Hans-Georg Maassen, the president of the German intelligence agency, called the efforts “a broad attempt to infiltrate Parliaments, ministries and administrations.” Adam M. Segal, an expert on cybersecurity and China at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the German investigation was likely to add “more fuel to the fire of skepticism and suspicion about Chinese […]
The bond market thinks creditors to troubled South African retailer Steinhoff International Holdings NV could get around half their money back. Yet the stock market sees value in the equity — about 2.3 billion euros ($2.7 billion) worth. It’s common in distressed situations for the equity and debt to trade inconsistently, but the disconnect is stark. […]
Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, a professor at the University of Duisburg-Essen who has frequently been critical of Volkswagen, said that “if there was a Nobel Prize for company bosses, Müller would earn it.” Mr. Müller stopped short of calling for a quick end to the subsidies, and he may have just been acknowledging reality. Until last year, […]
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s intelligence service has published the details of social network profiles which it says are fronts faked by Chinese intelligence to gather personal information about German officials and politicians. The BfV domestic intelligence service took the unusual step of naming individual profiles it says are fake and fake organizations to warn public […]
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s intelligence service has published the details of social network profiles which it says are fronts faked by Chinese intelligence to gather personal information about German officials and politicians. The BfV domestic intelligence service took the unusual step of naming individual profiles it says are fake and fake organizations to warn public […]
PRAGUE (Reuters) – The designated Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said that the European Union should not push Czechs over their refusal to shelter asylum-seekers, because it could strengthen extremist parties in the country. The European Union’s executive will sue Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic in the bloc’s top court for their refusal to […]
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germans see U.S. President Donald Trump as a bigger challenge for German foreign policy than authoritarian leaders in North Korea, Russia or Turkey, according to a survey by the Koerber Foundation. Topping the list of foreign policy concerns were refugees, with 26 percent of respondents worried about Germany’s ability to cope with […]
BEIJING (Reuters) – One of General Motors Co’s (GM.N) China ventures will recall nearly a million vehicles due to fuel tank problems, the country’s quality watchdog said on Friday, the latest in a spate of major auto recalls in China over the last few months. SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co Ltd is a three-way tie-up between SAIC […]
A German man who says he “admires” Donald Trump has claimed responsibility for the deactivation of the president’s Twitter account for 11 minutes on 2 November, though questions remain about how and why he did it. Twitter said at the time that the temporary outage was caused by “a Twitter customer support employee who did […]
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union is set to cut up to 175 million euros for Turkey in 2018 that are linked to Ankara’s stalled bid to join the bloc and could block some 3.5 billion euros in development loans earmarked for the country, lawmakers and diplomats said. In a symbolic stand against deteriorating human […]
TARTU, Estonia (Reuters) – A group of NATO allies are considering a more muscular response to state-sponsored computer hackers that could involve using cyber attacks to bring down enemy networks, officials said. The United States, Britain, Germany, Norway, Spain, Denmark and the Netherlands are drawing up cyber warfare principles to guide their militaries on what […]
LONDON (Reuters) – Europe is making major strides to eliminate barriers that have held back the region from developing tech firms that can compete on the scale of global giants Alphabet Inc’s Google, Amazon.com Inc or Tencent Holdings Inc, a report published on Thursday shows. The region has thriving tech hubs in major cities, with […]
Yet there is also an uneasy feeling that the calm could be deceptive. While Germany does not have any serious economic problems that require wrenching policy changes, it faces rising longer-term challenges like an aging work force, the emergence of China as an industrial competitor and the need to invest in digital networks and a […]
SEATTLE (Reuters) – Deutsche Post AG’s (DPWGn.DE) DHL and Fortigo Freight Services Inc, one of Canada’s largest fleet management companies, said on Tuesday they had pre-ordered Tesla Inc’s (TSLA.O) electric truck unveiled earlier this month to test on limited routes. High-profile logistics and transportation customers like fleet operator J.B. Hunt (JBHT.O) and retailer Wal-Mart Stores […]
LONDON (Reuters) – Business software giants Microsoft Corp and SAP SE have agreed to expand the use of each other’s cloud-based products and services delivered via the internet, they said on Tuesday, as they laid out a common product road map for joint customers. In a joint statement, Microsoft (MSFT.O) said it would use SAP’s […]
German companies are more confident than ever as they tap into the global economic upswing. A measure of the nation’s business confidence set a new record high in November. The Ifo institute’s index climbed to 117.5 from a revised 116.8, beating economists’ estimates for the gauge to remain unchanged. “The recent uptick is the index […]
