Town Hall News

TOKYO (Reuters) – Visitors to Japan surged in March to their highest after the COVID-19 pandemic, official data showed on Wednesday, with overseas tourists flocking to see the nation’s famous cherry blossoms for the first time in four years as travel curbs eased. The number of foreign visitors for business and leisure stood at 1.82 million in March, up from 1.48 million in February, the Japan National Tourism Organisation said. […]

By Toby Sterling AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -ASML Holding NV beat first-quarter earnings forecasts on Wednesday on continued strong demand for its chip making equipment, but noted some signs of caution among customers. The comments from Europe’s biggest tech firm follow news that Samsung will cut production because of a downturn in semiconductor demand, while memory chip makers SK Hynix and Micron have cut spending plans. ASML posted a threefold jump in […]

By Laurie Chen BEIJING (Reuters) – The European Union has said it is seriously concerned about the arrest of two prominent Chinese human rights activists and has called for their immediate release after they were detained in Beijing last week en route to a meeting with EU officials. The detention of Yu Wensheng and Xu Yan shortly before their meeting with visiting EU officials last Thursday was “already not acceptable”, […]

By Martyn Herman LONDON (Reuters) – Holders Real Madrid breezed past Chelsea into the semi-finals of the Champions League with Rodrygo’s double securing a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday to set up a likely mouth-watering clash with Manchester City. Chelsea’s hopes of maintaining interest in a woeful season always looked slender after losing last week in the Bernabeu and Rodrygo put them out of their misery with two […]

By Laurie Chen BEIJING (Reuters) – The European Union has said it is seriously concerned about the arrest of two prominent Chinese human rights activists and has called for their immediate release after they were detained in Beijing last week en route to a meeting with EU officials. The detention of Yu Wensheng and Xu Yan shortly before their meeting with visiting EU officials last Thursday was “already not acceptable”, […]

CAIRO (Reuters) – Al-Ahly striker Kahraba was suspended this week for an incident during a match against his former team Zamalek in January but neither the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) nor his club have revealed any details of the punishment. The 29-year-old Egyptian international was alleged by Zamalek to have joined with Al-Ahly fans in chanting insults at their rival club after contributing a goal to a 3-0 victory in […]

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML Holding NV expects sales to mainland China to pick up for the remainder of 2023 following a dip in the first quarter, it said on Wednesday. The remarks by finance chief Roger Dassen come after the company reported better than expected first quarter results. ASML’s sales in mainland China, its third biggest market after Taiwan and South Korea, have been the subject […]

(Corrests spelling of finance chief to Dassen, not Daasen) AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML Holding NV expects sales to mainland China to pick up for the remainder of 2023 following a dip in the first quarter, it said on Wednesday. The remarks by finance chief Roger Dassen come after the company reported better than expected first quarter results. ASML’s sales in mainland China, its third biggest market after […]

By Philip Blenkinsop BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Heineken maintained its forecast for 2023 profit growth with the risk of slower economic expansion in the Asia-Pacific region offset by greater resilience among beer drinkers in Europe. The world’s second-largest brewer expects its operating profit this year to increase by a mid- to high- single-digit percentage. “We see signals of a relatively resilient Europe and risks of slower economic growth in Asia Pacific, thus […]