Bloomberg Baidu Inc. sold control of its unprofitable food delivery business to a startup backed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. as the search engine cuts back on cash-burning ventures to focus on artificial intelligence Baidu will become a shareholder in Ele.me after the Alibaba-backed firm completes its purchase of the Waimai business, the companies said. No price was released and …

Bloomberg HTC Corp., the beleaguered manufacturer that once ranked among the world’s top smartphone makers, is exploring options that could range from separating its virtual-reality business to a full sale of the company, according to people familiar with the matter. The Taiwanese firm is working with an adviser as it considers bringing in a strategic investor, selling its Vive virtual …

Bloomberg Chinese industrial firms maintained a profit surge, underscoring the economy’s resilience even amid slowing factory output and investment. Industrial profits increased 16.5 percent in July from a year earlier, versus the 19.1 percent pace a month earlier, the nation’s statistics bureau said on Sunday. The robust earnings are giving policy makers room to combat excessive industrial capacity and curb …

BEIRUT / Reuters Proposed tighter US sanctions on Hezbollah have been altered enough to allay fears of major damage to Lebanon’s economy, a sign Washington is taking concerns about Lebanese stability seriously, banking and political sources said. But banking figures told Reuters Lebanese authorities should not be complacent as US President Donald Trump’s future stance on Iran and its allies …

Bloomberg The UK’s opposition Labour Party wants Britain to stay in the European Union’s single market for an extended period after it leaves the bloc, a shift in its position that could undermine Prime Minister Theresa May’s efforts to deliver her vision of Brexit. The proposal, which would mean no additional customs or migration controls in March 2019, would allow …

Bloomberg India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned countrymen against taking the law into their own hands in the name of religion, political ideology, faith of a person or culture. Modi spoke in the wake of large-scale rioting and arson in parts of northern India as thousands of followers protested a court ruling that convicted religious leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh …

DUBAI / Reuters Gunmen from both groups in a strained civil war alliance withdrew from streets in the Yemeni capital on Sunday after trading fire in unprecedented violence, officials from the two groups said. The clash late on Saturday between members of the Houthi movement and loyalists of a powerful former president killed at least three combatants and marked a …

BAGHDAD / Reuters France will help reconstruction and reconciliation efforts in Iraq as it emerges from a war against IS, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said after talks with Iraqi officials in Baghdad. France is a main partner in the US-led coalition helping Baghdad fight the militants who seized parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014. The coalition provided …

Bloomberg President Donald Trump pardoned former Arizona county sheriff Joe Arpaio, using his first act of presidential clemency to give reprieve to a political supporter known — and criminally convicted — for his tough crackdown on illegal immigration. “Sheriff Joe Arpaio is now eighty-five years old, and after more than fifty years of admirable service to our Nation, he is …

Bloomberg Angola’s main opposition party, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, or Unita, said that provisional results that gave the ruling party a majority of the votes in an election earlier this week weren’t valid. “The country doesn’t yet have valid electoral results,” Isaias Samakuva, the leader of Unita, said at a press conference in Viana, on …