Business & Financial News, U.S & International Breaking News

From the start of the sprawling U.S. litigation seeking to hold drugmakers and distributors liable for the country's opioid epidemic, Judge Dan Polster has made one thing clear: he never wanted a trial.

The Chicago teachers strike entered its second day on Friday as union leaders reported some headway at the bargaining table, where negotiators are trying to resolve differences that have idled the third-largest U.S. school district.

When Donald Trump won the White House, the sprawling aluminum smelter that hugs the Ohio River here was operating at less than half its capacity, and most of its skeleton crew of 270 remaining workers were fearful about their future.

Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigners on Friday vowed to stage a major march at the weekend despite police ruling the rally illegal, setting the scene for possibly more unrest in a city battered by months of violent protests.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators waving Catalan flags and chanting "Independence!" and "Freedom for political prisoners!" poured into Barcelona on Friday, the fifth day of protests against the jailing of separatist leaders.

U.S. stocks opened slightly lower on Friday, weighed down by Johnson & Johnson, while upbeat earnings reports limited losses and calmed nerves about the global economy after China expanded at its weakest pace in almost 30 years.