Troubles tied to a payroll processor sent hundreds of small businesses scrambling for funds this month, triggered an FBI investigation and cast a spotlight on a critical but lightly regulated industry.

About $30 million destined for paychecks and related tax payments went missing on Sept. 4 because of problems tied to MyPayrollHR, based in Clifton Park, N.Y. Workers at firms that used MyPayrollHR saw funds yanked back out of their bank accounts—in some cases twice—after another firm discovered the money backing the deposits...

Following its bankruptcy and government bailout in 2009, General Motors is under intense pressure to show it can cruise through the next downturn without too much damage. Only then can the largest U.S. auto maker expect a better stock-market valuation.

This uncomfortable truth is the backdrop to the United Automobile Workers strike at GM, which entered its third day Wednesday. Many of the UAW demands seem reasonable, particularly for temporary and other workers who don’t enjoy the same perks as Old Timers. But that is no basis...

Facebook Inc. is getting into the streaming game, launching a new set-top version of its Portal device that adds to the company’s bet that the future of smart homes will be social.

The second-generation Portal devices will include one with television chat and video-streaming capabilities, while all models are equipped with speakers and a camera that track people as they move around a room. The devices use artificial intelligence to home in on voices as well as create special effects and casual games among friends.

In recent days, the U.S. suffered two supply shocks: an attack on Saudi oil production sent crude prices sharply higher and the United Auto Workers walked off the job at General Motors Co., the union’s first strike in 12 years.

Neither event would be worrisome in isolation. But they aren’t isolated. They are the latest in a series of supply shocks for the American and global economies.

Some...

Huawei Technologies Co. has been suspended from membership in a global trade group of companies, governments and experts set up to tackle computer security breaches and share information about vulnerabilities.

The Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams, called “First,” was set up in the 1990s to encourage international cooperation in addressing and preventing hacking incidents. It has grown into a sort of informal first responder to big global hacks and cybersecurity incidents. Members share information and intelligence to identify and isolate cyberattacks or vulnerabilities quickly, and disseminate information to protect against their rapid spread.

Alphabet Inc. ’s Google and Facebook Inc. are making concessions long sought by news publishers whose business has been hurt by the platforms’ dominance, moves that some in the media industry see as an effort to pre-empt potential regulatory backlash.

LONDON—The U.K. halted the $5 billion sale of a British defense firm to an American investor on national security grounds, pending further government review, in a rare move for a country that hasn’t typically inserted itself in big, cross-border deal making.

The intervention comes as critics of the deal for Cobham PLC—which makes air-to-air refueling systems and communications equipment for military and commercial planes—have said the deal is counter to national interest and undervalues the company. Some lawmakers and the founding Cobham family, which retains a small stake, have opposed the proposed purchase by U.S. private-equity firm Advent International Corp. Earlier this week, shareholders overwhelmingly approved it.

The Federal Reserve is likely to cut its short-term benchmark rate by one quarter percentage point to a range between 1.75% and 2% at the conclusion of its two-day meeting on Wednesday. The big question is what kind of clues the central bank offers about any more rate reductions.

Hints could be provided in the Fed’s new policy statement and economic projections, to be released at 2 p.m. EDT, and at Chairman Jerome Powell’s press conference at 2:30 p.m. Here’s what to watch:

Equifax Inc. will soon give consumers the option to let lenders review their electric, phone and cable payment information, the latest move aimed at providing lenders more data to determine whether to approve loan applicants.

Equifax, one of the largest U.S. credit-reporting firms, is partnering with Urjanet Inc., a data aggregator that receives payment information from roughly 6,500 utility, phone and other companies. By around early next year, banks and other lenders will be able to ask consumers if they want to supplement...

PARIS—French insurers and asset managers have pledged €5 billion in investment for homegrown tech firms as part of President Emmanuel Macron’s push to nurture France’s fledgling startups into a cohort of highly valued heavyweights.

Mr. Macron announced the funding on Tuesday before hosting a dinner for executives from about 40 sovereign funds and venture-capital firms—including KKR & Co., Accel and Lightspeed Venture Partners—at the Élysée Palace on Tuesday evening. Investors include AXA SA, BNP Paribas’s insurance unit,...

Money managers that mimic the stock market just became the new titans of the fund-management world.

Funds that track broad U.S. equity indexes hit $4.27 trillion in assets as of Aug. 31, according to research firm Morningstar Inc., giving them more money than stock-picking rivals for the first-ever monthly reporting period. Funds that try to beat the market had $4.25 trillion as of that date.

The...

Entertainment heavyweights have spent more than $2 billion on classic television shows in recent weeks while signing talent for new programming, in an effort to win over streaming customers who soon will have many more options to choose from.

This week, AT&T Inc. ’s WarnerMedia struck a deal for “The Big Bang Theory,” while Netflix Inc. acquired “Seinfeld” and Comcast Corp. ’s NBCUniversal said it would have exclusive streaming rights to “Parks and Recreation.” Two other shows, “Friends” and “The Office,” changed homes earlier this summer. The commitments total over $2 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

Saudi Arabia will soon restore most of its oil output and return to normal production levels in weeks, the country’s energy ministry said Tuesday, following the attacks last weekend on the country’s facilities that hobbled the world’s largest oil exporter.

