Town Hall News

By Tatiana Bautzer and Chris Prentice NEW YORK (Reuters) – A “bull case” scenario for the shares of beleaguered First Republic Bank as it considers its options became more difficult on Wednesday after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said there is no discussion on insurance for all bank deposits without approval from the U.S. Congress. First Republic, whose shares have lost much of their value since the banking crisis started in […]

By Akiko Okamoto and Chris Gallagher TOKYO (Reuters) -With cherry blossoms reaching full bloom in Tokyo, Japanese sports fans erupted in jubilation on Wednesday after their countrymen defeated Team USA to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC). Over a hundred people gathered near Shimbashi Station in the city centre to get special newspaper editions celebrating the victory. The scene quickly turned chaotic, with police officers jumping in to help hand […]

HONG KONG (Reuters) – China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group Ltd said on Thursday it was at risk of halting production of electric vehicles (EVs) as it was unable to obtain additional liquidity. The EV manufacturing unit of the embattled developer China Evergrande Group said if it was able to obtain financing of more than 29 billion yuan ($4.21 billion) “in the future”, it planned to launch a number of […]

By Steve Gorman and Brendan O’Brien LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of storm-weary Californians were without power and under evacuation warnings on Wednesday as the latest storm packing wind-blown rain and snow threatened to bring more flooding to the rain-soaked state. The “atmospheric river” storm could dump more than an additional 1 inch (3 cm) of rain throughout the day in parts of the already-saturated Southern and Central […]

By Hannah Lang and Pete Schroeder (Reuters) – In the United States and many other countries, the government guarantees a certain amount of each customer’s deposits in the event of a bank failure, to protect both consumers and the broader financial system. With the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank and the U.S. government backstopping all deposits at those firms, here is the state of play of deposit […]

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Prince William made an unannounced trip to Poland on Wednesday to thank British and Polish troops involved in providing support to Ukraine, before meeting refugees who have fled the conflict with Russia to hear of their experiences. The heir-to-the throne travelled to Rzeszow in southeast Poland where he was to meet the country’s Defence Minister, Mariusz Blaszczak, and speak to members of the Polish defence force […]

By Byron Kaye and Praveen Menon SYDNEY (Reuters) – When David McMillan stole A$5,000 from his dying father’s small business last year, he knew it was time to kick a gambling habit that had consumed his life since he started emptying paycheques into slot machines at 17. “It wasn’t an intentional thing, but before I knew it there was no money left,” said the 33-year-old air conditioning technician from Sydney, […]

VIENNA (Reuters) – A Vienna museum where climate activists recently attacked the glass screen shielding a Gustav Klimt painting has responded with an exhibit entitled ‘A Few Degrees More’ that tilts works to draw attention to the need for action on climate change. Activists from the group Last Generation smeared the screen in front of Klimt’s “Death and Life” at the Leopold Museum in Vienna and glued one of their […]

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – A Chinese start-up inspired by lockdown isolation has invented a long-distance kissing machine that transmits users’ kiss data collected through motion sensors hidden in silicon lips, which simultaneously move when replaying kisses received.     The MUA – named after the sound people commonly make when blowing a kiss – also captures and replays sound and warms up slightly during kissing, making the experience more authentic, said […]