Iranian methanol exports to China — which have so far flown under Washington’s radar — may be subject to scrutiny after the US threatened to impose secondary sanctions on buyers of the country’s oil.
About 40% of China’s methanol imports, around 5.2 million tons, came from Iran last year, Kpler data show. The chemical compound made from natural gas is used as a feedstock to create olefins, which are in turn used to make plastics. Methanol-to-olefin, or MTO, plants are the biggest buyers of cargoes originating in Iran, according to price-reporting and analytics firm ICIS.
Bristol Myers Squibb said on Monday it will invest $40 billion in the U.S. over the next five years, as it seeks to expand its research and manufacturing presence in the country amid U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threats.
The announcement of new investment was first made by CEO Christopher Boerner in an opinion piece published in Stat News on Monday, and was later confirmed to Reuters by a company spokesperson.
In the Op-Ed, Boerner said the money will be spread across research and development, technology and domestic manufacturing, as U.S. drugmakers prepare to deal with Trump's tariffs.
Several other drugmakers have also announced plans to ramp up spending in the U.S. in recent months as they prepare for possible tariffs on the sector.
Trump has repeatedly threatened tariffs on pharmaceutical imports on national security grounds. The sector has for long been spared from levies due to potential harms.
On Monday, Trump signed an executive order that aims to reduce the time it takes to approve pharmaceutical plants in the country, as part of new regulations to encourage domestic manufacturing.
Boerner said bolstering U.S. manufacturing enables greater control over highly complex supply chains while bringing manufacturing closer to where the majority of R&D is taking place.
"Through this investment plan, we will strengthen our presence across the country, ramp up radiopharmaceutical manufacturing, and invest in artificial intelligence and machine learning to help us significantly increase the pace of innovation," Boerner said.
Last year, Bristol acquired RayzeBio for $4.1 billion, bringing multiple radiopharma drug candidates for treating solid tumors in various cancers.
The company's sales projection for Ingrezza remains solid at $2.5B-$2.6B.
Analysts foresee a 40.64% upside with a strong "Outperform" rating.
Neurocrine Biosciences (NBIX) shares saw an impressive rise of approximately 13% in after-hours trading, sparked by the release of their robust Q1 earnings report. Not only did the report exceed expectations, but it also reaffirmed the company's promising 2025 forecasts. Particularly notable is Neurocrine's projection for Ingrezza, its leading treatment for tardive dyskinesia, which is expected to achieve sales between $2.5 billion and $2.6 billion. As of the quarter's end, the company's cash reserves stood strong at $1.76 billion
Shares of Hims & Hers Health traded slightly lower in after-hours trading. The company reported first quarter revenue of $586.0 million compared to the expected $538.2 million. Wall Street is likely disappointed in the second quarter revenue forecast of $530 million to $550 million. Analysts had been expecting $563.9 million.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has issued a dire warning about the United States’ chronic disease crisis, declaring that poor nutrition is fueling a healthcare cost surge that threatens to bankrupt the nation.
During a recent Cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. outlined plans to reform the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) with Rollins, targeting sugary drinks and junk food that the USDA chief argues drive an unprecedented obesity epidemic.
“We have 13 nutrition programs. Listen to this number. This is going to astound you. In America today, through USDA—this is not all the other agencies, this is just here at USDA—we spend $370 million a day on nutrition programs,” Rollins told All-In podcast host David Friedberg in an interview released Sunday. “So, not just SNAP, but food banks and all of the other ones. That’s just USDA. That is a stunning number. We’ve got to do better.”a
The stakes are extraordinarily high, with Rollins pointing to alarming health trends that she warns pose an existential threat to the nation’s future, disproportionately harming the country’s most vulnerable and low-income populations.
“Why are billions of taxpayer dollars being spent on sugary drinks and junk food in our supplemental nutrition program for food-insecure, lower-income populations? This contributes to an obesity and chronic disease epidemic unlike any developed country has ever seen. 74% of our adolescents would not pass the military readiness test today. This is a massive challenge facing America,” she told Friedberg, adding, “Taxpayers fund junk food and sugary drinks at the front end, leading to diabetes and other issues, while the back-end costs of treating chronic diseases are bankrupting states through Medicaid.”
Kennedy, a longtime champion of the Make America Healthy Again movement and a fierce critic of industrial food interests, is closely aligned with Rollins in transforming the nation’s food supply. “In the first administration, health care was under my portfolio in domestic policy. As conservatives, we’ve long discussed how to make America healthy again, focusing on the cost to the health care system,” Rollins said. “Enter Bobby Kennedy—while we don’t agree on everything, we align on most things. I was with him yesterday touring farms and discussing nutrition and agriculture. The opportunity for the agriculture and health leads to work together daily to solve this is key. You can’t solve it through government regulation, but through nutrition, empowering farmers, and getting good food into these programs.”
Last month, Kennedy unveiled a plan to eliminate eight artificial food dyes and colorings from the U.S. food supply by the end of 2026, collaborating with food companies to ensure a seamless transition.
ABC News reported: Federal officials are taking steps to pull the authorization for two rarely used synthetic food colorings -- Citrus Red No. 2 and Orange B -- within the coming months. In addition, the six other petroleum-based dyes that federal health agencies are seeking to eliminate by the end of next year are Green No. 3, Red No. 40, Yellow No. 5, Yellow No. 6, Blue No. 1 and Blue No. 2.
