Toyota Motor, the world’s largest automaker, plans to cut production worldwide 40 percent in September because of a shortage of computer chips that the company had avoided being hurt by until now.

The move will affect 14 plants in Japan and reduce output by about 140,000 cars and trucks next month, the company said. In the United States, Toyota expects to produce about 80,000 fewer vehicles next month than it had previously planned. The company is also cutting production in Europe, China and other countries.

“Due to Covid-19 and unexpected events with our supply chain, Toyota is experiencing additional shortages that will affect production at most of our North American plants,” the company said in a statement. “While the situation remains fluid and complex, our manufacturing and supply chain teams have worked diligently to develop countermeasures to minimize the impact on production.”

The company is also expecting North American production in August to be...

China has promised to teach its most indebted companies a lesson. Just not yet.

Huarong Asset Management, the financial conglomerate that was once a poster child for China’s corporate excess, said Wednesday night that it would get financial assistance from a group of state-backed companies after months of silence about its future. The company also said it had made a $16 billion loss in 2020.

Citic Group and China Cinda Asset Management were among the five state-owned firms that will make a strategic investment, Huarong said without providing more details on how much money would be invested or when the deal would be finalized.

Huarong also said that it had no plans to restructure its debt but left unanswered the question of whether foreign and Chinese bondholders would have to accept significant losses on their investments.

Investors took the news to be a strong indication that the Chinese government was not yet ready to see the failure of a company so...

Social media platforms were caught as much by surprise by the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan as Western leaders were. Accounts and content linked to the group are rapidly multiplying, as governments around the world decide whether to officially recognize the Taliban as Afghanistan’s rulers.

U.S. tech giants like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, which have largely designated the Taliban a terrorist organization, have been put in a tricky position as the Taliban try to establish their authority and legitimize their rule online.

Aren’t the Taliban already banned from social networks? Mostly, yes. But emboldened by on-the-ground gains, newly created pro-Taliban accounts are openly defying the bans. An analysis by The Times shows that more than 100 new pro-Taliban accounts and pages have been created since last week, while dozens of accounts that were dormant for months or even years on social networks popped back up in recent days.

Facebook has activated an...

The coronavirus pandemic appears to have unleashed a tidal wave of entrepreneurial activity, breaking the United States — at least temporarily — out of a decades-long start-up slump.

Americans filed paperwork to start 4.3 million businesses last year, according to data from the Census Bureau, a 24 percent increase from the year before and by far the most in the decade and a half that the government has kept track. Applications are on a pace to be even higher this year.

The surge is a striking and unexpected turnaround after a 40-year decline in U.S. entrepreneurship. In 1980, 12 percent of employers were new businesses; by 2018, the most recent year for which data is available, that share had fallen to 8 percent.

The prolonged decline worried economists, because start-ups are a key source of job growth, innovation and economic resiliency. A reversal of the trend could contribute to a more dynamic, productive economy that could more easily rebound from future...

To build on the momentum, Facebook on Thursday introduced a virtual-reality service called Horizon Workrooms. The product, which is free for Quest 2 owners to download, offers a virtual meeting room where people using the headsets can gather as if they are at an in-person work meeting. The participants join with a customizable cartoon avatar of themselves. Interactive virtual white boards line the walls so that people can write and draw things as in a physical conference room.

A cyberattack on T-Mobile exposed the information of more than 40 million people, with stolen files including names, birthdays and social security numbers, the company said on Tuesday.

The mobile service provider said in a statement that it had been investigating the data breach since last week, when it was “informed of claims made in an online forum that a bad actor had compromised T-Mobile systems.”

The company said the stolen files included information from approximately 7.8 million current T-Mobile accounts, as well as records of more than 40 million former or prospective customers who had applied for credit with the company.

Some of the exposed data included customers’ first and last names, social security numbers, driver’s license and other information, T-Mobile said. It also included the PINs of about 850,000 active prepaid customers.

The coronavirus pandemic appears to have unleashed a tidal wave of entrepreneurial activity, breaking the United States — at least temporarily — out of a decades-long start-up slump.

Americans filed paperwork to start 4.3 million businesses last year, according to data from the Census Bureau, a 24 percent increase from the year before and by far the most in the decade and a half that the government has kept track. Applications are on a pace to be even higher this year.

The surge is a striking and unexpected turnaround after a 40-year decline in U.S. entrepreneurship. In 1980, 12 percent of employers were new businesses; by 2018, the most recent year for which data is available, that share had fallen to 8 percent.

The prolonged decline worried economists, because start-ups are a key source of job growth, innovation and economic resiliency. A reversal of the trend could contribute to a more dynamic, productive economy that could more easily rebound from future...

Mark Wray was working at the concession stand of a movie theater when the pandemic lockdowns hit last year. The movie theater shut down, and he lost his job.

But instead of looking for another low-wage job, Mr. Wray sought a different path. He found a program teaching basic technology and business skills, completed it and landed a job at a fast-growing online mortgage lender. He started in March, working in customer service and tech support. He makes about $55,000 a year, compared with $17,000 at the movie theater.

