Town Hall News

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Stefan Mecha, chief executive of Volkswagen’s passenger car brand in China, on Saturday urged China to extend a purchase tax exemption on new energy vehicles (NEV) beyond this year. Volkswagen plans to increase the number of charging posts in China for electric vehicles to 17,000 by 2025 as it increases investments in the country to catch up the electrification trend, Mecha said an industry forum in Beijing. […]

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller on Friday said recent data is consistent with the notion that the U.S. central bank may be able to drive down inflation without serious harm to the labor market. If people really have begun to believe that prices are going to just keep on rising, then defeating high inflation could require dramatic actions by the Fed to puncture those expectations, […]

By Ian Ransom MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Formula One champion Max Verstappen topped the timesheet for Red Bull in the third and final practice at the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday but his team mate Sergio Perez struggled through a mishap-strewn session. Dutchman Verstappen lapped Albert Park in one minute and 17.565 seconds, 0.162 seconds clear of Fernando Alonso, as Astor Martin continued to show encouraging pace. Perez posted the sixth […]

By Kanishka Singh WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A federal judge in Memphis, Tennessee, on Friday temporarily blocked a law restricting drag performances in public from going into effect, saying it was likely “vague and overly-broad” in its restriction of speech. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, a Republican, in February, had signed the bill passed by the state’s legislature that was meant to go into effect on Saturday. The bill aimed to restrict […]

By Kanishka Singh WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A federal judge in Memphis, Tennessee, on Friday temporarily blocked a law restricting drag performances in public from going into effect, saying it was likely “vague and overly-broad” in its restriction of speech. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, a Republican, in February, had signed the bill passed by the state’s legislature that was meant to go into effect on Saturday. The bill aimed to restrict […]

(Reuters) – Premier League clubs spent 318.2 million pounds ($392.4 million) on intermediary and agent fees in the year through January, the English Football Association said on Friday. That was an increase of 46 million pounds on the previous 12 months, the association said in a report. Reigning champions Manchester City paid the highest, 51.6 million pounds, during a period that included the signing of Norway striker Erling Haaland from […]

(Reuters) -Italian 10th seed Jannik Sinner stunned world number one Carlos Alcaraz 6-7(4) 6-4 6-2 in an epic Miami Open semi-final duel on Friday, as Petra Kvitova set up a meeting with Elena Rybakina in the women’s championship match. Sinner needed everything in his arsenal to beat the defending champion in a rematch of their Indian Wells semi final and delivered with more than two dozen winners to set up […]

(Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund said its executive board had approved a four-year $15.6 billion loan programme for Ukraine, part of a global $115 billion package to support the country’s economy as it battles Russia’s 13-month-old invasion. DIPLOMACY, WEAPONRY * A $2.6 billion U.S. military aid package that could include air surveillance radars, anti-tank rockets and fuel trucks for Ukraine’s fight against Russia is expected to be announced as […]

By Brendan O’Brien and Steve Gorman (Reuters) -A fierce tornado blasted through Little Rock, Arkansas, and neighboring towns on Friday, killing at least two people and injuring dozens of others as it sheared roofs and walls from many buildings, flipped over vehicles and downed trees and power lines, officials said. The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences hospital, the region’s only major trauma center, declared a level-1 mass casualty alert […]