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Bloomberg Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. reached an agreement to buy larger rival Shire Plc for about 46 billion pounds ($62 billion) in a deal that transforms it into a top drugmaker in the lucrative business of rare diseases and boosts its heft in the US. The Japanese company capped a drawn-out pursuit by agreeing to pay Shire 49.01 pounds a share ...

Bloomberg When Xiaomi Corp.’s founders were eating millet congee at an office in Beijing’s Zhongguancun neighbourhood in 2010, they decided to create a smartphone brand selling handsets at “honest” prices. Eight years later, Lei Jun and the seven other Xiaomi co-founders have created a company that wants to challenge the global industry dominance of Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. ...

Bloomberg China’s overseas shipments exceeded estimates while imports surged, as the global economy continued to support demand. Exports rose 12.9 percent in April in dollar terms, the customs administration said on Tuesday. Imports surged 21.5 percent, leaving a $28.8 billion trade surplus. “The data show continued strong growth of domestic demand and a rebound, albeit not too vigorous, of external ...

Bloomberg A slew of ride-hailing ventures are taking to the gridlocked streets of Manila, undeterred by the market dominance of Grab now that it controls Uber in the Philippines. Hype Transport Systems Inc. and Ipara Technologies and Solutions Inc. are just two of the five new entrants approved by the regulator since Grab agreed to take over the operations of ...

Bloomberg India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked his team to crunch numbers and figure out how many jobs were created in the four years of his rule — a key factor watched by the nation headed for elections in 2019. Ministries have been instructed to come up with a detailed note on the projects and programmes undertaken by them ...

Bloomberg Italy is heading for a snap election that may boost the chances of a populist government taking power. Luigi Di Maio, head of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, and Matteo Salvini, who leads a center-right alliance and the anti-immigrant League, are pressing for an election in July after efforts to form a government broke down. The populist rivals met ...

Bloomberg Indonesian President Joko Widodo may find himself without a challenger in the next election. While Prabowo Subianto — leader of the main opposition party and runner up in the 2014 election — has accepted his party’s endorsement, it’s uncertain if he can assemble a viable coalition to be nominated by an August deadline. Widodo is leading in opinion polls ...

Bloomberg Chinese President Xi Jinping met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the port city of Dalian over the past two days, the second meeting between top officials of the allies in less than two months. The summit came after Kim’s surprise two-day visit to Beijing in late March, his first known trip abroad since taking power in 2011. ...

Bloomberg Gina Haspel spent three decades working in secret. Now the lifelong spy is preparing for a bruising public debut as she fights to become President Donald Trump’s CIA chief amid criticism of her involvement in alleged torture programs and role in destroying videotapes of interrogations. Haspel testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee for her confirmation hearing on Wednesday. She’s ...

Bloomberg Armenian opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan was elected prime minister by the country’s parliament, completing a remarkable rise to power backed by massive street protests that he’s termed a “velvet revolution.” Lawmakers voted by 59 to 42 to name Pashinyan as premier, a week after the ruling Republican Party, which holds a majority of seats, had refused to back his ...