Town Hall News

(Refiles to remove extaneous words in paragraph 4) KYIV (Reuters) -Russia attacked cities in a wide arc across Ukraine early on Friday, from the capital, Kyiv, through central and southern regions and at least five people were killed, according to media and officials. The attacks come as Ukrainian forces are expected to soon launch an offensive with new military equipment, including tanks, from its Western allies after Russian forces made […]

By Josh Ye HONG KONG (Reuters) – A new game released by “Genshin Impact” developer miHoYo this week has become China’s top downloaded app, reflecting pent-up demand as gaming giants restart flagship launches with a crackdown on the industry easing. The blockbuster debut bodes well for several other games due to launch this summer in the world’s largest video games market. As of Thursday, the Shanghai-based company’s strategy game “Honkai: […]

(Reuters) -Three U.S. Army pilots were killed and one was injured in Alaska on Thursday when two Apache helicopters returning from a training mission collided in flight, the 11th Airborne Division of the Army said. Two soldiers were declared dead at the scene and a third died on the way to hospital, the army unit said in a statement. The injured soldier was being treated at Alaska’s Fairbanks Memorial Hospital. […]

By Josh Ye HONG KONG (Reuters) – A new game released by “Genshin Impact” developer miHoYo this week has become China’s top downloaded app, reflecting pent-up demand as gaming giants restart flagship launches with a crackdown on the industry easing. The blockbuster debut bodes well for several other games due to launch this summer in the world’s largest video games market. As of Thursday, the Shanghai-based company’s strategy game “Honkai: […]

By Daniel Leussink TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan will provide as much as $1.8 billion in subsidies for a slate of storage battery and chip-related projects, Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said on Friday, marking Tokyo’s latest push towards greater supply chain security. The government plans to give up to 184.6 billion yen ($1.38 billion) in subsidies for eight storage battery-related proposals and up to 56.4 billion yen for two semiconductor-related projects, Nishimura […]

By Leika Kihara TOKYO (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan (BOJ) on Friday kept ultra-low interest rates but announced a broad review of its monetary policy, laying the groundwork for new Governor Kazuo Ueda to gradually phase out his predecessor’s massive stimulus programme. As widely expected, the BOJ made no changes to its yield curve control (YCC) policy that sets a short-term interest rate target of -0.1% and that for […]

BERLIN (Reuters) – Mercedes-Benz on Thursday lifted its outlook for the annual adjusted return on sales of its vans division to 11-13% from 9-11% previously and said it expected to hit the higher end of its 12-14% forecast for returns in the cars division. Orders remained sluggish in Europe and overall global growth was likely to remain subdued, but inflation was gradually declining, energy prices were expected to be less […]

By Aditi Shah NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Lufthansa is hopeful of finalising the partial takeover of Italy’s state-owned ITA Airways within days, an executive at the German carrier said on Thursday, describing talks with the Italian government as “very good.” The two airlines agree on how to work together to win market share, Harry Hohmeister, head of global markets and network, Lufthansa Group Airlines, said at a New Delhi press conference […]

A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Wayne Cole. It was a long wait, but the Bank of Japan finally decided to hurry up and do nothing – well, almost nothing. The BOJ, it seems, will “patiently” continue with easing while “nimbly” responding to developments. Yield curve control remains as is, as do rates at -0.1%. So does the commitment to keeping them until 2% […]