Town Hall News

By Lucy Craymer WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand intelligence agencies are growing more concerned about both foreign interference and malicious cyber activity ahead of elections in October, the country’s intelligence chiefs said on Monday. “It’s fair to say that concern about foreign interference as well as malicious cyber activity is growing,” Andrew Hampton, director general of the New Zealand Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB), told media after testifying at parliament. […]

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese public support for the cabinet of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida rose to 48%, exceeding the disapproval rate for the first time in seven months, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Sunday, citing a poll it conducted with TV Tokyo. The approval rate increased 5 percentage points from the poll in February, while the disapproval rate slid to 44%, the newspaper said. (Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by […]

(Reuters) -First Citizens BancShares Inc was in advanced talks to acquire Silicon Valley Bank, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday. First Citizens could reach a deal as soon as Sunday to acquire Silicon Valley Bank from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC), according to Bloomberg News, which first reported the development. First Citizens and FDIC did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. (Reporting by […]

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese public support for the cabinet of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida rose to 48%, exceeding the disapproval rate for the first time in seven months, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Sunday, citing a poll it conducted with TV Tokyo. The approval rate increased 5 percentage points from the poll in February, while the disapproval rate slid to 44%, the newspaper said. (Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by […]

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia and New Zealand Banking Group’s CEO said on Monday the latest turmoil in the global banking system had the potential to trigger a financial crisis though it was early to predict it could bring one similar to that in 2008. Authorities around the world are on high alert for the fallout from the recent turmoil at banks following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature […]

By Nick Starkov KYIV (Reuters) – Russia is turning Ukraine’s Avdiivka into “a place from post-apocalyptic movies”, intensifying shelling and forcing a nearly full shutdown of the frontline city, the top local official said on Sunday. Some 2,000 civilians are left in Avdiivka, a Donetsk region city some 90 kilometres (56 miles) southwest of the besieged Bakhmut, according to officials. The city had a pre-war population of more than 30,000. […]

By Nick Starkov KYIV (Reuters) – Russia is turning Ukraine’s Avdiivka into “a place from post-apocalyptic movies”, intensifying shelling and forcing a nearly full shutdown of the frontline city, the top local official said on Sunday. Some 2,000 civilians are left in Avdiivka, a Donetsk region city some 90 kilometres (56 miles) southwest of the besieged Bakhmut, according to officials. The city had a pre-war population of more than 30,000. […]

By Andrew MacAskill LONDON (Reuters) – The next leader of Scotland will be announced on Monday with the victor facing the challenge of uniting a country divided over its future and revitalising an independence movement that dreams of ending its three-centuries-long union with England. The Scottish National Party (SNP), which runs Scotland’s semi-autonomous government, has been plunged into crisis since Nicola Sturgeon, the country’s longest-serving leader, announced last month she […]

By Howard Schneider and Tom Sims WASHINGTON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Stress in the banking sector is being closely monitored for its potential to trigger a credit crunch, a U.S. Federal Reserve policymaker said on Sunday, as a European Central Bank official also flagged a possible tightening in lending. Authorities around the world are on high alert for the fallout from recent turmoil at banks following the collapse in the United States of […]