Town Hall News

By Lucia Mutikani and Jonathan Cable WASHINGTON/LONDON (Reuters) -U.S. and Euro zone business activity gathered pace in April, according to surveys released on Friday, despite central bankers signaling they are nearing the peak of their interest rate hiking cycles designed to cool demand enough among consumers to bring high inflation down. S&P Global said its flash U.S. Composite PMI Output Index, which tracks the manufacturing and services sectors, increased to […]

(Reuters) – Nasdaq Inc on Friday said its board appointed Tal Cohen and Nelson Griggs as co-presidents, formalizing the corporate structure the transatlantic exchange operator recently put in place to boost its efforts in major growth areas, like anti-financial crime software. With the appointments, Nasdaq Chief Executive Officer Adena Friedman, who was also appointed chair of the New York-based company’s board on Dec. 19, gave up the role as president, […]

By Arunima Kumar and Liz Hampton (Reuters) -Top oilfield firm provider SLB beat Wall Street estimates for first-quarter profit on Friday, as elevated crude prices and tight supplies increased demand for its services and equipment. Global oil prices averaged $81.24 a barrel in the January-March quarter, down nearly 20% from a year earlier but still well above a level where oil and gas producers can drill profitably. Brent futures were […]

By Lori Ewing WREXHAM, Wales (Reuters) – Actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney may have brought Hollywood star power to long-struggling Welsh soccer club Wrexham AFC, but the players are writing their own script worthy of a blockbuster movie. Wrexham are on the verge of winning promotion to the English Football League having amassed a record 107 points to sit top of the National League table with two games to […]

Conservative talk radio host Larry Elder, who sought to replace the California governor in a failed 2021 recall effort, announced Thursday he is running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024. Elder, 70, made the announcement on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight” and followed up with a tweet. “America is in decline, but this decline is not inevitable. We can enter a new American Golden Age, but we must choose a leader […]

LONDON (Reuters) – A local authority in southern England on Friday lost its bid at the High Court in London to stop the British government from accommodating asylum seekers at a former military base. Braintree District Council, a local authority in Essex to the northeast of London, had sought an injunction to prevent the interior ministry housing up to 1,700 asylum seekers at the site. The council said the government […]

SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Chile’s state-owned Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer, on Friday said a demonstration against insecurity and crime in the neighbouring mining city of Calama has blocked access to its large deposits in that northern part of the country. “Codelco informs that since approximately 4:30 a.m. (0830 GMT) this morning, the accesses to the Chuquicamata, Radomiro Tomic, Gabriela Mistral and Ministro Hales divisions have been blocked,” the state-owned […]

BOGOTA (Reuters) – The suspension of pumping operations at Colombia’s Cano Limon-Covenas oil pipeline will be prolonged after a new bombing attack damaged its infrastructure in the country’s Arauca province, oil transportation company Cenit said. The attack, the ninth this year, took place on Thursday in the Saravena municipality, prompting the company to activate its emergency contingency plan to control the subsequent oil spill and mitigate pollution, said Cenit, a […]

NAIROBI (Reuters) -A conservative group of Anglican church leaders said on Friday that it no longer had confidence in the leader of the Church of England (CoE) over his stance on same-sex unions. Earlier this year the CoE – where the Anglican tradition originated – set out proposals to allow priests to bless same-sex couples in church after a civil marriage, while still not allowing them to get married in […]