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Bloomberg Walmart Inc’s Jetblack, a personal-shopping service for busy urban families, will cease operations on February 21, according to a company spokesman. The brainchild of Walmart’s online chief Marc Lore, Jetblack will be integrated into the parent company’s operations and its technology applied to other parts of the retailer. Nearly 300 employees will be let go as part of the ...

Bloomberg Kraft Heinz Co, the iconic food giant created in a merger five years ago, was downgraded to junk by two credit raters, raising fresh worries among investors that a slowing economy could threaten the broader corporate bond market. The packaged-food company was cut one level to BB+ by S&P Global Ratings, following Fitch Ratings last week. It will now ...

Bloomberg Saks, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and other luxury retailers were accused in a lawsuit of agreeing to not hire sales clerks from each other’s stores in violation of US antitrust law. The companies conspired to enter into “no-hire agreements” that prohibit them from hiring employees who have worked within six months for rival brands, according to the complaint filed last ...

Bloomberg February 2020 will come to be remembered as a period of historic disruption to physical supply chains the world over, as the coronavirus wrecks trade. Dozens of export sailings to ship China-made goods to consumers from the US to Europe — think handbags, flat-screen TVs, and plastic toys — have been canned since the coronavirus crisis escalated last month. ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong’s government will seek approval from the territory’s legislature for at least HK$25 billion ($3.2 billion) in fresh funding to reduce the impact of the coronavirus outbreak in the city, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said. The amount includes measures to assist tour agencies, restaurants and students, as well as extra cash for the Hospital Authority. The government will ...

Bloomberg Malaysia will announce a stimulus package early next month as analysts slash their growth forecasts to account for the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. The package will involve all ministries, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said. Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunos earlier said the measure will seek to support those affected by the coronavirus, including tourism and ...

Bloomberg India’s top court rejected a plea by mobile carriers seeking more time to settle billions of dollars in back-fees and began contempt proceedings against the companies, threatening to push Vodafone Group Plc’s beleaguered local venture to the brink weeks after it warned of a potential collapse. The Supreme Court’s three-judge panel, headed by Arun Mishra, said that operators including ...

Bloomberg China is administering its centuries-old traditional medicine on patients affected by the coronavirus disease, a top health official said. Treatment in Wuhan hospitals combine Traditional Chinese Medicine, popularly known as TCM, and western medicines, said Wang Hesheng, the new health commission head in Hubei, the province at the center of the virus outbreak. He said TCM was applied on ...

Bloomberg China’s spending on overseas energy projects has dropped to its lowest in more than a decade, as the nation focusses on domestic issues and rethinks its strategy around indebtedness and the world’s energy mix. The nation’s foreign energy financing dropped by 69% to $3.2 billion in 2019, according to data from Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center. Only three ...

Bloomberg The US and the Taliban have reached agreement on a seven-day reduction in violence in Afghanistan that’s intended to lead to a broader accord to end America’s longest war. A senior US official said that the two sides have a deal on the reduction of violence that, if achieved, would be followed by a peace plan allowing the US ...