Liberty Interactive to buy online retailer Zulily in $2.4 billion deal

Liberty Interactive Corp , which owns home shopping network QVC, said it would acquire Zulily Inc in a deal valued at $2.4 billion to tap into the online retailer's younger clientele and its strong mobile presence. Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd owns a stake of about 9 percent in the company. Billionaire John Malone-backed Liberty will combine the five-year old Zulily with its QVC business, which is about 30 years old and seen by analysts as a maturing business in the United States

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Visa joins MasterCard, AmEx in ending use for Backpage sex ads

By Mary Wisniewski CHICAGO (Reuters) – Visa Inc said on Wednesday it is joining MasterCard Inc and American Express Co in barring its credit cards from being used to pay for ads on Backpage.com following a request from a Chicago sheriff who said the site is used by sex traffickers. Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart said that “escort” ads on Backpage.com and similar classified advertising sites make up the foundation of a sex-trafficking industry that preys on the young and vulnerable. Earlier this week, he asked both Visa and MasterCard to cut off any association with the Backpage.com “adult” section.

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China adopts new security law to make networks, systems ‘controllable’

By Michael Martina BEIJING (Reuters) – China's legislature adopted a sweeping national security law on Wednesday that covers everything from territorial sovereignty to measures to tighten cyber security, a move likely to rile foreign businesses. A core component of the law, passed by the standing committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), is to make all key network infrastructure and information systems “secure and controllable”

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MasterCard stops allowing charges for Backpage.com sex ads

By Mary Wisniewski CHICAGO (Reuters) – MasterCard said on Tuesday that its credit cards can no longer be used to pay for ads on the Backpage.com website, following a request from a Chicago law enforcement official who said the site is used by sex traffickers. Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart said that so-called “escort” ads on Backpage.com and similar sites make up the foundation of the sex trafficking industry, which preys on the young and vulnerable. “Backpage has significantly lowered the barrier to entry for would-be traffickers,” said Dart, adding he will reveal details of a larger initiative against Backpage at a news conference on Wednesday

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