Town Hall News

BEIJING (Reuters) – China is highly concerned at Japan’s plan to put export curbs on 23 types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, Wang Shouwen, a Chinese vice commerce minister, said. Wednesday’s comments came during a meeting with Japan’s ambassador, Hideo Tarumi, in Beijing.  In a commerce ministry statement on Thursday, Wang urged Japan to follow World Trade Organization rules to maintain stability of global supply chains. (Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing […]

By Yuka Obayashi and 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 20 cents, or 0.2%, to $87.13 a barrel by 0352 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate slid 15 cents, or 0.2%, to $83.11. Both benchmarks rose 2% on Wednesday to their highest in more […]

TAIPEI (Reuters) – China’s plan to set up a no-fly zone to the north of Taiwan on April 16 will affect about 33 flights, Taiwan’s official Central News Agency (CNA) reported, citing the island’s transport minister, Wang Kwo-tsai. The impact on flights was greatly reduced after Taiwan said it had successfully urged China to drastically narrow its plan to close air space north of the island, Wang was reported as […]

By Julia Harte and Sharon Bernstein (Reuters) – The mother of the 25-year-old bank employee who killed five people and wounded nine others in a shooting rampage at his Kentucky workplace on Monday had frantically called 911 to report her son’s intention, emergency calls released on Wednesday showed. The calls, one of which came from an employee who witnessed the attack while on a video conference meeting, were shared by […]

(Reuters) – The person who leaked U.S. classified documents prompting a national security investigation is a gun enthusiast in his 20s who worked on a military base, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing fellow members of an online chat group. The person shared classified information to a group on the instant messaging platform Discord of about two dozen men and young boys who shared a “mutual love of guns, […]

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s exports posted a surprise surge in March, with outbound shipments rising 14.8%, snapping five months of decline, while imports fell a smaller-than-expected 1.4%, customs data showed on Thursday. Analysts in a Reuters poll had expected exports to fall 7.0%, after dropping 6.8% in the January-February period. Imports were forecast to have shrunk an annual 5.0%, compared with a fall of 10.2% over January and February. Newly […]

By Sabrina Valle HOUSTON (Reuters) – Chevron Corp CEO Michael Wirth was paid $23.6 million in 2022, a 4% increase from the prior year while the median annual compensation for the oil giant’s employees fell 12%, a securities filing showed on Wednesday. In addition to sky-high energy prices, cost-cutting measures including payroll reductions helped Chevron’s profit more than double in 2022 to a record $36.5 billion. The median annual compensation […]

By Renju Jose SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia’s northwest region, home to the world’s largest export hub for iron ore, could be hit by the most powerful tropical cyclone there in a decade as ports cleared ships and residents rushed to stock up on essential supplies. Cyclone Ilsa, located about 300 km (186 miles) off Australia’s coast in the Indian Ocean, was on Thursday morning upgraded to a category four storm – […]

SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) – North Korea fired a ballistic missile of intermediate range or longer on Thursday, South Korea and Japan said, triggering a scare in northern Japan where residents were told to take cover, though there turned out to be no danger. Japanese authorities retracted the alert for Hokkaido island when they determined that the missile would not fall nearby. The missile flew about 1,000 km (620 miles), South Korea’s […]