By Pamela Barbaglia LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s largest drugstore chain Boots has set a Feb. 24 deadline to receive indicative bids from a series of deep-pocketed investors that could value the 173-year-old firm at up to 8 billion pounds ($10.88 billion), two sources told Reuters. The sale will see U.S. drugstore giant Walgreens, which has…
GENEVA (Reuters) – Trade ministers are now due to convene for the first time in more than four years in June, the World Trade Organization said on Wednesday, announcing the latest dates for a meeting that aims to break deadlocks on issues from fishing subsidies to intellectual property rights for vaccines. In late November, the…
By Sinéad Carew NEW YORK (Reuters) -Investors around the world lost their appetite for risk shortly after the U.S. market open on Wednesday with stocks turning lower and oil prices rallying as Ukraine declared a state of emergency and investors worried about a bigger Russian invasion. Market’s have been volatile since President Vladimir Putin’s dispatch…
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union agreed to slap sanctions Wednesday on Russia’s defense minister, a top adviser to President Vladimir Putin and hundreds of Russian lawmakers who voted in favor of recognizing the independence of separatist areas in southeast Ukraine. The sanctions, mostly a freeze on the assets of those listed and a ban…
By Tommy Wilkes LONDON (Reuters) – Emerging market borrowing led by China inflated the global debt mountain to a record $303 trillion in 2021, although the global debt-to-GDP ratio improved as developed economies rebounded, the Institute of International Finance said on Wednesday. The $10 trillion rise in the global debt pile was down from the…
NEW YORK (AP) — Lowe’s Cos., the nation’s second-largest home improvement chain behind Home Depot, offered an upbeat annual outlook after reporting strong fiscal fourth-quarter results that showed a still sizzling housing market. The report, released Wednesday, follows a robust quarterly report from Home Depot. Home improvement stores have been busy during the pandemic as…
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Governments across the world should beef up their insolvency systems and prepare to restructure or liquidate badly scarred firms as they withdraw massive support provided during the height of the COVID-19 crisis, the IMF said in a new blog. The International Monetary Fund said corporate debt reached $83 trillion, or 98% of…
GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization is creating a global training center to help poorer countries make vaccines, antibodies and cancer treatments using the messenger RNA technology that has successfully been used to make COVID-19 vaccines. At a press briefing in Geneva on Wednesday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the new hub will…
LONDON (AP) — Britain promised to hit Russia with “powerful” sanctions over its military confrontation with Ukraine. But the slim sheaf of measures announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson has disappointed allies and critics alike. The U.K. has slapped asset freezes and travel bans on three wealthy Russians and sanctioned five Russian banks in response…
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. regulators are warning that 5G wireless operations could affect radio altimeters in most Boeing 737 aircraft and impact crew workload and airplane landings, according to a government notice posted online on Wednesday. The Federal Aviation Administration’s directive affects Boeing’s 737s, except its 200 and 200-c series, the Federal Register notice said….
