Town Hall News

(Reuters) – Russian drones attacked Ukrainian cities and missiles blasted an apartment block, but a months-long ground assault on the eastern town of Bakhmut could be stalling in the face of fierce resistance, according to Ukrainian and British military experts. FIGHTING * At least nine people died in the Russian air strikes which Ukrainian President Zelenskiy said showed Moscow was not interested in peace. * In a show of defiance, […]

By Piroschka van de Wouw AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Badgers have dug out a home underneath a major rail line in the Netherlands, leaving tens of thousands of passengers facing delays. Train traffic has been halted, possibly for weeks, between two major southern cities, Den Bosch and Eindhoven, due to worries that the badgers’ tunnels have weakened the ground under the tracks. But the company that maintains the country’s rail network […]

By Soo-hyang Choi SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korea fired four cruise missiles off its east coast on Wednesday as its rivals South Korea and the United States held joint military exercises, the South Korean military said. The military initially reported “multiple missiles” without elaborating; South Korean Defence Minister Lee Jong-sup told parliament on Thursday that there were four. Lee added that North Korea appears to have made “substantial progress” in miniaturising […]

By Renju Jose SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese fought back tears on Thursday as he revealed the question the government wants to ask in a referendum on whether to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the country’s constitution. “If not now, when?,” Albanese asked, choking up during a televised media conference, standing alongside several Indigenous leaders supporting the proposal. “For many … this moment has been a […]

By Ben Blanchard and Gustavo Palencia TAIPEI/TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) -The Honduran foreign minister is travelling to China to “promote” the establishment of diplomatic ties, an official said, signalling the end is most likely near for the country’s decades-long relations with Taiwan. At stake is China’s growing footprint in Central America, once a steadfast base for Taiwan and where the United States is worried about Beijing’s expanding influence in its backyard. Honduran […]

(Reuters) – Ryanair Holdings Plc is optimistic on striking a major new aircraft order after the Irish airline restarted talks with Boeing Co, its top boss said in an interview with the Financial Times on Thursday. Chief Executive Officer Michael O’Leary said there was a ‘deal to be done’ with negotiations between the Irish airline and Boeing in “the early stages” for a new order of Boeing 737 jets, according […]

By Chen Lin SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore’s key consumer price gauge rose 5.5% in February, unchanged from the previous month and lower than forecast, official data showed on Thursday. The core inflation rate – which excludes private road transport and accommodation costs – compared with a forecast in a Reuters poll of economists for a 5.8% increase in February. Lower prices for services were broadly offset in the core inflation […]

By Lananh Nguyen and Saeed Azhar (Reuters) -Citigroup Inc CEO Jane Fraser on Wednesday expressed confidence in U.S. banks after a series of closures rattled investors and fueled turmoil in global financial markets. “The banking system is pretty sound,” and large and regional banks are well-capitalized, Fraser told the Economic Club of Washington D.C. on Wednesday. “This is not a credit crisis. This is a situation where it’s a few […]

By Lewis Krauskopf NEW YORK (Reuters) – The end of the Federal Reserve’s bruising rate hiking cycle may be in sight, yet investors are finding plenty to worry about when it comes to the U.S. stock market. In its first meeting since the collapse of two U.S. banks this month and the downfall of ailing European lender Credit Suisse, the Fed on Wednesday raised interest rates by a quarter of […]