DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Germany's Scholz confirms visit to China in November with business delegation
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, Oct 21 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's said on Friday he will travel to China with a delegation of business leaders, though he declined to confirm whether he would travel with French President Emmanuel Macron. Scholz's spokesperson said the trip would happen at the start of November. The trip comes at a time when Berlin is reviewing its trade relationship with Beijing and Scholz's coalition is debating whether to allow Chinese shipping giant Cosco to invest in Germany's largest port in the northern city of Hamburg. Speaking in Brussels at the sidelines of a European Union summit, Scholz also said that EU leaders now had a precise framework for reducing energy prices and agreed that no country would be outvoted on energy policy. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Sabine Siebold; writing by Matthias Williams; editing by Thomas EscrittOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Speaking to parliament, Scholz also said Germany had freed itself from dependence on Russian gas and was working to bring energy prices down, but warned that the EU imposing a gas price cap risked back-firing. "We will not let Moscow's latest escalation go unanswered ... Scorched earth tactics will not help Russia win the war. The 27 are expected to back an alternative price benchmark for liquefied natural gas and joint gas buying. But they remain split on whether and how to cap gas prices to stem high inflation and stave off recession, after Russia cut gas flows following its invasion of Ukraine. Scholz said that a politically imposed gas price gap risked driving producers to sell their gas elsewhere, meaning the EU could receive less gas as a result.

☆ Ukraine to get drone defence in coming days - NATO's Stoltenberg
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BERLIN, Oct 18 (Reuters) - NATO will deliver anti-drone air defence systems to Ukraine in coming days to help the country defend itself against the wave of Iranian-made drones with which Russia is targeting critical infrastructure, the alliance's secretary-general said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Thomas Escritt, Editing by Angus MacSwanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ German nuclear power extension wins Green minister's endorsement
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Economy Minister Robert Habeck on Tuesday endorsed the decision of Chancellor Olaf Scholz to use his executive authority to settle a long-running row within the coalition over extending the life of Germany's three remaining nuclear power stations. Robert Habeck's Greens, opponents of nuclear power, wanted two plants kept running until April, while the business-friendly Free Democrats wanted an extension involving all three plants. On Monday, Scholz, a Social Democrat, ordered that all three should be kept going until April at the latest. Habeck said Scholz's decision had offered a political solution and although it was unusual, it was not a scandal for the chancellor to have an opinion and authority that he exercised. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Riham Alkousaa, writing by Thomas EscrittOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ukraine to get anti-drone systems in coming days, NATO's Stoltenberg says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Oct 18 (Reuters) - NATO will deliver air defence systems to Ukraine in coming days to help the country defend itself against the drones, including those from Iran, that Russia is using to target critical infrastructure, the alliance's secretary-general said on Tuesday. Addressing a security conference in Berlin, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said the answer to the attacks was for the allies to step up their deliveries of air defence systems. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"The most important thing we can do is deliver on what allies have promised, to step up and deliver even more air defence systems," he said. "NATO will in the coming days deliver counter-drone systems to counter the specific threat of drones, including those from Iran." "No nation should support the illegal war of Russia against Ukraine," Stoltenberg said.

☆ German economy minister: 'concrete threat' to critical infrastructure
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BERLIN, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Attacks on critical infrastructure are high on the German government's agenda after suspected sabotage on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Wednesday. The pipeline leaks were "a deliberately inflicted event that is so strategic and so difficult to carry off that it could not have been a private actor", Habeck told reporters in Berlin. Recent politically-motivated attacks on Deutsche Bahn railway infrastructure in Germany also showed a "concrete threat scenario", he added. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Rachel More, editing by Thomas EscrittOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ukraine receives first of four German IRIS-T air defence systems -source
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BERLIN, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Ukraine on Tuesday received the first of four IRIS-T air defence systems Germany promised to supply, a German defence ministry source said, confirming a report by Der Spiegel magazine. The delivery had taken place earlier than planned, the source added. The government did immediately respond to a request for official comment. Russia pounded cities across Ukraine during rush hour on Monday morning, killing civilians and knocking out power and heat, in apparent revenge strikes after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a blast on Russia's bridge to Crimea to be a terrorist attack. read moreRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Sabine Siebold, Writing by Paul Carrel and Thomas Escritt, editing by Rachel More and David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Germany agrees 200 bln euro package to shield against surging energy prices
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Holger Hansen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Lisi NiesnerBERLIN, Sept 29 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz set out a 200 billion euro ($194 billion) "defensive shield" on Thursday to protect companies and consumers against the impact of soaring energy prices. Europe's biggest economy is trying to cope with surging gas and electricity costs caused largely by a collapse in Russian gas supplies to Europe, which Moscow has blamed on Western sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine in February. To this end, we are setting up a large defensive shield," said Scholz, outlining the package. Finance Minister Christian Lindner has previously said he wants to comply with the limit next year. However, the need for the levy came into question after the government's decision to nationalise Uniper (UN01.DE), Germany's biggest Russian gas importer.

