By Kevin Yao BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s economy likely grew at the slowest pace in 1-1/2 years in the fourth quarter, dragged by weaker demand due to a property downturn, curbs on debt and strict COVID-19 measures, raising heat on policymakers to roll out more easing steps. Data on Monday is expected to show gross…

PARIS (Reuters) – France’s stronger than expected economic recovery last year means the public sector budget deficit should come in better than planned, the budget minister said in an interview published on Sunday. The government had built its budget planning on expectations for the economy to grow 6.25% last year, but the most recent indications…

(Reuters) -The London Stock Exchange Group has proposed a special market for private companies to trade their shares publicly on the exchange on certain days, The Wall Street Journal reported https://on.wsj.com/3nt8j9h on Saturday, citing a person familiar with the matter. The move is part of a plan to attract fast growing technology firms to list…

(Reuters) – Apple Inc will require retail and corporate employees to provide proof of a COVID-19 booster shot, The Verge reported https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/15/22885181/apple-vaccine-covid-19-booster-shot-employees on Saturday, citing an internal email. Starting Jan. 24, unvaccinated employees or those who haven’t submitted proof of vaccination will need negative COVID-19 tests to enter Apple workplaces, the report said. The Verge…

By Aditi Shah NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India’s Reliance Industries, Softbank Group-backed Ola Electric and automaker Mahindra & Mahindra have submitted bids under the country’s $2.4 billion battery scheme, the government said on Saturday. India last year finalised https://bit.ly/3fmg3p5 an incentive program to encourage companies to invest in the local manufacturing of batteries as it looks…

By Siddharth Cavale, Ludwig Burger and Mrinmay Dey (Reuters) -GlaxoSmithKline on Saturday said it had rejected a 50-billion-pound offer from Unilever for its consumer goods arm, saying it “fundamentally undervalued” the business and its future prospects and that it would stick to its plan of spinning off the unit. Unilever confirmed the approach earlier on…

By Dmitry Zhdannikov, Ron Bousso, Simon Lewis and Timothy Gardner LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government has held talks with several international energy companies on contingency plans for supplying natural gas to Europe if conflict between Russia and Ukraine disrupts Russian supplies, two U.S. officials and two industry sources told Reuters on Friday. The United…

(Reuters) – Consumer goods giant Unilever has approached GlaxoSmithKline about buying the pharmaceutical group’s consumer goods arm, after a newspaper reported that a 50 billion-pound ($68.4 billion) bid it made had been rebuffed. GSK declined to comment on the approach which would be an alternative to its plans to list the business separately on the…

By Mrinmay Dey and Siddharth Cavale (Reuters) -Consumer goods giant Unilever said it had approached Glaxosmithkline about buying the pharmaceutical group’s consumer goods arm, after a newspaper reported that a 50 billion-pound ($68.4 billion) bid it made had been rebuffed. Unilever, which has been under fire from some investors for the group’s underperforming share price,…

LONDON (Reuters) -Consumer goods giant Unilever said it had approached Glaxosmithkline about buying the pharmaceutical group’s consumer goods arm after a newspaper reported that a 50 billion pound ($68.4 billion) offer it made had been rebuffed. “GSK Consumer Healthcare is a leader in the attractive consumer health space and would be a strong strategic fit…