Town Hall News

By Camillus Eboh ABUJA (Reuters) – Police blocked roads in the centre of Nigeria’s capital on Monday as judges started hearing opposition petitions disputing president-elect Bola Tinubu’s victory in February’s presidential election. Yards away from the Court of Appeal in Abuja, around 100 protesters stood quietly holding up pre-printed banners saying Tinubu should not be sworn in, before officers moved them on. Inside the courtroom, Judge Haruna Simon Tsamani appealed […]

TORONTO (Reuters) -Canada’s oil and gas producers shut down some production after Alberta was hit by an “unprecedented” wildfire season, although rain and cooler weather are expected to bring some relief on Monday. The country’s main oil-producing province declared a state of emergency on Saturday due to wildfires, shutting production of at least 185,000 of oil equivalent per day (boepd), or about 2% of total Canadian output, and displacing nearly […]

(Reuters) – Germany’s Merck KGaA has appointed Helene von Roeder as the new chief financial officer and member of the Executive Board after Marcus Kuhnert has decided to step down, the drugmaker announced on Monday. The changes would become effective from July 1, the company added. German real estate company Vonovia announced this month that von Roeder would be leaving its management board at her own request as of July […]

(Reuters) – Russia launched its biggest swarm of drones for months against Ukraine on Monday, the eve of Russia’s May 9 celebration of the defeat of Nazi Germany, which Kyiv marked a day earlier. CONFLICT * Kyiv’s mayor said Russia had fired 60 Iranian-made kamikaze drones, including 36 at Kyiv, all of which had been shot down. However, debris hit apartments and other buildings, injuring at least five people. * […]

BENGALURU (Reuters) – Blackstone Inc’s delisting offer for India’s R Systems International Ltd was unsuccessful as the U.S. investment fund failed to draw enough interest from public shareholders, the manager to the offer said on Monday. Blackstone, which in November said it would buy a near 52% stake in the IT services firm for $359 million, needed to raise its stake to 90% for the delisting proposal to work. However, […]

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Hamamatsu Photonics KK said on Monday that Danish authorities had rejected a European subsidiary’s application to acquire Copenhagen-based fibre laser manufacturer NKT Photonics A/S from NKT A/S. Hamamatsu Photonics had announced plans for the takeover last June for about 205 million euros ($226 million) to expand application of its laser diode business based on compound semiconductor manufacturing technology. NKT Photonics’ lasers could be used for inspection […]

(Reuters) – Chip designer Qualcomm Inc said on Monday it would buy Israel’s Autotalks Ltd that makes chips used in technology aimed at preventing vehicle crashes, as the U.S. firm looks to deepen its automotive business. With increasing electric vehicles and automatic features in cars, the number of chips used by automakers is surging, making the automotive market a key growth area for chipmakers. Autotalks makes dedicated chips used in […]

(Reuters) -Catalent Inc expects to cut by more than $400 million both its full-year revenue and core profit forecasts, the contract drug manufacturer said on Monday, sending its shares tumbling 27% to a three-year low. The announcement came just a day ahead of third-quarter results, which have been pushed to May 15 to allow the company to make some adjustments to financial statements related to its operations in Bloomington, Indiana. […]

By Andrius Sytas RIGA (Reuters) – In a Stalinist skyscraper which dominates the skyline of Latvia’s capital, dozens of elderly Russians wait to take a basic Latvian language test as a proof of loyalty to a country where they have lived for decades. Clutching red Russian passports, the participants, mostly women, read their notes for last minute revision, fearing they may be expelled from the Baltic country if they fail. […]