Town Hall News

By Tom Westbrook SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The dollar held firm on Wednesday, as traders trimmed bets on imminent U.S. rate cuts following solid consumer spending data, while the greenback also benefitted from its status as a safe-haven so long as risk of a U.S. debt default remained. President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy have edged closer to a deal to raise the U.S. debt ceiling – but […]

(Reuters) -Hundreds of people, including Rohingya Muslims, were feared dead after a cyclone struck Myanmar at the weekend, residents and aid groups said on Tuesday, with rescue efforts hampered by damage to infrastructure. Myanmar’s impoverished Rakhine State bore the brunt of Cyclone Mocha, during which winds of up to 210 kph (130 mph) ripped roofs off homes and brought a storm surge that inundated the state capital Sittwe. The region […]

By Sarah Wu and Yimou Lee TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan’s main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party will pick New Taipei City mayor Hou Yu-ih to be its presidential candidate in the election next year, a senior party source told Reuters on Wednesday, with China tensions set to top the election agenda. The run-up to the vote in mid-January is taking place at a time of increased tensions between Taipei and Beijing, which […]

By Ankur Banerjee SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Asian shares were subdued on Wednesday and the dollar hovered around a five-week peak as investors remained risk averse, with the U.S. debt ceiling talks and a mixed set of economic data weighing on sentiment. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.09% in choppy trading, with Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index down 0.45%. Democratic President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican […]

By Kane Wu HONG KONG (Reuters) – UBS Group AG was rushed into buying cross-town rival Credit Suisse Group AG in a deal it did not want, as a global bank crisis worsened the latter’s finances and prompted authorities to take swift action, a regulatory filing showed. UBS, in a Tuesday filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, told investors it had less than four days to conduct due […]

By Lucy Craymer WELLINGTON (Reuters) -New Zealand police said on Wednesday a fire at a hostel in the capital, Wellington, in which at least six people were killed was suspected to have been arson and they had opened a homicide inquiry. A blaze broke out on the top floor of the Loafers Lodge in the suburb of Newtown in the early hours of Tuesday, causing major structural damage that is […]

By Stephanie Kelly NEW YORK (Reuters) – Shell Plc will use AI-based technology from big-data analytics firm SparkCognition in its deep sea exploration and production to boost offshore oil output, the companies said on Wednesday. SparkCognition’s AI algorithms will process and analyze large amounts of seismic data in the hunt for new oil reservoirs by Shell, the largest oil producer in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. “We are committed to […]

ZURICH (Reuters) – Siemens raised its full year sales and profit guidance on Wednesday after the German engineering and technology group beat sales forecasts during its second quarter. The maker of products ranging from trains and industrial software now expects comparable revenue growth of 9% to 11% in the 12 months to the end of September, up from its previous view for an increase of 7% to 10%. Siemens also […]

By Gopal Sharma KATHMANDU (Reuters) – A Nepali sherpa scaled Mount Everest for a record 27th time on Wednesday, beating his own record, a government official and his hiking company said. Kami Rita Sherpa, 53, scaled the 8,849 metre (29,032-foot) mountain early in the morning along the traditional southeast ridge route, guiding a foreign climber. “Yes, Kami Rita climbed Sagarmatha for the 27th time,” said Department of Tourism official Bigyan […]