Bloomberg German chemicals firm Bayer said on Monday it would not introduce genetically modified crops in Europe after its gigantic takeover of US seed and pesticide producer Monsanto. “We aren’t taking over Monsanto to establish GM plants in Europe,” chief executive Werner Baumann told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. “Some people think it might be easier for us than for ...

  Berlin / AFP Booming exports pumped up Germany’s trade surplus in August, as calls grow for Europe’s largest economy to use the cash it brings in to nurture growth. Firms exported 102.3 billion euros ($114.3 billion) of goods in August 2016 adjusting for seasonal and calendar effects, the federal statistics office Destatis said. That was an increase of 5.4 ...

  Istanbul / AFP President Vladimir Putin on Monday said non-OPEC member Russia was ready to work with the cartel in imposing measures to limit oil production, in comments that propelled the price of crude to its highest levels in a year. Eyes have turned to Russia, the world’s top oil producer alongside Saudi Arabia, to see if it will ...

  DUBAI / AFP Two missiles fired from rebel-held territory in Yemen fell short of a US warship patrolling the Red Sea off the coast of the war-torn country, the US navy said on Monday. The USS Mason “detected two inbound missiles” within an hour of each other from around 7:00 pm (1600 GMT) on Sunday, said US Naval Forces ...

  Ankara /AFP Police in Ankara on Monday used tear gas and plastic bullets to prevent pro-Kurdish activists from holding a protest to mark the first anniversary of the worst attack in Turkey’s modern history. One hundred and three people were killed on October 10, 2015 when suicide bombers said to be linked to IS extremists blew themselves up in ...

  Riyadh/ AFP Syria’s main opposition group called on Monday for foreign allies to supply rebel forces with ground-to-air weapons to counter deadly air raids in Aleppo. Gathered for two days of talks in the Saudi capital, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) umbrella group denounced the “scorched earth policy” of President Bashar al-Assad and his allies. Regime troops and Russian ...

  White Plains / AFP Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton on Monday headed back to the campaign trail after a fiery presidential debate, with the Republican looking to bounce back after a weekend that crippled his White House bid. With just over four weeks to go before American voters head to the ballot boxes to choose their next commander-in-chief, the ...

  Democracy, under siege in many parts of the world, received a serious blow in its homeland last week. In a series of jaw-dropping pronouncements, members of the Conservative British government asserted that some people were more equal than others. Home Secretary Amber Rudd proposed forcing companies to disclose how many foreign workers they employ, and threatened to “name and ...

  In 1951, U.S. central bankers re-established their autonomy after almost two decades of taking orders from the Treasury Department with the Treasury-Federal Reserve Accord. In 1955-56, the German Bundesbank, which had its autonomy guaranteed in the country’s new constitution, successfully withstood a political assault from Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. In Stockholm, the governor of the Riksbank, Per Ã…sbrink, looked on ...

  Remember how some Democrats were making a big deal about voting reforms earlier this year? They promised that if they won they would push for automatic voter registration, voting for ex-felons and better administration of elections. The good news for advocates of making voting easier is that the Democratic national platform wound up having a strong plank supporting reform. ...