Town Hall News

(Reuters) – A Israeli police raid on Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque on Wednesday has triggered a furious reaction from Palestinians across the occupied West Bank and the wider Arab and Muslim world. WHERE AND WHAT IS THE AL-AQSA MOSQUE? The Al-Aqsa lies at the heart of Jerusalem’s Old City on a hill known to Jews as Har ha-Bayit, or Temple Mount, and to Muslims internationally as al-Haram al-Sharif, or The Noble […]

By Pietro Lombardi MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish power company Iberdrola will seek to expand in the United States and take advantage of its green subsidies after announcing the sale of gas assets worth $6 billion in Mexico, Chief Financial Officer Jose Sainz said on Wednesday. The sale significantly reduces the renewable energy giant’s exposure to Mexico, where its relationship with the government has been fraught, and gives it an opportunity […]

(Reuters) – Cristiano Ronaldo continues to find the net in Saudi Arabia, scoring two goals to reach 11 in nine league games – but still can’t step out of the shadow of team mate and Al-Nassr’s top scorer Anderson Talisca. The Brazilian also hit the net twice in the 5-0 victory over Al-Adalah on Tuesday and is the league’s joint top scorer with 16 goals, level with former Manchester United […]

A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Mike Dolan If the tight U.S. labor market is finally unwinding, markets suspect the Federal Reserve’s job may well done after all – but at the cost of a looming recession. With Wednesday’s private sector jobs reading for March and Friday’s national payrolls report ahead, U.S. interest rate markets were jolted again on Tuesday by surprisingly soft data […]

(Corrects CEO’s first name in paragraph 10) By Noele Illien BASEL (Reuters) -UBS executives told shareholders on Wednesday that its unexpected takeover of Swiss rival Credit Suisse in the biggest bank rescue since the global financial crisis was a milestone for the industry and a major challenge for the bank. Describing the transaction as “the first merger of two globally systematically important banks,” Chairman Colm Kelleher sought to assure investors […]

GLASGOW (Reuters) -The husband of former Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon has been arrested as part of an investigation into the funding of the governing pro-independence Scottish National Party, the BBC said on Wednesday. Police Scotland said a 58-year-old man had been “arrested as a suspect” and its officers were carrying out searches at a number of addresses linked to the investigation. Peter Murrell, 58, who stood down as the chief […]

By Medha Singh and Lisa Pauline Mattackal (Reuters) – Even as bitcoin flies high, investors are keeping their options open, judging by a record race to derivatives. Open interest for bitcoin options and futures has spiked over the past month as fear has stalked global banking, hitting an all-time high of 433,540 contracts on March 23 on Deribit, a leading exchange for crypto-focused derivatives products. In the 12 months preceding […]

By Michael Martina, Matt Spetalnick and Daniela Desantis WASHINGTON/ASUNCION (Reuters) – As China seeks to further whittle down the list of seven countries in the Americas that still recognize Taiwan, U.S. officials increasingly believe Paraguay may be the island’s next diplomatic ally to flip loyalties to Beijing. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s visit this week to Guatemala and Belize to shore up two remaining Central American partners underscored her government’s efforts […]

(Reuters) – Deutsche Telekom now holds a majority in T-Mobile U.S., the chief executive of the German telecoms company said on Wednesday. The company reached a majority stake in T-Mobile U.S late Tuesday, CEO Tim Höttges said at the company’s annual general meeting. “We have the majority and are the largest shareholder of the world’s most valuable telecommunications company – T-Mobile U.S.,” he said. Since 2013, the value of T-Mobile […]