The kingdom has restored 50% of production lost in Saturday’s attacks as of Tuesday, newly appointed Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said. He added that the kingdom is using reserves to supply oil to its customers at pre-attack levels and normal production of...

This year I’ve written two iPhone reviews. Read this if you have an older iPhone and are unsure about what comes next. If you’d also like to know more about my testing of the new iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro models—particularly their camera and battery life—go here.

Gather ’round for a tale of two iPhone owners.

Sir Upgrades-A-Lot owns an...

FedEx Corp. sharply cut its profit forecast for the year as it faces higher costs to expand services, lower revenue from cutting ties with Amazon.com Inc. and a worsening economic backdrop, sending shares of the delivery company plummeting 10% in after-hours trading.

The Memphis, Tenn., company expects per-share earnings to fall between 16% and 29% in the current fiscal year, compared with an expectation of a mid-single-digit percentage decline issued in June. FedEx also lowered its revenue outlook.

Mr. Biden and Ms. Warren were the only candidates whose support grew meaningfully since a July survey. But measures of voter enthusiasm for Ms. Warren have risen during the year while declining for Mr. Biden.

Some 70% of Democratic primary voters rated themselves as enthusiastic about or comfortable with Ms. Warren, compared with 64% who said so of Mr. Biden. In a sign of her support, Ms. Warren attracted 20,000 people to a rally in New York City’s Washington Square Park Monday night.

The survey underscored Mr. Biden’s strength among voters age 50 and older, as well as among African-Americans, two voting groups that often play influential roles in Democratic primaries.

Republican pollster Bill McInturff noted that only three contenders have double-digit support even after Democratic voters have been exposed to a large field through televised debates and other media events.

“The race isn’t getting broader. There aren’t more people in the mix. There...

SÃO PAULO—Brazilian police are set to announce the first criminal charges against employees of mining giant Vale SA and German safety inspector TÜV SÜD as early as this week over the deadly collapse of a mine-waste dam in January, according to a person familiar with the probe.

Police expect to formally accuse eight to 12 people from both companies for the crime of false representation in the first of a series of charges, alleging that certificates produced by TÜV SÜD to attest to the stability of Vale’s fateful dam were issued...

WASHINGTON—Foreign investors who want to put money into U.S. businesses that rely on sensitive technology, infrastructure and data could face greater national-security scrutiny under proposed rules released Tuesday by the Trump administration.

Treasury Department officials provided a first glimpse of how they would implement Congress’s order last year to expand the scope of national-security reviews of foreign investment deals, including those involving satellites, oil refineries, financial-market systems and drinking water...

WASHINGTON—Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski stonewalled lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee about his conversations with President Trump for nearly six hours on Tuesday, after the White House sought to impose limits on the scope of his testimony.

Mr. Lewandowski affirmed the accuracy of elements of former special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election and any White House obstruction of justice, including that Mr. Trump sought to have him ask the attorney general to restrict the Mueller probe in 2017. But, adhering to White House instructions, he declined to answer questions on matters not included in the Mueller report, incensing Democrats on the panel as he did so.

TEL AVIV—Neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor his main rival commanded a majority after Israelis voted Tuesday, exit polls suggested, possibly opening a period of uncertainty over Israel’s next government as conflict flares between Iran and U.S. Mideast allies.

Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud party and the Blue and White party of Benny Gantz, the country’s former security chief, each had 32 seats, according to Israel’s Channel 11, the public broadcaster.

WASHINGTON—President Trump revealed his short list of candidates to be the next U.S. national security adviser, citing a number of current and former administration officials to succeed the recently departed John Bolton.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One en route to Mountain View, Calif., Tuesday, Mr. Trump said he narrowed the list of contenders to five, for the person who will be his fourth national security adviser. Mr. Bolton left last week over differences with the president on a range of policy matters.

Joe Biden addressed the Poor People’s Moral Action Congress in Washington in mid-June, decrying the country’s “gigantic income inequality.” The next day, he held a fundraiser at New York’s Carlyle Hotel, assuring the Wall Street audience he wouldn’t demonize the affluent.

“Nobody has to be punished,” the former vice president said. “No one’s standard of living will change.”

Some...

Following the attack, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Tuesday held open the door to diplomacy but only if the Trump administration abandons its sanctions.

“If the U.S. took back its words and repented, and returned to the nuclear deal, then it too can join the members of the deal and negotiate with Iran,” he said in a televised lecture. “Otherwise, there will be no talks, on any level.”

U.S. officials say they have evidence Iran carried out the assault with cruise missiles fired from its own territory. Iran has denied any involvement.

Iran has repeatedly said it would act to disrupt oil flows if it can’t sell its own crude and get relief from sanctions that have exacerbated woes ranging from rampant inflation to high unemployment and currency depreciations.

Late last year, Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, warned: “If one day they want to prevent the export of Iran’s oil, then no oil will be exported from the Persian Gulf.”

In recent...

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said it would carry out up to $75 billion of transactions known as repurchase agreements on Tuesday to relieve funding pressure in overnight money markets.

Strains developed Monday in short-term financing markets that suggested the central bank could lose control of its benchmark federal-funds rate.

The...

We Co. Chief Executive Adam Neumann likes to say that office space is for WeWork what books were for Amazon.com Inc.—just the beginning.

His vision spans schools, gyms and retail. He even boasted that his rental-apartment venture WeLive would become bigger than WeWork.