Town Hall News

By Andreas Rinke, Sarah Marsh and David Brunnstrom BERLIN/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will hold confidential talks on Friday in Washington with U.S. President Joe Biden about the war in Ukraine amid growing concerns that China may provide weapons to Russia as its invasion of Ukraine grinds into a second year. Scholz set off on the one-day trip, which unusually will not include a press delegation, late on Thursday. […]

By Ann Saphir and Howard Schneider (Reuters) -A virtual event with Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller was canceled on Thursday after the Zoom video conference was “hijacked” by a participant who displayed pornographic images. “We were a victim of a teleconference or Zoom hijacking and we are trying to understand what we need to do going forward to prevent this from ever happening again. It is an incident we deeply […]

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – Prominent Cambodian opposition figure 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 in the capital Phnom Penh that Kem Sokha would be barred from running for political office or voting in elections. He was arrested in […]

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 […]