Town Hall News

By Ankur Banerjee SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Asian shares fell to a two-month low on Thursday, and the U.S. dollar rose as the impasse in negotiations to raise the U.S. debt ceiling kept investors wary of risky assets due to the hit the global economy will take if the U.S. government defaults. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.56% to a two-month low of 505.35, with Australia’s S&P/ASX […]

By Zeba Siddiqui and Christopher Bing (Reuters) -A state-sponsored Chinese hacking group has been spying on a wide range of U.S. critical infrastructure organizations, from telecommunications to transportation hubs, Western intelligence agencies and Microsoft said on Wednesday. The espionage has also targeted the U.S. island territory of Guam, home to strategically important American military bases, Microsoft said in a report, adding that “mitigating this attack could be challenging.” While China […]

(Reuters) -Guam warned residents to remain sheltered in sturdy concrete homes after the most powerful typhoon to hit the Western Pacific island in years unleashed winds of up to 150 mph (240 kph) and torrential rain. Early reports on Thursday morning had yet to show any deaths or serious injuries, but news was slow to come in after power was knocked out for all but 1,000 of the island’s 52,000 […]

By David Morgan, Andrea Shalal and Moira Warburton WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Negotiators for Democratic President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy held what both sides called productive talks on Wednesday to try to reach a deal to raise the United States’ $31.4 trillion debt ceiling and avoid a catastrophic default. After a four-hour White House meeting, U.S. House Speaker McCarthy said negotiations had improved and would continue in the […]

TOKYO (Reuters) – Sony Group Corp said on Thursday its semiconductor subsidiary would buy land in the southern Japanese prefecture of Kumamoto to produce image sensors. (Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia said on Thursday it cannot cancel existing contracts with auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which is embroiled in a scandal involving leaking confidential government tax plans to corporate clients, due to legal constraints. This comes as lawmakers have called for the cancellation of PwC Australia’s existing government contracts and a ban on it getting more government contracts in the wake of the scandal. The government, a PwC Australia […]

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia said on Thursday it cannot cancel existing contracts with auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which is embroiled in a scandal involving leaking confidential government tax plans to corporate clients, due to legal constraints. This comes as lawmakers have called for the cancellation of PwC Australia’s existing government contracts and a ban on it getting more government contracts in the wake of the scandal. The government, a PwC Australia […]

By Melanie Burton MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Western Australia state has agreed to compensate an Aboriginal group for historic acts including issuing mining leases on their traditional lands, setting a precedent that is set to allow Indigenous groups a greater say in future developments. The state has been strengthening its laws to protect Indigenous cultural heritage since iron ore mining operations by Rio Tinto three years ago destroyed historic rock shelters […]

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia said on Thursday it cannot cancel existing contracts with auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which is embroiled in a scandal involving leaking confidential government tax plans to corporate clients, due to legal constraints. This comes as lawmakers have called for the cancellation of PwC Australia’s existing government contracts and a ban on it getting more government contracts in the wake of the scandal. The government, a PwC Australia […]