Pakistan suspends mobile phone services nationwide as voting began in the general election.

“Given recent surge in terrorist incidents, it has been decided to shut mobile services nationwide temporarily to maintain the law and order situation and tackle threats,” the nation’s interior ministry says. Here are the details: https://bloom.bg/3SPge0q

🇵🇰 Pakistan is going to elect a new leader, with its most popular politician, Imran Khan, behind bars. The country has suspended its mobile phone service, citing a "recent surge in terrorist incidents."

Keep up with the latest news and analysis in our live blog, which is free to read.

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📷: Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images

Yen boost: Kenya plans to raise $500 million through a bond sale in Japan, widening its funding pool as it prepares to repay maturing debt. https://bloom.bg/42AhXde

Chocolate prices: Cocoa futures extend their surge to a record in New York as a shortfall gripped the market, threatening to make chocolate and other confectionery costlier. https://bloom.bg/3UAuBHy

Energy overhaul: Mozambique is seeking to become one of Africa’s biggest hydropower producers and launch a green hydrogen industry. https://bloom.bg/48clMXg

Watch Africa Amplified for a deep dive into the region’s biggest stories: https://bloom.bg/3u0S3Cz.

“My memory is fine,” says US President Joe Biden after a special counsel’s report fueled concerns about his mental acuity and age.

In an impromptu press conference, Biden, 81, answered defiantly — and sometimes angrily — questions about his capacity to continue serving in the White House. Read more from his response: https://bloom.bg/49sTt87

BREAKING: Donald Trump wins the Nevada caucuses without a challenge from Nikki Haley, as he closes in on the Republican nomination.

News networks, including NBC, ABC and the Associated Press, called the race for the former president about 40 minutes after caucus sites closed. Read more here: https://bloom.bg/3w7onEB

Oil turmoil: African countries have struggled to benefit from some of the world’s biggest oil and gas discoveries in decades. Senegal is the latest to have its energy hopes dashed. https://bloom.bg/3SBzxcn

Bond boom: The new East African Bond Exchange, a would-be competitor for the Nairobi Securities Exchange, sees the prospect for exponential growth in Kenya’s bond market as it prepares to start operating in the first half of this year. https://bloom.bg/4bth5LP

Gold standard: Zimbabwe may back its currency with gold in an effort to end exchange-rate instability, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said. https://bloom.bg/3wmLfjx

Watch Africa Amplified for a deep dive into the region’s biggest stories: https://bloom.bg/3u0S3Cz

Police in Delhi and the neighboring states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have blocked major city access roads in an effort to halt thousands of farmers marching to demand guaranteed crop prices and loan waivers. It comes three years after crippling anti-reform demonstrations that choked the Indian capital for months. Read more here: https://bloom.bg/42D0Png

India, France, Brussels, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Romania, Poland, Germany - across the world, agriculture is spreading as a key battleground. Read our Big Take on how this is becoming a global culture war over money, food and climate change: https://bloom.bg/42D0S2q

📷: Sunil Ghosh/Hindustan Times/Getty Images

Against all odds, Imran Khan loyalists beat Nawaz Sharif and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari by securing the most votes. Now Pakistan’s two main political parties are trying to thwart Khan with their coalition. But, their talks have hit a snag, as they can’t agree who will become prime minister. Read more here: https://bloom.bg/3uzWhl9

India's finance industry has profited handsomely from an emerging culture of speculation. But retail traders are losing billions in a booming stock market.

In 2023, Indian investors traded 85 billion options contracts, more than anywhere else in the world. Regulators are alarmed that they are bypassing the tried-and-true way to build wealth. Despite rules against it, promoters and influencers have found a grey area to push the dream of stock market riches to the country's fast-growing cadre of small investors. Read how the authorities are trying to crack down: https://bloom.bg/48eRmnm

📷: Subhash Sharma for Bloomberg Markets

Mozambique raid: Islamic State-linked fighters carried out their deadliest attack on Mozambican troops since 2021, ratcheting up security concerns. https://bloom.bg/3wc5QHn

Dollar shortage: The naira plunges to a record low against the dollar as availability of the US currency in Nigerian markets declines sharply. https://bloom.bg/3HZ6v1x

Green finance: Sub-Saharan Africa’s investment in renewable energy needs to increase fivefold to meet a commitment of boosting global capacity to 11,500 gigawatts of clean energy by 2030, a new study shows. https://bloom.bg/4byjZPp

Watch Africa Amplified for a deep dive into the region’s biggest stories: https://bloom.bg/3u0S3Cz

Polls have just closed in Indonesia, where more than 204 million voters have cast their ballots for their next president.