Power generated this year by onshore and offshore wind in Germany exceeded the amount of electricity coming from hard coal and nuclear plants for the first time, the Fraunhofer ISE institute said on its website. German coal plant operators choked generation from hard coal plants in favor of cheaper-to-run lignite units this year and nuclear […]
BERLIN (Reuters) – The head of Germany’s domestic intelligence agency accused U.S. tech giants like Facebook (FB.O) on Monday of failing to take enough responsibility for content on their sites, undermining democracy by not distinguishing between fact and opinion. “Today we are discovering a ‘fifth estate’ that makes claims but up until now does not […]
LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) has partnered with top carmakers to deploy ultra-fast chargers on Europe’s highways, stealing a march on rivals in the race to remove one of the biggest obstacles facing the electric car sector. Shell’s agreement with IONITY – a joint venture between BMW (BMWG.DE), Daimler (DAIGn.DE), Ford (F.N) and […]
China needs reform. This has long been the consensus advice from economists and multilateral institutions such as the World Bank, whose recent “China 2030” report argues that Chinese leaders should strengthen the role of markets and liberalize legal, financial and other institutions governing the economy. Their to-do list is virtually gospel by now: free up […]
Markets are focusing on data showing that the advanced economies, led by the U.S. and Europe, continue to build growth momentum. Markets are focusing on data showing that the advanced economies, led by the U.S. and Europe, continue to build growth momentum. As stocks encountered headwinds and a wide range of risk assets came under […]
PARIS (Reuters) – Airbus (AIR.PA) is poised to hire the head of Rolls-Royce’s civil engines unit, Eric Schulz, to lead its commercial jetliner sales, after months of uncertainty over the successor to sales kingpin John Leahy, three people familiar with the matter said. Schulz, president of the civil engines division at the British engineering firm, […]
DETROIT (Reuters) – Car manufacturers’ attempts to square what U.S. consumers want against the clean vehicles regulators and investors demand will be on display in Los Angeles this week at an auto show that has moved away from calling itself just an auto show. Automakers on Monday will begin previewing new models for the media […]
WASHINGTON/DETROIT (Reuters) – A federal judge in Detroit sentenced former engineer James Liang to 40 months in prison on Friday for his role in Volkswagen AG’s (VOWG_p.DE) multiyear scheme to sell diesel cars that generated more pollution than U.S. clean air rules allowed. U.S. District Court Judge Sean Cox also ordered Liang to pay a […]
BERLIN (Reuters) – Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday welcomed the prospect of talks on a “grand coalition” with her Social Democrat (SPD) rivals and defended the record of the previous such government, saying it had worked well. Merkel’s fourth term was cast into doubt when the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) walked out of three-way coalition […]
MILAN (Reuters) – Workers at Amazon’s main distribution hub in Italy are planning their first ever strike for Friday, trade unions said, while they are also striking at six warehouses in Germany, threatening to disrupt one of the year’s busiest shopping days. Like the rest of Europe, Italians in recent years have embraced the U.S. […]
The collapse of talks reflected the deep reluctance of Ms. Merkel’s conservative bloc and prospective coalition partners — the ecologist-minded Greens and pro-business Free Democrats — to compromise over key positions. The Free Democrats quit the talks late Sunday, citing what they called an atmosphere of insincerity and mistrust. “There is no coalition of the […]
Political turmoil normally drives investors towards the haven of top-grade government bonds. The collapse of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition talks on Sunday seems to have confounded investors. Yields can’t make up their minds, fluctuating from up to little changed to down and back on Monday. Don’t be distracted by the political drama. It’s far from […]
VW shakes up German production as it bids to become EV leader WOLFSBURG — Volkswagen Group is reorganizing production at its German factories to further the automaker’s goal of transforming itself into a leading force in electric cars. VW will spend more than 34 billion euros ($40 billion) on EVs, autonomous driving and new mobility […]
German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared failure in her bid to form a new government, throwing the future of Europe’s longest-serving leader into doubt and potentially pointing the world’s fourth-biggest economy toward new elections. The euro fell. A month of exploratory coalition talks ended in a dramatic collapse just before midnight Sunday in Berlin when the […]
Airbnb Inc. doubled net revenue in the third quarter and remains on a profitability streak, as the business builds toward an initial public offering expected next year, according to people familiar with its financial results. The home-rental company has maintained a steady profit before interest, taxes and amortization for at least 17 months, said the people, […]
During his dystopian inaugural speech, Donald Trump promised to end an era of “American carnage” with a “new decree”—that the US’s interests would be put first around the world. A year after his surprise election, and 10 months after that speech, it appears the US is being left behind instead. Trump has pulled America out […]