Town Hall News

By Ankur Banerjee SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Asian shares inched higher, while the dollar started the week on the front foot after the U.S. jobs data underscored a tight labour market, firming up expectations that the Federal Reserve will again raise interest rates at its meeting next month. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.14% higher, while Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.5%. Australian, Hong Kong and European markets are […]

By Leika Kihara TOKYO (Reuters) – New Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda’s main challenge will be to phase out yield curve control (YCC), which has come under criticism for distorting markets by keeping long-term interest rates from rising. Under YCC, the BOJ targets short-term interest rates at -0.1% and the 10-year government bond yield at 0.5% above or below zero, in an effort to sustainably achieve 2% inflation. Here […]

By Frank Pingue AUGUSTA, Georgia (Reuters) – Spaniard Jon Rahm captured the biggest win of his career at the Masters on Sunday and said he felt the presence of his idol, the late Seve Ballesteros, helping pull him through. Rahm’s triumph, which marked his second major title, was made extra special given it came on the 40th anniversary of his compatriot’s second win at Augusta National and on what would […]

By Leika Kihara TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s new central bank governor Kazuo Ueda faces a bumpy road as slowing global growth clouds prospects for a sustained pickup in inflation and wages, a prerequisite for phasing out his predecessor’s controversial monetary stimulus. The 71-year-old academic’s term began on Sunday, succeeding Haruhiko Kuroda, whose second, five-year term ended on Saturday. Ueda and his two deputy governors, Shinichi Uchida and Ryozo Himino, will […]

By Steve Keating AUGUSTA, Georgia (Reuters) -Rock-steady Jon Rahm, channeling Spanish great Seve Ballesteros on his late hero’s birthday, survived a marathon day and scored an emotional Masters win at Augusta National on Sunday, denying LIV Golf a watershed victory. Rahm, who started the day four off the lead, rallied behind a final round three-under 69 for a winning total of 12-under 276 and a decisive four-shot victory over LIV […]

By Gabriella Borter and Njuwa Maina (Reuters) – Two Tennessee Democrats who were expelled from the Republican-dominated state House of Representatives last week over their participation in a gun control protest said on Sunday that they hoped to soon reclaim their seats. Representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, who joined hundreds of protesters at the state capitol in Nashville to demand stricter gun laws four days after a mass shooting […]

By Frank Pingue AUGUSTA, Georgia (Reuters) – Brooks Koepka’s bid to leave the Masters field green with envy came apart in the final round on Sunday, but the oft-injured American still walked away with his head held high after re-establishing his status as a major contender. Koepka, one of 18 LIV Golf players who teed it up this week, began the round two shots ahead but his hopes of donning […]

LONDON (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy denounced Russian air strikes coinciding with the observance of Orthodox Palm Sunday, including an attack that killed a father and daughter at home in the city of Zaporizhzhia. FIGHTING * Russia has destroyed a depot containing 70,000 tonnes of fuel near the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, the Russian defence ministry said on Sunday. * Ukraine’s military reported continued Russian attacks and shelling, with […]

PARIS (Reuters) -Four people have died and nine others have been injured in an avalanche southwest of Mont Blanc in the French Alps, interior minister Gerald Darmanin said on Sunday. The avalanche occurred in the middle of the day on the Armancette glacier, he wrote on Twitter. Those caught up in it were backcountry skiing in the mountains, said Emmanuel Coquand, spokesperson for the local authorities of Haute-Savoie, adding that […]