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The danger from filled stadiums in Europe for Euro soccer 2021 leads to an outcry in Germany from Merkel, members of the European parliament, that "UEFA is endangering lives."

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The US is seeing a surge in store brands particularly in groceries as households are limiting spending in cost of living action. A similar movement is seen in Europe in 2024.

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German Foreign Minister Wadephul is interviewed by Nina Haase of the DW.com. She asks him what he thinks of Marco Rubio's speech at the Munich Security Conference in Feb. 2026. Wadephul says this is also the policy of Germany, that the US and Germany have a lot of common ground. Rubio spoke of cultural bonds, of Christianity, and of the common ground shared with Europe. Wadephul sees a lot of positive ground which he calls, is saying to Germany- we did it in the past in the cold War with the Iron Curtain coming down in the 1950's and that was a success including reunification of Germany. Now as Wadephul sees it the US is saying "lets do it again." What about climate and Ukraine. Wadephul says on Ukraine Germany is in agreement that more pressure needs to be put on Russia, including on India in negotiations to reduce funding of Russia. On climate he says that the US is saying- be flexible which is what Germany agrees with. On migration Wadephul says other European governments are taking the approach to migration the the US and Germany agree with. ...

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Fiat's Marchionne's decision to focus on the Fiat 500 and the Panda city car in the price sensitive European market. Fiat has no success in selling its Bravo larger car. In 2011 sales of the Bravo model were only 32,036 compared to VW Golf model sales of 522,370 in Europe, according to IHS Global Insight. Sales of the Fiat 500 were 119,836 units vs. sales of 83,150 for the BMW Mini in the first half of 2012. Fiat has suffered more than other automakers in the European market with sales decline of 16.7% compared to 7.2% decline for the overall market, for Jan-Sept 2012. Fiat's new plans are for five new Fiat models and three new Fiat light trucks in Europe between 2013-2016. Fiat launched the 500L minivan in Europe in Sept 2012. Fiat's European factories are running at 45% of capacity on average, and the European operations are likely to burn through 700 million euros in 2013, similiar to 2012, unlikely to breakeven before 2015 or 2016. This makes getting the product decisions right critical for Fiat. Fiat's chief in Europe, Gianluca Italia talks of the functional and emotional soul of Fiat cars for Europe in a emphasis on making Fiat's models in the price sensitive segments more distinctive and commanding a premium in the European market. Fiat's 500 has about a 25% premium over a similiar Ford Ka in its segment. The new Fiat 500 models will be exported to Asia and Latin America in an effort to increase capacity utlilization in its Italian factories....

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India has one of the largest refineries in the world at Jamnagar run by Reliance Ltd. It buys 2 million barrels a day of oil from Russia, making up a third of Russian oil exports and second only to China which takes in half of Russian oil exports. India buys this at about $60 a barrel and it generates about $45 billion dollars of revenue for Russia. Indian refineries have the technology to process Russia's heavier crude oil. Some of it is processed in India and exported to Europe.

US and DJT statements about India and a tariff rate of 25% are based on India moving from exporting less than 2% from Russia in 2021 to 45% of its imports in 2024.

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India's foreign minister S. Jaishankar says a lot has been done at the G-20 meetings in India. He says 95% of the countries agree on the communique put out by the G-20. The idea that peace in Europe can be achieved at G-20 meetings in India is not realistic he says as the G-20 was not designed for this purpose of tackling troublespots like Ukraine. What the G-20 has done is bring countries in Europe and North America together with India to understand the problems stemming from the conflict in Ukraine on food security and from the debt crises in some parts of Asia. 

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Shortages of natural gas lead to a 40% rise in prices. China is bidding high for gas supplies as it faces shortages of natural gas for heating during the coming winter. The UK and Europe also face shortages. Russia has the largest reserves of natural gas and is by far the largest producer. The start of the undersea Nordstream 2 pipeline avoids use of existing Russian pipeline through Ukraine. It is seen as a way to bring in more supplies to Europe.

