Ross Stores lifts annual profit forecast on strong demand, easing freight costs

By Ananya Mariam Rajesh (Reuters) – Ross Stores on Thursday raised its annual profit forecast after upbeat quarterly results, buoyed by budget-conscious customers increasingly shopping at the off-price retailer and easing freight costs. Sticky inflation has led consumers to cut spending on higher-priced goods, boosting sales at retailers such as Ross Stores and Burlington Stores…

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US FDA panel backs Pfizer’s maternal RSV vaccine for protecting infants

By Raghav Mahobe and Mariam Sunny (Reuters) -Advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday backed the safety and effectiveness of Pfizer Inc’s experimental respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine, boosting its chances of becoming the first available maternal shot to protect babies from the illness. The FDA’s advisory committee voted unanimously that available…

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US Senator Feinstein still suffering complications from shingles, her office says

By Costas Pitas (Reuters) -U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, who returned to Washington last week after a months-long absence due to shingles, is continuing to suffer from a medical complication known as Ramsay Hunt syndrome, a spokesperson said on Thursday. Feinstein had also previously suffered encephalitis, her office said, after the New York Times reported on…

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U.S. FDA panel backs Pfizer’s RSV vaccine for protecting infants

(Reuters) – Advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday backed the safety and effectiveness of Pfizer Inc’s experimental respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine, boosting its chances of becoming the first available maternal shot to protect babies from the illness. The FDA’s advisory committee voted unanimously that available data supported the vaccine’s efficacy…

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U.S. West Coast ports regain lost volume as competitive pressure mounts

By Lisa Baertlein CHICAGO (Reuters) -Some U.S. importers who shifted cargo away from West Coast ports to rival gateways over fears that labor contract talks could disrupt shipments have begun bringing some of that volume back, even as those negotiations stretch into their 13th month, company supply chain executives said. But anxiety over labor negotiations…

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Wall Street ends higher, dollar climbs on solid data, debt ceiling progress

By Stephen Culp NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks rallied and the dollar reached a seven-week peak on Thursday as discount retail giant Walmart Inc raised its sales outlook and strong economic data calmed recession fears while also dampening hopes the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates before year-end. Investors continued to closely monitor debt…

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Genome data sheds light on how Homo sapiens arose in Africa

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Our species arose in Africa more than 300,000 years ago, with the oldest-known Homo sapiens fossils discovered at a site in Morocco called Jebel Irhoud, located between Marrakech and the Atlantic coast. But the scarcity of Homo sapiens fossils from early in our evolutionary history and the geographical spread…

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