Trump says he wants Congress to amend COVID-19 relief bill

WASHINGTON, Dec 22 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he wants Congress to amend the coronavirus relief bill to raise the amount of stimulus checks and eliminate wasteful spending, among other issues.

“The bill they are now planning to send back to my desk is much different than anticipated,” Trump said in a video posted on Twitter. “It really is a disgrace.”

LG Electronics, Magna to set up $1 billion JV to make electric car gear

TORONTO/SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea-based LG Electronics Inc said on Wednesday it has agreed to set up a $1 billion joint venture (JV) with automotive supplier Magna International Inc.

The JV, tentatively called LG Magna e-Powertrain, will manufacture e-motors, inverters and onboard chargers, according to LG Electronics.

Philippines Suspends U.K. Flights Dec. 24-31 on New Virus Strain

The Philippines suspended all flights from U.K. from Dec. 24 to Dec. 31 to prevent the spread of a new variant of the coronavirus, according to a resolution issued by the government’s task force handling the pandemic.

The country will also bar travelers who have been in the U.K. in the 14 days prior to arrival in the Philippines, the task force said. Those arriving before Dec. 24 and have been to the U.K. shall be required to undergo strict quarantine and testing protocols, the Dec. 22 resolution said.

Outbound travel to the U.K. shall be subject to existing exit guidelines and U.K. protocols.

— With assistance by Cecilia Yap

Roche: EU Approves Phesgo To Treat HER2-positive Breast Cancer – Quick Facts

Swiss drug maker Roche Group (RHHBY) announced Thursday that the European Commission has approved Phesgo for the treatment of early and metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer.

Phesgo is a fixed-dose combination of Perjeta (pertuzumab) and Herceptin (trastuzumab) with hyaluronidase, administered by subcutaneous, i.e., SC; under the skin injection.

Phesgo is available as a single-dose vial for SC injection and enables over 90% faster treatment than IV administration of standard of care therapy with Perjeta and Herceptin.

The European approval of Phesgo is based on results from the pivotal phase III FeDeriCa study, which showed that treatment with Phesgo produced non-inferior levels of Perjeta and Herceptin in the blood and demonstrated comparable efficacy versus IV administration of the two medicines.

The company noted that the safety profile of Phesgo with chemotherapy was comparable to IV administration of Perjeta plus Herceptin and chemotherapy. No new safety signals were identified, including no meaningful difference in cardiac toxicity.

Dubai to Offer Free Pfizer-BioNTech Virus Shots From Wednesday

Dubai plans to start a free vaccination campaign from Wednesday using the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE.

“Extensive vaccination campaign against Covid-19 kicks off in Dubai on Wednesday,” the city’s media office tweeted. “Vaccination will use Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine and is free of charge.”

Pfizer and BioNTech have said their vaccine is 95% effective in preventing the illness. The United Arab Emirates, of which Dubai is a part, has been conducting trials on China’s state-backed coronavirus vaccine and earlier this month said the shot protected 86% of people against Covid-19.

Dubai, the Middle East’s business hub, locked down the city for about a month earlier this year to halt the spread of the virus. Its flagship Emirates airline grounded passenger flights and the Expo 2020 exhibition scheduled to start in October was delayed by a year. Flights have since resumed operations.

The UAE diagnosed over 195,000 people with the virus since the start of the outbreak. The Gulf nation reported more than a thousand cases a day for the past two months after they dropped to as low as 164 in August. The country has a case-fatality rate of 0.3%, among the lowest globally, according to data from Johns Hopkins.

Three police officers shot dead at home in central France

Three police officers have been shot dead and a fourth wounded in central France.

According to French news channel BFMTV, the team was responding to a report of domestic violence at a house near Puy-de-Dome when the attacker opened fire.

Town Mayor Francois Chautard said the officers were shot by a male suspect on arrival.

The incident is still under way but a woman who was inside the home is said to be safe.

Cairn Energy Wins Arbitration in Tax Spat With India

Cairn Energy Plc won an arbitration over tax dispute with Indian government, serving a double-blow to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government after a similar loss against Vodafone Group Plc.

An international arbitration tribunal ruled that India’s tax claim of $1.2 billion in past taxes was not a valid demand, people with knowledge of the matter said, asking not to be identified citing rules on speaking to the media. The tribunal has also asked India to pay the funds withheld along with the interest to the Scottish oil explorer for seizing dividend, tax refund and sale of shares to partly recover the dues. India can appeal.

A spokeswoman for the tax department did not answer a call made to mobile phone during business hours.

Cairn Energy’s victory will be a second loss for India in an international arbitration after Vodafone Group Plc won a years-long tax dispute with the Indian government in September over a controversial $3 billion tax demand. The Indian government’s 2012 budget retrospectively amended the tax code, giving itself the power to go after M&A deals all the way back to 1962 if the underlying asset was in India.

— With assistance by Debjit Chakraborty