Could Germans’ cherished right to drive as fast as they like on the Autobahn soon be outlawed? With the country’s center-left Social Democrats now leading the polls ahead of this month’s federal election, we shouldn’t rule it out: If voted in, they promise to limit motorway speeds to a maximum of 130 km per hour (81 miles per hour). Possible ...

If you can tear yourself away from the disappointing US jobs numbers and what that means for the Federal Reserve’s prospective reduction in stimulus, signals from China offer an equally sobering view of the global recovery. Economists are wringing their hands over employment growth in August, which was weaker than even the most pessimistic estimate. Tapering of the Fed’s quantitative ...

Bloomberg Toshiba Corp said it won’t be able to meet demand for power-regulating chips for another year and, in certain cases, through the end of 2022, offering a fresh warning for makers of cars, consumer electronics and industrial machines struggling with component shortages. “The supply of chips will remain very tight until at least September next year,” said Takeshi Kamebuchi, ...

Bloomberg Grab Holdings Inc, set to go public in the US through a deal with a blank-check company, is launching an online supermarket in the Philippines as it tries to move beyond meal deliveries and ride-hailing to boost revenue. Consumers in Metro Manila area, with a population of more than 13 million, will be able to order vegetables, meat, seafood ...

Bloomberg Aibee, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, is planning a funding round to raise about $100 million, according to people familiar with the matter. The Sequoia Capital China-backed firm could seek an initial public offering after the fundraising, however no final decision has been made, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public. Details of ...

Bloomberg Indian e-commerce retailer Snapdeal Pvt is considering an initial public offering that could raise about $400 million, joining a growing list of startups preparing to tap capital markets as the nation’s digital economy booms. The company, which counts SoftBank Group Corp among its investors, is speaking with advisers about a potential listing in Mumbai that could value it at ...

Bloomberg Activity in India’s dominant services sector expanded for the first time in four months as pandemic restrictions were loosened, a survey showed. The Markit India Services PMI SA rose to 56.7 last month from 45.4 in July. The August reading is the highest since February 2020 for a sector that makes up more than half of India’s economy. A ...

Bloomberg More than 1 billion Asians are set to join the global middle class by 2030, according to a new study that predicts the pandemic will prove just a temporary pause in the world economy’s great demographic shift. The middle class — households where per-capita spending is between $11 and $110 a day — amounts to some 3.75 billion people ...

Bloomberg Lebanese investment firm M1 Group pledged to spend $330 million over the next three years to expand the Myanmar telecom business it’s buying from Norway’s Telenor ASA, bucking moves by many international investors to exit the Southeast Asian nation after the military seized power in February. The funds will be used for network expansion, broadband infrastructure and services, M1 ...

Bloomberg The Taliban said international flights from Afghanistan will resume shortly as Qatar and Turkey help restart operations at Kabul airport and the group has complete control over the country with the last pocket of resistance in the north now defeated. “Domestic flights have already started and we’re waiting to hear when we can start overseas flights,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah ...