Town Hall News

(Reuters) – Mercedes-Benz Group sales rose moderately in the first quarter of this year, boosted by electric vehicles (EV) and premium cars, the German carmaker said on Wednesday. Worldwide sales increased 3% to 503,500 vehicles, with Europe posting the strongest growth at 8%. EVs were the main growth driver in the quarter, with sales almost doubling to 51,600 units. The top-end segment – which includes models such as AMG, Maybach […]

By Tom Wilson (Reuters) – The software that underpins the second-biggest crypto coin ether is due for a software upgrade on Wednesday that will give investors access to more than $30 billion of the digital tokens. Known as Shapella, the latest upgrade to the Ethereum blockchain will enable investors to redeem an offshoot of ether tokens that they have deposited in return for interest on the blockchain network over the […]

BENGALURU (Reuters) – Elon Musk said on Wednesday that he did not know “what exactly happened” when Twitter took down content related to a documentary critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this year, adding that some rules related to social media content were “quite strict” in India. In January, India ordered the blocking of a BBC documentary which questioned Modi’s leadership during the 2002 Gujarat riots, saying that even […]

HANOI (Reuters) – A Hanoi court on Wednesday sentenced a prominent Vietnamese political activist to six years in prison for conducting anti-state activities, his lawyer said, in a case that has raised international concerns over the communist country’s treatment of dissidents. Nguyen Lan Thang, 48, participated in environmental and anti-China protests, voiced support for other jailed activists, and wrote blogs about Vietnam’s socio-political issues, according to his social media accounts. […]

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s Merck KGaA said on Wednesday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had paused the initiation of new patients on its evobrutinib drug, sending its share price plunging by as much as 6.3% in the early hours of trading. The FDA’s decision was in response to laboratory values suggestive of drug-induced liver injury during phase III studies, Merck said, stressing that the two cases identified had […]

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – The Australian Football League (AFL) is investigating racial abuse on social media against four Indigenous Australian players. Adelaide Crows player Izak Rankine reported being racially abused on Monday, while Fremantle’s Michael Walters and Nathan Wilson, and Brisbane’s Charlie Cameron reported similar abuse on Tuesday. “This has to stop,” AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan told Australian media. “It not only hurts the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players […]

BENGALURU (Reuters) – Elon Musk said on Wednesday that he did not know “what exactly happened” when Twitter took down content related to a documentary critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this year, adding that some rules related to social media content were “quite strict” in India. In January, India ordered the blocking of a BBC documentary which questioned Modi’s leadership during the 2002 Gujarat riots, saying that even […]

Brad Marchand had a goal and two assists as the Boston Bruins continued their record-breaking season with a 5-2 win over the visiting Washington Capitals on Tuesday night. A game after setting the NHL single-season standard for wins, Boston passed the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens for the most points in a single season in league history. Linus Ullmark became the fastest NHL goalie ever to 40 wins in a season, making […]

BENGALURU (Reuters) – Elon Musk said on Wednesday that he did not know “what exactly happened” when Twitter took down content related to a documentary critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this year, adding that some rules related to social media content were “quite strict” in India. In January, India ordered the blocking of a BBC documentary which questioned Modi’s leadership during the 2002 Gujarat riots, saying that even […]