India’s economy is out of recession but still a long way from returning to rates of growth seen before the pandemic. Asia’s third biggest economy recorded a rise in gross domestic product of 0.4% in the final three months of 2020, compared with the same period a year earlier, according to official statistics published on…… MORE
A burst of anxiety is ricocheting across financial markets as Wall Street sets expectations for the next phase of the pandemic, which could take hold this spring and summer as vaccinations rise and coronavirus cases fall. What’s happening: US stock indexes, which have repeatedly hit all-time highs in recent weeks, took a leg lower on…… MORE
Prince Harry has said he stepped back from the royal family last year because the British press was “destroying” his mental health. In a rare one-on-one interview in which he discussed the pressures of royal life and his move away from London, Harry told “The Late Late Show” host James Corden that he decided he…… MORE
Every Friday, groggy Marvel fans either wake up early or stay up late to follow along with the weekly adventures of streaming’s favorite couple: witchy Wanda Maximoff and her humanoid husband, The Vision, on Disney+’s “WandaVision.” Marvel Studios’ first original series for Disney+ has found a loyal audience, even though new episodes debut at a…… MORE
Jack Ma‘s tech empire may still be facing tough new regulations in China, but Alibaba seems to have won at least a little bit of favor this week from President Xi Jinping. Alibaba was one of hundreds of companies that Xi commended on Thursday during a ceremony intended to bolster his years-long campaign to wipe…… MORE
Global stocks tumbled Friday as a sharp bond selloff encouraged investors to dump riskier assets. Asian markets followed US stocks lower. Japan’s Nikkei 225 tumbled 4%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed down 3.6% — that index’s worst day in nine months. South Korea’s Kospi dropped 2.8%, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index lost 2.1%.…… MORE
Many of the world’s leading financial institutions have pledged in recent years to slash their support for the coal and oil industries. But a new report has found that hundreds of billions of dollars are still being channeled into fossil fuels, and Asia’s banks are doing much of that business. Globally, 380 commercial banks lent…… MORE
AT&T on Thursday sold a minority stake in its video business to private equity firm TPG. The deal values DirecTV, AT&T TV and U-Verse at roughly $16 billion combined — less than a third of the $49 billion AT&T spent to buy DirecTV in 2015. The ill-timed deal was doomed from the start. AT&T bought…… MORE
Makeup sales have been walloped by the pandemic. But that’s not stopping Sephora from adding more stores as it pushes ahead to attract shoppers outside of struggling malls. The company said Thursday that it is adding more than 60 freestanding stores this year, and 85% of them won’t be in malls. The new stores comes…… MORE
Hasbro is dropping the honorific “mister” from the “Mr. Potato Head” brand, renaming the shapeshifting plastic spud to the gender-neutral “Potato Head.” It’s a notable change from one of the world’s largest toy makers to untether one of its most famous products from a binary gender identity — something that was far less controversial in…… MORE
