Town Hall News

By Lewis Krauskopf, Sruthi Shankar and Ankika Biswas (Reuters) – The S&P 500 ended barely changed on Friday following mixed earnings results as investors assessed how conflicting economic data might influence interest rates and looked ahead to a massive week of corporate reports. A survey showed U.S. business activity accelerated to an 11-month high in April, further clouding the outlook for the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy after data earlier in […]

By Alexander Villegas and Ernest Scheyder SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Shares in Chile’s top two lithium miners, SQM and Albemarle Corp, slid on Friday after the Andean country, which has the world’s largest reserves of the battery metal, unveiled plans to nationalize the sector over time. The move would see Chile, the world’s second largest lithium producer, shift to a model with the state holding a controlling interest in all new […]

By Khalid Abdelaziz and Nafisa Eltahir KHARTOUM (Reuters) -Heavy firing rang out in Khartoum on Friday after Sudan’s army declared a truce, a Reuters witness said, dealing the latest blow to international attempts to try to end almost a week of fighting between army troops and a rival force. The source of firing was unclear, the witness said, adding air strikes were also heard from time to time. The army […]

By Abhirup Roy, Dan Levine and Hyunjoo Jin LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Jurors in what appears to be the first trial related to a crash involving Tesla’s Autopilot feature told Reuters after the verdict on Friday that the electric-vehicle maker clearly warned that the partially automated driving software was not a self-piloted system, and that driver distraction was to blame. A California state court jury on Friday handed Tesla Inc […]

By Erwin Seba HOUSTON (Reuters) -Oil prices edged higher on Friday on strong economic data in the euro zone and Britain, but futures fell for the week as interest rate and demand uncertainty weighed. Brent futures settled up 56 cents at $81.66 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) rose 50 cents to $77.87 per barrel. Brent posted a weekly loss of 5.4%, while WTI fell 5.6%. Both crude […]

By Gwladys Fouche OSLO (Reuters) – In his living room in Norway, while the TV broadcasts pictures of the violence back home in Khartoum, Khalid Albaih does what he has become known for in the Middle East and beyond: draw cartoons. His latest, entitled The Dog Fight, depicts the two main Sudanese foes, army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and paramilitary leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, as dogs fighting over […]

MILAN (Reuters) – Italy’s antitrust authority said on Friday it had taken measures against Meta Platforms over allegations it abused its position in the country, part of an investigation of music rights. Meta, the U.S. company which owns Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, last month failed to reach a deal with the Italian society of authors and publishers SIAE, to renew copyright licences. As a result, all songs under SIAE’s books […]

By Chuck Mikolajczak NEW YORK (Reuters) – A gauge of global stocks was lower for a third straight session on Friday, as investors digested the latest round of corporate earnings, while longer-dated U.S. yields fell on growing concerns about a Federal Reserve poised to hike interest rates in a slowing economy. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 held near the unchanged mark, with the consumer staples sector, up 0.62%, as […]

By Khalid Abdelaziz and Nafisa Eltahir KHARTOUM (Reuters) -Heavy firing rang out in Khartoum on Friday after Sudan’s army declared a truce, a Reuters witness said, dealing a blow to international efforts to end almost a week of fighting between its troops and a rival force, a Reuters witness said. The source of firing was unclear, the witness said, adding air strikes were also heard from time to time. The […]