Volkswagen will recall 4.86m vehicles sold in China over airbag problems, marking the latest blow for the German carmaker that has suffered numerous quality and distribution issues in the Asian country this year. VW will recall vehicles equipped with airbags manufactured by the now-bankrupt Japanese automotive parts maker Takata, according to a notice posted by China’s consumer inspection bureau, the Financial Times reported. The recall will apply to both imported and Chinese-made vehicles sold as early as 2005 and take effect in March 2018.

Ericsson's Indian subsidiary has filed insolvency petitions against Reliance Communications and two of its companies to recover unpaid dues, the Indian mobile operator said in a stock exchange filing on Wednesday, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. The Swedish telecoms equipment maker, which signed a seven-year deal in 2014 to operate and manage Reliance Communications' nationwide network, is seeking a total of 11.55 billion rupees ($180 million) from the three companies, the filing said.

For those eager to see a step change in the pace of eurozone integration, these are exciting times, the Financial Times reported. Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, is set for a seemingly unstoppable victory in the September 24 Bundestag elections. Emmanuel Macron, the French president, is embarking on the boldest domestic reforms seen in a generation. The Franco-German couple are poised to seize the day, so the enthusiasts hope, and lay the foundations for a more complete financial and economic union of the 19-nation area.

Former motor racing driver Niki Lauda will table an offer for parts of insolvent airline Air Berlin together with Thomas Cook’s German carrier Condor, Lauda told Austrian newspaper Kurier on Wednesday. Lauda holds 51 percent of the consortium which will bid for 21 Airbus A320 and A321 planes of Air Berlin’s subsidiary Niki - formerly owned by Lauda - as well as 17 additional aircraft flying under the Air Berlin banner, according to Kurier’s online edition.

German Labour Minister Andrea Nahles said on Wednesday it is “completely unacceptable” for pilots at Air Berlin to put the airline’s fate at risk by calling in sick in unusually high numbers, Reuters reported. Air Berlin, Germany’s second-biggest airline, is set to be carved up, most likely among several buyers, with binding offers due this Friday. “I think Air Berlin is in a decidedly difficult situation at the moment and the pilots, with their behavior, are putting at risk a reasonable handover or sale. That is unacceptable,” Nahles told Reuters in a television interview.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker made clear in his State of the Union speech today that he wants more Europe, including an expanded euro zone club. That will require a degree of economic and financial integration Europe currently lacks, a Bloomberg View reported. The central question, with German elections nearly two weeks away, is whether Berlin will finally agree to the creation of some form of fiscal union, which would help member states deal with economic shocks before these turn into full-fledged crises.

Bell Pottinger’s British arm collapsed on Tuesday after the global public relations agency’s clients deserted it over a racially-charged political campaign it ran in South Africa, Reuters reported. After working behind the scenes on some of the most defining moments in recent history, from the election of Margaret Thatcher to the death of Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, Bell Pottinger crumpled following a scandal of its own making.

The stock of bad debts held by Italian banks fell by a record amount in July, in a sign that Italy’s struggling financial sector is starting to benefit from stronger economic growth and greater investor interest, the Financial Times reported. The total volume of bad debts shrank by €18bn, or nearly 10 per cent compared with the previous month, to €173bn — the largest decrease since the Bank of Italy started to record data in 1998. The stock of bad loans is now at its lowest level since 2014.

A group of 24 Danish institutional investors in OW Bunker said on Tuesday it would sue Carnegie Investment Bank and Morgan Stanley, accusing both of misleading them about the 2014 listing of the now bankrupt marine fuel oil supplier, Reuters reported. The investors, including two of Denmark’s largest pension funds, ATP and PFA, say they lost 767 million crowns ($123 million) after buying OW Bunker shares “on the basis of a prospectus which was insufficient in material aspects”.

Insolvent German airline Air Berlin has attracted buyer interest from China’s LinkGlobal Logistics, which is likely to join a growing list of suitors, German newspaper Bild said on Wednesday. The paper said LinkGlobal, which operates German regional airport Parchim, expressed its intention of making a bid to the airline’s administrator in a letter dated Aug. 31 from LinkGlobal’s managing director Jonathan Pang, Reuters reported. LinkGlobal pledged to hand in a bid by the Sept. 15 deadline, according to the letter, a copy of which Bild said it had obtained.