Town Hall News

By Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) – Prince Harry will become the first senior British royal to give evidence in court for 130 years when he testifies next week in his lawsuit against a newspaper group he accuses of unlawful behaviour. Harry, King Charles’ younger son, will appear in the witness box at London’s High Court as part of the case he and more than 100 other celebrities and high-profile figures […]

(Reuters) -Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of U.S. bank JPMorgan Chase & Co, is visiting Taiwan on Friday, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said, after concluding his first trip to China since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dimon’s visit to Taipei, where JPMorgan has had a banking presence since 1970, comes amid heightened tension over the democratically-governed island, which Beijing claims as its own territory. Taiwan […]

(Reuters) -Two villages in Russia’s western Bryansk region have been shelled by Ukrainian forces, but no one was injured, regional governor Alexander Bogomaz said in a series of posts on the Telegram messaging app on Friday. Reuters could not immediately verify the reported attacks on Lomakovka and Novaya Pogoshch villages located close to the border with Ukraine’s Chernihiv and Sumy regions. Russian officials have reported intensified attacks from northern Ukraine […]

(Reuters) – Two long-range drones attacked fuel and energy infrastructure in Russia’s western Smolensk region overnight on Friday, but no injuries or fires were reported, the region’s acting governor said. He said the attacks hit the towns of Divasy and Peresna near the region’s capital Smolensk, some 270 km (168 miles) from the Ukrainian border, but did not say who was responsible. The incident comes a day after the governor […]

By David Dolan and Daniel Leussink TOKYO (Reuters) – Two of the largest U.S. public pension systems have voted against the re-election of Toyota Motor Corp chairman Akio Toyoda, shareholder voting records showed, sharpening the focus on the automaker’s annual meeting later this month. The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and the Office of the New York City Comptroller both also voted for a resolution urging Toyota to improve […]

By Richard Cowan and Gram Slattery WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed bipartisan legislation backed by President Joe Biden that lifts the government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, averting what would have been a first-ever default. The Senate voted 63-36 to approve the bill that had been passed on Wednesday by the House of Representatives, as lawmakers raced against the clock following months of partisan bickering between Democrats […]

By Joanna Plucinska and Angelo Amante LONDON/ROME (Reuters) – Lufthansa’s purchase of a minority stake in Italy’s loss-making ITA Airways injects fresh momentum into a wave of consolidation in Europe’s fragmented aviation market that could see more mid-tier national carriers snapped up. The German group will be judged on whether it can make the successor business to Alitalia profitable in coming years, potentially setting the scene for large airline groups […]

(Reuters) – Ukrainian forces in the capital, Kyiv, said on Friday they shot down more than 30 Russian missiles and drones overnight and two people were injured by falling debris, before authorities lifted air raid alerts across most of the country. Russia has launched about 20 separate missiles and drone strikes against Ukrainian cities since the beginning of May. Kyiv military authorities, writing on Telegram, said Russia had launched drones […]

By Elaine Lies TOKYO (Reuters) – Parts of Japan were slammed by torrential rain on Friday as Tropical Storm Mawar neared, prompting authorities to advise over a million people to evacuate, though no injuries were reported. Mawar, which wreaked havoc on Guam earlier this week, has weakened to tropical storm strength from its earlier super typhoon status. The main body of the storm was expected to pass south of the […]