British companies have scaled back sharply their hiring and investment plans amid the growing turmoil around Britain's exit from the European Union, a survey showed on Wednesday.

Alphabet Inc's Google said on Tuesday it was launching a global advisory council to consider ethical issues around artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.

Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal rose from humble beginnings to be undisputed king of India's skies. But now, at 69, massive debts have forced him to cede control of the pioneering airline he founded.

A slowing global economy and abrupt end to Federal Reserve policy tightening have shifted rate cut expectations in Asia to probable from possible, with the market betting on moves by a growing list of central banks.

Lufthansa is looking to merge the European operations of its catering unit LSG with a peer as it struggles with low margins in a competitive market on the continent, people close to the matter said.

China's industrial firms posted their worst slump in profits since late 2011 in the first two months of this year, data showed on Wednesday, as increasing strains on the economy in the face of slowing demand at home and abroad took a toll on businesses.

A Google executive offered new details on Wednesday about the company's upcoming video game streaming service, telling Reuters that game makers may use competing cloud providers and must avoid some inappropriate content.

On the outskirts of Oslo, a row of Fiat 500es imported from California stand parked in the snow outside the Buddy Electric dealership, part of a global flow of pre-owned electric cars to Norway powered by green subsidies elsewhere in the world.

Singapore's trade minister said Wednesday he was hopeful that an Asia-wide trade pact, which is backed by China and excludes the United States, could be sealed by the end of the year.

British retail sales unexpectedly kept up a robust pace of expansion last month, after unusually warm weather boosted sales, reinforcing the sector's role as a bright spot for the economy ahead of Brexit.

A few years ago, in this sweltering corner of western India, the horizon was dotted with hunched, barefoot women swinging sickles all day to cut wheat for the spring harvest.

India's Reliance Industries is selling fuels to Venezuela from India and Europe to sidestep sanctions that bar US-based companies from dealing with state-run PDVSA, according to trading sources and Refinitiv Eikon data.

Fugitive billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi had been arrested in London on behalf of the Indian authorities, British police said on Wednesday.

Germany plans to pass legislation by the end of 2019 to create a state-owned fund that can protect key companies from takeovers by Chinese and other foreign firms, government sources said, in a marked shift from its “hands-off” approach to business.

Google was fined 1.49 billion euros ($1.7 billion) on Wednesday for blocking rival online search advertisers, the third large European Union antitrust penalty for the Alphabet business in two only years.

China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) could be a boon for Bangladesh as the former is looking to use its surplus capacity and the latter needs funds to bankroll mega infrastructure projects to transform the economy, said a top banker.

Japan's government downgraded its assessment of the economy in March for the first time in three years, blaming a bruising US-China trade war for slumping exports and industrial output.

The British unemployment rate has struck a 44-year low, official data showed Tuesday, despite a broader economic slowdown as Brexit looms.

A crisis at India's Jet Airways deepened on Tuesday as an increasingly worried government called for an emergency meeting, angry passengers demanded refunds and pilots threatened to go on strike over unpaid salaries.

As India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand prepare to head to the polls, the Indian rupee's recent sharp rebound is a telling reminder for investors to beware the potential for heightened volatility as they hunt for opportunities around upcoming elections.