Town Hall News

By John McCrank and Chris Prentice (Reuters) – The head of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission came under fire on Tuesday from Republican lawmakers who said the agency was stifling financial innovation by rushing the pace of rulemaking in areas such as climate change risks and unclear rules on cryptocurrencies. SEC Chair Gary Gensler was testifying in front of the House Financial Services Committee for the first time since […]

(Reuters) – Western Alliance Bancorp beat Wall Street estimates for the first quarter on Tuesday, as the lender reaped gains from interest income on the back of a slate of rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve. The Fed raised interest rates at the fastest pace in decades to tame decades-high inflation. While higher cost of borrowing roiled several asset classes and curtailed dealmaking, it helped lenders charge higher interest […]

By Guy Faulconbridge and Andrew Osborn MOSCOW (Reuters) -A Moscow court on Tuesday rejected an appeal from U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich to be freed from pre-trial detention, meaning he will stay in a former KGB prison until at least May 29 while a spying case against him is investigated. Gershkovich, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, denies the espionage charges. He looked calm and smiled as he stood in […]

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 for a 4-0 aggregate victory that sets up a likely mouth-watering clash with Manchester City. Trailing 2-0 from last week’s clash in the Bernabeu, Chelsea had their moments but failed to take their chances in the opening half and […]

(Reuters) -Transport Canada said on Tuesday Hyundai Auto Canada Corp pleaded guilty to six different counts of criminal charges for violating the Motor Vehicle Safety Act. Hyundai Auto Canada failed to send out notices of safety defect within the prescribed time period of 60 days, the statement said, and the company will pay a fine of $360,000. “It is alarming that Hyundai failed to notify vehicle owners of a recall […]

By Rajesh Kumar Singh and Aishwarya Nair (Reuters) -Southwest Airlines Co’s said a technology failure caused a one-hour nationwide stoppage of its flights on Tuesday, another snafu for the carrier after a software problem over the Christmas holiday stranded thousands. The Dallas-based carrier’s flights resumed after a vendor-supplied computer network firewall went down Tuesday morning and connection to some operational data was “unexpectedly” lost. Southwest said this forced it to […]

LONDON (Reuters) – WhatsApp and other messaging services have united to oppose Britain’s plan to force tech companies to break end-to-end encryption in private messages in its proposed internet safety legislation. Meta-owned WhatsApp, Signal and five other apps signed an open letter saying the law could give an “unelected official the power to weaken the privacy of billions of people around the world”. Britain’s Online Safety Bill was originally designed […]

By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission on Tuesday announced a 1.1-billion-euro ($1.2 billion) plan to counter growing cybersecurity threats, underscoring mounting concerns about a series of high-profile hacking incidents. The growing use of cyber warfare in the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine has also triggered alarm. “The EU Cyber Solidarity Act will strengthen solidarity at Union level to better detect, prepare for and respond to […]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Leaders of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on Tuesday the agency would pursue companies who misuse artificial intelligence to violate laws against discrimination or be deceptive. The sudden popularity of Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s ChatGPT this year has prompted calls for regulation amid concerns around the world about the possible use of the innovation for wrongdoing even as companies are seeking ways to use it to enhance efficiency. […]