Alibaba expands in SE Asia with $1bn deal

SHANGHAI: Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba will acquire a controlling stake in leading Southeast Asian online shopping platform Lazada for $1.0 billion, it said on Tuesday as Jack Ma’s company seeks to expand outside its home market.

Alibaba’s Taobao platform is estimated to have more than 90 per cent of the consumer-to-consumer market in China, while its Tmall platform is believed to command more than half of business-to-consumer transactions.—AFP

Music industry posts first growth in 20 years

NEW YORK: The recorded music industry has enjoyed its first significant growth since the dawn of the Internet age, as streaming led digital to overtake physical sales, a global trade body said Tuesday.

Recorded music revenue expanded by 3.2 per cent in 2015 worldwide to $15 billion, fuelled by an extraordinary growth in subscriptions to streaming services, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.—AFP

Uber reveals US law enforcement data queries

WASHINGTON: Uber said Tuesday it received more than 400 requests from US law enforcement agencies in the second half of 2015, and gave authorities some information in the vast majority of cases.

The global ridesharing giant released the figures in its first “transparency report” following a trend from technology companies related to disclosure of customer data.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2016