Town Hall News

By Joe Skipper and Steve Gorman BOCA CHICA, Texas (Reuters) -Elon Musk’s SpaceX on Thursday launched its next-generation Starship cruise vessel for the first time atop the company’s powerful new Super Heavy rocket, but the uncrewed test flight ended minutes later with the vehicle exploding in the sky. While the two-stage rocket ship failed to make it beyond an altitude of 20 miles (32 km), SpaceX officials cheered the outcome […]

By Boldizsar Gyori and Krisztina Than BUDAPEST (Reuters) -Hungary called on Thursday for “progressive” aid from the EU to help move Ukraine’s grain through central European countries whose farmers are having to compete with its cheaper imports. Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy met his Ukrainian counterpart after Hungary banned imports of honey and certain meat products from Ukraine, in addition to grains, until June 30, adding to pressure to broaden proposed […]

By Sruthi Shankar and Ankika Biswas (Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes fell on Thursday as disappointing results from Tesla, AT&T and some regional banks dented investor sentiment already soured by prospects of further U.S. interest rate hikes. U.S. stock indexes have remained steady this week as mixed earnings from U.S. banks allayed contagion concerns related to the banking crisis in March, but rapidly rising rates and recession worries have […]

By Alan Baldwin LONDON (Reuters) – Half the Formula One calendar could be turned into sprint weekends if changes to the format are given the go-ahead and prove a hit in Baku next week, according to Haas team boss Guenther Steiner. The sport is due to vote next week on changing the sprint format from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix so that the Saturday 100km race stands alone with its own […]

By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden announced plans to increase U.S. funding to help developing countries fight climate change and curb deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest during a meeting on Thursday with leaders from the world’s largest economies. During a virtual meeting of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, Biden urged his counterparts to be ambitious in setting goals to reduce emissions and meet a […]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. banking system remains sound and the U.S. government will take “any necessary steps” to keep it the strongest and safest financial system in the world, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Thursday. Yellen said decisive U.S. actions taken after the failure of two regional banks had shored up the financial system. “The U.S. banking system remains sound and we will take any necessary steps […]

By Alan Baldwin LONDON (Reuters) – Half the Formula One calendar could be turned into sprint weekends if changes to the format are given the go-ahead and prove a hit in Baku next week, according to Haas team boss Guenther Steiner. The sport is due to vote next week on changing the sprint format from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix so that the Saturday 100km race stands alone with its own […]

GDYNIA, Poland (Reuters) – At 88, Polish retiree Piotr Dudek is hoping to officially become the world’s oldest windsurfer – still relishing the battle with the wind and waves as he takes to the water and teaches children to enjoy the sport. Dudek has been windsurfing for 40 years and is known by the nickname “Junior”, coined for him by his friends when he was around 80. “The challenge is […]

By Fabian Hamacher NANGAN, Taiwan (Reuters) – Emergency workers on a Taiwan-controlled island next to China’s coast practiced responding to a simulated Chinese attack on Thursday, a little more than a week after Beijing staged war games around the sensitive Taiwan Strait. The Matsu Islands, close to China’s Fuzhou city, have been controlled by the government in Taipei since defeated Republic of China forces fled to Taiwan in 1949 after […]