Saudi Arabia invests in Hollywood amid COVID-19 crisis

The entertainment industry is one of the sectors hardest hit by the global pandemic.

The entertainment industry is one of the sectors hardest hit by the global pandemic.

And that is giving some nations like Saudi Arabia a chance to invest.

Al Jazeera’s Rob Reynolds reports from Los Angeles, the US.

Stock Alert: McCormick Touchs New High; Co. Sees Increased Demand For Products

Shares of spice maker McCormick & Company, Incorporated (MKC) are climbing more than 3% Thursday morning and touched a new high of $174.76.

Wednesday, the company reportedly said it was seeing increased demand for its products in China as home cooking is still popular and expects to stay for some more time.

McCormick stock is currently trading at $174.58. It has gained more than 50% in less than two months.

Russian court deems extended detention of former U.S. marine lawful: Ifax

MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian court said on Thursday it was lawful to have extended the detention of former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan until Sept. 13, who is in custody facing spying charges, the Interfax news agency reported.

Whelan, who holds U.S., British, Canadian and Irish passports, was detained in December 2018 and accused of espionage. Moscow says he was caught red-handed, but he denies the allegations and says he was set up in a politically motivated sting.

Swedish technology aims to allow truck drivers to work from home

A company is developing remote control technology to allow trucks to be driven from the safety and comfort of an armchair.

A Swedish company is developing technology that could allow truck drivers to work from home.

Al Jazeera’s Paul Rhys reports from Sandhult in southern Sweden.

Brazil primary deficit could top 9% of GDP – Treasury Secretary

BRASILIA, May 14 (Reuters) – The Brazilian government’s primary budget deficit excluding interest payments could exceed 9% of gross domestic product this year, Treasury Secretary Mansueto Almeida said on Thursday, adding that the national debt could top 90% of GDP.

Speaking at a virtual public hearing in Congress broadcast online, Almeida also said the government’s fiscal ‘golden rule’ of not raising debt to pay for current expenses will not be met until 2023, and will have to be modified somehow. (Reporting by Marcela Ayres Writing by Jamie McGeever Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

FDA Approves Novartis Drug To Treat Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Novartis AG’s drug to treat patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Tabrecta has been approved for the treatment of adult patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that has spread to other parts of the body. Tabrecta is the first FDA-approved therapy to treat NSCLC with specific mutations.

The FDA also approved the FoundationOne CDx assay (F1CDx) as a companion diagnostic for Tabrecta.

“Lung cancer is increasingly being divided into multiple subsets of molecularly defined populations with drugs being developed to target these specific groups,” said Richard Pazdur, M.D., director of the FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence and acting director of the Office of Oncologic Diseases in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

“Tabrecta is the first approval specifically for the treatment of patients with non-small cell lung cancer whose tumors have mutations that lead to MET exon 14 skipping. This patient population now has an option for a targeted therapy, which they didn’t have prior to today.”

NSCLC is a disease in which malignant cancer cells form in the tissues of the lung. It is the most common type of lung cancer with up to 90% of all lung carcinomas falling into the non-small cell category. NSCLC occurs when healthy cells become abnormal and grow rapidly.

Novartis had licensed Tabrecta from Incyte Corp in 2009. The drug got a priority review from the FDA in February.

Stock Alert: STERIS Rises 2% As Earnings Beat View

Shares of STERIS plc (STE), that provides infection prevention and other procedural products and services are up more than 2% Thursday morning on the back of upbeat fourth-quarter results.

Earnings on an adjusted basis of $1.64 per share beat the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters at $1.57.

Revenue for the quarter increased 7% year-over-year to $823.0 million. The consensus estimate was at $799.56 million.

STERIS stock is currently trading at $150.70. It has gained more than 40% from its 52 week low of $105.69, touched in March. STE has recorded a 52 week high of $168.98 in February this year.

Stock Alert: STERIS Rises 2% As Earnings Beat View

Shares of STERIS plc (STE), that provides infection prevention and other procedural products and services are up more than 2% Thursday morning on the back of upbeat fourth-quarter results.

Earnings on an adjusted basis of $1.64 per share beat the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters at $1.57.

Revenue for the quarter increased 7% year-over-year to $823.0 million. The consensus estimate was at $799.56 million.

STERIS stock is currently trading at $150.70. It has gained more than 40% from its 52 week low of $105.69, touched in March. STE has recorded a 52 week high of $168.98 in February this year.

Pickup And Delivery To Become Part Of The ‘new Normal’ : Walmart CEO

Walmart’s (WMT) CEO Doug McMillon has predicted that pickup and home delivery will now become the “new normal” as the retail industry will change significantly due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“My feeling is that once this crisis is more under control, people will have seen the benefits of that service and will likely continue to use it. It will become part of the ‘new normal,'” McMillion said.

McMillion said that usually supply chains operate quietly behind the scenes, however, the pandemic has showed the world that the supply chain is really a lifeline. “The people in the retail industry, foodservice and delivery services have been standing on the front lines of this crisis and extending that lifeline to all of us, every day.”

He added that before the crisis started, retail industry had started seeing robust adoption of online pickup and delivery. But as this crisis created the need for social distancing and required people to stay at home, customers embraced the pickup and delivery experience even more.