Town Hall News

(Reuters) – Viking Therapeutics Inc said on Tuesday it will begin testing its experimental obesity drug in a mid-stage trial after reporting promising early-stage data. The drug candidate, VK2735, showed up to 6% reduction in mean weight compared to placebo in a small early-stage trial, the company said in a statement. Viking also said the drug was safe and well-tolerated, with majority of adverse events being mild or moderate in […]

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (Reuters) -At least 39 migrants died after a fire broke out at a migrant facility in the Mexican northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, the government’s National Migration Institute (INM) said on Tuesday. In a statement, the INM said there were 68 adult men from Central and South America staying at the facility. Twenty-nine migrants were also injured in the blaze and were taken to four hospitals […]

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s antitrust regulator said on Tuesday it had launched proceedings against Microsoft to examine whether the U.S. tech giant is “of paramount significance for competition across markets”. Andreas Mundt, head of the Bundeskartellamt regulator, said there were “good reasons” to examine whether this might be the case with Microsoft. “Such a finding would allow us to take action at an early stage and prohibit possible anti-competitive practices,” […]

By Tom Sims and Simon Jessop FRANKFURT/LONDON (Reuters) -A group of climate activists has called on 30 insurance company bosses to “immediately” stop underwriting new fossil fuel projects in the wake of a stark climate warning from U.N. scientists, a letter seen by Reuters showed. Insure our Future, a global consortium of activists, said it sent the letter dated March 21 to companies including Munich Re, Zurich Insurance and AXA. […]

By Harry Robertson and Kevin Buckland LONDON/TOKYO (Reuters) – The U.S. dollar fell slightly on Tuesday as receding fears of a full-blown banking crisis slowed demand for so-called safe haven assets. The yen rallied, despite traditionally also being a safe haven, with analysts pointing to a pick-up in flows ahead of the end of Japan’s fiscal year on Friday. The dollar fell as low as 130.51 yen, and was last […]

By Cordelia Hsu SYDNEY (Reuters) – A team of biomedical engineers in Australia have developed a small flexible robot that can be used to 3D print biomaterials directly inside the human body, in the hopes of streamlining future medical procedures. 3D bioprinting is a process where natural tissue-like structures are printed using living cells and other natural tissues known as “bio-ink”, in order to repair organ or tissue damage or […]

By Sandra Stojanovic NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) – Investigators seeking clues to the latest bout of mass gun violence in the U.S. pored over a “manifesto” and other writings uncovered after three children and three adults were shot dead at a Christian school by a 28-year-old former student. Police killed the perpetrator of Monday’s shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, identified by authorities as local resident Audrey Elizabeth Hale, when they stormed the […]

By Steve Scherer OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland on Tuesday will present this year’s budget, which will have a major focus on scaling up investment in clean technology and will include investments in healthcare and help for low-income households. Countries across the globe are vying for a portion of the low-carbon economy of the future. In Canada, the pressure to step up green investments is even more […]

By Daniela Desantis ASUNCION (Reuters) – Paraguay’s ruling Colorado Party – a conservative political machine that has dominated government in Asuncion for some eight decades – could be facing a major challenge at the ballot box next month. Voters say they want change and are fed up with internal party squabbles and allegations of graft – opening up the door for a broad opposition alliance to win power. The single-round […]