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☆ Biden, Putin display their alliances with Ukraine war backdrop
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Washington is concerned Beijing could provide material support for Moscow's war in Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24 last year and has become the biggest land conflict in Europe since World War Two. Not just for Ukraine, but for the freedom of democracies throughout Europe and around the world," Biden said. In two speeches last September Putin indicated that he would, if needed, use nuclear weapons to defend Russia. "We have heard implicit threats to use nuclear weapons. The so-called tactical use of nuclear weapons is utterly unacceptable.

Biden said the West was never plotting to attack Russia and the invasion was Putin's choice. "It is a big mistake," Biden said of Putin's decision before his session with eastern European allies known as the Bucharest Nine. We will defend literally every inch of NATO, every inch of NATO," he said. The Kremlin says it regards NATO, which could soon expand to include Sweden and Finland, as an existential threat to Russia. It said the leaders looked forward to further strengthening unity and collective defense at a NATO summit in Vilnius in July.

☆ Czech group PPF takes 9.1% stake in Germany's ProSiebensat.1
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PRAGUE/BERLIN, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Czech investment group PPF has taken a 9.1% stake in ProSiebensat.1 (PSMGn.DE), PPF said on Tuesday, becoming the German broadcaster's second-largest investor behind Italy's MFE-MediaforEurope (MFEB.MI). "PPF believes the digital transformation of ProSieben will create value for all shareholders," privately-owned PPF said in a statement. "PPF is looking forward to liaising with the management and supervisory board of ProSieben in this digitalization process." The group, which also owns the CME group that operates dozens of channels in six central and east European markets, is now controlled by Kellner's widow, Renata Kellnerova. Reporting by Jan Lopatka, Klaus Lauer and Christoph Steitz Editing by Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Carmaker Stellantis upbeat about future of German brand Opel - magazine
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] The logo of Stellantis is seen on a company's building in Velizy-Villacoublay near Paris, France, February 1, 2022. REUTERS/Gonzalo FuentesBERLIN, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Franco-Italian carmaker Stellantis is upbeat about the outlook of its German subsidiary Opel which it believes will be able to keep operating as a separate brand, the company's Europe chief Uwe Hochgeschurtz told magazine Automobilwoche. "I'm happy with the brand and with its array of products," Hochgeschurtz was quoted as saying in the interview published on Sunday. Hochgeschurtz blamed Opel's loss of market share largely due to inadequate transport capacity to deliver the cars to sellers. "Given the lack of truck drivers, there is only limited transport capacity.

☆ Ukraine war expected to cost Germany 160 billion euros by year-end
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Feb 19 (Reuters) - The Ukraine war will have cost the German economy around 160 billion euros ($171 billion), or some 4% of its gross domestic output, in lost value creation by the end of the year, the head of the German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) said. That means GDP per capita in Europe's largest economy will be 2,000 euros lower it would otherwise have been, DIHK chief Peter Adrian told the "Rheinische Post". Germany, which for decades relied on relatively cheap Russian pipeline gas, now has especially high energy prices compared with the United States that has its own natural gas reserves, while France has abundant nuclear power. "The gas price is around three-five times higher than in the United States," he said, adding electricity was four times as expensive as in France. ($1 = 0.9351 euros)Reporting by Klaus Lauer; Writing by Sarah Marsh; editing by Barbara LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Websites of several German airports down
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Feb 16 (Reuters) - The websites of at least three German airports were disrupted on Thursday, a day after a major IT failure at Lufthansa left thousands of passengers stranded at Frankfurt airport. Among the airports affected were Dusseldorf, Nuremberg and Dortmund, but sites for Germany's biggest airports, in Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin, were operating normally. Focus Online, which initially reported the outage, gave no reason for the problem. "We are troubleshooting", said a spokesperson for Dortmund airport, adding it was unlikely that the failure was due to a regular overload. Reporting by Klaus Lauer Writing by Miranda Murray Editing by Madeline ChambersOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Operator warns of 'massive disruptions' in German airports strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

German trade union Verdi on Wednesday called on workers at Frankfurt, Munich, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Dortmund, Hanover and Bremen airports to go on a 24-hour strike, saying collective bargaining efforts had made little progress. "On Friday, February 17, 2023, there will therefore be massive disruptions to air traffic," said Fraport (FRAG.DE), the operator of Frankfurt airport, which counted more than 48 million passengers in 2022. The walkout also coincides with the start of the 59th Munich Security Conference (MSC), which brings hundreds of delegates to the Bavarian capital, including several global leaders. The issue would be discussed with the airport on Thursday, the Verdi spokesperson added. The union is currently in negotiations for three groups of workers: ground service staff, public sector officials and aviation security workers.

