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Bloomberg Telegram Group Inc., an encrypted messaging app seeking to create its own cryptocurrency, has increased the proceeds from the world’s largest initial offering to $1.7 billion, according to a regulatory filing. Telegram raised $850 million from 94 investors in March in addition to $850 million it gained in February, and “may pursue one or more subsequent offerings,” the British ...

Bloomberg Facebook Inc. pays female staff in Britain just 0.8 percent less on average than male employees, but womens’ bonuses are almost 40 percent lower. The mean average disparity in pay at Facebook is an improvement compared to Google’s UK arm, where women are paid on average 17 percent less than men. Google’s average bonus for female staff is 43 ...

Bloomberg David Shulkin, removed days ago as Secretary of Veterans Affairs, said political appointees engineered his ouster as they push for “more aggressive” changes to how the sprawling department is run. “I did not resign,” Shulkin said on Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” In a separate interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” he said that “There would be ...

Bloomberg The veteran local governor of the Siberian region of Kemerovo has resigned over a shopping-mall blaze last week that claimed more than 60 lives. Aman Tuleyev, who’s been governor of the Russian mining region since 1997, said the decision to submit his resignation was the “right, conscious and only true decision” after the March 25 blaze, which killed 64 ...

AMMAN /Reuters Negotiators in the last rebel-held bastion in Syria’s eastern Ghouta reached a deal with the Russian side to evacuate the wounded from Douma to rebel-held northern Syria, local sources familiar with the deal said. The agreement was reached by the negotiating committee that comprises both civic leaders and representatives of Jaish al Islam, the rebel faction in control ...

Bloomberg The Kremlin is sensing a crack in European unity as France and Germany seek to maintain ties, even after the West’s unprecedented expulsion of Russian diplomats over the nerve-agent attack in the UK. French President Emmanuel Macron still plans to visit a showcase economic forum in Russia in late May, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said, two days after ...

Call it the Holy Grail of the euro zone. Ever since the financial crisis, economists have been seeking ways to create a safe financial instrument, which banks in the single currency area can buy without having to load up on domestic sovereign bonds. Many placed their hopes in the proposal of a bundle of sovereign bonds called “European Safe Bonds” ...

The recent surge in stock volatility has captivated the financial community. Throughout the swings, however, bonds have remained unusually calm. The markets are so disconnected that when the Dow Jones Industrial Average tanked more than 400 points amid concern China would sell its hoard of more than $1.1 trillion in US Treasuries in retaliation for the Trump administration’s proposed tariffs, ...

Trade war? Then that should make Chinese consumer stocks a good buy. To be specific — domestically focused brands. Many are resilient because Chinese consumers remain their most important market. Some appliance makers are even more popular at home after buying foreign firms. Take baijiu distillers Kweichow Moutai Co., a company more valuable than McDonald’s Corp., and Wuliangye Yibin Co. ...

Private equity firms have a bone to pick with technology companies: Stop competing with us for deals. From Singapore to India, rivalry is mounting for coveted assets. It’s little wonder. The likes of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., SoftBank Group Corp. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. have deep pockets and plenty of patience. They invest in firms such as Paytm Mobile Solutions ...