Europe Archives - Zoom News

Woman Gets Life Sentence for Murder of Doppelganger

19Dec

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Europe, Germany, News

Woman Gets Life Sentence for Murder of Doppelganger

A 25-year-old woman has been sentenced to life imprisonment in Germany for killing a 23-year-old woman who looked like her in an attempt to start a new life under the victim's name. The case is known in Germany as the doppelganger murder. Shahraban K. searched for a doppelganger on social media. She arranged a meeting with the victim and killed her with the help of a 26-year-old man. He has also been sentenced to life imprisonment. K. had also ordered the murder of her brother-in-law, but it did not take place. She has been convicted of that attempted murder. K. allegedly faked her death to get away from her family. Her parents were looking for K. in August 2022 when they found a body in a car in Ingolstadt. They thought it was their daughter, but investigation showed it w...

TeamViewer Aims to Expand with US Acquisition

10Dec

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Business, Europe, Germany, News, Technology, US

TeamViewer Aims to Expand with US Acquisition

German TeamViewer is acquiring American 1E for 720 million dollars. In addition to remote support, it also wants to improve the user experience, supplemented with AI. 1E is a 300-person company with $77 million in recurring revenue, 99 percent of which comes from enterprise customers. It is positioned in the market with its digital employee experience (DEX) platform, primarily intended to make the experience more pleasant for end users. TeamViewer sees this as an excellent extension to evolve its remote assistance tool into an end-to-end offering. It will include management of digital workplaces and predictive maintenance, which should reduce irritation for the end user. 1E is an American company (with offices in the UK, India, and Ireland), which gives TeamViewer an extra foo...

Spanish Authorities Do Not Want Fire Tourists: Call to Stay Away From Forest Fires

27Mar

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Europe, News, Spain

Spanish Authorities Do Not Want Fire Tourists: Call to Stay Away From Forest Fires

Spanish authorities have called for people to avoid forest fires in Castellón and Teruel, near Valencia. So-called "fire tourists" can put themselves at risk and disrupt efforts to control wildfires. "We ask again, especially tourists, not to approach the perimeter." In Castellón and Teruel, near Valencia, Spain, wildfires have burned large parts of the region to ashes. Since Saturday, 700 firefighters have been trying to contain the fire. In addition, firefighting planes and helicopters were deployed. It is the first major forest fire in Spain this year. The forest fire destroyed more than 4,000 hectares of forest. As a result, about 1,700 Spaniards had to leave their homes. Since the wildfires started, several disaster tourists have explored the neighbourhood. The police have a...

Swiss Coalition Party: UBS/Credit Suisse Merger Bank Too Big

20Mar

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Business, Europe, News, Switzerland

Swiss Coalition Party: UBS/Credit Suisse Merger Bank Too Big

The merger bank created after UBS's takeover of Credit Suisse is too big for Switzerland. Leader Roger Nordmann of the social-democratic SP said this on Monday. That party is the second largest in the Swiss parliament and is part of the governing coalition. “The new UBS is a huge risk,” said Nordmann. “That bank will soon have over 1500 billion francs in assets and is simply too big for Switzerland.” Moreover, if UBS got into trouble, the Swiss central bank SNB and the Swiss government would not have enough resources to prevent a collapse. The acquisition of Credit Suisse by UBS was finalized this weekend. Credit Suisse had been hit by a series of scandals and reported that more and more customers were withdrawing their money from the bank. The financial markets were alread...

ECB can Raise Interest Rates Less Strongly Due to Unrest SVB

13Mar

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Business, Europe, News

ECB can Raise Interest Rates Less Strongly Due to Unrest SVB

The collapse of US bank Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) reduces the likelihood of a European Central Bank (ECB) pledge of a major rate hike later this week, economists say. The ECB's policymakers will meet on Thursday and decide how much to raise interest rates. At the last two meetings, interest rates rose by 0.5 percentage points. Economists initially expected that interest rates would be raised again with such a giant step, but that may now be less strong. Economists also think the US central bank will not raise interest rates by 50 basis points next week. Some market experts even speculate that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will refrain from raising interest rates altogether. "Smaller interest rate steps by the Fed are now more likely," said Van Lanschot Kempen on Monday. Last week,...

