Frankfurt, Germany — Germany wants to support Volkswagen and help it avoid factory closures but the ailing car giant will have to fix most of its problems itself, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said Friday.   Volkswagen said earlier this month it needed significant restructuring to stay competitive, and was considering shutting sites in Germany for the first time in its 87-year history.   The announcement stunned employees and added to concerns about Germany’s flagship car industry as it grapples with high costs, increased competition from China and weak demand for electric vehicles (EVs).   …

HONG KONG — Asian stocks surged Friday with Japan’s Nikkei leading regional gains after Wall Street romped to records following the Federal Reserve’s big cut to interest rates. U.S. futures and oil prices were lower. The Bank of Japan ended a two-day monetary policy meeting and announced it would keep its benchmark rate unchanged at 0.25%. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index soared 1.5% to close at 37,723.91 after the nation’s key inflation data in August accelerated for a fourth consecutive month. The core consumer price index rose 2.8% year-on-year in …

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden began touting the progress in bringing down inflation and boosting employment on Thursday, a day after the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut, while vowing to keep working to lower costs for American families. Biden will use an Economic Club of Washington event to summarize how well the U.S. responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and a surge in inflation after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, his chief of staff, Jeff Zients, told reporters. Many economists had predicted a recession would be needed to lower inflation, but they …

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Brussels — Teresa Ribera will have to square up to Big Tech, banks and airlines if confirmed as Europe’s new antitrust chief, while juggling calls for looser rules to help create EU champions. Nominated Tuesday by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for the high-profile antitrust post, Ribera has been Spain’s minister for ecological transition since 2018. The 55-year-old Spanish socialist, one of Europe’s most ambitious policymakers on climate change, will have to secure European Parliament approval before taking up her post. As competition commissioner, she will be able to …

CHENNAI, India — Police on Monday detained 104 striking workers protesting low wages at a Samsung Electronics plant in southern India as they were planning a protest march without permission, with the dispute disrupting output at the key factory for the past week. The detention marks an escalation of a strike by workers at a Samsung home appliance plant near Chennai in the state of Tamil Nadu. Workers want higher wages and have stopped work at the plant that contributes roughly a third of Samsung’s annual India revenue of $12 billion. …

OTTAWA, Ontario — Air Canada and the union representing its pilots have come to terms on a labor agreement that is likely to prevent a shutdown of Canada’s largest airline.  Talks between the company and the Air Line Pilots Association produced a tentative, four-year collective agreement, the airline announced in a statement early Sunday.  The prospective deal recognizes the contributions of the pilots flying for Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge while setting a new framework for company growth. The terms will remain confidential until ratification by union members and approval …

Washington — The Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut for more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the U.S. presidential election.    Senior officials at the U.S. central bank including Fed chair Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool.    The Fed, which has …

BEIJING — China’s economy softened in August, extending a slowdown in industrial activity and real estate prices as Beijing faces pressure to ramp up spending to stimulate demand. Data published by the National Bureau of Statistics Saturday showed weakening activity across industrial production, retail sales and real estate this month compared to July. “We should be aware that the adverse impacts arising from the changes in the external environment are increasing,” said Liu Aihua, the bureau’s chief economist in a news conference. Liu said that demand remained insufficient at home, and …

Washington — The White House said on Thursday it is acting on Democratic lawmakers’ demands to close what they see as a legal loophole that allows manufacturers — most from China — to dodge tariffs on low-priced goods and flood the U.S. with illegal and unsafe products. The Biden administration is targeting the “de minimis” exemption, which allows parcels valued at less than $800 to enter the U.S. duty free. More than 1 billion such parcels entered the U.S. in fiscal 2023, U.S Customs and Border Protection said. White House officials attribute the …

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Washington — The post-pandemic spike in U.S. inflation eased further last month as year-over-year price increases reached a three-year low, clearing the way for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates next week. Wednesday’s report from the Labor Department showed that consumer prices rose 2.5% in August from a year earlier. It was the fifth straight annual drop and the smallest such increase since February 2021. From July to August, prices rose just 0.2%. Excluding volatile food and energy costs, so-called core prices rose 3.2% in August from 12 months earlier, …

HONG KONG — China must reprioritize economic growth and reforms and boost investor confidence by leveling the playing field for all companies in the country, a European business group said Wednesday.  With “business confidence now at an all-time low” over lagging domestic demand and overcapacity in certain industries, the annual European Business in China Position Paper called on China to open its economy and allow a more free market to determine resource allocation. It also recommended introducing policies to boost domestic demand.  Profit margins in China are at or below the …