“The pandemic, weirdly, was an opportunity,” said Mr. Wray, 25, who is a high school graduate and lives in Charlotte, N.C. “And this job is a huge steppingstone for me.”

People returning to the work force after the pandemic are expecting more from their employers, pushing companies to raise pay, give bonuses and improve health care and tuition plans. Paychecks are getting bigger. Wages rose strongly in July, up 4 percent from a year earlier,...

A cyberattack on T-Mobile exposed the information of more than 40 million people, with stolen files including names, birthdays and social security numbers, the company said on Tuesday.

The mobile service provider said in a statement that it had been investigating the data breach since last week, when it was “informed of claims made in an online forum that a bad actor had compromised T-Mobile systems.”

The company said the stolen files included information from approximately 7.8 million current T-Mobile accounts, as well as records of more than 40 million former or prospective customers who had applied for credit with the company.

Some of the exposed data included customers’ first and last names, social security numbers, driver’s license and other information, T-Mobile said. It also included the PINs of about 850,000 active prepaid customers.

As the Taliban took control of the Afghan capital of Kabul on Sunday, a spokesman for the group uploaded five videos to his official YouTube page. The videos, each between two and three minutes long, showed Taliban leaders congratulating fighters on their victories.

“Now is the time to serve the nation and to give them peace and security,” Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a co-founder of the Taliban, said in one video in Pashtun as he sat in front of senior officials in a curtained office.

Dozens of pro-Taliban accounts that had sprung up on Twitter in recent days then shared the five videos. Within 24 hours, they had together racked up more than half a million views.

The videos were part of an effort by the Taliban to establish their authority and legitimize their rule across Afghanistan through the use of social media, researchers said. But by publishing on Facebook and YouTube, the Taliban defied longtime bans by the platforms. The social media companies,...

Despite the chaotic end to its presence in Afghanistan, the United States still has control over billions of dollars belonging to the Afghan central bank, money that Washington is making sure remains out of the reach of the Taliban.

About $7 billion of the central bank’s $9 billion in foreign reserves are held by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the former acting governor of the Afghan central bank said Wednesday, and the Biden administration has already moved to block access to that money.

The Taliban’s access to the other money could also be restricted by the long reach of American sanctions and influence. The central bank has $1.3 billion in international accounts, some of it euros and British pounds in European banks, the former official, Ajmal Ahmady, said in an interview on Wednesday. Remaining reserves are held by the Swiss-based Bank for International Settlements, he added.

Mr. Ahmady said earlier on Wednesday that the Taliban had already been...

Apple unveiled a plan two weeks ago founded in good intentions: Root out images of child sexual abuse from iPhones.

But as is often the case when changes are made to digital privacy and security, technology experts quickly identified the downside: Apple’s approach to scanning people’s private photos could give law enforcement authorities and governments a new way to surveil citizens and persecute dissidents. Once one chip in privacy armor is identified, anyone can attack it, they argued.

The conflicting concerns laid bare an intractable issue that the tech industry seems no closer to solving today than when Apple first fought with the F.B.I. over a dead terrorist’s iPhone five years ago.

The technology that protects the ordinary person’s privacy can also hamstring criminal investigations. But the alternative, according to privacy groups and many security experts, would be worse.

Deep into the third hour of testimony in federal bankruptcy court by Dr. Richard Sackler, a former president and co-chairman of the board of directors of Purdue Pharma, a prescription opioid manufacturer founded by Sackler family members, a lawyer posed a chain of questions:

“Do you have any responsibility for the opioid crisis in the United States?”

“No,” Dr. Sackler, 76, replied faintly.

“Does the Sackler family have any responsibility for the opioid crisis in the United States?”

Again, “No.”

And finally:

“Does Purdue Pharma have any responsibility for the opioid crisis in the United States?”

More firmly: “No.”

Dr. Sackler, perhaps the best-known among the billionaire Sacklers, who for nearly 20 years was the family member who figured most prominently in the company’s rollout of its signature prescription painkiller, OxyContin, made a rare, protracted appearance by video conference on Wednesday before a judge presiding over the...

Mark Wray was working at the concession stand of a movie theater when the pandemic lockdowns hit last year. The movie theater shut down, and he lost his job.

But instead of looking for another low-wage job, Mr. Wray sought a different path. He found a program teaching basic technology and business skills, completed it and landed a job at a fast-growing online mortgage lender. He started in March, working in customer service and tech support. He makes about $55,000 a year, compared with $17,000 at the movie theater.

“The pandemic, weirdly, was an opportunity,” said Mr. Wray, 25, who is a high school graduate and lives in Charlotte, N.C. “And this job is a huge steppingstone for me.”

People returning to the work force after the pandemic are expecting more from their employers, pushing companies to raise pay, give bonuses and improve health care and tuition plans. Paychecks are getting bigger. Wages rose strongly in July, up 4 percent from a year earlier,...