☆ Seismograph spiked twice on day of Baltic pipeline leaks - Germany's GFZ
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Gas leak at Nord Stream 2 as seen from the Danish F-16 interceptor on Bornholm, Denmark September 27, 2022. The seismograph recorded near-silence until 0003 GMT (2am local time) when there was a spike representing a tremor in the earth followed by a continuous hissing waveform. GFZ declined to be drawn on whether the tremors recorded could have been the result of an explosion. Nord Stream 2 was first reported to have depressurised on Monday afternoon. The depressurisation in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline was reported in the early evening, shortly after the second of the two spikes.

☆ Ukraine refugees push German population to all-time high
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A soldier leads people during the "Schneller Adler" or "Fast Eagle" exercise of evacuation of refugees at an airport in Barth, North Germany May 5, 2022. Germany recorded net immigration of 750,000 people from Ukraine over the same period. In 1992, refugees from the war in former Yugoslavia helped swell the population by 700,000. In 2015, Germany let in almost a million refugees from war in the Middle East. Germany's female population grew by 1.2%, significantly more than its male population, which increased by 0.8%, reflecting the fact that mainly women and children fled the war in Ukraine.

Gas leak at Nord Stream 2 as seen from the Danish F-16 interceptor on Bornholm, Denmark September 27, 2022. But since both Nord Stream pipelines contained mostly methane, "the potential for a massive and highly damaging emission event is very worrisome", McCabe said. Scientists say sharp cuts in methane emissions over the next few years will be a vital lever in curbing climate change. Releasing that amount in entirety to the atmosphere would result in around 200,000 tonnes of methane emissions, said chemical engineer Paul Balcombe at London's Queen Mary University. ENVIRONMENTAL RISKWhile oil spills can immediately affect and ultimately kill wildlife, authorities say the gas pipeline gas leaks pose a limited threat to the surrounding plant and animal life.

A pressure gauge is seen at the landfall facility of the Baltic Sea gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 in Lubmin, Germany, September 19, 2022. "Overnight the Nord Stream 2 landfall dispatcher registered a rapid gas pressure drop on Line A of the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline," Nord Stream 2's operator said in a statement. European countries have resisted Russian calls to allow the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to operate and accused Moscow of using energy as a weapon. Gazprom (GAZP.MM) referred questions about the incident to the Nord Stream 2 operator. Russia has cut off gas supplies to several countries and also halted flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, blaming Western sanctions for hindering operations.

☆ Volkswagen-led consortium files for EU antitrust clearance in Europcar deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Charles PlatiauFRANKFURT, April 19 (Reuters) - A Volkswagen-led (VOWG_p.DE) consortium that has made a bid to buy Europcar (EUCAR.PA) has filed for antitrust clearance with the European Commission, it said on Tuesday, confirming that it expects the deal to be completed by the end of June. EU antitrust clearance is the only remaining obstacle standing in the way of the tender offer, the consortium, which also includes asset manager Attestor Limited and Dutch mobility group Pon Holdings BV, said in a joint statement. The consortium in July launched a bid for Europcar that values the French-listed firm at 2.9 billion euros ($3.1 billion). The 0.50 euros per share offer price can be topped up by 0.01 euros apiece if 90% of shareholders take it up. ($1 = 0.9260 euros)Reporting by Christoph Steitz and Foo Yun Chee, editing by Thomas EscrittOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Search resuls for: "Thomas Escritt"

13 mentions found