Bloomberg The UK’s thrifty health authority has cleared its most expensive medicine ever—a $700,000 GlaxoSmithKline Plc treatment for an illness known as “bubble-boy disease.” But the overall cost to the country’s medical system won’t be as eye-popping as the price suggests. Glaxo, Britain’s biggest drugmaker, said it has treated four patients with Strimvelis since it was approved by the European ...

RAMALLAH / Reuters Palestinians condemned as blackmail on Wednesday US President Donald Trump’s threat to withhold future aid payments over what he called the Palestinians’ unwillingness to talk peace with Israel. Trump drew praise from a cabinet minister in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government but a warning from a former Israeli peace negotiator of the dangers in cutting ...

Bloomberg North Korea contacted authorities in Seoul over a hotline for the first time in about two years, paving the way for a thaw during the Winter Olympics despite US President Donald Trump’s fresh taunts at Kim Jong Un. Officials from both countries spoke several times on Wednesday to conduct technical checks before agreeing to stop for the day, according ...