Concerns of an impending recession in the U.S., coupled with the war in Ukraine, have caused prices for steel to fall and customers to empty their inventories. That has impacted Thyssenkrupp's materials trading division, where profits tanked by 91%. "There is limited visibility in respect of future economic developments," Chief Financial Officer Klaus Keysberg said in a statement. Adjusted earnings before interest and tax, or EBIT, came in at 254 million euros ($272 million) in the October-December period, while sales remained stable at 9.02 billion euros, the company said. ($1 = 0.9328 euros)Reporting by Christoph Steitz and Tom Kaeckenhoff; Editing by Sandra Maler, Miranda Murray and Nivedita BhattacharjeeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Bayer says chemicals farmers use to fight insects are safe, but it's more complicated than that, says its ESG head
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The European Union, also in 2018, banned some pesticides that Bayer makes because scientists and regulators linked them to deaths of bees. "It felt like we were on the grill at a barbecue," Kunz, Bayer's head of environmental, social, and governance strategy, told Insider. Beyond neonicotinoids, Kunz said Bayer's strategy to meet its environmental targets involved what he called a more systems-based approach. Bayer also makes digital tools that help farmers apply fertilizer and pesticides more precisely, which can dramatically reduce how much they're needed, Kunz said. Bayer's sustainability efforts are attracting at least some ESG investors and ratings firms.

☆ An economics researcher is warning that the next few decades could bring a massive stock market collapse
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Jennifer Sor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The US stock market could face collapse by 2050, according to new research by a Finnish economist. Grosby's paper re-examined past studies of stock market crashes to determine if another cataclysm was headed for the US market. Using a model that detects faster-than-exponential growth to identify stock market bubbles, the researchers concluded that the US equity market was headed for a collapse in 2052. He also re-calibrated the model, as other analyses show it could be overestimating the time it takes for a stock market crash to occur. His findings echo warnings from prominent Wall Street commentators, who say disaster looms over the stock market.

☆ Job interview tips to help you get hired: What to say, mistakes to avoid, how to answer key questions and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Cindy Perman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Career coach Natalie Fisher said there are four common reasons why you might get a job interview but not a job offer: 1. The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It": Pump yourself up before you walk into a job interview. Interview tips from an HR pro who tracked her job search on TikTokAnd finally, a few job interview tips from Jordan Gibbs. Here are a few of her top job interview tips: Never count your chickens before they're hatched. Read more job interview tips from Gibbs and how she ultimately landed her job.

☆ The Western-made tanks heading to Ukraine are unique — but that creates unique problems for Ukraine's military
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

While most modern tanks run on diesel, the Abrams uses a Honeywell 1,500-horsepower gas-turbine engine that functions best when burning JP-8 jet fuel. Challenger tanks were credited with destroying 300 Iraqi tanks. When Turkish Leopard 2s battled ISIS fighters in Syria in 2016, the results were less than impressive. Leopard manufacturer Rheinmetall has 22 Leopard 2s and 88 older Leopard 1s in its inventory, but those can't be made battle-ready until at least 2024. What matters is how many Ukraine will receive — 31 Abrams and 14 Challenger 2s are not a lot — and how Ukraine's military uses them.

☆ U.S. remains biggest destination for German exports for eighth year in a row
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Feb 1 (Reuters) - The United States remained the most important destination for German exports in 2022 for the eighth consecutive year. Exports of goods reached a record 156 billion euros ($169.31 billion) last year, according to Reuters calculations based on preliminary data from the German statistics office. German exports to the United States in 2022 were well above the previous record of 122 billion euros in 2021. German companies mainly supplied machinery, motor vehicles and automotive parts to the United States. Both the IfW and the DIHK assume that the United States will remain the most important customer for German goods for the foreseeable future.

