Ant Group is exploring options for founder Jack Ma to divest his stake in the financial technology giant and give up control, as meetings with Chinese regulators signaled to the company that the move could help draw a line under Beijing’s scrutiny of its business, according to a source familiar with regulators’ thinking and two people with close ties to the company.

NASA awarded billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s space company SpaceX a $2.9 billion contract to build a spacecraft to bring astronauts to the moon as early as 2024, the agency said on Friday, picking it over Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and defense contractor Dynetics Inc.

A group of US electricity companies wrote to President Joe Biden this week saying it will work with his administration and Congress to design a broad set of policies to reach a near-term goal of slashing the sector’s carbon emissions by 2030.

Policy support, tax benefits, and incentives are needed to help develop the country’s automobile industry, according to experts and entrepreneurs.

The stock market continued to rise for a fourth day yesterday following the two-day weekend thanks to a curious increase in share prices of non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs).

The country’s apex trade body yesterday demanded that the government consider giving away a portion of stimulus funds as grants if lockdowns persist in the next quarter, reasoning it was difficult to recover business from the pandemic-induced losses.

Unique Meghnaghat Power is going to sell an 11.76 per cent stake to Doha-based power development and investment company Nebras Power Investment Management BV worth $24.06 million or Tk 206 crore.

Bangladesh Bank yesterday restored the interbank cheque clearing system in a major relief for users but a backlog of cheques and the non-operational electronic fund transfer (EFT) platform are still causing sufferings to clients.

Some European Union governments will miss the April 30 deadline to submit their recovery plans to the European Commission, its Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said on Friday, but they are still likely to submit the plans within a few weeks afterwards.

Farmers have already harvested about 25 per cent of the boro paddy sown in haor areas of Sylhet despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

For all the insouciance with which markets treated Washington’s latest sanctions on Russia, its move to target Moscow’s main funding avenue - the rouble bond market - has in some ways, crossed the Rubicon, potentially with far-reaching consequences.

Entrepreneurs will now get financial support from the government to produce medical and personal protective equipment (MPPE) for both local and international markets as the fight against Covid-19 continues.

Japan’s Nissan Motor will furlough around 800 workers at its production plant in Britain, as output slows there because of a semiconductor shortage, the Nikkei newspaper reported.

Weavers of clothing items such as sari and panjabi may witness their sales nosedive in the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr after most of their items aimed at Pahela Baishakh have remained unsold because of a surge in coronavirus infections and subsequent strict lockdown measures.

Toyota pioneered the world’s most successful hybrid car but when it comes to pure electric vehicles it has some catching up to do, especially in China.

Chinese secondhand electronics trading platform Aihuishou is aiming to raise $500 million to $1 billion in a US initial public offering by early June, said two people with direct knowledge.

The defense team for Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, will ask a Canadian court to delay upcoming hearings in her US extradition case, the court said on Friday.

Gold prices hit a seven-week high and global stocks scaled new records on Friday after strong US and Chinese economic data bolstered expectations of a solid global recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

The commerce ministry today launched a $7.5 million Covid-19 response fund to help private enterprises procure plant equipment and produce medical and personal protective equipment in the country.

China’s economic recovery quickened sharply in the first quarter to record growth of 18.3 per cent from last year’s deep coronavirus slump, propelled by stronger demand at home and abroad and continued government support for smaller firms.