Farmers are reconsidering the use of biotech seeds as it becomes hard to justify their high prices amid the measly returns of the current farm economy. Bayer AG on Wednesday said it agreed to buy Monsanto for $57 billion, creating one of the world’s largest agrochemical firms. Source: WSJ
European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič said on May 23 that the time has come for another round of trilateral talks with Russia and Ukraine to find a “Constructive and stable co-operation between Russia and Ukraine in the field of energy is of utmost importance for the European Union.” Source: New Europe
China will take in more natural gas from the United States to satisfy growing domestic demand, a Chinese consultancy has said amid trade talks between Washington and Beijing seeking to settle differences about a major U.S. trade deficit with Asia’s second-largest economy. Source: Oil Price
German exports fell the most in more than five years at the start of 2018, holding back growth in Europe’s largest economy. A breakdown of first-quarter gross domestic product data showed foreign sales fell 1 percent, the most since 2012. Imports also declined, and net trade knocked 0.1 percentage point off GDP. Source: Bloomberg