Australia is another large producer of natural gas. China is now changing its import ban of Australian coal and natural gas as it faces a cold winter.

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Wesley Morris provides a look at Sidney Poitier, who changed attitudes towards race in America and Europe, from a New Yorker's perspective. He says Poitier did so much to create the more open cultural attitudes in the US and Europe, and South Africa that we find today, and did this with humility and grace. He puts Poitier's contribution in changing racial attitudes in the longer perspective in America with Frederick Douglas, Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King. In a larger sense these attitudes also led to changes in attitude towards people from Asia and other countries, that started with Mohandas Gandhi and his efforts against segregation in South Africa in 1900.

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France becomes the first country in Europe to ban advertisements for fossil fuels.

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The cost will increase the longer the effort for cleanup of PFAS chemicals used in military bases is delayed and could also lead to increased contamination of water in surrounding areas. In 2025 the cost is about $31 billion for 50 US military installations says The Guardian.  The Environmental Working Group policy analysis group senior analyst Jared Hayes is cited in The Guardian- "The DoD is facing a ticking cleanup time bomb as funding falls dramatically behind cleanup costs.” “The DoD has an obligation to its service members, the families living on bases, and the surrounding communities that have already been contaminated, so they need to clean up their mess." The adjoining article in Le Monde shows the awareness being created by Le Monde and its partners and The Forever Pollution Project in Europe about PFAS cleanup in France, and in Europe. ...

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What does a second term for Ursula Von der Leyen mean for the European Union. DW.com looks at what this means for China, other parts of Europe, and the rest of the world.

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After a new Metro line connecting Nordhavn to south of Carlsberg City Copenhagen sees housing prices jump to $900 -$122 a square foot. This is both a sign of improvement in the city and one that makes housing less affordable in one of the premier cities in Europe. About 2 million people live in Copenhagen a third of the population of Denmark.

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One of the major changes coming out of the coronavirus crisis is Germany's new willingness, even a new found enthusiasm, to support  other countries in the European Union. Merkel now supports a shared fund for the EU. Old positions taken for financial discipline for the euro are now placed in a new perspective now that this discipline has largely been achieved. Facing a new situation and a common danger Germany now wants to expand the EU budget and invest "much more." "In coming weeks and months it is important to show that we belong together," says Merkel. There is a realization that Germany cannot be strong industrially and economically, if economies are collapsing around it. Merkel now supports the use of shared funds between EU member states. The health services in all EU countries need to be boosted. The focus of Merkel's EU presidency is now to set up an efficient health system in all EU member states. ...

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Another year of Pep Guardiola this time at Manchester City, after Barcelona and Bayern. Sandip G, looks back at this visionary Spanish manager's career and how he changed different clubs in Europe.

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The UK and the European Union compete for limited vaccine supplies as a plant in Belgium has production problems and Astra Zeneca says it can only supply half of what it promised to Europe.

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The Mississippi river shown here in the WSJ is like the Rhine river and river Po in Europe at low water levels. Barges have slowed stuck in sandbars, and tourism, shipping are shifting elsewhere.

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Der Spiegel interview by editors Christiane Hoffmann and Christian Reiermann  with Finance Minister Schauble of Germany in June 2016, on Britain's exit from the European Union. Schauble points out that crises also present opportunities, citing the euro crisis which today is different after six years of tensions, and the Euro currency the second strongest reserve currency in the world. He says politicians would be deaf not to learn from the Brexit referendum, and to come up with better ways to bring Britain's active participation in the European Union. He says the more Britain is part of Europe the better things work. On defense and foreign policy he sees Britain playing a role with Germany and France so that the European voice can be heard in the world. Schauble says Europe can be sluggish and slow at times, but it can come up with solutions. He agrees with Britain that bureaucracy hurts Europe and needs to be tackled, more autonomy is also part of the foundation to build for Europe. It is not essential that all be part of the Schengen area or the monetary union, flexibility matters exceptions can be made, but active participation is vital. In Schauble's view Britain's "pragmatic rationality" is hugely valuable for Europe. ...

