Town Hall News

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia proposed on Thursday overhauling its immigration system to speed up getting highly skilled workers into the country and smoothening the path to permanent residency. The federal Labor government said the current system used to select skilled migrants – the points test – will be modified to identify people with the correct skill sets the Australian economy needs going forward. “Our migration system … is broken. It […]

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp set a global annual output record in the business year ended in March, just edging past its target of 9.1 million vehicles as factory disruption from global chip supply woes and pandemic lockdowns eased. But the world’s biggest automaker by sales warned it continued to see impacts from the long-running global chip shortage, saying it remained hard to predict its effect going forward. […]

A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Kevin Buckland Europe wakes up to more weakness in equities after stock markets across Asia took cues from Wednesday’s slump on Wall Street. Fears that the US could slip into recession weighed broadly. But perhaps reassuringly, financials fared relatively better in markets including Hong Kong and Tokyo, suggesting little fear of widening contagion from First Republic’s woes. Technology […]

By Lucy Craymer WELLINGTON (Reuters) – The New Zealand government is committed to reducing spending even though severe weather events earlier this year caused asset damage of roughly NZ$9 billion ($5.51 billion) to NZ$14.5 billion, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said on Thursday. Flash floods hit Auckland, the country’s largest city, in January and Cyclone Gabrielle tore through the North Island in February leaving a trail of destruction. Hipkins said the […]

By Joyce Lee and Heekyong Yang SEOUL (Reuters) -Samsung Electronics Co Ltd flagged a gradual recovery for chips in the second half of the year after its semiconductor business reported a record loss on Thursday, driven by a chip glut from weak demand for tech devices. A global downturn in semiconductor purchases amid an economic slowdown and corporate belt-tightening sent chip prices plummeting in the first quarter, triggering production cuts […]

By Laurie Chen BEIJING (Reuters) -Chinese lawmakers passed a wide-ranging update to Beijing’s anti-espionage legislation on Wednesday, banning the transfer of any information related to national security and broadening the definition of spying. China’s top legislative body passed the revised Counter-Espionage Law – its first update since 2014 – following three days of deliberations, and it will take effect from July 1, state media reported. President Xi Jinping has made […]

(Reuters) – Russian 15-year-old Mirra Andreeva became the third-youngest player to win a main draw match at a WTA 1000 event by stunning 2021 U.S. Open finalist Leylah Fernandez 6-3 6-4 in the opening round of the Madrid Open on Wednesday. Andreeva, ranked 194th in the world, saved five of the six break points she faced against world number 49 Fernandez of Canada. She will face Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia […]

(Reuters) – Russian 15-year-old Mirra Andreeva became the third-youngest player to win a main draw match at a WTA 1000 event by stunning 2021 U.S. Open finalist Leylah Fernandez 6-3 6-4 in the opening round of the Madrid Open on Wednesday. Andreeva, ranked 194th in the world, saved five of the six break points she faced against world number 49 Fernandez of Canada. She will face Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia […]

By Sarah N. Lynch, Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart (Reuters) -A U.S. Air National Guardsman accused of leaking classified military documents has a history of making violent threats, used his government computer to research mass shootings, and tried to destroy evidence of his crimes, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday. In a 48-page filing, the Justice Department said 21-year-old Jack Teixeira should be detained pending trial, saying his violent rhetoric coupled […]