Town Hall News

(Reuters) – Myanmar’s shadow government welcomes efforts by ASEAN chair Indonesia to kickstart peace talks in the strife-torn Southeast Asian nation but is deeply distrustful of the junta that took power in a 2021 coup, a spokesperson said on Wednesday. Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) holding a summit in Indonesia have called for an immediate end to hostilities in military-ruled Myanmar, pushing for urgent dialogue and […]

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Europe’s second-top court on Wednesday backed Irish airline Ryanair’s challenge against Germany’s Lufthansa state bailout in 2020 triggered by the coronavirus pandemic and approved by EU competition regulators. “The General Court annuls the decision of the Commission to approve the recapitalisation of Lufthansa by Germany, amounting to 6 billion euros, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the Luxembourg-based tribunal said. It cited errors made by the […]

WARSAW (Reuters) -A man gained access into an orphanage in Poland, killing a teenage girl and injuring nine other people in a knife attack late on Tuesday, police in the central city of Lodz said. Police received information shortly after 2100 GMT on Tuesday that a 19-year-old man had entered the orphanage in the village of Tomislawice near Lodz, and attacked residents with a sharp object, police spokesperson Aneta Sobieraj […]

By Alun John and Ankur Banerjee LONDON/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Investors are getting more bang for their buck this year by buying European companies with a focus on China than buying Chinese companies themselves, a sign of the unevenness of China’s pandemic recovery and geopolitical concerns. Late last year, China dismantled its strict zero-COVID policy, helping its economy rebound by a faster-than-expected 4.5% in the first quarter of 2023. The recovery […]

By Arpan Chaturvedi, Aditi Shah and Aditya Kalra NEW DELHI (Reuters) -An Indian tribunal on Wednesday granted bankruptcy protection to Go Airlines (India) Ltd, a move that will help the country’s fourth-largest carrier attempt to revive itself but complicate foreign lessors’ efforts to repossess their planes. The low-cost carrier, recently rebranded as Go First, has said its financial crisis was sparked by what it called “faulty” Pratt & Whitney engines […]

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli troops killed two Palestinians who opened fire on them in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, the army said, and the Islamic Jihad militant group claimed the slain men as members. The shooting in Qabatiya, near the flashpoint town of Jenin, came as both sides braced for a flare-up after Israel carried out surprise air strikes in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday that killed three Islamic Jihad […]

BERLIN (Reuters) – Volkswagen investors will demand answers from the carmakers’ executives at its annual general meeting on Wednesday on its competitiveness in China and its contested plant in Xinjiang, advance copies of their speeches showed. Chief Executive Oliver Blume will acknowledge the fast pace of China’s electrification, and outline Volkswagen’s strategy to hold on to its position as market leader – tailoring products to Chinese tastes and building local […]

TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese electric vehicle (EV) battery maker Panasonic Holdings Corp on Wednesday forecast a higher operating profit this year as it expects robust auto battery sales in the United States. The industrial conglomerate, which supplies batteries to U.S. EV leader Tesla Inc, is expanding its energy business just as persistently high inflation rates worldwide dampen consumer sentiment. Panasonic expects operating profit of 430 billion yen ($3.18 billion) for the […]

By Summer Zhen HONG KONG (Reuters) – People in China splashed out on dining, travel and luxury goods after emerging from three years of pandemic restrictions but are still not spending freely on routine consumer items, if first quarter corporate results are an indication. There was a broad bounce in earnings after China ended its zero-COVID policy involving city-wide lockdowns and extensive quarantine in December, but consumer caution over global […]