The United States must reckon with Europe responding in kind if it declares “America First” and places its own economic interests before those of others, Germany’s Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said. In an interview with ARD television, Altmaier attributed the United States’s desire to block the building of a new pipeline linking Russia and Germany […]

Generic competition to cholesterol fighter Crestor and higher costs hit AstraZeneca in the first quarter, despite good sales of new drugs, but the group said on Friday it remained on track for a promised return to sales growth in 2018. Its latest arrivals – Imfinzi for cancer and Fasenra for severe asthma – both sold […]

European shares are set for a mixed open Friday morning as concerns over geopolitics and trade intensify. The FTSE 100 is seen off by 3.3 points at 7,773; the DAX is set to open higher by 28 points at 13,125; and the CAC 40 is expected up by 6.6 points at 5,615; according to IG. […]

The final results of Iraq’s first post-Islamic State (ISIS) election, held last weekend, have revealed a shock win for controversial anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Now in a position to potentially determine much of the country’s future, the Shia leader, who has railed against both U.S. and Iranian influence, could dramatically change the landscape for major […]

Two-thirds of the world’s population will be living in cities by 2050, the United Nations has projected, with India, China and Nigeria set to drive a surge in urbanization. Today, around 55 percent of the world’s population is thought to be living in an urban area or city, with that figure set to rise to […]

European leaders said Thursday they will do their utmost to protect the region’s companies from the adverse effects of U.S. sanctions on Iran as they met at a European Union (EU) summit. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iranian nuclear deal will not only see sanctions re-imposed on Tehran, although the extent of […]

The European Commission will take France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Romania and Britain to the EU Court of Justice for failing to respect air quality limits, the EU executive said on Thursday. The move follows a summit in January in which the Commission said it would get tough on member states that were still in breach […]

Ocado shares have surged more than 40 percent after the U.K.-based online retailer signed an exclusive deal to provide its grocery delivery service to U.S. retailer Kroger. Kroger, which had sales of $122 billion in its last fiscal year, will take a 5 percent stake in the British online delivery firm as part of the […]

A.P. Moller-Maersk missed first-quarter profit expectations on Thursday and warned that political and trade tensions clouded the outlook, sending shares in the world’s biggest container shipper sharply lower. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the three months to March 31 rose 5 percent to $669 million but came in well below the […]

Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel has signaled that the European Union is willing to discuss reducing trade tariffs with the U.S., but only if the measures are reciprocal. Merkel also added that those discussions would only happen if the U.S. ensured the EU was permanently exempted from import tariffs on metals that President Donald Trump announced […]