Bloomberg Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. said efforts to revamp its research operations will cost 75 billion yen ($725 million) as it seeks to build a new pipeline of drugs and considers closing some R&D operations in the U.K. The Japanese company’s R&D activities will be concentrated in Japan and in the U.S., it said in a statement Friday. The number …

  Bloomberg ICICI Bank Ltd., India’s largest private sector lender by assets, posted a 25 percent drop in first-quarter profit as provisions for bad debt rose. Net income fell to 22.3 billion rupees ($333 million), or 3.83 rupees a share, in the three months ended June 30, from 29.8 billion rupees, or 5.09 rupees, a year earlier, the Mumbai-based lender …

  Beijing / AFP Dozens of civilians left the besieged and battered opposition-held east of Syria’s Aleppo city on Saturday through a “humanitarian corridor” to the government-held west, state media reported. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported that “a number” of civilians had crossed into government territory. The crossings were the first major movement of people from …

  Lahore / AFP A man killed his two sisters on the eve of their weddings in Pakistan’s central Punjab province, police said on Saturday, in the latest case of so-called “honour” killings in the country. Kosar and Gulzar Bibi, aged 22 and 28, were shot dead by 35-year-old brother Nasir Hussain on Friday as they prepared to marry men they …

  Tokyo / AFP Beijing said it has detained and questioned a Japanese national working on cultural exchange projects for allegedly “endangering China’s national security”, Japanese newspapers reported on Saturday. The man, who has been missing since mid-July, was identified by the Nikkei business daily as the Japanese head of an organisation working to improve ties between the two rivals. China …

  Ankara / AFP Turkey was on Saturday holding 17 journalists on charges of “terror group” membership as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Western critics to “mind your own business” over a relentless crackdown following a failed coup. But in a goodwill gesture two weeks after the July 15 coup bid, Erdogan also announced he was withdrawing thousands of lawsuits against …

  Paris / AFP Muslim and Christian groups will hold vigils for a French priest murdered by extremists on Saturday, as authorities charged a man in connection with the brutal church attack that rocked the nation. A shellshocked France is still coming to terms with the extremist murder of a priest at his altar that has sparked fears of tensions between …

  Dhaka / AFP A Canadian citizen was one of the masterminds behind a mass killing at a Dhaka cafe, Bangladesh police said on Saturday, after new information came to light following a raid on an extremist hideout. Tamim Chowdhury, whose whereabouts are unknown, returned to Bangladesh from Canada three years ago. He has since led and financed efforts to radicalise …

  DPA Gisele Buendchen was eating a burger, Naomi Campbell was shopping, Kate Moss was on an aeroplane; the ways in which the supermodels of the 1990s were reputedly discovered were fairytale-like. The good news nowadays: if you want to be discovered there’s no need to hang around at airports or fast-food restaurants hoping a talent scout will walk past. …

  Relaxnews French fashion house Carven is suspending its menswear line and bidding goodbye to designer Barnabé Hardy. The label is making the move in a bid to focus on its womenswear line, reports WWD. “Barnabé Hardy has been the soul of Carven’s men’s collection since 2015,” Chief Executive Officer Sophie de Rougemont told the site. “It has been an …