Town Hall News

By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) – Deutsche Bank AG has agreed to pay $75 million to settle a lawsuit by women who say they were abused by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, and accused the German bank of facilitating his sex trafficking. The accord resolves claims in a proposed class action in Manhattan federal court by Epstein’s accusers, and was confirmed by their lawyers late on Wednesday. Court approval […]

By Andrew Hayley XIAN, China (Reuters) -Central Asian heads of state converged in China’s historic city of Xian on Thursday for one-on-ones with Chinese leader Xi Jinping to seal pledges of “enduring” friendship, paving the way for a summit expected to result in a regional pact with Beijing. The bilaterals set the stage for a group huddle on Friday, the first in-person gathering of the six leaders, where Xi will […]

By Anisha Sircar and Divya Chowdhury (Reuters) – Equity markets in North Asia will outperform the broader region this year, buoyed by China’s reopening and a post-pandemic recovery-led earnings rebound, investors and strategists said. Liquidity from easing monetary and fiscal policy, along with Asian central banks’ early victory on inflation, is expected to defend against an incoming downtrend, keeping North Asian equities resilient. Grace Tam, chief investment officer-Asia at BNP […]

(This May 17 story has been corrected to clarify that the token is called XRP, not Ripple, in paragraph 9) By Elizabeth Howcroft LONDON (Reuters) – U.S. crypto firm Ripple has bought Switzerland-based crypto custody firm Metaco for $250 million, in its first major acquisition, Ripple said on Wednesday. Metaco makes technology which allows financial institutions to store and manage digital assets. Its clients include Citi, BNP Paribas, and Societe […]

By Chayut Setboonsarng and Panarat Thepgumpanat BANGKOK (Reuters) -The leader of the progressive Move Forward Party that delivered a surprise victory in Thailand’s election said on Thursday he was confident he could muster additional support from rivals to back his alliance and form a stable government. Move Forward, which won most seats after it capitalised on its groundswell of youth support, has an alliance of eight parties worth about 313 […]

By Gleb Garanich KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine shot down 29 of 30 missiles launched by Russia in overnight air strikes but one person was killed in an attack on the southern city of Odesa, the Ukrainian military said on Thursday. Black smoke filled the sky over Kyiv during the ninth attack on the capital this month. Falling debris from missiles hit by air defences set off fires in eastern parts […]

By Susan Heavey, Doina Chiacu, Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden and top U.S. congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday underscored their determination to reach a deal soon to raise the federal government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling and avoid an economically catastrophic default. After a monthslong standoff, the Democratic president and the speaker of the House of Representatives on Tuesday agreed to negotiate directly on a deal. An agreement […]

TOKYO (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp and two allied automakers unveiled a micro-sized electric van targeted at Japan’s delivery industry on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima on Thursday. The small electric commercial van will run on a battery electric vehicle (BEV) system that Toyota is jointly developing with minivehicle specialists Daihatsu and Suzuki Motor Corp, the companies said in a joint statement. The van, […]

By Claudia Greco and Crispian Balmer BOLOGNA, Italy (Reuters) -Nine people died and thousands were evacuated from their homes as torrential rain battered Italy’s northern Emilia-Romagna region, triggering floods and landslides, officials said on Wednesday. Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci said some areas had received half their average annual rainfall in just 36 hours, causing rivers to burst their banks, sending water cascading through towns and submerging thousands of acres […]