Press Digest: Wall Street Journal - August 21

Holcim AG

21/08/2026 07:35

The following are the top stories in the Wall Street Journal. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
     
- StarbucksSBUX.O will lay off more than 200 corporate staff, continuing a strategy to tighten its operations two years into a turnaround effort pursued by CEO Brian Niccol.
     
- Canada's minister in charge of U.S. trade Dominic LeBlanc said Ottawa and Washington are "very close" to finalizing an agreement, following a roughly three-hour meeting with senior trade officials in the Trump administration.
     
- James Hardie Industries JHA1.F, will sell its European Fermacell business to Swiss building-materials company Holcim HOLN.S for $980 million as it seeks to focus on higher-growth and higher-return markets.
     
- AbbottABT.N agreed to pay $670 million to resolve a lawsuit over its specialty formulas for premature infants as well as about 2,000 related claims.
 

(Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)
((globalnewsmonitoring@thomsonreuters.com))