Town Hall News

By Bart Biesemans and Clement Rossignol BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Farmers from Belgium’s northern region of Flanders drove thousands of tractors into Brussels on Friday in a protest against a new regional government plan to limit nitrogen emissions. Local police estimated the amount of tractors clogging the streets of Brussels at 2,700. Many were decorated with big plaques reflecting the farmers’ anger. “Proud to be a farmer,” read one such plaque. […]

(Reuters) – Futures for Canada’s commodity-heavy stock index rose on Friday, as a rise in gold prices and hopes of a pause in monetary tightening aided investor sentiment. March futures on the S&P/TSX index were up 0.3% at 7:12 a.m. ET. The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index closed at its highest in nearly two weeks on Thursday, underpinned by gains in technology and industrial shares. Canada’s independent budgetary watchdog […]

(Reuters) – Verizon Communications Inc Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President Matt Ellis will leave the wireless carrier in May, it said on Friday amid several senior leadership changes. Senior Vice President Tony Skiadas will replace Ellis. The company also appointed Sowmyanarayan Sampath, who leads Verizon Business Group, as executive vice president and chief executive of its consumer group. (Reporting by Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur) […]

By Ariba Shahid KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) – The Pakistani rupee on Friday strengthened 2.38% in interbank closing at 278.46 rupees against the dollar, a day after the central bank raised its policy interest rate by 300 basis points (bps) to 20%, trading data showed. The rupee, which fell more than 6% on Thursday, was trading at 275.5 against the dollar during the day, up nearly 3.5%, after the opening session. “The rupee may have appreciated […]

(Reuters) – U.S. equity funds saw huge money withdrawals in the seven days to March 1 on reinforced worries about the Federal Reserve’s policy tightening after economic data pointed to stickier-than-expected inflation. Refinitiv Lipper data showed investors offloaded a net $12.9 billion worth of U.S. equity funds, booking their biggest weekly disposal since Jan. 4. Fund flows: US equities, bonds and money market funds https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/gdvzqmbexpw/Fund%20flows%20US%20equities%20bonds%20and%20money%20market%20funds.jpg Meanwhile, money market funds drew […]

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Hungary is to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem next month in an act of support by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to his counterpart Benjamin Netahyahu, the Times of Israel reported on Friday. The move, if confirmed, would make Hungary the first member state of the European Union to open an embassy in Jerusalem, which Israel claims as its capital but which is not recognized […]

(Reuters) – Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Friday blamed a wave of poisonings of hundreds of schoolgirls around the country on Tehran’s enemies. The so-far unexplained poison attacks at more than 30 schools in at least four cities started in November in Iran’s Shi’ite Muslim holy city of Qom, prompting some parents to take their children out of school. Iran’s health minister said on Tuesday that hundreds of girls in […]

By Caitlin Tremblay WARSAW (Reuters) -An opposition-linked Polish mayor had his phone hacked using Pegasus spyware, Gazeta Wyborcza daily reported on Friday, amid allegations that the country’s special services have used the technology against government opponents. Reports in 2021 by the Associated Press that the software, developed by Israel-based NSO Group was used to hack the phones of government critics, including a senator for the largest opposition party, have drawn […]

By Saurabh Sharma NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Indian police on Friday arrested three senior employees of a pharmaceutical company whose cough syrups were linked to the deaths of 19 children in Uzbekistan, a police officer told Reuters. The arrests came after tests by an Indian government laboratory found 22 drug samples of Marion Biotech Pvt Ltd, based near New Delhi, “adulterated and spurious”, according to a police document seen by Reuters. […]