Unilever PLC is in talks to acquire Honest Company, the consumer products company founded by actress Jessica Alba, sources close to the negotiations said. Unilever, a multinational consumer goods company headquartered in London, is offering a deal valued at over $1 billion, but less than the $1.7 billion valuation that ... Read More »

A 17-year-old has committed doctor-assisted suicide in Belgium, the first minor to do so under rules adopted in 2014 allowing euthanasia for people of all ages, the head of the national committee for euthanasia said on Saturday. Wim Distelmans, who chairs Belgium’s Federal Control and Evaluation Committee on Euthanasia, told ... Read More »

State officials in Florida on Friday tripled the active Zika transmission zone in the trendy seaside community of Miami Beach after five new cases of the mosquito-borne virus believed to cause a severe birth defect were identified in the area. The active transmission zone grew from 1.5 square miles to ... Read More »

– Norwegian energy company Statoil said it retained some of its shale acreage in the United States, but completed a sale Friday of assets in West Virginia. Statoil said it closed Friday on the $96 million sale of 11,500 acres in the Marcellus shale natural gas basin in West Virginia ... Read More »

The prospects of growing supplies of oil on the market offset the latest OPEC chatter on rebalancing efforts to push oil prices lower in early Friday trading. Oil drifted around in volatile trading Thursday as key economic indicators bounced off underlying questions about the gap between oil supplies and global ... Read More »

A global fund has raised over $12.9 billion from international donors as part of a campaign aimed at effectively eradicating AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis by 2030, conference organizers said on Saturday. The Global Fund asked government, faith-based and private-sector partners to raise a total of $13 billion at a donor ... Read More »

A union representing hundreds of college athletic coaches and faculty members in Pennsylvania said Friday that members have authorized it to call a labor strike, as a measure to break gridlock that’s lasted at the bargaining table for two years. The Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties said ... Read More »

French Defence Minister Jean Yves Le Drian is likely to visit India next week to conclude the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) between India and France for the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets, bringing to an end the 17-month-long negotiations. Mr. Drian is expected to be in Delhi on September 23, ... Read More »

Japanese manufacturers’ confidence bounced from a three-year low, while sentiment in the services sector hit its lowest since 2013 when the central bank began bold monetary stimulus, a Reuters poll showed, underscoring a fragile economic recovery. The monthly Reuters Tankan, which tracks the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) quarterly tankan survey, ... Read More »

Britain is moving towards more active defence in cyberspace, the head of the UK’s new National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has said. Speaking in Washington, Ciaran Martin was giving his first public comments as the chief executive of the NCSC. The centre, which launches next month, will absorb existing roles ... Read More »

Standard Chartered Plc (STAN.L) is considering spinning out its private equity business to its managers, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing two people familiar with the matter. The unit’s managers, led by Joseph Stevens, would take control of a business that oversees about $5 billion of assets, Bloomberg reported. “The Group ... Read More »

Breaking his silence over the factional feud in the Samajwadi Party, its supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Friday said there can be no division in the party till he is there, a day after the dramatic resignation from the Cabinet and party posts by his brother Shivpal Yadav. Addressing party ... Read More »