By Richa Naidu, Emma Pinedo and Emilio Parodi MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish police raided three clandestine tobacco factories early this year, seizing nearly 40 million euros ($44 million) worth of tobacco leaf and illicit cigarettes. At one, in the northern town of Alfaro, they found 10 Ukrainian workers, five of them war refugees, who’d been…
By Brendan Pierson (Reuters) – Johnson & Johnson on Wednesday faced the first trial in almost two years over claims that asbestos in its baby powder and other talc products cause cancer, as it seeks to settle thousands of similar cases in bankruptcy court. Emory Hernandez, 24, says he developed mesothelioma, a deadly cancer, in…
By Anna-Catherine Brigida BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina will no longer require a prescription to obtain emergency contraception, commonly known as the ‘morning after pill’, the government said on Wednesday, broadening reproductive rights in the traditionally conservative South American country. The Catholic country and homeland of Pope Francis approved a law allowing abortion up to…
By Siddharth Cavale BENTONVILLE, Ark. (Reuters) – Walmart is raising wages for thousands of U.S. pharmacists and opticians, the retailer said on Wednesday, part of its broader plan to expand primary care services across the country. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based chain said about 3,700 pharmacists would get a bump in pay starting on Wednesday, bringing their…
By William James LONDON (Reuters) – Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has given his pandemic-era notebooks and messages to the government and urged officials to pass them on to an independent COVID-19 inquiry, his spokesman said on Wednesday. The Cabinet Office, which is responsible for overseeing the operation of government, is in a standoff…
By Mehnaz Yasmin (Reuters) -Franklin Resources Inc, a global investment management firm that operates as Franklin Templeton, plans to acquire asset manager Putnam Investments from Great-West LifeCo Inc in a nearly $925 million deal. The deal, expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, is part of a partnership with Power Corporation of…
By Soo-hyang Choi SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is believed to weigh over 140 kg (308 lb) according to an artificial intelligence (AI) estimate, a South Korean lawmaker said on Wednesday in a remark reflecting abiding interest in the health of the North’s secretive ruler. The health of North Korean leaders…
By Mike Scarcella WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear a bid by a New York lawyer to restrict how much money federal prosecutors can take from his 401(k) retirement accounts to compensate fraud victims after he was convicted in a scheme involving former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli. The justices turned…
By Daphne Psaledakis WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. on Tuesday imposed sanctions on 17 people and entities based in China and Mexico who it accused of enabling counterfeit, fentanyl-laced pill production, as the Biden administration seeks to stem imports of the deadly drug. The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement said it slapped sanctions on…
By Tommy Wilkes LONDON (Reuters) -Three more insurance companies including Tokio Marine have left a United Nations-backed net-zero climate alliance, leaving the group with about half the number of members it counted two months ago as insurers take fright at U.S. political pressure. Some Republican politicians have mounted a campaign against financial institutions collaborating to…