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This is what our energy wars, our climate change wars are about in summary. Europe has moved faster than the US, India and China in cutting fossil fuels use over 20 years 2005 to 2025. Europe going from 1525 trillion watt hours to 792- cutting use by half. The US from 2900 to  2553 trillion watt hours just 12%. And China...China tripled its use. This has come at a price as the costs of renewables push up electricity prices beyond what homes and industry can support. UK electricity prices 80% higher than US and half of UK energy users plan to ration its use 2025. Half of electricity costs in UK come from cost and delivery, other half of costs from subsidies of renewables and other. In Germany high electricity costs are hobbling industry and reducing economic growth. Lower electricity prices make the US more attractive than Germany as a place to invest. Another way to look at it- US and Europe cut fossil fuel use by about 1100 trillion watt hours and China increased its use by 4200 trillion watt hours or 4 times what the US and Europe cut in 2024 over 2005. Adding India, Brazil this would be 5-6 times what the US and Europe saved in 2024 over 2005. The "And "strategy of combining reduction in fossil with building renewable capacity is working out compared to dumping fossil in one shove and going all out renewable. There is also the question of equity. China and India argue equity means we should be allowed to use some fossil with renewable for 2.5 billion people's needs. The other side of equity is the US saying the same as "no fossil period" strategy puts the needs of the large part of the population for lower costs of energy  pushed aside as wealthy classes say it is OK. Even when the savings through cuts and sacrifices in US and EU are cut down, cut down by 5-6 fold increase in China, India, Brazil alone. In this kind of climate change war it makes sense not to go with labels such as climate change denial DJT vs China climate change affirming, when China is diluting US-EU climate change entire twenty year savings of 2005-2024 by a factor of 4, 1100 trillion watt hours wiped out by China's 4200 trillion watt hours added. And India, Brazil taking this to a factor of 6. This is why a lot of the discussion with self-righteous indignation becomes less purposeful. What is clear is that every action to cut cost of living in US and EU for large parts of the people is an effort in the right direction as it frees up resources for the fight against climate change, the sense that we are all in the same boat and in the same struggle. The fight against cost of living is part of the long run struggle against climate change. ...

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Ford's North American operations had earnings of $889 million in the 4th quarter of 2011. The growth in U.S. was offset by loss of $190 million in Europe and a loss of $83 million for Asia Pacific & Africa. Results in Europe are expected to deteriorate further. Moody's Investors Service predicts a 6.2% decline in sales for the Western European countries compared to 2011. Increasing competition in the North American market led to a decline in the pre-tax per vehicle profit for the 4th quarter of 2011 to $1317, a drop from $2806 in the first quarter of 2011.

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The supply chain chaos that is not good for American or European companies is shown here and how it is good only for warehouses that store these products for long periods. In March just 7% of the sea shipments from Asia to North America arrived on time, for Europe this was just 6%. This WSJ report says even big companies can expect to pay 5 times the freight rate than in 2019. New trouble looms in the form of more lockdowns in China with its zero covid policy and wage negotiations with dockworkers in Los Angeles and Long Beach. Stockpiling is one way to ensure availability which means additional costs. Vacancy rates for logistics property are at 4% in the US and 3.5% in Europe. All this points to the need for reshoring and bringing manufacturing back home. Companies need to invest $1 trillion over 5 years to relocate all foreign manufacturing based in China that is for markets in US, Europe and other parts of the world. As companies make plans for the shift to bring manufacturing back home, half the money going into real estate is still going to logistics properties and industrial logistics in the meantime, says this WSJ report ...

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The US midterm elections as seen from Europe. This report is in FR24 and shows the fight put up by Mr. Fetterman in every county in Pennsylvania for workers and families by a Democrat.