German State Vows to Retain VW Influence

In what is a surprising warning shot for Merkel's popularity ahead of the September general election in Germany, moments ago the CDU/FDP ruling coalition lost the vote in Lower Saxony to the center-left Social Democratic Party/Greens block by a last minute, one-seat win according to Reuters.

A majority of EU governments oppose a plan to impose hefty duties on solar panel imports from China, a survey of member states showed on Monday, undermining efforts by Brussels to pressure Beijing over its trade practices. The European Commission, the EU’s executive, accuses Chinese firms of selling solar panels at below cost in Europe – a practice known as “dumping” – and plans to impose duties, making it far harder for China to gain market share.

By Labutes IR:Volkswagen AG (VLKAY.PK) is one of the world's largest automobile manufacturers and the largest in Europe. Given its large size and global footprint, it faces competition virtually from almost every carmaker in the world.

By George Kesarios:Reuters reported that Dell's (DELL) largest independent shareholder, Southeastern Asset Management, is against the terms of the proposed LBO and vows to fight will all available means the proposed buyout.

The German state of Lower Saxony is considering banning the Islamic full-face veil for civil servants, its interior minister said Thursday, after a neighbouring region said it would take similar measures."The burqa has no place in public service," Uwe Schuenemann told the Neue Presse regional daily. "Lower Saxony is currently looking at legal regulations for employees and officials."On Wednesday, the western state of Hesse prohibited the wearing of the veil for civil servants, the first of Germany's 16 states to enact such a regulation.

The German presidency is little more than a symbolic position, nonetheless, the announcement by German President Christian Wulff that he will resign is a major embarrassment to German Chancellor Angela Merkel who hand-picked Wulff as president. Spiegel Online reports Wulff Announces He Will Step Down

Europe's biggest automaker Volkswagen is to join forces with DRB-HICOM, one of Malaysia's largest car distributors and importers, to assemble and manufacture cars in the country, a report said Sunday.Volkswagen inked an agreement Friday with DRB-HICOM to roll-out Volkswagen vehicles at its Pekan manufacturing facility in central Pahang state, the Edge business newspaper said.The announcement comes after national carmaker Proton in June said it had scrapped alliance talks with the German company, a move expected to dent Proton's attempts to secure export markets.