General Electric (GE) has announced a plan to cut around 1,000 jobs in France, said a trade union source, in a move that could set the U.S. company at odds with the French government which has consistently urged GE not to cut French jobs. Source: Euronews
France
Air France-KLM blamed higher fuel costs and price competition as it posted a deeper first-quarter loss on Friday, sending the airline group’s shares lower. Source: Reuters
Shares of SocGen, France’s third-largest bank, have tumbled more than 37% over a 12-month period, as challenging market conditions continued to hobble Europe’s banks. Source: CNBC
A French warship passed through the strategic Taiwan Strait this month, U.S. officials told Reuters, a rare voyage by a vessel of a European country that is likely to be welcomed by Washington but increase tensions with Beijing. Source: Reuters
Emmanuel Macron has launched a charm offensive towards his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, talking of multilateralism and cooperation while tiptoeing around subjects such as human rights. Source: The Guardian
Rioters clashed with police in the eastern French city of Grenoble on Sunday night after two teenagers died in a collision with a coach while they were being chased by police. Source: BBC
French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday asked the Dutch government to clarify why it bought more than 12 percent of shares in the holding company for the Air France-KLM alliance without first advising Paris Source: The Spokesman-review
Swedish deputy director of public prosecutions, Eva-Marie Persson, announced the decision to drop the investigation again at a press conference in Stockholm on Tuesday afternoon. Source: The Local SE
Chinese attempts to interfere in Taiwan’s presidential election campaign are happening “every day,” the island’s leader, Tsai Ing-wen, said Tuesday. Source: The New York Times
Poland will continue to overhaul its justice system, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Tuesday in a speech laying out policy plans after the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party won a general election on Oct. 13. Source: Reuters
The Turkish government is committed to moving forward with the construction of the multibillion-dollar giant Kanal Istanbul project, the transportation minister has said, informing that companies from Benelux countries have shown a big interest in the project whose planning stage is about to be concluded. Source Daily News
The 5-Star Movement, senior partner in two coalitions since last year’s national election, is struggling with internal strife and falling support which threaten the survival of Italy’s two-month old government. “With the League they at least had in common that they were both seen as challengers of the old political system, but the PD is a symbol of the establishment 5-Star has always fought. Source Reuters
French police arrested 254 people during clashes in Paris and other cities on the first anniversary of the ‘yellow vest’ movement, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said Sunday. Source The Local
A 15-year-old girl was killed after a suspension bridge over a river in southwest France collapsed on Monday, causing a car, a truck and possibly a third vehicle to plunge into the water, local authorities said. Source The Local
An 18th-century historical madrasah in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be restored to its original appearance by a project launched by Turkey’s state-run aid agency. The Ottoman-era vizier İbrahim Pasha Madrasah began operation as a center for learning in 1706 and is located in Travnik city, popularly known as the City of Viziers, due to the fact that 77 such Ottoman officials originated from the town. Source Hurriyet Daily
US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has told the “wealthy country” it can afford to pay more for the stationing of US troops. Washington’s 28,500-strong military presence costs Seoul under $1 billion a year. Source Deutsche Welle
The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has purchased $3.9-billion worth of seats from Russia to transport its astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS) since July 2011, says NASA Inspector General Paul Martin’s report published on NASA official website on Thursday. Source Tass
South Korean President Moon Jae-in told visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Friday it is difficult for Seoul to share military intelligence with Japan, while vowing to make continued efforts toward security cooperation among the three countries, according to the presidential Blue House. Source Japan Times
Tata Steel is planning to scrap some 3 thousand jobs in Europe, European CEO of Tata Steel Hendrik Adam confirmed. Some 1,500 of the 11 thousand Tata Steel jobs in the Netherlands will be lost, a well-informed source within the company confirmed to RTL Z. Source: NLtimes
Italy’s government filed an urgent court appeal on Friday to try to stop ArcelorMittal (MT.AS) walking away from a 2018 deal to buy the troubled Ilva steel plant, as a union said the group was preparing to leave on Dec 4.Source Euronews
The government will cut its tax revenue estimate for fiscal 2019 possibly by more than ¥2 trillion, from ¥62.50 trillion ($575 billion), as a result of weaker-than-expected corporate earnings amid a slowdown in the global economy, according to official sources with knowledge of the matter. Source Japan Times
French hospital workers carry on their industrial action with another major strike in Paris on Thursday. They are demanding more resources and manpower while the government is fine-tuning a long-awaited financial support plan. Source France24
- Total car sales in the world’s biggest market fell 4 per cent from the same month a year earlier, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said on Monday
- Sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) fell 45.6 per cent in October following a 33 per cent decline in September Source SCMP
Daimler shares fell sharply on Thursday after the German carmaker said tougher emissions rules will hit earnings in 2020 and 2021 forcing it to seek more than 1 billion euros (£861 million) in personnel cuts at Mercedes-Benz Cars by end of 2022. Source Euronews
The ECB will need to widen its monetary policy toolkit to ensure it remains effective, the European Central Bank’s Vice President Luis De Guindos said on Thursday. Source Reuters
Mortgage debt rose by $31bn to $9.44 trillion while auto, credit card, and student loan debt balances also spiked. United States households added $92bn of debt in the third quarter of 2019, led by a rise in mortgage loans, and overall debt levels set another record, nearing $14 trillion, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said on Wednesday. Source Al Jazeera
Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd said on Thursday it would defer the delivery of four Airbus SE narrowbodies in 2020 as it cuts capacity to deal with falling demand due to anti-government protests in its home city. In addition to delaying the arrival of three A321neos at regional arm Cathay Dragon and one A320neo at budget carrier HK Express, it said it would retire one Boeing Co 777-300ER and one Cathay Dragon A320 earlier than expected. Source Reuters
Falling profits, nervous investors and now allegations of climate deception — can things get any worse for Exxon Mobil? DW’s Sabrina Kessler in New York says the oil giant is now lurching toward the future. Source Deutsche Welle
China’s economic slowdown and trade tensions between the world’s top two economies have dampened German businesses’ spirits. Many German firms operating in China report a “gloomy” business outlook. Source Deutsche Welle
