PRESS DIGEST- Financial Times - August 12

The following are the top stories in the Financial Times. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. Headlines

- Pharma groups lose 30 bln pounds of value on heartburn drug lawsuit worries https://on.ft.com/3penLGx - ValueAct takes 7% stake in New York Times with call for new approach https://on.ft.com/3BVYhW9

- Italy's rightwing alliance pledges solidarity with EU and Nato https://on.ft.com/3AejJnU - Nigeria's president drops support for ExxonMobil deal https://on.ft.com/3bRFtN5

- BlackRock pushes into crypto market with bitcoin private trust https://on.ft.com/3pwGEoB - Olaf Scholz backs proposal for new European gas pipeline https://on.ft.com/3zTi3Pi

Overview About 30 billion pounds ($36.57 billion) has been wiped off the market capitalisation of large pharmaceutical companies in the past two days as investors have grown nervous about lawsuits over the blockbuster heartburn drug Zantac.

ValueAct Capital, the activist hedge fund, has acquired a 7% stake in The New York Times Company and is putting pressure on the media group to boost digital sales by pushing subscribers towards a higher-priced bundle of its products. Italy's centre-right alliance has pledged to maintain support for Ukraine's struggle against Russia and deepen integration with the EU, if it comes to power in the next elections, according to a platform unveiled on Thursday night.

ExxonMobil's

German chancellor Olaf Scholz said he backed the idea of a new gas pipeline linking Portugal and Spain to central Europe via France, saying it would vastly improve Europe's energy security. U.S. attorney-general Merrick Garland said the justice department had moved to unseal the search warrant and the list of items retrieved by the FBI from former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate on Monday, breaking days of silence on the extraordinary operation.

($1 = 0.8204 pounds) (Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)