Bloomberg Telefonica SA and billionaire John Malone’s Liberty Global Plc are exploring a combination of their UK operations, people with knowledge of the matter said, in a deal that would reshape the British telecommunications industry. The companies are discussing bringing together Telefonica’s O2 wireless unit and Liberty Global’s Virgin Media business, according to the people, who asked not to be ...

Bloomberg Microsoft Corp. is in talks to buy Softomotive Ltd., a UK-based startup that makes software robots to automate tasks, according to people familiar with the matter. If talks are successful, a deal could be announced as soon as the coming weeks, said the people, asking not to be identified because the matter isn’t public. No final decision has been ...

Bloomberg With meat-processing workers falling victim to the coronavirus, shuttering plants and slowing supply, Americans are starting to see poorly stocked aisles where once beef was plentiful. At the same time, the link between industrial meat production and deadly human viruses has become more widely understood. The global crisis, in other words, is turning into a big opportunity for the ...

Bloomberg Kim Jong-un ended his almost three-week absence from public events with a factory visit, an appearance that will ease, but not end, concern about the stability of the North Korean regime and control of its nuclear arsenal. Kim presided over a May Day ceremony to mark the completion of the Sunchon Phosphatic Fertilizer Factory northeast of the capital Pyongyang, ...

Bloomberg India will extend its nationwide lockdown by two weeks from May 4 but will ease restrictions in some areas to revive economic activity that’s been stalled since the stringent stay-at-home orders were put in place across the country on March 25. Movement between states won’t be allowed during the lockdown, although authorities will partially relax measures in areas where ...

Bloomberg Italy’s prime minister apologised for delays in aid payments to jobless workers, underscoring the pitfalls for political leaders who are warily reopening Europe for business. As governments enter the next phase of dealing with the coronavirus, European policy makers are increasingly focusing on the risk of a second wave of a pandemic blamed for some 235,000 deaths worldwide. Giuseppe ...

Bloomberg The Trump administration has barred Anthony Fauci, the scientist who’s leading the US response to the coronavirus pandemic, from testifying before a congressional hearing next Wednesday. Fauci had been sought as a witness for a House Appropriations Committee subcommittee that was looking into the US response to the pandemic, according to Evan Hollander, a committee spokesman. “We have been ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump is escalating efforts to pin blame on China for unleashing a pandemic that has killed more than 60,000 Americans and is exploring ways to hold Beijing accountable, though his options are limited because of the potential economic consequences. Trump and his aides sharpened their criticism of Beijing, demanding answers about the virus’s origin and hinting at ...

Watching General Mark A Milley, the chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, on stage at the White House, he looks uncomfortable. And that’s as it should be. Milley’s job is to provide sound military advice to the president. But at a deeper level, his responsibility is to safeguard the independence and integrity of the armed forces. The last thing ...

The big Covid-19 news was a promising result from a new study of remdesivir, an anti-viral produced by Gilead Sciences. But lost in all the discussion of how well the drug works — an earlier study found it wasn’t helpful — was a tragic failure: Gilead missed its one shot at getting vital information on specifically which patients the drug ...