Nairobi, Kenya — Central banks in Africa are turning to gold to protect themselves from economic and geopolitical instability and to diversify their financial portfolios. In September 2023, the price of gold per ounce was $1,900. A year later, it is selling for $2,500. According to the World Gold Council, an international trade association for the gold industry, demand for the metal is expected to increase in the next 10 months despite the soaring prices. Some experts, such as Carlos Lopes, a professor at the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance …

London — Google lost its final legal challenge on Tuesday against a European Union penalty for giving its own shopping recommendations an illegal advantage over rivals in search results, ending a long-running antitrust case that came with a whopping fine.  The European Union’s Court of Justice upheld a lower court’s decision, rejecting the company’s appeal against the $2.7 billion penalty from the European Commission, the 27-nation bloc’s top antitrust enforcer.  “By today’s judgment, the Court of Justice dismisses the appeal and thus upholds the judgment of the General Court,” the court …

beijing — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday urged visiting Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to play a “constructive role” in improving strained ties between Bejing and the European Union.  Sanchez for his part said he hoped the EU could avoid a trade war with China, even as Brussels weighs imposing tariffs on China-manufactured electric vehicles. In their meeting, Xi also talked up deepening commercial ties between China and Spain in sectors such as artificial intelligence, digital economy, new energy and other high-tech fields. The Chinese leader said Beijing wanted to …

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — One month after a judge declared Google’s search engine an illegal monopoly, the tech giant faces another antitrust lawsuit that threatens to break up the company, this time over its advertising technology. The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintains a monopoly over the technology that matches online publishers to advertisers. Dominance over the software on both the buy side and the sell side of the transaction enables Google to keep as much as 36 cents on the dollar when it brokers …

A lack of opportunities has resulted in underrepresentation of Black designers, stylists and other creatives in the fashion industry. It’s also created a new wave of Black entrepreneurs who are passing on lessons of the business. Tina Trinh reports. (Camera and Produced by: Tina Trinh) …

Athens — Greece plans to impose a 20-euro ($22) levy on cruise ship visitors to the islands of Santorini and Mykonos during the peak summer season, in a bid to avert overtourism, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Sunday.  Greece relies heavily on tourism, the main driver of the country’s economy which is still recovering from a decadelong crisis that wiped out a fourth of its output.  But some of its most popular destinations, including Santorini, an idyllic island of quaint villages and pristine beaches with 20,000 permanent residents, risk being ruined …

FRANKFURT, Germany — Volkswagen is considering closing some factories in its home country for the first time in the German automaker’s 87-year history, saying it otherwise won’t meet the cost-cutting goals it needs to remain competitive. CEO Oliver Blume also told employees Wednesday that the company must end a three-decade-old job protection pledge that would have prohibited layoffs through 2029. The statements have stirred outrage among worker representatives and concern among German politicians. Here are some things to know about the difficulties at one of the world’s best-known auto brands: What …

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KAJIADO, Kenya — The blood, milk and meat of cattle have long been staple foods for Maasai pastoralists in Kenya, perhaps the country’s most recognizable community. But climate change is forcing the Maasai to contemplate a very different dish: fish. A recent yearslong drought in Kenya killed millions of livestock. While Maasai elders hope the troubles are temporary and they will be able to resume traditional lives as herders, some are adjusting to a kind of food they had never learned to enjoy. Fish were long viewed as part of the …

Johannesburg — After pledging $51 billion in financial support for Africa over the next three years and positioning China as a fellow developing country in contrast to the West’s colonialist past, President Xi Jinping told dozens of African leaders gathered in Beijing this week that “the China-Africa relationship is now at its best in history.” This year’s Forum on Africa-China Cooperation, held every three years, was the first since the pandemic and China’s own economic slowdown. It comes amid growing geopolitical rivalry between Beijing and the West, and Xi was blunt …

Washington — The U.S. Treasury and Internal Revenue Service said on Friday that they have recovered $1.3 billion in unpaid taxes from wealthy individuals under new enforcement initiatives funded by $60 billion in IRS modernization spending from the climate-focused Inflation Reduction Act.   Why it’s important  Republicans in Congress have long vowed to rescind the 10-year IRS funding passed in 2022, arguing that it would unfairly harass Americans on their taxes. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump vowed on Thursday to rescind all unspent funds from the Inflation Reduction Act, which include billions …

Washington — U.S. employment increased less than expected in August, but a drop in the jobless rate to 4.2% suggested an orderly labor market slowdown continued and probably did not warrant a big interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve this month.   Nonfarm payrolls increased by 142,000 jobs last month after a downwardly revised 89,000 rise in July, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Friday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls increasing by 160,000 jobs after a previously reported 114,000 gain in July. Estimates ranged from 100,000 …