Bloomberg British clothing and housewares chain Next Plc is in talks to acquire a minority stake in troubled retailer Joules Group Plc for about £15 million ($18.1 million). The potential investment will be made “at no less than” its current market price, Joules said in a statement responding to a report it was looking to sell a roughly 25% ...

  Bloomberg Shipping in the Taiwan Strait began to return to normal on Monday, though China’s announcement of a new military exercise near the island signaled that risks remain for the industry. More than 40 vessels have transited through a China military drill zone south of Taiwan’s main port since Saturday, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. The latest ...

Bloomberg An Italian centrist party quit its alliance with the Democrats, days after agreeing to join forces in a bid to prevent a right-wing landslide in September elections triggered by the fall of Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s government. The Azione party pulled out because “the pieces just didn’t fit together,” its leader, Carlo Calenda, said during an interview with national ...