Town Hall News

LONDON (Reuters) – The European Union’s securities watchdog has fined S&P Global Ratings Europe 1.1 million euros ($1.19 million), it said on Friday after finding that S&P published credit ratings before the relevant securities had been issued. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) also issued a public notice for breaches of credit rating agencies regulations. S&P can appeal against the decision, ESMA said. ($1 = 0.9234 euros) (Reporting by […]

By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. military carried out multiple air strikes in Syria on Thursday night against Iran-aligned groups whom it blamed for a drone attack that killed an American contractor, wounded another and also hurt five U.S. troops, the Pentagon said. Both the attack on U.S. personnel and the retaliation were disclosed by the Pentagon at the same time late on Thursday. The attack […]

(Reuters) – Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of SpaceX, on Friday denied a media report from earlier this week that said investors from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were planning to invest in a multi-billion dollar funding round in the company. A unit of Saudi Arabia’s investment fund and an Abu Dhabi-based company are planning to invest in a multi-billion dollar funding round for SpaceX, the Information had […]

By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. military carried out multiple air strikes in Syria on Thursday night against Iran-aligned groups whom it blamed for a drone attack that killed an American contractor, wounded another and also hurt five U.S. troops, the Pentagon said. Both the attack on U.S. personnel and the retaliation were disclosed by the Pentagon at the same time late on Thursday. The attack […]

Adam Fox ended a personal 24-game streak without a goal and the New York Rangers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 to tighten the Metropolitan Division standings Thursday night in Raleigh, N.C. Artemi Panarin also scored for the Rangers and Mika Zibanejad had two assists. Igor Shesterkin made 29 saves. Sebastian Aho had a first-period goal for the Hurricanes, who could have clinched an Eastern Conference playoff spot with a victory. […]

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong firefighters battled to control a blaze at a warehouse in the city’s bustling Kowloon district on Friday, with smoke billowing out from windows and engulfing the white square building. Authorities said no casualties have been reported so far as they upgraded the fire to Number 3 from Number 1 at 2 p.m. (0600 GMT). Number 5 is the highest rating, followed by a Disaster […]

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Chinese battery giant CATL plans to start mass production and delivery of batteries based on a new materials technology, M3P, which will perform better but cost less than nickel and cobalt-based batteries, its chairman said. Zeng Yuqun made the comments in an online investor briefing on Friday. M3P batteries will have greater energy density and perform better than lithium-ion phosphate batteries, a market CATL dominates, but will […]

(Reuters) – Two top Chinese Football Association (CFA) officials are being investigated for suspected serious violations of the law, the country’s sports authority said in a statement on Friday. Wang Xiaoping, director of the CFA’s disciplinary committee, is suspected of “severe law violations” and Huang Song, head of the competition department, is being probed for “severe law and rule violations”, the General Administration of Sport said. It did not provide […]

By Stefica Nicol Bikes and Rory Carroll SYDNEY/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Transgender athletes have condemned World Athletics’ exclusion of transgender women from elite female competitions, while the decision was welcomed by some sportswomen as a win for fairness. Athletics’ global governing body on Thursday voted to ban transgender women who have gone through male puberty from competing in women’s events, citing a “need to protect the female category”. Canadian cyclist […]