BUSINESS

The move comes as President Joe Biden pushes to rein in health care costs ahead of November's election. The negotiation program came on the back of Biden's landmark Inflation Reduction Act, a major package of energy transition policy and social reforms.

Meta and Amazon on Thursday blew through expectations in their latest quarterly results as Big Tech continued to impress Wall Street.

The iPhone maker reported revenue was up slightly from the same quarter a year earlier, as money brought in from services and digital content set a new record. But worries surrounding the China market cast a pall on the news.

The downbeat sentiment was compounded by disappointing earnings from US titans Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet, which pummeled the tech sector.

Deutsche said it plans to cut around 3,500 jobs over the next two years, "mainly in non-client-facing areas".

Consumer prices slowed to 2.8 percent in January, from 2.9 percent in December, the EU's statistics agency said. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg and FactSet had forecast inflation to slow to 2.7 percent.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg gave a public apology in US Congress on Wednesday as hostile lawmakers grilled tech chiefs over the dangers that children face on social media platforms.

H&M chief executive Helena Helmersson announced Wednesday she was stepping down, sending shares in the fashion retailer tumbling as the Swedish company reported lower-than-expected profits in the fourth quarter.

A judge in the US state of Delaware voided the $56 billion compensation package of Tesla chief executive Elon Musk on Tuesday, siding with a shareholder who claimed the entrepreneur was overpaid.

Microsoft and Google delivered solid corporate earnings on Tuesday as the tech giants said demand for artificial intelligence services stoked revenue.

Samsung Electronics on Wednesday reported a 34.57 percent drop in operating profits for the fourth quarter of 2023, as the company struggles with weak demand for consumer devices.

French automaker Renault said Monday that it was halting the initial public offering of its EV unit Ampere, saying market conditions were unfavourable to list the company's shares.

Storied auction house Sotheby's reported on Monday that sales had dipped last year to $7.9 billion, down $100 million from the record-breaking 2022 which was lifted by pent-up demand following the pandemic.

Toyota's chairman said Tuesday he was "ashamed" of recent scandals involving subsidiaries of the Japanese auto giant, as the firm announced record vehicle sales of 11.2 million across its brands last year.

Saudi Arabia has ordered energy giant Aramco to maintain its oil production capacity at 12 million barrels per day, abandoning a planned increase, the firm said on Tuesday.

Israeli flag carrier El Al said Friday it will scrap direct flights to South Africa following "a significant fall in demand by Israeli travellers" to the country and other destinations.

A top Boeing executive has apologized for the problems highlighted by the mid-flight blowout of a door plug on an Alaska Airlines flight, as two airlines began returning the troubled 737 MAX 9 planes to service.

The world's largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas, set sail from Miami on its maiden voyage Saturday, carrying what amounted to the population of a small city.

A Hong Kong court on Monday ordered the liquidation of China's property giant Evergrande, but the firm said it would continue to operate in a case that has become a symbol of the nation's deepening economic woes.

A Hong Kong court on Monday issued a winding-up order for Chinese real estate giant Evergrande, as the embattled firm teeters on the brink of bankruptcy.

Microsoft is laying off 1,900 people, or eight percent of staff, from its gaming division as it consolidates the blockbuster buyout of "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard.

British retail lender Lloyds Banking Group on Thursday announced a net reduction of almost 800 jobs, as it slashes branch staff but boosts customer services.

Alaska Airlines said Thursday it expects a $150 million hit from the Boeing 737 MAX grounding, which will limit its capacity growth in 2024.

The world's largest luxury goods group LVMH announced record results Thursday, even as growth slowed towards the end of last year and sales of spirits shrank.

Amazon on Wednesday said it will stop letting police directly ask people for video from the company's Ring doorbell or home security cameras.

Finnish telecommunications equipment maker Nokia warned Thursday that it expects another tough economic environment in the first half of this year after its net profit sank in 2023.

Consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble painted a mixed picture in its earnings report Tuesday, as price hikes supported revenue growth but customers appeared to pull back in some purchases.

Netflix added 13 million subscribers in the final three months of last year, the company said on Tuesday, despite price hikes at the leading streaming service.

France's data protection agency said Tuesday it had fined Amazon's French warehouse management unit 32 million euros ($34.9 million) for an "excessively intrusive" surveillance system to monitor staff performance.