Feb 27, 2018 - Economy & Business

Report: Alibaba in talks to buy Chinese food delivery giant

Source: Getty Images

Alibaba is in talks to acquire the 60% stake it does not already own in Chinese food ordering and delivery platform Ele.me, according to the FT. The deal could value Ele.me at upwards of $9.5 billion, while sellers would include Baidu, Horizon Ventures and Sequoia Capital China.

Why it matters: Because this would provide Alibaba with its first in-house delivery workers and logistics network, things that global rival Amazon already has and is learning from.

More from the FT:

Should the deal go through, Alibaba would become one of the country’s largest players in food delivery, rivaled only by online-to-offline services platform Meituan Dianping, which is backed by Alibaba’s competitor, Tencent. China’s food delivery market was valued at $32.5 billion in 2017, according to the China Cuisine Association, an industry group.

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Zachary Basu

Updated 20 mins ago - World

Protests erupt in Belarus after "Europe's last dictator" claims election win

Protesters and riot police clash in Minsk, Belarus, on Sunday during a demonstration against President Alexander Lukashenko's claim of a landslide victory. Photo: Misha Friedman/Getty Images)

Riot police clashed with protesters in Belarus overnight after a government exit poll predicted Sunday President Aleksander Lukashenko, an authoritarian who has ruled the Eastern European country since 1994, had overwhelmingly defeated a pro-democracy opposition candidate.

Why it matters: It's a precarious moment for the former Soviet republic, where decades of repression and a complete disregard for the coronavirus pandemic threaten to topple "Europe's last dictator." Rights groups said at least one protester was killed and dozens more wounded in a "police crackdown," per AP.

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Axios

Updated 34 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

Global: Total confirmed cases as of 11 a.m. ET: 19,909,062 — Total deaths: 732,128 — Total recoveries — 12,138,271 — Map.
U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 11 a.m. ET: 5,053,123 — Total deaths: 163,047 — Total recoveries: 1,656,864 — Total tests: 61,792,571 — Map.
Business: Richer Americans are more comfortable eating out.
Public health: How America can do smarter testing.
Sports: The cost of kids losing gym class — College football is on the brink.
🎧 Podcast: Indoor air is the next hotspot.

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Kia Kokalitcheva

2 hours ago - Economy & Business

Twitter jumps into the fray for TikTok

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Twitter is the latest to join the cast of the ongoing spectacle that is TikTok’s battle to stay open for business in the U.S., per a new report from the Wall Street Journal.

Why it matters: The saga to keep TikTok available to U.S. users is getting more complicated, with the company already in a President Trump-imposed time crunch and juggling a number of options.