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 ...

  London / AFP European stock markets mostly rose on Wednesday, shrugging off a largely downbeat session in Asia, with sentiment partly lifted by German economic growth data. Strong foreign trade and buoyant consumption drove Germany’s economy, Europe’s largest, to better-than-expected growth in the second quarter, federal statistics office Destatis said. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.4 percent between ...

  Dubai / Reuters Gulf stock markets moved little in early trade on Wednesday with few positive factors to spur buying, although Saudi Arabian petrochemical shares were firm. The Saudi Arabian index was flat. Petrochemical heavyweight Saudi Basic Industries added 0.6 percent and Al Sagr Cooperative Insurance rose 2.2 percent in unusually heavy trade. Dubai’s index edged down 0.2 percent. ...

  London / AFP Oil prices fell on Wednesday, with Brent stuck below $50, after data showed an increase in US crude stockpiles, adding to supply glut concerns. Data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) Tuesday showed US crude inventories rose by 4.5 million barrels last week. Rising stocks indicate weaker demand in the world’s top oil consuming nation and ...

  Bloomberg Qantas Airways Ltd. announced its first dividend since 2009 and handed bonuses to 25,000 workers as Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce’s turnaround program delivered a record annual profit. Australia’s biggest carrier will pay a final dividend of 7 Australian cents a share and buy back as much as A$366 million ($279 million) of stock, according to a filing ...

  Doha / AFP Qatar Airways, sponsors of FC Barcelona, have branched into a new sport signing a deal with Australian Football League team Sydney Swans, the airline announced on Tuesday. The three-year deal will allow Qatar Airways to receive “prominent branding” at Sydney’s home games and at the club’s training grounds, the airline said in a statement. “We strongly ...

  Bloomberg Elon Musk and his cousins Lyndon Rive and Peter Rive are buying $100 million of solar bonds from their rooftop solar company, SolarCity Corp. Musk is personally buying $65 million of bonds, San Mateo, California-based SolarCity said in a filing. Lyndon Rive, SolarCity’s chief executive officer, and Peter Rive, its chief technology officer, are each buying $17.5 million. ...

  Bloomberg Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., Asia’s biggest international carrier, applied to raise $2 billion in debt over the next 12 months. The medium term note program, arranged by HSBC Holdings Plc, is expected to take effect on Wednesday, Cathay Pacific said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange late Tuesday. Such debt programs are offered to institutional ...