International News

  Frankfurt / AFP Negotiations on a US-EU free trade deal “will fail” if the US refuses to make concessions, German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel warned on Sunday ahead of a visit by US President Barack Obama. “The Americans want to hold fast to their ‘Buy American’ idea. We can’t accept that. They don’t want to open their public tenders to ...

  Berlin /AP Five German automakers have agreed to recall a total of 630,000 diesel vehicles in Europe following an investigation into their emissions levels, officials said. Germany’s transport minister, Alexander Dobrindt, identified the companies concerned as Mercedes, Opel Volkswagen and its subsidiaries Audi and Porsche. The move followed a probe of 53 models by Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority ...

  Paris / AFP France’s energy giant EDF will give the final green light to the controversial construction of two nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point in Britain in September, Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday. French President Francois Hollande “has confirmed France’s engagement” in the project, and “the final decision on investment could be confirmed in September”, Macron said in ...

  Bloomberg European Union finance ministers split over whether to impose restrictions on banks’ holdings of government bonds, as German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble found scant support from skeptical colleagues for his push to overhaul existing rules. The Netherlands, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, laid out five options for tackling the risks posed by banks’ state-debt pile for the ...

  AFP Persistent worries about the global economy and the possibility of Brexit — Britain’s pullout from the European Union — will probably keep the Federal Reserve on hold this week as it reviews interest rates. The policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee will also be buying time to be sure the US economy picks up from a modest first-quarter slowdown ...

  AFP General Motors reported soaring first-quarter earnings, easily topping expectations as it broke even in Europe and scored more banner results in North America. Earnings came in at $2.0 billion, compared with $0.9 billion in the year-ago period. Revenues were up 4.5 percent to $37.3 billion. GM boasted record pre-tax profits in North America of $2.3 billion. Auto deliveries ...

  Bloomberg Regulators around the world are getting tougher on automakers after a series of cheating scandals on fuel economy and emissions, with China set to become the strictest, according to Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Officer Mark Fields. “The regulatory environment around the world is becoming more and more strict, particularly on things like greenhouse gases and fuel economy,” ...

  Bloomberg Puerto Rico’s Government Development Bank, operating under a state of emergency to preserve cash, is about halfway toward reaching a forbearance agreement with creditors, according to an official. The GDB, which lent to the commonwealth and its municipalities, owes $422 mn on May 1 that officials have said the bank cannot pay. Jesus Manuel Ortiz, spokesman for Governor ...

  Bloomberg Ministers from the Group-of-Seven nations agreed to promote agricultural innovation and investment as farmers face the twin challenges of an aging workforce and extreme weather at a time when global food demand is increasing. “Motivated, skilled and enterprising farmers are essential for the growth of the agricultural sector,” the ministers said in a joint statement after two days ...

  Dhaka / AFP As they jostle for space on the floor, with the door to their fire escape padlocked, the seamstresses cannot help but recall the carnage when another of Bangladesh’s garment factories collapsed three years ago. “We always worry what will happen if a blaze breaks out or the building caves in,” one woman worker said on condition ...