Author: staff

An NGO leading the fight for drug price transparency has been forced into signing secrecy pacts with manufacturers, revealing the full might of Big Pharma in keeping its prices hidden. Documents seen by POLITICO reveal that Doctors Without Borders, also known as MSF, signed a confidentiality clause with German pharma company Bayer in a contract to buy contraceptives for distribution in lower-income countries. The deal prevented MSF from disclosing the price it paid for the medicines. A Bayer spokesperson said the company would not comment on the content of agreements with third parties. But it’s not a one-off: A top…

In the pre-2008 lending boom, American banks sold their dodgiest “subprime” loans to investors around the world. When the U.S. housing bubble burst and borrowers defaulted en masse, a global financial crisis ensued. Brussels now wants to loosen the rules governing the practice, meaning banks would need to put aside less capital against the loans they trade, as well as easing due diligence and reporting rules around the practice. But the Commission insists enough safeguards will remain to protect against a repeat of 2008. Pint-sized market The European market is pint-sized compared with others globally: It shrank from being worth…

By&nbspPascale Davies, AP Published on 17/06/2025 – 10:13 GMT+2WhatsApp said that users will start seeing adverts in parts of the app, as owner Meta Platforms moves to cultivate a new revenue stream by tapping the billions of people who use the messaging service.Advertisements will be shown only in the app’s Updates tab, which is used by as many as 1.5 billion people each day. However, they will not appear where personal chats are located, developers said.“The personal messaging experience on WhatsApp isn’t changing, and personal messages, calls and statuses are end-to-end encrypted and cannot be used to show ads,” WhatsApp…

By&nbspTokunbo Salako&nbsp&&nbspChristophe Pitiot Published on 17/06/2025 – 9:34 GMT+2As part a growing new wave of Romanian cinema gaining international acclaim and a plethora of awards, Enescu, Skinned Alive, directed by Toma Enache, is now showing across Europe, with a recent screening at Lyon’s historic arthouse Comoedia cinema.The biopic explores the complex personal life and creative genius of the revered Romanian composer George Enescu, whose legacy looms large in Romania but has rarely been portrayed on the silver screen. Central to the film is his love affair with Princess Maruca Cantacuzino – a relationship often misunderstood or sidelined in historical accounts.Director…

Alle G7-Regierungsmitglieder schlossen sich der Kritik an Chinas Handelspraktiken an. Trump habe ruhig zugehört und anschließend vorgeschlagen, dieses Problem zu lösen, indem man auch Länder wie Südkorea oder Indien zum Teil der G7 mache, wie unser Kollege Maximilian Lembke berichtet. Zuvor hatte Trump auch Russland und China als weitere Mitglieder vorgeschlagen, was dem Konzept eines Gipfels demokratischer Staaten zuwider läuft.  Erwartungsmanagement: Zwischen Merz und Trump war der Zollstreit kein großes Thema. „Es wird auf diesem Gipfel keine Lösung geben, aber wir könnten uns einer Lösung vielleicht in kleinen Schritten nähern“, hatte der Kanzler schon davor gesagt. Bereits am Montagabend -…

Published on 17/06/2025 – 9:15 GMT+2Al Pacino has become the first major Hollywood celebrity to have an official audience with the newly elected pope, Pope Leo XIV.  The star of The Godfather and Serpico met the pontiff at the Vatican on Monday. The veteran actor, 85, is currently in Italy shooting Maserati: The Brothers, a biopic starring co-stars Anthony Hopkins, Andy Garcia and Jessica Alba, about the automobile moguls who shaped the luxury sports car industry.  “We are honored to announce that this morning His Holiness Pope Leo XIV received in a private audience at the Holy See a delegation from the…

KANANASKIS, Alberta — The leaders of the G7 countries on Monday issued a joint statement saying Iran should not have nuclear weapons and affirming Israel’s right to defend itself. “Iran is the principal source of regional instability and terror. We have been consistently clear that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon,” declared the statement, issued by the leaders of the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan, along with the EU. They pledged to “remain vigilant to the implications for international energy markets and stand ready to coordinate, including with like-minded partners, to safeguard market stability.” The statement…

“Whether purposely or not, Emmanuel always gets it wrong,” Trump says, dismissing the French president’s statement that he was helping negotiate an Israel-Iran ceasefire. Listen AI generated Text-to-speech Share

Arbeitsministerin Bärbel Bas (SPD) steht unter doppeltem Druck: Beim Sozialstaatskongress der IG Metall muss sie die hohen Erwartungen der Gewerkschaften an das Rentenpaket bedienen und gleichzeitig das Lieblingsprojekt der CSU, die Mütterrente, unter einen Hut bringen. Rasmus Buchsteiner analysiert mit Gordon Repinski, wo die Konfliktlinien verlaufen und warum die Rentenversicherung vor administrativen Problemen warnt. Im 200-Sekunden-Interview: Johannes Winkel. Der Chef der Jungen Union  positioniert sich klar gegen die Mütterrente und fordert eine faire Lastenverteilung. Er kritisiert, die Politik habe generell Angst vor der “Boomer-Generation”  und versäume notwendige Reformen. Außerdem: Ein Blick nach Kanada zum G7-Gipfel. Maximilian Lembke berichtet direkt aus…

Volvo Cars will develop different technologies for products offered to Chinese and Western customers as trade becomes more fragmented, said CEO Håkan Samuelsson on Monday. “It’s our target now to have two versions of software and silicon components, the computer in the car,” he told Euronews at the EVS38 symposium in Gothenburg, Sweden.“We need to have a Western version and a Chinese version. That’s something we just need to live with and adapt to.”Volvo Cars has been headquartered in Gothenburg since its creation in 1927, although the firm has been majority owned by China’s Geely Holding Group since 2010.If efforts weren’t…