The European Commission Raids Fragrance Industry for Cartel Investigation

7Mar

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Business, Europe, News

The European Commission Raids Fragrance Industry for Cartel Investigation

On Tuesday, the European Commission raided companies and an organization in the fragrance industry for possible violations of cartel rules. Brussels said the "unannounced inspections" took place in several European Union member states. The committee has also sent formal requests for information to various companies active in fragrances. According to a statement, there may be cooperation in the supply of fragrances and ingredients for fragrances used in consumer products such as personal care and household goods. However, the committee says it is concerned that competition rules have been violated. The committee mentioned no names. Nor was it stated in which Member States the inspections took place. However, Brussels is cooperating in the investigation with the American, Britis...

Hundreds of Angry Farmers are Driving Through Paris in Tractors

8Feb

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Europe, France, News

Hundreds of Angry Farmers are Driving Through Paris in Tractors

On Wednesday, hundreds of farmers travelled through the French capital Paris with their tractors. They argue against “restrictions” imposed on them, for example, in the use of pesticides. Following a ruling by the European Court of Justice, a government decision last month to ban the use of certain pesticides in beet cultivation led to the action. French farmers have also been complaining for months that they are faced with higher costs or that they want to be able to store water to irrigate their crops. The peasant protest went right through Paris, accompanied by the police. Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau has received a delegation of protesting farmers. He wants to discuss support with the beet sector on Thursday. It had been November 2019 since another demonstration of...

German Police Arrest 25 Right-Wing Extremists Who Wanted to Storm Parliament and Commit a Coup

7Dec

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Europe, Germany, News

German Police Arrest 25 Right-Wing Extremists Who Wanted to Storm Parliament and Commit a Coup

Twenty-five right-wing extremists were arrested in Germany on Wednesday morning who allegedly wanted to commit an armed coup. This was announced by a spokesman for the federal prosecutor's office. As part of a significant operation, some three thousand German police officers carried out raids on more than 130 locations on Wednesday morning: in eleven of the sixteen German states and also in Italy and Austria. The group reportedly wanted to storm the Reichstag and stage a coup. "The accused are part of a terrorist organization founded in November 2021, which set itself the goal of overthrowing the existing government in Germany and replacing it with its form of government, which they had already devised," said the Generalbundesanwalt. . For example,,, those responsible for new min...

The European Commission Wants to Intervene in the Event of High Gas Prices

17Nov

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Business, Europe, News

The European Commission Wants to Intervene in the Event of High Gas Prices

The European Commission is proposing to EU countries to introduce a “correction mechanism” for gas prices to temporarily apply a maximum price during periods of “exceptionally high prices” on the European gas market. The ceiling for the European wholesale price should be predefined concerning the cost of liquefied gas (LNG) on the world market and adjusted monthly. The correction mechanism is activated if the gas price on the leading Amsterdam gas market exceeds the maximum and is automatically deactivated as soon as possible, the committee writes in a plan submitted to the EU ambassadors. She argues that the temporary mechanism should prevent suppliers from selling their gas elsewhere, which would jeopardize supplies in the EU. EU leaders have asked the executive board of the...

Eurozone Economy is Still Growing, But at a Slower Pace

31Oct

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Business, Europe, News

Eurozone Economy is Still Growing, But at a Slower Pace

The economy in the eurozone continued to grow in the third quarter, reports the European statistical office Eurostat. However, growth is less strong than in the second quarter, when the economy was still progressing strongly due to the reopening of the economy after the corona restrictions. Meanwhile, high inflation and interest rate hikes to limit this depreciation also affect economic growth. The eurozone economy was 2.1 percent larger in the third quarter than a year earlier. Across the European Union, the economy had grown 2.4 percent. However, in both areas, growth compared to the second quarter was 0.2 percent. Portugal had the strongest annual growth at 4.9 percent of the countries that already provided data. The economy in Latvia has already contracted. Major economies...