Town Hall News

By Gloria Dickie LONDON (Reuters) – More than half of the world’s large lakes and reservoirs have shrunk since the early 1990s, chiefly because of climate change, intensifying concerns about water for agriculture, hydropower and human consumption, a study published on Thursday found. A team of international researchers reported that some of the world’s most important freshwater sources – from the Caspian Sea between Europe and Asia to South America’s […]

(Reuters) – Chip tools maker Applied Materials Inc forecast third-quarter revenue above market estimates on Thursday, as chipmakers expand production plans to meet a global shortage felt by electronics and auto manufacturers. The company forecast current-quarter revenue of $6.15 billion, plus or minus $400 million, compared with analysts’ estimates of $6.02 billion, according to Refinitiv IBES data. (Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta) Brought to you […]

By Trevor Hunnicutt HIROSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) – Leaders of the world’s advanced democracies start their Group of Seven (G7) summit on Friday in Hiroshima with a sombre remembrance of the costs of war as they grapple with the conflict in Ukraine. Ahead of a summit focused heavily on ending Russia’s war in Ukraine and on preventing conflict with China, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will gather world leaders at a […]

By Chuck Mikolajczak NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks closed higher on Thursday on mounting optimism that a U.S. debt ceiling deal could be reached within days, with discount retailer Walmart Inc providing additional support after an upbeat annual sales forecast. The benchmark S&P 500 index rebounded from early declines on news that top U.S. congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy said a deal to raise or suspend the debt ceiling could […]

By Matt Spetalnick, Vivian Sequera and Mayela Armas WASHINGTON/CARACAS (Reuters) – The U.S. has assured the United Nations that it will shield a proposed UN-administered Venezuela humanitarian fund from creditors, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday, removing a key obstacle to getting the money flowing. After months of confusion over the issue, the Biden administration clarified that the fund, agreed to last year between Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s […]

By Lisa Richwine LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The board of Hollywood’s actors union asked members on Thursday to give negotiators the power to call a strike, a move that would add new pressure to major studios already facing a writers’ strike. The SAG-AFTRA actors union set a June 5 deadline for its 160,000 members to cast ballots in a strike authorization vote. If approved, the measure would allow union leaders […]

By Andrew Chung (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a case in which Republicans sought to keep in place a policy introduced under former President Donald Trump that had let American officials quickly expel hundreds of thousands of migrants at the U.S.-Mexican border. The policy, known as Title 42, was implemented by Trump’s administration in March 2020 – early in the COVID-19 pandemic – as a measure tied […]

By Lisa Richwine LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The board of Hollywood’s actors union asked members on Thursday to give negotiators the power to call a strike, a move that would add new pressure to major studios already facing a writers’ strike. The SAG-AFTRA actors union set a June 5 deadline for its 160,000 members to cast ballots in a strike authorization vote. If approved, the measure would allow union leaders […]

By Mike Stone WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Pentagon overestimated the value of the ammunition, missiles and other equipment it sent to Ukraine by around $3 billion, a Senate aide and a defense official said on Thursday, an error that may lead the way for more weapons being sent to Kyiv for its defense against Russian forces. The error was the result of assigning a higher than warranted value on weaponry […]