Town Hall News

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan’s defence ministry said on Friday it had not spotted any Chinese military aircraft crossing the sensitive median line of the Taiwan Strait in the past 24 hours, following days of military drills by Beijing around the island. China began the exercises last Saturday after Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen returned from Los Angeles where she met U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, infuriating Beijing. China views […]

By Jamie McGeever (Reuters) – A look at the day ahead in Asian markets from Jamie McGeever. Asian markets are poised to end the week on a positive note, spurred by a powerful rally on Wall Street and growing optimism that the Fed might achieve the holy grail of a ‘soft landing’ for the U.S. economy. Thursday’s surge across U.S. markets followed the stunning Chinese trade figures for March earlier […]

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The two oldest-known fossil skeletons of bats, unearthed in southwestern Wyoming and dating to at least 52 million years ago, are providing insight into the early evolution of these flying mammals – today represented by more than 1,400 species. The fossils, described in a new study, are of a previously unknown species called Icaronycteris gunnelli that is closely related to two other species known […]

By Jamie McGeever (Reuters) – A look at the day ahead in Asian markets from Jamie McGeever. Asian markets are poised to end the week on a positive note, spurred by a powerful rally on Wall Street and growing optimism that the Fed might achieve the holy grail of a ‘soft landing’ for the U.S. economy. Thursday’s surge across U.S. markets followed the stunning Chinese trade figures for March earlier […]

By Jamie McGeever (Reuters) – A look at the day ahead in Asian markets from Jamie McGeever. Asian markets are poised to end the week on a positive note, spurred by a powerful rally on Wall Street and growing optimism that the Fed might achieve the holy grail of a ‘soft landing’ for the U.S. economy. Thursday’s surge across U.S. markets followed the stunning Chinese trade figures for March earlier […]

By Kantaro Komiya TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan on Friday approved a plan to build the country’s first casino in the western city of Osaka, paving the way for a large resort aimed at attracting domestic and international tourist spending. Put forth by the city and Osaka prefecture, the project aims to open a casino, conference centre and other facilities in 2029 with 1.8 trillion yen ($13.5 billion) of initial investment. Casinos […]

By Leika Kihara and Jorgelina do Rosario WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Japan, India and France on Thursday announced a common platform for talks among bilateral creditors to coordinate restructuring of Sri Lanka’s debt, a move they hope would serve as a model for solving the debt woes of middle-income economies. It remains uncertain, however, whether Sri Lanka’s biggest bilateral creditor – China – will join the initiative launched by Japan, this […]

By Andrea Shalal and David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Senior officials from the United States, Europe and Britain met on Thursday with financial institutions to brief them on efforts by Russia to evade Western sanctions imposed over its invasion of Ukraine, a senior U.S. Treasury official told reporters. The firms – from the United States, Britain and Europe – assured the officials that they were working hard to avert Russian […]

By Andrea Shalal and David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) -International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Thursday warned policymakers against the danger of a new Cold War as they ramp up efforts to secure their industrial supply chains amid geopolitical tensions between major powers. “The question is, can we be more determined to enhance security of supplies but not push the world that far that we are into a second […]