Town Hall News

(Reuters) – Icelandair Group HF said on Friday it secured a deal to purchase about 25 of European planemaker Airbus SE’s latest A321XLR single-aisle jet, with deliveries slated to begin in 2029. As part of the deal, Icelandair has an option to purchase an additional 12 aircraft, and has already agreed to buy 13 of Airbus’ newest and largest narrowbody airliner at an undisclosed price. Icelandair, however, said it plans […]

By Kai Pfaffenbach and Kwang JirapornKuhakan NEAR BAKHMUT, Ukraine (Reuters) – Seven civilians were reported killed by Ukrainian artillery strikes in Russian-controlled areas as the battle for Bakhmut, the devastated eastern city that has become a symbol of Kyiv’s defiance of Russia, raged with no end in sight. A top Russian official said there was no chance of peace talks this year as French President Emmanuel Macron urged Chinese leader […]

BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombia’s government is trying to speed up the evacuation of some 2,500 families living closest to the Nevado del Ruiz volcano, which is being monitored for a possible eruption, but some residents are refusing to leave. The volcano’s eruption in 1985 killed more than 25,000 people in Colombia’s biggest-ever natural disaster, with avalanches of earth and rock fragments burying entire settlements. The government has raised the volcano’s […]

By Soo-hyang Choi and Ju-min Park SEOUL (Reuters) -The United States, South Korea and Japan expressed deep concern over North Korea’s “malicious” cyber activities to support its weapons programmes, in comments released in a joint statement on Friday. Crypto currency funds stolen by North Korean hackers have been a key source for financing the sanctions-stricken country’s weapons programmes, officials and experts in the U.S. and its allies say. Amid North […]

(Corrects typographical error in headline) BOGOTA (Reuters) -Colombia’s government is trying to speed up the evacuation of some 2,500 families living closest to the Nevado del Ruiz volcano, which is being monitored for a possible eruption, but some residents are refusing to leave. The volcano’s eruption in 1985 killed more than 25,000 people in Colombia’s biggest-ever natural disaster, with avalanches of earth and rock fragments burying entire settlements. The government […]

BEIJING (Reuters) -Douyin, the Chinese counterpart of TikTok and and Tencent have agreed to explore the joint promotion of short and long videos, in a further thawing of frosty relations that has long been marked by lawsuits and a war of words. Douyin, owned by tech giant ByteDance, said in a statement it is now authorised to use Tencent Video content and rules about how secondary content can be generated […]

By Joyce Lee and Heekyong Yang SEOUL (Reuters) -Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Friday it would make a “meaningful” cut to chip production, following the lead of smaller rivals, as it grapples with a sharp global downturn in semiconductor demand that has sent prices plummeting. The unusual output cut by the world’s biggest memory chipmaker – with no previous announcement recalled by Samsung officials and analysts – came after […]

By Henriette Chacar and Nidal al-Mughrabi JERUSALEM/GAZA (Reuters) -Israel’s military hit sites in Lebanon and Gaza early on Friday, in retaliation for rocket attacks it blamed on the Islamist group Hamas, as tensions following police raids this week on the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem threatened to spiral out of control. Loud blasts rocked different areas of Gaza, as Israel said its jets hit targets including tunnels and weapons manufacturing sites […]

BEIJING (Reuters) – China said Australia’s “discriminatory” ban on TikTok from all federal government-owned devices harmed the interests of Australian businesses and the public, urging Canberra to treat all firms fairly, a commerce ministry statement said on Friday. “Australia treated TikTok differently from other social media platforms and adopted discriminatory restrictive measures, which are not conducive to maintaining Australia’s national security,” the statement said. China also urged Australia to create […]