On Thursday, days after Mario Draghi, the European Central Bank’s former boss, outlined his proposals to revitalise Europe’s economy, the ECB meets to decide whether to cut rates for a second time this year. Economic indicators support the case for a cut. Annual inflation dropped to 2.2% in August, just above the central bank’s target of 2%. Economic growth is weak: the euro zone’s GDP grew by 0.2% from April to June, after expanding by 0.3% during the first quarter. Although real incomes are rising, economists don’t expect households to go on a spending spree.

Policymakers worry that services inflation, which has been around 4% since November, remains sticky. But that will probably not deter the ECB. If Europe is to make the investments that Mr Draghi has called for, lower interest rates and stronger growth will help.

Hundreds of senior defence officials and other military experts from dozens of countries and international organisations gathered in Beijing on Thursday for the Xiangshan Forum. The annual event, first held in 2006, is part of China’s effort to portray itself as a responsible military power. The theme of this year’s forum is “promoting peace for a shared future”.

Some will wince at that, not least Michael Chase, the senior Pentagon official who is expected to attend. The West sees China as a growing threat. America and its allies have plenty of recent evidence to point to: Russia and China are gearing up for joint naval and air exercises in north-east Asia; China’s coast guard is increasingly aggressive near shoals claimed by the Philippines, an American ally, in the South China Sea. Three days of discussion at the forum probably won’t allay the West’s anxieties.

Resourceful Automobile does not look like the sort of company that would launch a blockbuster initial public offering. It employs eight people and sells motorcycles from two small outlets in Delhi. When it listed its shares on India’s SME exchange last month, it hoped to raise 120m rupees ($1.4m) to finance its expansion. Yet its listing was 400 times oversubscribed, with total bids of 48bn rupees.

India is having an IPO boom. Just this week 17 firms will go public, including SAFE, a small fintech firm that listed on Thursday. In the first half of 2024 the money raised by IPOs globally fell by 16% year on year, according to EY , a consultancy. But in India the amount doubled during the same period, to $4.4bn. Newbie investors, hoping for a quick return, have fuelled the frenzy. In August India’s market regulator urged them to be careful, and warned firms not to exaggerate their financial performance.

Kroger, America’s third-largest supermarket chain by sales, reports results for the quarter ending in July on Thursday. Grocers have had a tricky time in recent years. High inflation led consumers to cut back, putting pressure on stores to lower prices. Consumer-sentiment data are now improving. Analysts will be looking to see if that’s enough to boost American retailers.

Antitrust regulators will also be paying attention. That’s because Kroger’s proposed merger with fifth-ranked Albertsons is stuck in antitrust litigation. The Federal Trade Commission fears the deal would reduce competition that helps keep prices in check. Stepping beyond its usual remit, the FTC has also argued that a combined Kroger and Albertsons would be bad for workers, limiting trade unions’ bargaining power. Yet at Walmart, America’s biggest grocery retailer, sales are more than twice those of Kroger and Albertsons put together.

It has been a difficult week for Harvey Weinstein, a former Hollywood mogul and convicted rapist. On Monday the #MeToo movement’s public enemy number one was rushed to hospital from his prison cell. The 72-year-old underwent emergency heart surgery.

Mr Weinstein is back in the news for reasons other than his health. In April New York’s top court overturned his conviction in the state in 2020, ruling that he did not receive a fair trial. The judge overseeing his case had allowed three witnesses, whose allegations were not part of the charges, to testify about previous “bad acts”. Mr Weinstein’s condition is now stable, but it is unclear whether he will attend a hearing on Thursday about his forthcoming re-trial; prosecutors could potentially charge him with three additional sexual assaults. After that trial, which is due to start in November, Mr Weinstein will begin serving the 16 years he received for a separate sex-crimes conviction in Los Angeles in 2022.