Town Hall News

LONDON (Reuters) -Amazon plans to expand its business selling office supplies in Europe and internationally after the pandemic helped boost sales as companies shopped more online and looked for bulk discounts. The company is looking for high growth, high margin businesses to pursue as it plans to close all 68 of its physical book stores, pop up shops and “4-star” stores in the United States and United Kingdom, ending some […]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy unveiled a bill this week that would pair $4.5 trillion in spending cuts with a $1.5 trillion increase in the federal debt limit, laying out an opening position in what is likely to be a tense partisan debate over government borrowing. Here is a summary of his plan: DEBT-CEILING INCREASE McCarthy’s bill would suspend the nation’s borrowing limit, currently $31.4 […]

By Nick Carey LONDON (Reuters) – UK auto supplier Dowlais is developing rare earth magnets for production in the U.S. market as carmakers look to source more parts locally and benefit from subsidies provided by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), its top executive said on Thursday. The company aims to launch production within 12 to 18 months and is talking to a wide range of carmakers and top tier suppliers […]

By Katharine Jackson WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed a Republican bill intended to ban transgender women and girls from competing in women’s and girls’ school sports, delivering at least a short-term victory to social conservatives. The House passed the measure by 219-203 but it has little chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate. President Joe Biden has also voiced his opposition to the bill, calling […]

By Mariam Sunny (Reuters) -Drugmaker BeiGene Ltd said on Thursday the experimental drug it is developing with Swiss firm Novartis AG helped extend survival for patients with types of gastric cancer in a late-stage trial. With the data, BeiGene is hoping the drug could become the first-line of therapy for patients with advanced forms of gastric cancer, or a rare type of cancer that begins in the area where the […]

By Ahmed Aboulenein and Michael Erman WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Use of the drug misoprostol on its own to terminate pregnancies is on the rise in the United States as providers seek a preemptive alternative while a ban on abortion pill mifepristone is being considered in court. Misoprostol is already part of the only medication abortion protocol approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but only when taken in combination […]

(Reuters) – Contract drugmaker Emergent BioSolutions Inc said on Thursday it is aiming to price the over-the-counter (OTC) version of its opioid overdose reversal drug Narcan at around $50 per carton. The OTC version will become available at U.S. stores and online retailers later this summer, while the currently available prescription nasal spray carries a wholesale price tag of $125 per carton. Emergent’s statement comes nearly a month after the […]

MADRID (Reuters) – A new law to curb rents in high-demand areas won’t stop owners renting property to tourists, a loophole that could fuel an uncontrolled boom in short-term accommodation, Spain’s main tourism lobby said on Thursday. The bill, introduced by the government on Tuesday, caps annual rent hikes at 3% in certain areas to help those who cannot afford soaring prices in tourist hotspots such as the Balearic and […]

BERLIN (Reuters) -A court in the German city of Braunschweig has thrown out rape and sexual offence charges against Christian Brueckner, who has been formally identified as an official suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, his lawyer said on Thursday. The court’s decision means that legal authorities in Braunschweig have no jurisdiction over the case of “Maddie”, a British girl who disappeared in Portugal in 2007 at the age of […]