding into chip factories. Companies such as KLA Corp, Applied Materials and Lam Research Corp are benefiting from subsidies in the United States, Europe and Japan, as well as a rush by China to stock up on tools for making chips […]

By Tiyashi Datta and Stephen Nellis (Reuters) -Semiconductor manufacturing tools maker Applied Materials Inc forecast third-quarter revenue above market estimates on Thursday, as governments around the world pour funding into chip factories. Companies such as KLA Corp, Applied Materials and Lam Research Corp are benefiting from subsidies in the United States, Europe and Japan, as well as a rush by China to stock up on tools for making chips with […]

(Reuters) – Advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday backed the safety and effectiveness of Pfizer Inc’s experimental respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine, boosting its chances of becoming the first available maternal shot to protect babies from the illness. The FDA’s advisory committee voted unanimously that available data supported the vaccine’s efficacy for giving the shot to women in their second or third trimesters of pregnancy to […]

By Pete Schroeder and Costas Pitas WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reaffirmed the strength and soundness of the country’s banking system in a meeting with bank CEOs on Thursday, a Treasury Department statement said. During the meeting with more than two dozen CEOs and executives convened by the Bank Policy Institute, Yellen also discussed the “urgent need” for Congress to address the debt limit, the statement said. Yellen’s […]