Town Hall News

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union wants to give consumers the right to have worn-out products like washing machines and televisions repaired by producers even after the sales guarantee has expired, to cut waste and make goods last longer. The European Commission proposed rules on Wednesday that would oblige producers to offer repairs for a product for between five and ten years after it was sold – regardless of whether […]

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 to 7.85 per dollar. […]

By Keith Coffman DENVER (Reuters) -The student who was accused of shooting and wounding two faculty members at his Denver high school has been found dead near his vehicle in Park County. The Park County Coroners Office confirmed in a Facebook post that the body belonged to 17-year-old Austin Lyle, who shot faculty members as they were patting him down for weapons as part of a “safety plan” devised for […]

BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s military said on Thursday it had monitored and driven away a U.S. destroyer that illegally entered waters around the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. In a statement, the military said that the guided-missile destroyer USS Milius intruded into China’s territorial waters, undermining peace and stability in the busy waterway. “The theater forces will maintain a high state of alert at all times and take all […]

By Ankur Banerjee SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Asian shares spiked on Thursday and the dollar slid after the U.S. Federal Reserve hinted it could pause interest rate rises following turmoil in the banking sector, though it also reiterated its commitment to fighting sticky inflation. In a widely expected move, the Fed raised interest rates by 25 basis points, but it recast its outlook to a more cautious stance as a result […]

By Xie Yu, Clare Jim and Samuel Shen HONG KONG (Reuters) -China Evergrande Group’s debt restructuring proposal, a test of investor sentiment towards the battered property sector, failed to impress because of its long repayment period and lack of enough sweeteners, creditors and analysts said. Evergrande is the world’s most indebted developer with around $300 billion in liabilities. Its debt restructuring, the country’s biggest such exercise, is aimed at saving […]

ZURICH (Reuters) – Switzerland’s financial market regulator FINMA on Thursday gave more information to explain the complete write-down of AT1 bonds issued by Credit Suisse after the bank’s rescue. FINMA has instructed Credit Suisse to completely write down its AT1 instruments and to inform the bondholders concerned without delay. “The AT1 instruments issued by Credit Suisse contractually provide that they will be completely written down in a ‘viability event’, in […]

BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s military said on Thursday it had monitored and driven away a U.S. destroyer that illegally entered waters around the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. In a statement, the military said that the guided-missile destroyer USS Milius intruded into China’s territorial waters, undermining peace and stability in the busy waterway. “The theater forces will maintain a high state of alert at all times and take all […]

By Ludwig Burger and Juby Babu (Reuters) -Sanofi’s asthma and eczema drug Dupixent met all targets in a trial to treat “smoker’s lung”, giving a major boost to the French drugmaker’s growth prospects, but also underscoring a heavy reliance on its bestseller. In a late stage trial Dupixent, jointly developed with Regeneron, led to a 30% reduction in moderate or severe acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a […]