Germany
Apollo, TPG among funds circling Gherkin tower owner IVG
LONDON/FRANKFURT - Apollo and TPG Capital are among buyout funds holding the debt of IVG with the aim of taking control of the Germany property group as last-ditch talks with creditors near an end, three sources close to the situation told Reuters.
Germany urges Egypt to avoid 'selective justice'
CAIRO - Germany urged Egypt to avoid "the appearance of selective justice" on Thursday following the arrests of some senior leaders of deposed President Mohamed Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood.
BNP Paribas plans Germany expansion after earnings fall
PARIS - French bank BNP Paribas plans to expand in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, after cost cuts failed to stem sliding quarterly earnings in flagging markets like Italy.
Crackdown on risk hits Barclays, Deutsche
LONDON/FRANKFURT - A $9 billion rights issue and a fresh purge of assets are among the measures Britain's Barclays and Germany's Deutsche Bank announced on Tuesday to meet tougher rules on risk, raising concern among investors that regulators will push other European banks into similar action. | Video
In leaving, Siemens CEO seeks to take down chairman
FRANKFURT - Siemens CEO Peter Loescher, whose departure was announced after he issued profit warnings that wrecked the share price of one of Germany's largest industrial conglomerates, may drag the man who hired him down with him, a newspaper reported on Monday.
German president says whistleblowers like Snowden merit respect
BERLIN - Germany's president, who helped expose the workings of East Germany's dreaded Stasi secret police, said whistleblowers like U.S. fugitive Edward Snowden deserved respect for defending freedom.
Insurers Allianz and QBE most exposed to Spain train crash
MADRID/LONDON - Germany's Allianz and Australian group QBE bear the bulk of the insurance liability from this week's fatal train crash in northwest Spain, according to sources at the companies.
Exclusive: Malaysia pension fund to spend 500 million euros on German, French properties
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's state pension fund will invest half a billion euros ($660 million) in industrial property in Germany and office space in France, according to sources familiar with the deals, signaling growing appetite for high-yielding property assets as Europe's main economies show signs of recovery.
Axel Springer sheds oldest print titles in $1.2 billion deal
FRANKFURT - Publisher Axel Springer struck a 920 million euro ($1.22 billion) deal to sell some of Germany's best-known newspapers and magazines, severing its oldest roots in order to intensify its focus on digital media.
Analysis: Southern Europe awaits German election in fear, hope
MADRID - Like the coming of the messiah, depressed southern Europe nations await Angela Merkel's likely victory in Germany's September election with a mixture of hope and trepidation.
Explosion in Syrian city of Homs kills 40: monitoring group
BEIRUT - Forty people were killed and at least 120 people were wounded in an explosion at a weapons cache in the central Syrian city of Homs on Thursday, a group opposed to President Bashar al-Assad said. | Video
Ethiopia and Eritrea: An elusive peace on the cards?
Ethiopia and Eritrea are still at each others’ throats. The two neighbours fought hammer and tongs in sun-baked trenches during a two-year war over a decade ago, before a peace deal ended their World War I-style conflict in 2000. Furious veRed Sea, UNrbal battles, however, have continued to this day.


