Higher German infrastructure spending will boost Europe’s economic growth in the coming years — but not enough to outweigh the expected drag from U.S. tariffs, according to Alfred Kammer, director of the European department at the International Monetary Fund.The IMF last week cut its growth outlook for the euro area, also making downgrades for the U.S., U.K. and many Asian countries due to President Donald Trump’s volatile tariff policy.The institution cut its euro area growth forecasts for each of the next two years by 0.2 percentage points, to 0.8% in 2025 and 1.2% in 2026.”It’s the tariffs and the trade…
Author: usaeverydaylife
Mediobanca puts in $7.2 billion takeover offer for Banca GeneraliThe logo of a Mediobanca Premier bank branch in Brescia, Italy, on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025.Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesItalian lender Mediobanca on Monday made a public 6.3 billion euro ($7.17 billion) offer to buy domestic peer Banca Generali as it seeks to boost its wealth management operations.Mediobanca, itself the takeover target of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena amid a broader wave of attempted consolidation among Italian lenders, seeks to pay for the purchase by swapping its shares of Italian insurer Assicurazione Generali, the parent of Banca Generali with…
North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, has ordered the building of a monument for its soldiers who were killed fighting for Russia in the war against Ukraine, state media reported on Monday, confirming the North’s military role in the European conflict for the first time.Mr. Kim’s decision to start sending North Korean troops last year to fight for Russia opened “a new chapter of history which demonstrated the highest strategic level of the firm militant friendship” between the two countries, the Central Military Commission of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party said in a statement carried in its state media on Monday.The…
The construction site of a plant for the production of hydrogen in Germany. Picture Alliance | Picture Alliance | Getty ImagesA growing number of sizable companies, from mining giants to energy majors, are embracing the hype for natural hydrogen.It comes as buzz continues to build over the potential for a resource that advocates say could radically reshape the global energy landscape.Natural hydrogen, sometimes known as white, gold or geologic hydrogen, refers to hydrogen gas that is found in its natural form beneath Earth’s surface. The long-overlooked resource, first discovered by accident in Mali nearly 40 years ago, contains no carbon and…
Pakistan’s closure of its airspace to Indian airlines Thursday is forcing carriers to alter some routes that link India to Europe, North America, Central Asia and the Middle East.Indian carriers — including Air India, IndiGo, Akasa Air and SpiceJet — must now fly longer, and thus costlier, flights on some westbound routes. The detour could push some flights to add a refueling stop or cancel certain routes altogether.IndiGo, the country’s largest airline by market share, said it expects a few international flights to be affected, while Air India said some of its flights to or from North America, Europe and…
In March 2013, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina gave a roughly four-minute speech at one of the closed-door meetings in the Vatican before the conclave to elect the next pope. The short remarks, envisioning a church that got out of its insular comfort zones and self-referential habits, went over big.When the cardinals voted in the Sistine Chapel days later, they picked him to lead the way forward, and he emerged as Pope Francis.On Monday, after hundreds of thousands of faithful came to Francis’ funeral and burial over the weekend, cardinals will begin a critical week of such meetings, where…
Zurab K. Tsereteli, a Georgian-Russian artist whose towering monuments and heroic statues pleased the authorities in the Kremlin but drew scorn from Moscow to New Jersey, died on Tuesday at his home outside Moscow. He was 91.His death was announced by Sergei Shagulashvili, his assistant. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia sent a condolence note to Mr. Tsereteli’s family, calling him “an outstanding representative of multinational Russian culture.”An admirer of Mr. Putin, Mr. Tsereteli unveiled a towering bronze statue of him in 2004, dressed in a belted judo tunic. (The work was so poorly received, however, that it remained with…
Australia was the clear top choice when Ali Bajwa, a native of Pakistan, wanted to pursue a doctorate in agricultural science. The research in the field was cutting edge, the universities were highly ranked and overseas students were welcome in the country, where international education has been referred to as “the biggest export we don’t dig out of the ground.”Mr. Bajwa arrived a decade ago, specializing in weed control. He brought his family over, all becoming naturalized citizens. He spent years in Wagga Wagga, a rural town, working for the state government and continuing research in weed science. He now…
Textile manufacturing workers in Binzhou, Shandong, China, on April 23, 2025.Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty ImagesBEIJING — Chinese manufacturers are pausing production and turning to new markets as the impact of U.S. tariffs sets in, according to companies and analysts.The lost orders are also hitting jobs.”I know several factories that have told half of their employees to go home for a few weeks and stopped most of their production,” said Cameron Johnson, Shanghai-based senior partner at consulting firm Tidalwave Solutions. He said factories making toys, sporting goods and low-cost Dollar Store-type goods are the most affected right now.”While not large-scale…
A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 departs from San Diego International Airport with an American flag in the foreground on April 20, 2025 in San Diego, California, U.S.Kevin Carter | Getty Images News | Getty Images U.S. President Donald Trump’s “America First” ideology, which, generally speaking, prioritizes the domestic over the international, rests on the assumption that the world needs America more than it needs the world.This may be true for the status quo. The U.S. is the world’s largest importer and among the biggest exporters, according to the World Integrated Trade Solution, a database provided by the World Trade Organization.But…
