Town Hall News

By Ruma Paul and Sudarshan Varadhan DHAKA (Reuters) – Bangladesh faced its worst power cuts in over seven months as a deadly storm forced both its floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals shut, less than a month after a scorching heatwave caused widespread outages in the south Asian country. Millions of Bangladeshi citizens have been hit by frequent power cuts in recent months, as erratic weather patterns and high global […]

By James Pomfret and Jessie Pang HONG KONG (Reuters) -A Hong Kong newspaper on Thursday scrapped a satirical cartoon after a decades-long run following a series of complaints by authorities, the cartoonist said, in what was seen as the latest blow to media freedom in the China-ruled city. The Ming Pao newspaper said in a notice it would from Sunday scrap the comic strip by Wong Kei-kwan, one of Hong […]

By Elvira Pollina and Giuseppe Fonte MILAN (Reuters) -Australian fund Macquarie is raising legal hurdles over a plan backed by Italy’s Treasury for state lender CDP to join forces with U.S. fund KKR in a deal to buy Telecom Italia’s landline grid (TIM), three sources said on Monday. TIM directors have set a final deadline of June 9 for potential improved offers by the U.S. private equity firm and a […]

(Reuters) – Morgan Stanley is considering a 7% cut in its Asia-Pacific investment banking workforce, with China taking the biggest hit, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The bank is likely to start communicating with affected bankers as soon as this week, with more than 40 jobs at risk, including those with the capital markets unit, Bloomberg News said. (Reporting by Nilutpal Timsina in Bengaluru) […]

(Reuters) – Morgan Stanley is considering a 7% cut in its Asia-Pacific investment banking workforce, with China taking the biggest hit, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The bank is likely to start communicating with affected bankers as soon as this week, with more than 40 jobs at risk, including those with the capital markets unit, Bloomberg News said. (Reporting by Nilutpal Timsina in Bengaluru) […]

By Gleb Garanich and Sergiy Karazy KYIV (Reuters) – Russia launched an exceptionally intense air attack on Kyiv in the early hours of Tuesday, using drones, cruise and probably ballistic missiles, city officials said, as the Ukrainian capital suffered its eighth air raid this month. “It was exceptional in its density – the maximum number of attack missiles in the shortest period of time,” Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s city […]

By Lucy Craymer WELLINGTON (Reuters) -A fire at a hostel in New Zealand killed at least six people on Tuesday and officials said they believe the toll could rise with 11 people still missing. The blaze broke out on the top floor of Loafers Lodge in the Wellington neighbourhood of Newtown just after midnight, police said, causing major structural damage that is hampering recovery efforts. “There is a significant amount […]

By Ellen Zhang and Joe Cash BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s April industrial output and retail sales growth undershot forecasts, suggesting the economy lost momentum at the beginning of the second quarter and intensifying pressure on policymakers to shore up a wobbly post-COVID recovery. Tuesday’s batch of data, which also showed a further decline in property investment, adds to concerns about the outlook for the world’s second-biggest economy as both its domestic […]

By Caroline Valetkevitch NEW YORK (Reuters) – First-quarter U.S. company results are winding down, but investors will get one last blast of reports in coming days from some top retailers, which could offer further details on the outlook for earnings and how consumers are faring. Investors are anxious to see whether the last results of the earnings season may be enough to turn the estimate for S&P 500 first-quarter earnings […]