As the Taliban took control of the Afghan capital of Kabul on Sunday, a spokesman for the group uploaded five videos to his official YouTube page. The videos, each between two and three minutes long, showed Taliban leaders congratulating fighters on their victories.

“Now is the time to serve the nation and to give them peace and security,” Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a co-founder of the Taliban, said in one video in Pashtun as he sat in front of senior officials in a curtained office.

Dozens of pro-Taliban accounts that had sprung up on Twitter in recent days then shared the five videos. Within 24 hours, they had together racked up more than half a million views.

The videos were part of an effort by the Taliban to establish their authority and legitimize their rule across Afghanistan through the use of social media, researchers said. But by publishing on Facebook and YouTube, the Taliban defied longtime bans by the platforms. The social media companies,...

Walt Disney World in Florida is permanently retiring its free, line-skipping FastPass system and for the first time will charge $15 a person for the privilege, opening up a potentially colossal new revenue stream. Before the pandemic, the No. 1 theme park at the resort, the Magic Kingdom, attracted 21 million visitors annually.

Disney World introduced FastPass in 1999. The decision to retire that offering and join theme parks like Universal Orlando and Seaworld Orlando in charging for speedier access to rides reflects the era: Consumers have become increasingly accustomed to paying surcharges for special access and perks, many of which used to be included in the base price. The airlines have led the stratification.

For most people, Disney vacations are already formidably expensive — entry to one park for one day can easily approach $500 for a family of four. But the company has long signaled that Disney World would eventually charge for what it is now calling...

Walt Disney World in Florida is permanently retiring its free, line-skipping FastPass system and for the first time will charge $15 a person for the privilege, opening up a potentially colossal new revenue stream. Before the pandemic, the No. 1 theme park at the resort, the Magic Kingdom, attracted 21 million visitors annually.

Disney World introduced FastPass in 1999. The decision to retire that offering and join theme parks like Universal Orlando and Seaworld Orlando in charging for speedier access to rides reflects the era: Consumers have become increasingly accustomed to paying surcharges for special access and perks, many of which used to be included in the base price. The airlines have led the stratification.

For most people, Disney vacations are already formidably expensive — entry to one park for one day can easily approach $500 for a family of four. But the company has long signaled that Disney World would eventually charge for what it is now calling...

A cyberattack on T-Mobile exposed the information of more than 40 million people, with stolen files including names, birthdays and social security numbers, the company said on Tuesday.

The mobile service provider said in a statement that it had been investigating the data breach since last week, when it was “informed of claims made in an online forum that a bad actor had compromised T-Mobile systems.”

The company said the stolen files included information from approximately 7.8 million current T-Mobile accounts, as well as records of more than 40 million former or prospective customers who had applied for credit with the company.

Some of the exposed data included customers’ first and last names, social security numbers, driver’s license and other information, T-Mobile said. It also included the PINs of about 850,000 active prepaid customers.

SAN FRANCISCO — Robinhood, the stock trading app, on Wednesday reported surging quarterly revenue as pandemic trading became a permanent hobby for many customers, but it still lost money.

In its first earnings report as a public company, Robinhood said its revenue for the second quarter soared to $565 million, up 131 percent from the same period last year.

It also lost $502 million, compared with a profit of $58 million a year prior. The company attributed a significant chunk of that loss to stock issued as compensation for employees and warrants from an emergency funding round it raised this year.

Vlad Tenev, Robinhood’s chief executive, said in a statement that he was “encouraged” by the number of people trading stock for the first time via Robinhood. The company reported 22.5 million user accounts with funding in them, a 130 percent increase from 9.8 million in the same period last year.

A significant portion of Robinhood’s growth in the quarter also...

One way for the Taliban to try to gain Afghans’ trust is to appear to be a legitimate government on social media, and the internet companies are trying to figure out how to handle it.

Facebook has for years banned Taliban-related accounts as part of its three-tiered policy for “dangerous organizations,” and the company said this week that it would continue to remove Taliban accounts and posts that support the group. That includes a help line for Afghan citizens on WhatsApp, which Facebook owns. (The Taliban now control a country, but they aren’t allowed to start a Facebook group.)

Citing U.S. sanctions on the Afghan Taliban, YouTube said it would also remove accounts it believes are operated by the group. Twitter doesn’t have a blanket ban but told CNN that any posts or videos must comply with rules that prohibit what it considers hate speech or incitements to violence. My colleagues Sheera Frenkel and Ben Decker found examples of pro-Taliban social media accounts...

Getting vaccinated against Covid-19 is “an act of love,” Pope Francis says in a public service ad that will start circulating online and on television on Wednesday.

Working with the Ad Council, a nonprofit group, in its first campaign to extend beyond the United States, the pope encourages people around the world to get inoculated.

The ad shows the pope, speaking in Spanish with English subtitles, with church officials from the United States, Mexico, Brazil and other countries describing vaccination as a moral responsibility.

“Thanks to God’s grace and to the work of many, we now have vaccines to protect us from Covid-19,” the pope says in the ad. “They bring hope to end the pandemic, but only if they are available to all and if we collaborate with one another.”