Bloomberg After Erin Hiscock’s mother and brother passed away, she resolved to tackle her own weight problem. “I was maybe 310 pounds at my heaviest and severely addicted to sugar,” she says. “Instead of a normal meal, I’d just eat carbs, sugar, nothing nutritious.” Hiscock, a 35-year insurance agent in Virginia, didn’t turn to diet books, Weight Watchers, or even ...

Bloomberg Just as the US throws up new barriers to cross-border commerce, its largest trading partner China is redoubling its efforts to seal free-trade agreements. From deals with blocs including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to bilaterals with tiny countries like the Maldives, China’s FTAs already cover 21 countries. That compares with the 20 countries covered by US agreements. ...

Bloomberg SoftBank Group Corp. is in talks to back leading online insurance aggregator PolicyBazaar at a valuation of at least $800 million, according to people familiar with the matter. The two sides are examining how the Japanese company can take a stake without pushing foreign investment in PolicyBazaar above 49 percent, the limit under India’s regulatory policies, said one of ...