Volkswagen's (VOWG_p.DE) first leadership crisis in a decade has burst into the open with Chairman Ferdinand Piech's surprise public denunciation of CEO Martin Winterkorn -- but the standoff is now more likely to play out behind closed doors.
Regions
Wall Street ends higher as jitters about earnings and oil recede
U.S. stocks closed higher on Wednesday, fueled by gains in oil companies and speculation that upcoming first-quarter earnings reports might not be quite as weak as previously thought.
Major Holcim investor says leaning toward backing Lafarge deal
The third-largest shareholder in Holcim (HOLN.VX) said it was leaning toward supporting the Swiss cement maker's merger with French rival Lafarge (LAFP.PA), according to an interview with Swiss newspaper Finanz und Wirtschaft.
Nestle in exclusive talks to sell frozen food unit to Brakes Group
Nestle (NESN.VX) is in exclusive talks to sell its frozen food unit Davigel to food service operator Brakes Group as part of a drive to trim its sprawling portfolio.
Yahoo and Facebook shares outperform Google in Frankfurt
The Frankfurt-listed shares of Internet companies Yahoo and Facebook outperformed those of rival Google, after media reports that Google would face anti-trust action from the European Union.
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JD.com Inc, China's No. 2 e-commerce player, on Wednesday launched its JD Worldwide cross-border online shopping platform, a challenger to Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's Tmall Global service.
China grew at its slowest pace in six years at the start of 2015 and weakness in key sectors suggested the world's second-largest economy was still losing momentum, intensifying Beijing's struggle to find the right policy mix to shore up activity.
Brent crude oil prices rose above $59 a barrel on Wednesday amid tension in the Middle East and signs of a dip in U.S. production, but gains were capped by a report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) indicating that supplies would take longer to tighten than previously expected.
European shares hit a 14-year high on Wednesday before a meeting at which the European Central Bank is expected to affirm its loose policy stance, as weak data from China raised prospects of monetary easing there too.
Japanese and U.S. officials will meet from Wednesday in a bid to strike a two-way deal giving momentum to a pan-Pacific free-trade pact, the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), ahead of a leaders' summit late this month.
The yen is fairly valued around current levels, a key economic adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Tuesday, a day after comments he made were taken to mean the yen was too weak.
Russian tycoon, Alisher Usmanov, is to finance the restoration of one of ancient Rome's biggest public buildings, topping up the funding that Italy urgently needs to prop up its crumbling monuments after three years of recession.
China's annual economic growth likely slowed to a six-year low of 7 percent in the first quarter as demand at home and abroad faltered, fanning expectations that authorities will have to roll out more policy stimulus to avert a sharper slowdown.
Retail sales rose in March for the first time since November as consumers stepped up purchases of automobiles and other goods, suggesting a sharp slowdown in economic growth in the first quarter was temporary.
