Town Hall News

By David Shepardson and Brad Brooks WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The investigation into the Ohio train derailment has found that aluminum parts on three tank cars may have melted and caused pressure relief devices not to function, contributing to the release of toxic chemicals last month, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Thursday. The Feb. 3 derailment of a Norfolk Southern-operated train in East Palestine, Ohio, caused cars carrying toxic […]

By Nathan Layne (Reuters) -A South Carolina jury on Thursday found Richard “Alex” Murdaugh guilty of killing his wife and son, convicting the once-influential attorney of murder in a case that has gripped the nation’s attention for nearly two years. The 12-person jury declared Murdaugh, 54, guilty on two counts of murdering his wife Maggie, 52, and youngest son, Paul, 22, who were executed at close range near the dog […]

BEIJING (Reuters) – Activity in China’s services sector expanded at the fastest pace in six months in February as the removal of tough COVID-19 restrictions revived customer demand, driving a solid increase in employment, a private sector survey showed on Friday. The Caixin/S&P Global services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose to 55.0 in February from 52.9 in January, a back-to-back monthly increase in activity after the government abruptly dismantled anti-virus […]

BEIJING (Reuters) – China will step up international macro policy communication and coordination, Yi Gang, central bank governor, said at a press conference in Beijing on Friday. China will also play a role in tackling the debt burdens faced by some countries, he added. (Reporting by Kevin Yao and Joe Cash; Editing by Himani Sarkar) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

By Scott Murdoch SYDNEY (Reuters) -GQG Partners Inc’s Australian-listed shares fell by as much as 3% on Friday after the international investment firm pumped $1.87 billion into four companies under embattled Indian conglomerate Adani Group. The Florida-based firm bought 3.4% of Adani Enterprises Ltd for about $662 million, 4.1% of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd for $640 million, 2.5% of Adani Transmission Ltd for $230 million, and 3.5% […]

BOGOTA (Reuters) -A police officer and civilian were killed during violent protests in Colombia’s Caqueta province on Thursday, and 79 officers and nine oilfield workers were taken hostage by members of rural communities, the government said. The violence erupted in part of the San Vicente del Caguan municipality, where members of rural and Indigenous communities blocked access to an oil field and set a fire, national police said, to demand […]

(Reuters) – A Russian submarine in the Sea of Japan has hit a land target over 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) away with a Kalibr cruise missile in a drill, Russia’s defence ministry said on Friday, the same type of missile Moscow uses in the Ukraine conflict. The ministry published a video showing the missile emerging from under the water and then hitting a target at a training area in Russia’s […]

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – Prominent Cambodian opposition politician Kem Sokha was on Friday sentenced to 27 years in detention under house arrest after being found guilty of treason, in a case condemned by the United States as politically motivated. Judge Koy Sao also told the court Kem Sokha would be barred from running for political office or voting in elections. The opposition politician was arrested in 2017 over accusations he […]

By Julie Zhu, Yew Lun Tian and Engen Tham HONG KONG/BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – As unprecedented protests against China’s zero-COVID policies escalated in November, Li Qiang, the man recently elevated to No.2 on the ruling Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee, seized the moment. Top Chinese officials and medical experts had been quietly formulating plans over the preceding weeks to dismantle President Xi Jinping’s zero-COVID strategy and gradually reopen the country towards […]