"I just want to urge all of you, it's not the time to stop; it's the time to redouble your efforts, because we have them on the run now, and we are going to win this battle," Kennedy said of the historic move. "And four years from now, we're going to have most of these products off the market, or you will know about them when you go to the grocery store."
Yvonne Armstrong, senior executive president of Service Employees International Union 1199 East, easily defeated George Gresham in a landslide vote of 26,623 to 11,722 in a sign of major discontent over the current leadership.
The results were announced by the union Sunday after an official count Saturday night.
Members of Service Employees International Union 1199 East voted out president George Gresham.Christopher Sadowski
Gresham, who started out as a housekeeper at Presbyterian Hospital, had been president since 2007.
But he was dogged by accusations of using union-fund accounts as his personal “piggy bank” to benefit himself, family and allies, according to a recent Politico investigation. He denied wrongdoing.
Gresham also is in poor health.
“Although this election did not go as I had hoped, I want to congratulate the candidates from both slates for their victories,” Gresham said in a statement released Sunday. “No matter who you voted for, at the end of the day we are all part of our precious 1199 family, and I know that we share the same deep love for our union and the labor movement.
“It has been the honor of my lifetime to serve as your President for the past 17 years. I started my journey as a proud rank-and-file member in housekeeping at Presbyterian Hospital 50 years ago, full of the same passion and commitment that still drives me today to fight for the rights and dignity of all healthcare workers, our patients and communities.”
Gresham had been the head of the union since 2007.X / @1199Prez
Gresham played a key role in winning increases in New York’s minimum wage and expanding home-care services and Medicaid funding, which is the financial lifeblood for many hospitals that employ his members.
SEIU 1199 East is part of the largest health care workers union in the country, representing 450,000 total members throughout New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Florida, and Washington, DC.
Gresham has urged union officials to keep their eye on the ball by fighting back against proposed federal cuts in Medicaid and to negotiate stronger labor contracts.
“Once my term ends in June, I look forward to a new role in our great union – [as] an active 1199 retiree,” Gresham said.
A recent Politico investigation accused Gresham of using union-fund accounts as his personal “piggy bank.”Christopher Sadowski
The development came as New York City United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew, who has been in power since 2009, is facing a tough re-election fight himself.
He’s is battling a spirited challenge from Amy Arundell, the former Queens borough representative who has held key positions in the union. She previously served in Mulgrew’s dominant unity faction in the union.
Mulgrew scored a big victory when he persuaded the state Legislature and Gov. Kathy Hochul to approve a class-size-reduction law in New York City classrooms.
But his unity caucus is facing growing discontent. Last year, challengers to his slate won seats in the retiree chapter and the unit representing paraprofessionals.
Retirees were particularly incensed over proposed changes in their Medicare coverage.
A reward of up to $5 million is being offered for information leading to the arrest of the highest-ranking MS-13 leader in Honduras, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Monday.
Yulan Andony Archaga Carías. FBI
Yulan Andony Archaga Carías, 43, is a Honduran national and a fugitive on the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted list.
“This terrorist leader can no longer be allowed to live free as MS-13’s evil devastates communities in America and throughout the western hemisphere,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement.“If you can contribute information leading to his arrest, come forward now.”
In 2021, Archaga Carías was charged in a superseding indictment in the Southern District of New York with racketeering, narcotics trafficking, and firearms offenses. A co-defendant in the case is currently in U.S. custody. Three other MS-13 leaders were also charged in the indictment with racketeering, narcotics trafficking, and firearms offenses. One of them is in Honduran custody, while the other two remain at large.
The search for Archaga Carías is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to crack down on transnational criminal gang activity. MS-13 and Tren de Aragua were officially designated foreign terrorist organizations by the United States on Feb. 20, 2025.
“Dismantling and ultimately eliminating MS-13 continues to be one of the FBI’s highest priorities, and we’re not stopping until that mission is complete,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in the DOJ statement. “Alongside our dedicated law enforcement partners, the FBI will find Archaga Carías—a terrorist whose reign of terror at the helm of MS-13 is coming to an end.”
The United States is paying $6 million to El Salvador to hold alleged and confirmed gang members deported by the Trump administration for one year in its maximum-security prison known as CECOT.
The Trump administration has been met with legal challenges over its deportations of such illegal immigrants. The U.S. Supreme Court over the weekend temporarily blocked new deportations of any alleged Venezuelan gang members held in northern Texas under an 18th-century wartime law.
President Donald Trump on Monday said the deportations are a campaign promise he is fulfilling.
“I’m doing what I was elected to do, remove criminals from our Country, but the Courts don’t seem to want me to do that,” the president wrote in a Truth Social post. “My team is fantastic, doing an incredible job, however, they are being stymied at every turn by even the U.S. Supreme Court, which I have such great respect for, but which seemingly doesn’t want me to send violent criminals and terrorists back to Venezuela, or any other Country, for that matter—People that came here illegally!”
If convicted, Archaga Carías faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and a mandatory minimum penalty of 40 years in prison. A judge will determine sentencing.
The DOJ said that only tips sent to the U.S. government will be considered for the reward. Tipsters outside the country should report to an American embassy or consulate, while those in the United States can contact local FBI offices.
