Bloomberg European car sales reached a 10-year high in 2017 as widening economic growth boosted consumer confidence, with SUVs from French manufacturers Peugeot and Renault, Italian competitor Alfa Romeo and Japanese rival Toyota propelling demand. Registrations in 2017 increased 3.3 percent to 15.6 million vehicles, the Brussels-based European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, or ACEA, said in a statement. The figure was ...

Bloomberg European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker offered a new twist in his campaign to keep Britain part of the EU. A day after urging British Prime Minister Theresa May to reverse Brexit before it happens in March 2019, the head of the European Union’s executive arm said the UK can always re-apply for membership after departing. Juncker cited the EU’s ...

Bloomberg Melrose Industries Plc made a hostile 7.4-billion-pound ($10.2 billion) bid for GKN Plc, which spurned the approach, setting up a battle to win shareholder support for the deal or the aviation supplier’s own plan to break itself up. The offer values GKN at 430.1 pence a share in cash and stock, Birmingham, England-based Melrose said in a statement. After ...

Bloomberg As more international travellers decide to skip America, ten business associations including the US Chamber of Commerce and the National Restaurant Association have created a travel industry group aimed at reversing the growing unpopularity of the US as a vacation destination. Historically, America only had to sit back and let foreign tourists and their money roll in. Over the ...

Bloomberg The US has told the United Nations agency that aids Palestinians that it will contribute only about half of a $125 million payment to the body, while demanding a “fundamental reexamination” of the social-service agency’s mission and funding before deciding whether to pay the rest. “It is time other countries, some of them quite wealthy, step in and do ...

LONDON­­­­ / Reuters US President Donald Trump and European Union leaders should increase pressure on President Bashar al-Assad and his allies Russia and Iran to return to talks to end Syria’s civil war, Syria’s chief opposition negotiator said. Nasr Hariri said that unless the West forced Assad and his big power allies to seek peace then Syrian civilians would continue ...

Bloomberg Germany’s deeply divided Social Democrats are starting to face up to political reality. Confronted with a crucial vote this weekend on whether to enter formal coalition talks with Angela Merkel’s bloc or cast themselves into the wilderness to rebuild the party, many SPD members are coming to the conclusion that a return to government carries the lesser risk. Senior ...

Bloomberg Romanian President Klaus Iohannis is meeting political parties as the Black Sea nation looks to appoint its third prime minister in a year following this week’s shock unraveling of the government. The Social Democrats, who won a landslide election victory in late 2016, proposed European Parliament lawmaker Viorica Dancila to replace Mihai Tudose as premier. The ruling party is ...

Bloomberg The threat of large-scale cyberattacks and a “deteriorating geopolitical landscape” since the election of US President Donald Trump have jumped to the top of the global elite’s list of concerns, the World Economic Forum said ahead of its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. The growing cyber-dependency of governments and companies, and the associated risks of hacking by criminals or ...

Bloomberg The Catalan crisis is proving to be a millstone around the neck of the Spanish prime minister. Mariano Rajoy saw his People’s Party routed in elections in the rebel region last month and it has plumbed historic lows in opinion polls as the premier’s hesitant efforts to keep the push for independence in check disappoint voters across the rest ...