Bloomberg Australian retail sales climbed for an eighth straight month in August, indicating the nation’s cashed-up households are coping well with rapid interest-rate increases to tackle escalating inflation. Sales advanced 0.6% from July, exceeding economists’ forecasts for a 0.4% gain, Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed. Retailers have posted higher sales every month this year. The rise was driven ...

  Bloomberg Traveloka has secured $300 million in new financing from investors including BlackRock Inc., as Southeast Asia’s biggest online travel startup counts on a post-Covid rebound to expand in the region. The Jakarta-based company said in a statement it struck a deal for financing with investors including Allianz Global Investors and the Indonesia Investment Authority. The size of the ...

Bloomberg Far more Russians have fled abroad than have enlisted in the military since President Vladimir Putin announced a mobilization to bolster his faltering invasion of Ukraine. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said more than 200,000 people have been conscripted into the army since Putin’s Sept. 21 order for a partial call-up, Russian news services reported Tuesday. That matches an exodus ...