Tausi Insider

Walmart WMT-N proposed a $3.1-billion legal settlement on Tuesday over the toll of powerful prescription opioids sold at its pharmacies, becoming the latest major drug industry player to promise major support to state, local and tribal governments still grappling with a crisis in overdose deaths. The retail giant’s announcement follows similar proposals on Nov. 2 from the two largest U.S. pharmacy chains, CVS Health CVS-N and Walgreen Co. WBA-Q, which each said they would pay about $5-billion. Most of the drugmakers that produced the most opioids and the biggest drug distribution companies have already reached settlements. With the largest pharmacies now settling, it represents a shift in the opioid litigation saga. For years, the question was whether companies would be held accountable for an overdose crisis that a flood of prescription drugs helped spark. With the crisis still raging, the focus now is on how the settlement dollars – now totalling more than $50 billion – will be use...

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in Phoenix, Ariz., on Dec. 6. Ross D. Franklin/The Associated Press President Joe Biden’s administration on Thursday announced the infusion of nearly $36 billion to shore up a financially troubled union pension plan, preventing severe cuts to the retirement incomes of about 350,000 Teamster workers and retirees across the United States. “It’s about everything you worked for … it’s about finding a dignified retirement,” Biden said. “Thanks to today’s announcement, hundreds of thousands of Americans can feel that sense of dignity again, knowing that they’re providing for their families and their future.” The money for the Central States Pension Fund is the largest amount of federal aid provided for a pension plan, the Biden administration said. It comes from the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package that he signed into law in 2021. “This matters,” Biden said. “This matters for workers … This matters for their spouses, this matt...

Private businesses in Ukraine are in line to receive $2 billion in financing arranged by the International Finance Corp. to help rebuild the country’s agriculture and fuel import industries and other ventures, which have faced extensive losses because of the war. The IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, provides private sector financing to developing countries. The loans differ from the billions that Ukraine has received in grants and other forms of no-strings-attached aid from donor nations, as they must be paid back. Since Russia invaded in February, at least 5 million jobs have been lost, according to Ukraine’s Ministry of Economy. The National Bank of Ukraine estimates that 11% of businesses had closed as of September and more than half were operating below capacity. Loans to the country’s private sector will become more important in coming years as Ukraine’s finance ministry copes with a widening budget deficit. In addition, grants and other foreign aid are not guaranteed, and...

Plumes of smoke rise from a Russian strike from the frontline Donbas city of Bakhmut, Ukraine on Jan. 7, 2023 during a 36-hour ceasefire over Orthodox Christmas declared by Russian President Vladimir Putin. CLODAGH KILCOYNE/Reuters Ukraine’s president praised the United States for including tank-killing armoured vehicles in its latest multibillion-dollar package of military aid, saying they are “exactly what is needed” for Ukrainian troops locked in combat against Russian forces, even as both sides celebrated Orthodox Christmas on Saturday. The White House announcement Friday of $3.75 billion in weapons and other aid for Ukraine and its European backers came as Moscow said its troops are observing a short Orthodox Christmas ceasefire. Ukrainian officials denounced the unilateral 36-hour pause as a ploy and said it appeared to have been ignored by some of Moscow’s forces pressing ahead with the nearly 11-month invasion. Russia’s Defence Ministry insisted Saturday that its forces along...

Private businesses in Ukraine are in line to receive $2 billion in financing arranged by the International Finance Corp. to help rebuild the country’s agriculture and fuel import industries and other ventures, which have faced extensive losses because of the war. The IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, provides private sector financing to developing countries. The loans differ from the billions that Ukraine has received in grants and other forms of no-strings-attached aid from donor nations, as they must be paid back. Since Russia invaded in February, at least 5 million jobs have been lost, according to Ukraine’s Ministry of Economy. The National Bank of Ukraine estimates that 11% of businesses had closed as of September and more than half were operating below capacity. Loans to the country’s private sector will become more important in coming years as Ukraine’s finance ministry copes with a widening budget deficit. In addition, grants and other foreign aid are not guaranteed, and...