The new leader will inherit a trillion-dollar economy that has fast risen in the global resource supply chain, thanks to President Jokowi’s policies. That move has boosted exports, narrowed the fiscal deficit and steadied the currency, making the country an emerging-market favorite.

Follow our free live blog for the latest news and analysis. https://bloom.bg/48iBlgr

📷: Sonny Tumbelaka/AFP/Getty Images

BREAKING: Ex-general Prabowo Subianto is set to win Indonesia's presidency and lead the trillion-dollar economy for the next five years, according to unofficial counts. Follow our free-to-read live blog for the latest: https://bloom.bg/48iBlgr

📷: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images

Cabinet reshuffle: Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo replaced his finance minister as the nation looks to secure an agreement with creditors on restructuring its debt. https://bloom.bg/48bLLyg

Rate hike: Zambia’s central bank raises its benchmark interest rate to the highest level in almost seven years to tame inflation and support the kwacha. https://bloom.bg/42EPlQg

Climate change: South Africa produces its inaugural official gage of the carbon intensity of its electricity production, confirming its status as one of the world’s top producers per capita of greenhouse gases. https://bloom.bg/48cEZrT

Watch Africa Amplified for a deep dive into the region’s biggest stories: https://bloom.bg/3u0S3Cz

Once derided by US diplomats as a “poison pill” ex-general accused of human-rights abuses, Prabowo Subianto successfully remade his image as an affable grandpa and is now set to become the next president of Indonesia according to unofficial counts.

The win marks a stunning turnaround for a three-time presidential candidate known for being temperamental, pounding tables and fiery nationalist speeches. Read more here: https://bloom.bg/3UASC12

📷: Bay Ismoyo/AFP/Getty Images

Japan lost its spot as the world's third-largest economy to Germany after the Asian nation unexpectedly slipped into recession.

The economy shrank in the second quarter on anemic domestic demand, prompting some central bank watchers to push back bets on when Japan's negative interest rate policy will end. Read more here: https://bloom.bg/3uANHm8

📷: Kentaro Takahashi/Bloomberg

Corporate exodus: GSK, Bayer, and Sanofi are among the global businesses leaving Nigeria due to the country's struggling economy and naira crisis. https://bloom.bg/3HZzuSH

Shilling soars: Kenya’s currency rallies the most in almost 16 years as locals ditch dollars after the nation’s successful Eurobond sale. https://bloom.bg/3I2EXbq

Inflation jolt: Nigeria's inflation rate hit a 28-year high in January, adding pressure on the central bank to raise interest rates sharply. https://bloom.bg/48j560x

Watch Africa Amplified for a deep dive into the region’s biggest stories: https://bloom.bg/3u0S3Cz

Currency surge: Kenya’s shilling is heading for its best week in almost three decades after strong demand for a Eurobond sale boosted confidence in Eastern Africa’s second-largest economy. https://bloom.bg/49iPqvm

Congo mission: South Africa is leading a regional force that’s deploying into eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and risks being caught up in a conflict that has displaced 7 million people. https://bloom.bg/42EZrAL

Green power: South Africa’s Department of Water and Sanitation is seeking applications for private companies to build hydropower plants and potentially floating solar power facilities in the Eastern Cape province. https://bloom.bg/49BSPVV

Watch Africa Amplified for a deep dive into the region’s biggest stories: https://bloom.bg/3u0S3Cz

A former government minister from Bangladesh has amassed more than 350 properties worth about £200 million, adding to concerns over the ability to scrutinize inflows of foreign money into Britain.

Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, who served as land minister until January this year, owns properties that range from luxury apartments in central London to student accommodation in Liverpool.

Read to see his real estate empire — and why his property deals could revive questions over UK legislation: https://bloom.bg/3uD2rkq

Finance and tech professionals are generally better paid in Hong Kong than in Singapore, according to a report from Bloomberg Intelligence.

Investment-banking analysts make an average of $92,149 a year in Hong Kong compared with $63,305 in Singapore. The trend extends to associates and roles in private banking, as well as tech jobs like app development. Read more on the salary data here: https://bloom.bg/4bLTfLq

📷: Paul Yeung/Bloomberg

Japanese stocks have reclaimed the historic peak reached over 34 years ago as global investors pour money into a country they’re betting has finally escaped deflation and is headed on a path of sustainable growth.

On Thursday, the Nikkei 225 closed at 39,098.68, finally breaching the previous record. The epic come-back — it took even longer than Wall Street’s recovery from the crash that sparked the Great Depression — marks a rebirth for Japan’s share market.

Back then, the nation’s equities had risen so far and so fast that there really was only one way to go: down. Read how Japan’s stocks rallied to a historic high not seen since 1989 in charts. https://bloom.bg/49DvpjD