Town Hall News

By Jeslyn Lerh SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Oil prices retreated on Thursday after rising for two sessions, with investors still showing lingering concern over a possible U.S. recession and weaker oil demand. Brent crude fell 32 cents, or 0.4%, to $87.01 a barrel by 0630 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) slid 22 cents, or 0.3%, to $83.04. Both benchmarks rose 2% on Wednesday to their highest in more than a […]

By Krisztina Than BUDAPEST (Reuters) – The United States imposed sanctions on three top officials of the Russian-controlled International Investment Bank in Budapest on Wednesday after it said Hungary had ignored U.S. concerns raised over the “opaque Kremlin platform”. The three names added to the U.S. sanctions list are Russian nationals Nikolay Kosov, the bank’s former chairman, and Georgy Potapov, as well as Hungarian national Imre Laszloczki, the latter two […]

By Tristan Veyet and Bartosz Dabrowski (Reuters) – Swiss fragrance and flavour maker Givaudan on Thursday reported quarterly like-for-like sales slightly above expectations, with price rises helping to offset lower sales volumes in North America. Its first-quarter revenue rose 3.6% to 1.84 billion Swiss francs ($1.97 billion) on a like-for-like basis, beating the 1.80 billion francs expected by analysts in a poll compiled by the company. The sales growth was […]

By Renju Jose SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia’s northwest region, home to the world’s largest iron ore export hub, was bracing on Thursday for the area’s most powerful tropical cyclone in a decade, as a major port closed and residents rushed to stock up on essential supplies. Cyclone Ilsa, located about 250 km off (155 miles) Australia’s coast in the Indian Ocean, was on Thursday morning upgraded to a category four storm. […]

By Nick Carey LONDON (Reuters) – Legacy automakers got off to a late start with their commercial electric vans, opening the door for other electric commercial vehicle (ECV) makers to gain a foothold, as the Maxus brand from China’s SAIC Motor Corp has done in Europe. Fleet customers complain they simply cannot obtain enough electric vans from the likes of Ford Motor Co, Stellantis NV brand Peugeot, Renault or Mercedes, […]

Taj Bradley won his major league debut with five solid innings, and the Tampa Bay Rays extended their winning streak to a dozen games with a 9-7 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday in St. Petersburg, Fla. The Rays’ run of 12 consecutive victories to start the season is the third-best mark in modern-era major league history, trailing the 13-win streaks turned in by the Milwaukee Brewers (1987) […]

By Sonia Rolley KINSHASA (Reuters) – Congolese women and children have been raped and subjected to other abuses during a mass expulsion of migrant workers from Angola to Democratic Republic of Congo, a doctor, officials and the United Nations said. Angola has deported thousands of workers in recent months, U.N. figures show, echoing previous purges over the past 12 years during which abuses also occurred, according to rights groups and […]

By Joe Cash and Ellen Zhang BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s exports unexpectedly surged in March, with officials flagging rising demand for electric vehicles, but analysts cautioned the improvement partly reflects suppliers catching up with unfulfilled orders after last year’s COVID-19 disruptions. Exports in March shot up 14.8% from a year ago, snapping five straight months of declines, stunning economists who predicted a 7.0% fall in a Reuters poll. But analysts say […]

CHENGDU, China (Reuters) -Chinese electric vehicle maker Zeekr on Wednesday launched a compact, all-electric sport utility vehicle, as it targeted a premium market in China that has been dominated by German automakers. The Geely-owned brand said it also planned to offer the SUV-styled Zeekr X and its Zeekr 001 EV sedan in Western Europe without saying when that would be. With a starting price of 189,800 yuan ($27,615.31) in China, […]