Town Hall News

MANILA (Reuters) – An earthquake of magnitude 6.3 struck the Philippines’ main island on Thursday, authorities said, halting some railway operations in the capital Manila. No casualties or major damage were reported after the quake, which struck out at sea at a depth of 10 kilometres (6.21 miles) and was felt in nearby provinces, the Philippine seismology agency said. Operations of the three elevated railway lines in Manila were stopped […]

By Stanley Widianto JAKARTA (Reuters) -Short video app TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, said on Thursday it would invest billions of dollars in Southeast Asia over the next few years, as it doubles down on the region amid intensifying global scrutiny over its data security. Southeast Asia, a region with a collective population of 630 million – half of them under 30 – is one of TikTok’s biggest markets in […]

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum will nominate the city’s interior minister, Marti Batres, to replace her as she steps down Friday to pursue the ruling party’s candidacy in next year’s presidential election, Sheinbaum said Wednesday. The office of Mexico City mayor is one of the most prominent political posts in the country. Batres, 56, is a former chairman for the governing National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) party. […]

By Sumit Khanna AHMEDABAD, India (Reuters) – Authorities in India’s western state of Gujarat evacuated more than 75,000 people from vulnerable coastal communities as cyclone Biparjoy was expected whirl in from the Arabian Sea to make landfall by Thursday evening. Early on Thursday, the cyclone was centred 180 km (112 miles) off Jakhau port in Gujarat and 270 km (168 miles) off Karachi in Pakistan, the India Meteorological Department said. […]

(Corrects typo in headline) By Sumit Khanna AHMEDABAD, India (Reuters) -Authorities in India’s western state of Gujarat evacuated more than 75,000 people from vulnerable coastal communities as cyclone Biparjoy was expected whirl in from the Arabian Sea to make landfall by Thursday evening. Early on Thursday, the cyclone was centred 180 km (112 miles) off Jakhau port in Gujarat and 270 km (168 miles) off Karachi in Pakistan, the India […]

By Humeyra Pamuk, David Brunnstrom and Simon Lewis WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States on Wednesday played down expectations of any breakthrough from the first trip by a U.S. Secretary of State to China in five years, after a tense call with China’s foreign minister ahead Antony Blinken’s visit to Beijing next week. Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang urged the United States to stop meddling in its affairs and harming its […]

By Sakura Murakami and John Geddie TOKYO (Reuters) – The Pacific island nation of Palau has asked the United States to step up patrols of its waters after several recent incursions by Chinese vessels into its exclusive economic zone, President Surangel Whipps Jr. told Reuters in an interview. Whipps Jr. said he would also welcome a bigger U.S. military presence in the country, with troops stationed alongside existing coastguard and […]

By Ellen Zhang and Kevin Yao BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s economy stumbled in May with industrial output and retail sales growth missing forecasts, adding to expectations that Beijing will need to do more to shore up a shaky post-pandemic recovery. The economic rebound seen earlier this year has lost momentum in the second quarter, prompting China’s central bank this week to cut some key interest rates, with expectations of more to […]

JAKARTA (Reuters) -Short video app TikTok plans to invest billions of dollars in Southeast Asia over the next few years, its CEO Shou Zi Chew said on Thursday. Chew said at an event held in Indonesia that TikTok’s content is becoming more diversified as it adds more users and expands into e-commerce. TikTok is owned by China’s ByteDance. Southeast Asia is one of TikTok’s biggest markets in terms of user […]