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Lobbying group sues over plan to negotiate Medicare drug prices

The Associated Press A key drugmaker lobbying group has joined the legal fight against the federal government’s plan to negotiate Medicare drug prices. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA, is suing over plans laid out in the Inflation Reduction Act to give the federal coverage program more control over its pharmaceutical costs. PhRMA said in a federal court complaint filed Wednesday that the act forces drugmakers to agree to a “government-dictated price” under the threat of a heavy tax. The complaint said Congress delegated too much authority to ...

Group says companies shifting investment away from China as confidence wanes

BEIJING (AP) — Foreign companies are shifting investments and their Asian headquarters out of China as confidence plunges following the expansion of an anti-spying law and other challenges, a business group said Wednesday. The report by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China adds is one of many signs of growing pessimism despite the ruling Communist Party’s efforts to revive interest in the world’s No. 2 economy following the end of anti-virus controls. Companies are uneasy about security controls, government protection of their Chinese rivals and a lack of action on ...

World well short of pace needed to meet 2030 sustainability goals

The Associated Press The world is falling well short of the progress needed to meet the United Nations’ sustainable development goals by 2030 in areas ranging from poverty to clean energy to biodiversity, with a growing gap between wealthy and developing nations, according to a report Tuesday from the nonprofit tracking the goals. The coronavirus pandemic stalled the limited progress made in the years after United Nations member states adopted the goals in 2015. Now, halfway through the 15-year time frame, not a single one of the goals is on target to be met. “We’re at the ...

So. Carolina governor vetoes $1.5M from budget

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster vetoed just $1.5 million out of the state’s $13 billion budget for next fiscal year, he announced Tuesday, demonstrating an unparalleled level of cooperation between the state’s General Assembly and its chief executive. With such a small amount of spending in question — barely over 0.01% of the 2023-24 fiscal year budget or less than two months of Clemson University football coach Dabo Swinney’s salary — leaders in the General Assembly said they would end the 2023 session and wait until 2024 to take up the 11 ...

Wall Street falls and takes a step back after its big rally

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks pulled back Tuesday in their first trading after a five-week rally carried Wall Street to its highest level since the spring of last year. The S&P 500 fell 20.88 points, or 0.5%, to 4,388.71. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 245.25, or 0.7%, to 34,053.87, and the Nasdaq composite lost 22.28, or 0.2%, to 13,667.29. The U.S. stock market took a step back following many steps forward on hopes the economy can avoid a recession and inflation is easing enough for the Federal Reserve to stop raising interest rates soon. A frenzy around artificial ...

Former Congress candidate Bennett gets probation, fine

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A federal judge gave a former North Carolina congressional candidate 12 months of probation Tuesday and ordered her to pay a fine and fee totaling $7,600 for a campaign finance violation related to a loan from a family member. Lynda Bennett of Maggie Valley, who ran unsuccessfully in the 2020 Republican primary for the 11th Congressional District seat, received her sentence from Judge Christopher Cooper in U.S. District Court in Washington, according to a court filing. She pleaded guilty in March to one count of accepting contributions in the name of another, ...