Town Hall News

By Andrew MacAskill LONDON (Reuters) -British foreign minister James Cleverly urged China to be more open about what he called the biggest military build-up in peacetime history and said secrecy around its plans could lead to a “tragic miscalculation”. Relations between Britain and China are the worst in decades after London restricted Chinese investment over national security concerns and expressed concern at Beijing’s increasing military and economic assertiveness. In a […]

By Catherine Schenck and Anait Miridzhanian JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – In a dilapidated block in the business district of Africa’s wealthiest city, Johannesburg, Thulani Cele and 300 others squatting in the building fill buckets with water from the only working tap so they can drink and wash. “We are living in a terrible situation. We need toilets … We need water,” says Cele, a 40-year-old former retail worker, who adds that […]

By Arriana McLymore NEW YORK (Reuters) – Fast Retailing’s Uniqlo plans to expand its existing stores in North America by 10%, according to one of its executives. Uniqlo is opening six stores — four in the U.S. and two in Canada — this summer as part of its expansion plan to reach more than 200 locations in North America by 2027. The company hopes to open 20 to 30 stores […]

By Ahmad Ghaddar LONDON (Reuters) -Oil prices were mixed on Wednesday as falling U.S. inventories lifted the U.S. WTI price while the Brent benchmark steadied as the market took stock of weak U.S. data that raised fears of recession in the world’s biggest economy. Brent crude eased by 9 cents, or 0.1%, to $80.68 a barrel by 1035 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 23 cents, or 0.3%, to […]

By Victoria Waldersee BERLIN (Reuters) – Nearly one in five cars sold globally this year will be electric, with the prices of smaller EV models dropping to rival those of combustion engine cars in North America and Europe by the mid-2020s, the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicted on Wednesday. The agency raised its EV sales forecasts in part because of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, which supports green industry and […]

By Karen Lema SAN ANTONIO, Philippines (Reuters) – U.S. and Philippine armed forces unleashed a volley of missiles on a mock enemy warship in the South China Sea on Wednesday, in a show of military power and a strengthening alliance at a time of rising regional tension. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr watched from a four-storey tower as a high mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS) fired rockets at a decommissioned […]

By Daniel Leussink TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s Honda Motor Co said on Wednesday it had struck a strategic collaboration agreement with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) as part of efforts to secure a stable supply of semiconductors. Japanese automakers have struggled to completely shake off the hit from tight global chip and parts supply during the pandemic, though constraints have eased. Honda will build direct relationships with chip producers for the […]

By Victoria Waldersee BERLIN (Reuters) – Nearly one in five cars sold globally this year will be electric, with the prices of smaller EV models dropping to rival those of combustion engine cars in North America and Europe by the mid-2020s, the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicted on Wednesday. The agency raised its EV sales forecasts in part because of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, which supports green industry and […]

MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Wednesday Moscow’s move to take temporary control of the assets of Finnish energy group Fortum and its former German subsidiary Uniper was in retaliation for what it called the illegal seizure of Russian assets abroad. President Vladimir Putin late on Tuesday signed a decree establishing temporary control of the Russian assets of the two European state-owned energy firms. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told […]