Town Hall News

By Dan Peleschuk and Sergiy Chalyi KYIV/ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (Reuters) – Russia blasted an apartment block in Ukraine with missiles on Wednesday and swarmed cities with drone attacks overnight, in a display of force as President Vladimir Putin bid farewell to his visiting “dear friend” and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Firefighters battled a blaze in two adjacent residential buildings in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, where officials said at least one […]

By Dan Peleschuk and Sergiy Chalyi KYIV/ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (Reuters) -Russian drones attacked Ukrainian cities and missiles blasted an apartment block, but a months-long ground assault on the eastern town of Bakhmut could be stalling in the face of fierce resistance, according to Ukrainian and British military experts. Russian forces unleashed a wave of air strikes in the north and south of Ukraine as President Vladimir Putin bid farewell on Wednesday […]

By Lananh Nguyen and Saeed Azhar (Reuters) -Citigroup Inc CEO Jane Fraser on Wednesday expressed confidence in U.S. banks after a series of closures rattled investors and fueled turmoil in global financial markets. “The banking system is pretty sound,” and large and regional banks are well-capitalized, Fraser told the Economic Club of Washington D.C. on Wednesday. “This is not a credit crisis. This is a situation where it’s a few […]

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Transportation Department (USDOT) on Wednesday urged rail tank car owners and hazmat shippers of flammable liquids to stop using tank cars like some in a Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio and replace them with newer, safer tank cars. USDOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) said in an advisory the Ohio incident demonstrated “DOT-111” and “CPC-1232” tank […]

HONG KONG (Reuters) -The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) on Thursday lifted its base rate charged through the overnight discount window by 25 basis points to 5.25%, hours after the U.S. Federal Reserve delivered a rate rise of the same margin. Hong Kong’s monetary policy moves in lock-step with the U.S. as the city’s currency is pegged to the greenback in a tight range of 7.75-7.85 per dollar. “The Fed’s […]

TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan sees China’s involvement in Honduras’ decision to seek to end relations with the island as very obvious and the situation does not look good with Honduras demanding a “high price”, the island’s foreign minister said on Thursday. Honduras denied on Wednesday it had demanded $2.5 billion in aid from Taiwan before its announcement to seek to open relations with China, instead saying the country had repeatedly requested […]

By Steve Gorman and Brendan O’Brien LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -The latest bout of harsh, wintry weather to lash California drifted into neighboring states of the Desert Southwest on Wednesday as authorities reported at least five storm-related deaths in and around San Francisco, all from fallen trees. As California’s onslaught of rain, wind and mountain snow subsided, downed power lines from Tuesday’s storm left more than 92,000 homes and businesses without […]

Jordan’s Parliament Votes To Expel Israeli Envoy Amid Tension The vote continues the fallout from far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s speech in Paris while standing behind a podium with a map showing ‘Greater Israel,’ with borders including the Hashemite Kingdom and West Bank land By Mohammad Al-Kassim/The Media Line Fallout from a speech by Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich at an event in Paris this week while standing behind […]

Disengagement Law Rollback is Political Maneuver, Not Policy Change, Expert Says Vote by Israel’s government to repeal evacuation of four West Bank Jewish settlements, along with other recent moves, may signal that some coalition members believe elections will be held sooner than expected By Debbie Mohnblatt/The Media Line Israel’s Knesset passed a repeal of clauses in the 2005 Disengagement Law which ordered the evacuation of four Jewish settlements in the […]