Town Hall News

(Reuters) – Meta Platforms Inc is exploring changes to its policies around personalized and political advertising for users in Europe, according to media reports, as it aims to limit the impact of upcoming European Union regulations on its ad business. Meta executives are discussing a ban on political ads in Europe due to concerns that Facebook and Instagram will be unable to comply with the new EU regulations targeting online […]

By Tatiana Bautzer NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wall Street bonuses fell 26% to an average $176,700 in 2022 from a record in 2021, according to a report from New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli published on Thursday. A worsening economic environment and stalled deal markets weighed on banks’ profits last year, following a blockbuster 2021. “A 26% decline brings the average bonus closer to what financial employees received prior to […]

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan and China must do everything possible to avoid war and it is the responsibility of both sides’ leaders to ensure peace, former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou told a senior Chinese official on Thursday. Ma arrived in China on Monday, the first time a former or sitting Taiwanese president has visited the country since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing […]

By Noele Illien ZURICH (Reuters) – Switzerland’s authorities revealed the interest rates Credit Suisse and UBS will pay for the 250 billion Swiss franc ($273.31 billion) emergency lifeline the Swiss banks have been offered. Credit Suisse will pay an interest rate equal to the current Swiss National Bank’s policy rate of 1.5% plus 0.5% for access to the emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) scheme, the central bank said on Thursday. Credit […]

By Howard Schneider WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Almost all of the remaining shortfall in U.S. labor force participation is the result of demographic and other trends that predate the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new research that suggests little chance that growth in the number of workers will help ease a tight American job market. After accounting for factors such as population aging and changes in education that influence people’s willingness to […]

By Rowena Edwards LONDON (Reuters) -Oil prices rose on Thursday as a surprise drop in U.S. crude stockpiles and a halt in exports from Iraq’s Kurdistan region offset a smaller-than-expected cut to Russian supplies. Brent crude futures rose 49 cents, or 0.63%, to $78.77 a barrel at 1145 GMT, while West Texas Intermediate crude rose 58 cents, or 0.79%, to $73.55 a barrel. U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell unexpectedly in […]

By Noele Illien ZURICH (Reuters) – Switzerland’s authorities revealed the interest rates Credit Suisse and UBS will pay for the 250 billion Swiss franc ($273.31 billion) emergency lifeline the Swiss banks have been offered. Credit Suisse will pay an interest rate equal to the current Swiss National Bank’s policy rate of 1.5% plus 0.5% for access to the emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) scheme, the central bank said on Thursday. Credit […]

By Joe Cash and Shuyan Wang BOAO, China (Reuters) -Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Thursday that he was committed to opening up and reforming the world’s second-largest economy, seeking to win over foreign investors even as trade and geopolitical tensions with the West loom large. His keynote speech, delivered at a business and political summit in the island province of Hainan, came in a week Beijing has mounted a […]

By Crispian Balmer and Alvise Armellini VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Pope Francis’s health is improving after he was hospitalised with a respiratory infection and he has resumed working while treatment continues, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement on Thursday. “His Holiness Pope Francis rested well during the night. His clinical picture is gradually improving and he is continuing his planned treatment,” the statement said. “This morning after breakfast, he […]