But a new survey suggests a “disturbing” lack of awareness about the Holocaust in the Netherlands, where she and her family hid for years before being discovered and deported to a Nazi concentration camp. Equally disturbing is the trend toward Holocaust denial and distortion,” Claims Conference President Gideon Taylor said in a press release accompanying the survey. Some of them, a small part, do not even know about the Holocaust,” Dutch Holocaust survivor Max Arpels Lezer, 86, told NBC News by video call from his home in Amsterdam. A memorial at the Westerbork transit camp in the Netherlands, where Dutch Jews were kept before being sent to concentration camps. In 1961, Lezer married Sofia, now 86, who as a child had been hidden by a Dutch family during the war.

☆ Strike over pay at Berlin airport grounds all flights -operator
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/6] A view shows empty check-in counters and kiosks, during a general strike by employees over pay demands, at the Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), in Schoenefeld near Berlin, Germany January 25, 2023. REUTERS/Michele TantussiBERLIN, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Staff at Germany's BER airport in capital Berlin went on strike to press their pay demands on Wednesday and the airport operator said all regular passenger flights were cancelled as a result. The Ver.di union called on airport staff in ground services, aviation security and at the airport company to strike in the wage dispute. It called the one-day work stoppage over what it said was insufficient progress in wage talks. Reporting by Klaus Lauer; Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Tom HogueOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ German business morale brightens further in January - Ifo
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File PhotoBERLIN, Jan 25 (Reuters) - German business morale brightened in January as Europe's largest economy started the new year with easing inflation and an improved outlook, a survey said on Wednesday. The Ifo institute said its business climate index rose to 90.2, in line with consensus according to a Reuters poll of analysts and up from a reading of 88.6 in December. "The German economy is starting the new year with more confidence," Ifo's president Clemens Fuest said. The increase is driven by considerably less pessimistic expectations, while companies were, however, somewhat less satisfied with their current situation, Ifo said. "The Ifo business climate has recovered significantly for the third time in a row as the easing on the gas market further diminished companies' fears of a severe recession," Commerzbank's chief economist Joerg Kraemer said.

☆ Strike over pay grounds all flights at Berlin airport, operator says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Jan 25 (Reuters) - All flights were cancelled at Germany's BER airport in the capital Berlin on Wednesday, the operator said, as staff went on strike for the day to press pay demands. The Ver.di union called on airport staff in ground services, aviation security and at the airport company to strike in the wage dispute. It called the one-day work stoppage over what it said was insufficient progress in the three parallel wage talks. [1/7] Demonstrators hold a banner during a general strike by employees over pay demands, at the Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), in Schoenefeld near Berlin, Germany January 25, 2023. A source told Reuters that a draft of this report forecast 6% inflation this year and 2.8% for 2024.

FRANKFURT, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Czech Republic-based private investment firm McWin said on Tuesday it had bought a majority stake in Germany's L'Osteria in a deal that values the Italian-themed restaurant chain at around 400 million euros ($434 million). The move is aimed at driving the chain's growth across Europe, with McWin investing alongside L'Osteria founders, Klaus Rader and Friedemann Findeis, and management. Founded in 1999, L'Osteria serves Italian food in 157 restaurants across eight European countries. The investment follows an auction process and has been made via McWin Restaurant Fund (MRF), which totals 525 million euros and was launched in August 2022. McWin's financial adviser was KPMG, while L'Osteria and its shareholders were advised by Ferber & Co and Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE).

☆ Morning bid: Tech tonic, recession rethink
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Pumped-up hopes for U.S. tech sector earnings in a heavy week for corporate updates generally have twinned with the latest sign Europe may have dodged a winter recession. With Microsoft in view, attention will be on the extent for cost cutting and job shedding in the tech and digital space. Music-streamer Spotify (SPOT.N) rose 2% on Monday as it joined a growing list of tech firms to announce staff cuts, shedding 6% of its workforce. Reports of Ford's F.N plan to cut 3,200 workers in Europe shows job attrition may not be confined to tech sector. Whether that's just too rosy and markets have yet to price a full-blown earnings recession is this year's big question.

