Caracas / AFP Hospitals in crisis-hit Venezuela are facing shortages of about eight in 10 medications and medical supplies needed to treat patients, according to a study. The 2016 National Hospital Survey found that 76 percent of the medicines and 81 percent of the medical and surgical supplies that doctors need had run out or were hit by severe …

  AFP Mining giant Glencore reported reduced first-half losses on Wednesday, as the company pushes forward with an aggressive cost-cutting plan to recover from a brutal 2015. The Switzerland-based company posted a loss of $369 million (327 million euros) through the first half of the year, an improvement on the $676 million Glencore lost in the first six months of …

  AFP British drugs giant AstraZeneca on Wednesday agreed to sell part of its antibiotics business to US giant Pfizer for up to $1.6 billion (1.4 billion euros). The deal for the company’s small-molecule antibiotics, or those developed using traditional chemistry, is expected to complete in the fourth quarter, AstraZeneca said in a statement. The news comes days after Pfizer …