Town Hall News

By Luc Cohen NEW YORK (Reuters) – Sam Bankman-Fried, who has long denied stealing from customers of his FTX cryptocurrency exchange, on Monday asked a U.S. judge to throw out criminal charges against him over the now-bankrupt FTX’s collapse. In a filing in Manhattan federal court, Bankman-Fried’s lawyers said many cryptocurrency exchanges collapsed during a broad market crash in 2022, and that prosecutors hastily charged their client in a “rush […]

By Kantaro Komiya TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s consumer spending unexpectedly fell in March at the fastest rate in a year, while real wages marked a twelfth month of decline on persistent inflation, highlighting the challenges facing the economy in mounting a strong post-COVID revival. Tuesday’s government data also reinforce the uncertainties around the Bank of Japan’s policy outlook amid slowing global growth and financial sector worries even as expectations build […]

(Reuters) – Russia’s mercenary Wagner forces have not yet received the ammunition promised by Moscow, the head of the group said on Tuesday, rowing back from comments hours earlier that initial data showed they had begun to get it. But Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose forces have spent months trying to capture the eastern Ukraine city of Bakhmut, added that he did not want to “spoil” Russia’s big Victory Day parade set […]

(Reuters) – The head of Russia’s mercenary Wagner group said on Monday that according to preliminary data his troops were beginning to receive the ammunition they needed, and reported heavy fighting in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. “Today, the groups advanced a maximum of 130 metres (400 feet) … Fierce fighting is going on, but the groups are continuing to advance,” Yevgeny Prigozhin said in an audio message posted […]

By Luc Cohen NEW YORK (Reuters) -Sam Bankman-Fried, who has long denied stealing from customers of his FTX cryptocurrency exchange, on Monday asked a U.S. judge to throw out criminal charges against him over the now-bankrupt FTX’s collapse. In a filing in Manhattan federal court, Bankman-Fried’s lawyers said many cryptocurrency exchanges collapsed during a broad market crash in 2022, and that prosecutors hastily charged their client in a “rush to […]

By Devjyot Ghoshal, Juarawee Kittisilpa and Orathai Sriring BANGKOK (Reuters) – Kavita Wongyakasem runs a small business in Bangkok, owns a two-storey house on the outskirts of the Thai capital, drives a pick-up truck, and sends her two daughters to good schools. But every day is a desperate struggle to find the money to keep her household afloat, said the 48-year-old, whose business provides services for a big energy company. […]

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Britain’s Minister for Investment Dominic Johnson said he held a series of meetings with government officials and executives in Hong Kong this week, the first official visit from a senior British official to the city in five years. Johnson’s visit comes after relations between Britain and Hong Kong have been increasingly strained since 2020 when Beijing imposed a national security law in the former colony. Johnson […]

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese and South Korean defence authorities are set to agree early next month to link their radars via a U.S. system to share real-time information on North Korea’s ballistic missiles, a person with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday. Defence ministers from Japan, South Korea and the United States plan to reach an agreement on the sidelines of an Asian defence summit to be held in […]

(Reuters) – Ukraine’s air defence systems were repelling Russian attacks on the country’s capital, Kyiv’s military administration said early on Tuesday, after air raid alerts were issued across the country. “Air defence systems are working on the outskirts of Kyiv,” the administration said on its Telegram messaging app. Tuesday’s attacks came a day after Russia launched its biggest drone swarm yet in a renewed air campaign unleashed 10 days ago […]