Town Hall News

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) board directors have resigned and the country’s justice minister has stepped in to administer the governing body amid financial problems, Fijian media reported. The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Siromi Turaga met with members of the FRU board and instructed them to resign on Thursday, the Fijian Sun said. Turaga would now move to appoint interim trustees for the FRU and convene a […]

JAKARTA (Reuters) – At least 11 people died and one was missing when a ferry capsized off the eastern coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra island, the national search and rescue agency said on Friday. The ferry was carrying about 74 people to the small island of Tanjung Pinang near neighbouring Singapore when it is suspected to have hit a log about 30 minutes after it set sail, officials said. A search […]

KYIV (Reuters) – The Ukraine capital Kyiv was rocked by explosions early on Friday and air raid sirens and explosions were reported across the country, according to the Interfax Ukraine and reports on social media channels. There were no details on what had been struck in Kyiv or of any damage and casualties. The city’s military administration said anti-aircraft units were in operation. Earlier reports said cities from central Ukraine […]

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s defence minister said on Friday the government was being “upfront and transparent” about the cost of its AUKUS nuclear submarine programme, after an analysis showed the forecast A$368 billion cost included a 50% contingency fund. The Greens party, which commissioned the analysis by the Parliamentary Budget Office, said it showed the “huge” uncertainty over the project. U.S. President Joe Biden, Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and […]

TAIPEI (Reuters) – A new type of Chinese combat drone that China’s state media says can carry a heavy weapons payload has flown around Taiwan, the island’s defence ministry said on Friday, in the latest uptick in military tensions. China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has increased military pressure on the island over the past three years as it tries to force Taipei to accept Beijing’s […]

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan will provide as much as $1.8 billion in subsidies for a slate of storage battery and chip-related projects, Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said on Friday, marking Tokyo’s latest push towards greater supply chain security. The government plans to give up to 184.6 billion yen ($1.38 billion) in subsidies for eight storage battery-related proposals and up to 56.4 billion yen for two semiconductor-related projects, Nishimura told reporters. […]

(Reuters) – Air raid alerts were issued throughout Ukraine early on Friday and Interfax Ukraine news agency reported explosions in cities in widely separated regions, quoting local sources. Interfax said explosions were reported after midnight in Dnipro, Kremenchuk and Poltava in central Ukraine and in Mykolaiv in the south and another online source reported an explosion in Kyiv region. Interfax quoted regional Telegram accounts as saying unidentified airborne objects were […]

By Leika Kihara TOKYO (Reuters) -The Bank of Japan (BOJ) will discuss on Friday conducting a comprehensive examination of its past monetary easing steps and revise its guidance on the future policy path, the Nikkei newspaper reported. While the central bank is widely expected to keep yield curve control (YCC) steady, any such move could signal new Governor Kazuo Ueda’s intention to gradually move towards an exit from prolonged, ultra-low […]

By Leika Kihara TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s new central bank governor Kazuo Ueda will see his communication skills put to test at his debut policy meeting on Friday, as markets look for clues on how soon the country’s prolonged ultra-low interest rates could end. At the meeting Ueda chairs just three weeks into his term, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) is widely expected to maintain its short-term interest rate target of […]