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DW.com provides these memorable and beautiful pictures of Christmas lights in European cities from Basel to Vienna, London and Stockholm to Prague and Katowice- street illumination and decorations in cities.

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During Christmas we have the extraordinary pictures of Cologne cathedral, Aachen cathedral and other beautiful churches in Germany. The Frauenkirche in Dresden rebuilt after the war, the old town and Erfurt's Cathedral Hill.

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A series of pictures of the parliamentary district in Berlin, Germany, from DW.com. The Jacob-Kaiser-Haus next to the Reichstag is the largest parliamentary building and faces the river Spree. It has a glass wall with the first 19 Articles of the German Constitution.

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To promote the green image Chrysler is downplaying the Hemi engine. It will be offered as an option but won't be called Hemi, but simply 5.7 liter V8 for certain jeeps. Chrysler will emphasize smaller engines such as the V6 Pentastar engine and 4 cylinder engines.

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Detailed anatomy of Ford what went wrong, what can and is being done, the problems in a culture that went astray, Mullaly direction and first steps to correct things. David Kiley of BW has done a pretty good piece on Ford, best so far in breaking up the mess that is Ford into some tangible things one can see that give one a feel of whats gone wrong at Ford, and some clues to whats gone wrong at the Big 3 American makers also. I'll attempt a list in the virtues vs. vices area that appear here 1. candour and openness vs. secrecy- sharing information between operating divisions 2. simplicity vs. complexity- too many platforms 3. economy vs. waste by duplication- duplication in the organization structure 4. respect vs. arrogance- for others within the company whatever the rank 5. inclusiveness vs. exclusiveness- the creation of grades for employees that stifle communication 6. honesty about ignorance and curiosity to learn vs. not admitting and remaining ignorant - at meetings and in discussions. ...

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Narrowest loss in runs at Lord's -India lose by 22 runs in Third Test vs England July 2025. 

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German elections results in graphics 2025, shown in Deutsche Welle DW.  As in US in Germany 2024 more women and university educated in SPD, Greens more basic education and men in AfD, CDU. People over 60 voted for SPD and CDU, 20-23% voted for AfD in 25-50 year age groups.

The deindustrialization of the US and Germany and France has led to this situation, as jobs were outshored to China under Merkel and Schroeder. Fewer opportunities for people with a basic education and the indifference of governments to these disadvantaged groups under Merkel and Schroeder. The other change is that in Germany in the Eastern parts of the country around Dresden, Jena, Leipzig in Eastern Germany the AfD is now dominant, except for Berlin where the Left and SPD are dominant.

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The move by Peugeot and Fiat Chrysler to merge is seen as an effort to use consolidation as a way to tackle depressed demand. Ford and GM are struggling in foreign markets, as Toyota and VW have expanded in foreign markets, and Geely has expanded in China with stakes in Daimler and Volvo AB. Added costs for the shift to electric cars, higher emissions standards,  are also hurting car makers. Global new car sales of 96 million in 2018 are expected to decline by 4% in 2019, and remain sluggish, with the U.S. China trade war and Brexit taking its toll. Some car companies are particularly affected. Chrysler's European car factories ran at about 52% in 2018, well below European industry average of 73%.

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The new iX3 will run 497 miles on a single charge and shows BMW's effort to reinvent the car from the ground up says it's CEO. Mercedes electric GLC will run for 457 miles on a single charge, competing at $80,000 with the Model Y of Tesla which does 387 miles at over $60,000. Mercedes GLC price is still to be decided. Tesla has lost a third of it's market volume in the European market. The newer versions of Mercedes and BMW join VW's own models that compete at the lower end of the price range which today is close to $30,000-$40,000. Earlier reports in WSJ show the German models are competing for dominant share in Europe.

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The strong euro is hurting sales of European cars like the VW and Volvo in the USA.

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From the country of "Feierabend" the much appreciated German term for cutting off the workday to do something else like biking or running which is very healthy way of living during the pandemic and everyday, come more German expressions which tell us  more about how to live.  "Na Wie Lauft's" is the German expression most people learn because it means "how are you running", and shows people you care about them. Here DW.com, looks at other German expressions with wonderful pictures of people and scenery in Germany to accompany each expression that has a soothing, calming effect on all. The meanings are given by DW.com, the German national broadcaster which also helps people learn German. "Die Dinge Laufen Lassen," is another German expression that has a Zen nature and is one that one take comfort in for its calming effect. It means "let things run their course, and everything will be alright in the end." "Noch in den Kinderschuhen stecken It means things are only in the early stages, beginning to develop, unfold, the ball is only beginning to roll. With it goes "Laufen Learnen" which means you have to walk before you can run. "Lugen Haben Kurze Beine" means "Lies have short legs." It suggests walking or running. It says you won't get far with lying, you won't get ahead with it, somebody will see through you. "Auf dem Ruder laufen" means to lose control of an oar while rowing a boat to stay on course. It also means hang tight and things will right themselves eventually. And to go with this is the German expression about learning the procedure or techniques for getting the work whatever it is done correctly. Wie est der Ablauf" how will things run, what is the procedure for doing it? Positive expressions from the images of running or walking at the time of the pandemic when this can have a soothing and calming effect.   ...

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Akio Toyoda of Toyota Motors resisted making a full scale commitment to EV's leading to Toyota falling behind in EV technology, ceding leadership to Chinese, American and German companies. This report in WSJ looks at how this happened. Toyota vehicle sales are declining and VW has overtaken Toyota. Toyoda failed to make a commitment to a date for going all electric and this has led to criticism of his management of the company and seen as resistance to the climate transition to EV's in the automobile industry putting behind the period of fossil fuel driven cars. Toyoda is the grandson of Kiichiro the founder of the company when it was in textiles in the 1920's. He says the the role of CEO is very lonely and very hard, as his early years were spent without the team spirit seen at the top and he was closer to the grassroots. He is now chairman and has given the decisions of the transition to EV's to the new CEO, Mr. Koji Sato.

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European new auto registrations down by 25% in November and about 7% for the first 11 months from ayear earlier. GM hit hardest with 38% decline in November for Opel and Vauxhall and Swedish Saab declining by 45%. VW holding up with a17% decline and Ford at 20% decline in November 2008 over ayear earlier.