Raging Canada wildfires threaten critical infrastructure, force evacuations

By Ismail Shakil and David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) – Hundreds of uncontrolled forest fires blazed across Canada on Wednesday, threatening critical infrastructure, forcing evacuations and sending a blanket of smoky air wafting over U.S. cities. Wildfires are common in Canada’s western provinces, but this year flames have mushroomed rapidly in the country’s east, making it…

Read More

Teva to pay Nevada $193 million over role in opioid epidemic

By Brendan Pierson (Reuters) – Teva Pharmaceutical Industries on Wednesday agreed to pay Nevada $193 million to settle claims that its marketing practices fueled opioid addiction, the state announced. Nevada was one of two states, along with New Mexico, that did not join a $4.35 billion nationwide settlement with the Israel-based drugmaker last year. New…

Read More

Petro urges congress to pass reforms as some try to shelve health bill

BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombia’s congress should approve health, labor and pension reforms, President Gustavo Petro said on Wednesday, as the lower house weighed whether to shelve the health bill, which would be a major legislative defeat for leftist who campaigned on improving the beleaguered system. “We ask, with all due respect…that they approve the reforms,…

Read More

China’s targeting of US firms is politically motivated, US ambassador says

By Michael Martina and Kanishka Singh WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States will push back on China’s targeting of American companies such as memory chipmaker Micron Technology Inc, a campaign Washington considers politically motivated and unfair, U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns said on Wednesday. In May, China’s cyberspace regulator said Micron Technology would be barred…

Read More

Prince Harry: It would be injustice if court rules I’m not hacking victim

By Michael Holden and Sam Tobin LONDON (Reuters) -Prince Harry said on Wednesday he would feel a sense of injustice if London’s High Court did not conclude he was a phone-hacking victim, as he completed more than eight hours giving evidence against a British tabloid newspaper group. Harry, King Charles’ younger son, spent a day-and-a-half…

Read More

Weight-loss drugs pilot to begin in UK amid uncertainty over Wegovy launch

By Ludwig Burger and Maggie Fick (Reuters) – Britain plans to launch a pilot programme exploring how new weekly weight-loss shots such as Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy can be given to obese patients by general practitioners even as the drug’s market launch remains unclear. The government’s announcement on the 40-million-pound ($50 million) pilot programme comes after…

Read More

Villagers survey flooded homes and wait for help after Ukraine dam breach

NOVA KAKHOVKA, Russian-controlled Ukraine (Reuters) – Villagers on the Russian side of the front line in Ukraine surveyed the damage to their flooded homes from a massive dam breach and waited for help from the authorities on Wednesday, while people clamoured for information in chat rooms. Russian-installed officials ordered residents of three districts to leave…

Read More

EU approves its first vaccine for common respiratory virus RSV

By Natalie Grover and Eva Mathews (Reuters) -European regulators have approved the region’s first vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which causes thousands of hospitalisations and deaths annually. The shot, called Arexvy, is made by British drugmaker GSK and is designed to protect people aged 60 and over. RSV typically causes cold-like symptoms, but is…

Read More

World’s first vaccine against deadly swine fever nears approval in Vietnam

By Francesco Guarascio HANOI (Reuters) – Vaccines against African swine fever being tested in Vietnam are close to approval, global and U.S. veterinary officials said, in what would be a major breakthrough to tackle the deadly animal disease that regularly ravages pig farms worldwide. African swine fever has for years disrupted the $250 billion global…

Read More