☆ Strike at Berlin airport to ground flights on Wednesday, operator says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Jan 23 (Reuters) - The operator of Germany's BER airport in the capital Berlin expects a strike planned for Wednesday to ground all regular passenger flights, the airport operator told Reuters on Monday. Around 300 takeoffs and landings were planned for Wednesday, when 35,000 passengers were to travel via the airport. "The airport company must assume in this situation that no regular passenger flights can take place at BER on this day," a spokesperson said. The Ver.di union has called on airport staff in ground services, aviation security and at the airport company to strike in a wage dispute. The union said it expects many workers to participate and all air traffic to and from Berlin to be affected by the all day strike.

☆ Germany's education advantage over European peers at risk - IW Study
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Germany is well positioned in education levels when compared with its European peers, but a study conducted by the IW economic institute showed that this privileged position could be at risk. Having a strong education and vocational training system is important to Germany's economy, Europe's largest, which relies on skilled labour to support its high-end products and services. "Germany has been left behind to a certain extent in the strong expansion of education that has taken place throughout the European Union in recent years," according to the study of the IW, to which Reuters had access on Saturday. "This should be seen against the background of the very special position of vocational education and training in Germany," the IW said. If one looks at the segment of young professionals with tertiary and secondary vocational training together, Germany has a significantly higher share of 77.0% of educated professionals than the 73.4% for the European Union.

☆ TUI: Luxury holiday demand boosts sales
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Travel giant TUI (TUIGn.DE) reported on Friday a boost in demand for luxury holidays, driving sales for the winter 2022/23 period higher than they had been in the corresponding 2018/19 period, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit international travel. "Demand is currently particularly strong," said Steffen Boehnke, director of airtours, TUI's luxury travel segment, in a statement. Sales for the summer 2023 period were above the level seen last year following strong bookings in the first weeks of January, according to the statement. "Our guests are booking more high-quality and for longer," said Boehnke, adding that trips were two and a half days longer on average and that around one in four travellers were choosing accommodation with villas or suites with a private pool. Reporting by Klaus Lauer, Writing by Rachel More, Editing by Maria SheahanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Fact Check-Quote about bioengineering wrongly attributed to WEF’s Klaus Schwab
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A statement saying bioengineering is “the next ‘general purpose technology’” has been wrongly attributed to World Economic Forum (WEF) founder and chairman Klaus Schwab. Posts sharing the wrongly attributed statement read: “Schwab: 'Bioengineering is the next “general purpose technology”. An article dated Jan. 14 on the WEF website (bit.ly/3IQlwo1) featured experts’ predictions for 2023, in which Webb, as part of a longer response, said: "Bioengineering is the next ‘general purpose technology’. The quotation circulating on social media has been wrongly attributed to Klaus Schwab. Read more about our work to fact-check social media posts (here).

People and businesses across Europe are increasing their use of such smart thermometers to keep an eye on how much gas they are using. In the winter of 2021-22, the proportion of homes with heating switched on across Europe passed 90% on November 28. The European Union imports 80% of its gas and gas represents 22% of Europe's energy consumption and meets 32% of households' energy needs, according to the EU. "Some 79% of energy consumption in a private home is heating and hot water," said Tado's Managing Director Christian Deilmann. It is still too early to tell from Tado's data whether households' energy discipline is slackening.

☆ 4 ways to pay for the climate crisis, according to Al Gore and other leaders at Davos
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Freya Graham | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Panel speakers said philanthropy is often overlooked when thinking about the climate finance gap and that it could act as vital leverage. Michael Wilkins, executive director and professor of practice at the Centre for Climate Finance & Investment at Imperial College Business School, welcomed the comments made by panelists at Davos. "Philanthropy has been crucial in research and development for climate finance and its development," Wilkins told Insider. "The private sector has to join the public sector," Gore said. The solution is not just about scaling up climate investment, though, according to Gore.

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