Paris / AFP The orginal artwork for the last two pages of the Tintin comic book “King Ottokar’s Sceptre” sold for a total of €1.046 million ($1.2 million) at auction on Saturday in Paris. “This is only the second time a Tintin plate has exceeded a million euros,” Eric Leroy, comic book expert at French auction house Artcurial, said. ...

  Lisbon / AFP Portugal kept its much-needed access to EU financial help after an European Central Bank-approved credit agency maintained its rating of Portuguese debt at investment grade level. Toronto-based DBRS announced it had kept Portugal’s rating at “BBB” level, with a “stable” perspective. “The rating reflects Portugal’s eurozone membership, favourable public debt maturity structure, and reduced vulnerabilities, following ...

  Berlin / AFP German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said he didn’t understand how Volkswagen bosses could defend their bonuses after a huge emissions-rigging scandal plunged the carmaker into global turmoil, according to an interview with Die Welt published on Sunday. The criticism comes after Volkswagen revealed this week that its top executives would be paid a total of €63.2 ...