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…

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – President Xi Jinping has called for improved regulation and governance of China’s digital economy to guard against its “unhealthy” development as Beijing aims to boost the sector’s contribution to the country’s growth. In an essay in the ruling Communist Party’s publication Qiushi on Saturday, Xi called for focusing on key areas including…

LONDON (Reuters) – Consumer goods giant Unilever has made a bid for pharmaceutical group Glaxosmithkline’s consumer goods business worth roughly 50 billion pounds ($68.4 billion), Britain’s Sunday Times reported. GSK and Pfizer, which owns a minority stake in the division, were understood to have rejected the offer on the basis that it was too low,…

By Aditi Shah NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India, which has among the world’s deadliest roads, on Saturday proposed mandating at least six air bags in all passenger cars manufactured from Oct. 1. The government wants automakers to provide two side air bags and two curtain air bags, to protect those seated in the rear seats,…

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Apple said on Saturday it would allow developers of dating apps in the Netherlands to offer non-Apple payment options to their users, complying with an order from the country’s market regulator to do so by Jan. 15 or face fines. The country’s Authority for Consumers and Markets found in a decision published…

BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s new home prices fell more slowly in December than a month earlier, official data showed on Saturday, as marginal easing on financing curbs, and promotions by property developers helped to stabilise demand. Average new home prices in China’s 70 major cities declined 0.2% in December from a month earlier, slower than a…

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -AT&T Inc led bidders in the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) 5G spectrum auction of 3.45 GHz band spectrum, winning $9 billion in bids, the U.S. regulator said on Friday. The auction generated proceeds of $22.5 billion in total, the FCC said. T-Mobile won $2.9 billion while Weminuche LLC won $7.3…