Bayer must pay significantly less in Roundup trial

JEFFERSON CITY - The pharmaceutical and agrochemical company Bayer must pay significantly less than expected in a lawsuit over the weedkiller Roundup (glyphosate). As court documents revealed on Friday, Judge Daniel Green in Jefferson City (Missouri) reduced the damages awarded by the jury to the three plaintiffs from a total of 1.5 billion US dollars to 600 million dollars.

Bilfinger interested in further acquisitions

FRANKFURT - The industrial services provider Bilfinger is targeting further takeovers. "Our focus is primarily on the growth markets of the Middle East and the USA," said CFO Matti Jäkel to the "Borsen-Zeitung" (Saturday edition). "We are also interested in one or the other in Europe." In Germany, however, Bilfinger is so broadly positioned that there is no need for takeovers.

ROUNDUP/'HB': SAP plans to cut 2600 jobs in Germany

WALLDORF - According to a newspaper report, the software manufacturer SAP is planning to cut 2,600 jobs in Germany as part of its announced major restructuring program. A spokesman for the company did not comment on Saturday on the specific figure, which emerged from a report in the "Handelsblatt". Previously, there had only been talk of a total of 8000 jobs affected by the restructuring. SAP announced this in January without specifying where and how many jobs would be lost.

US President Biden promises Baltimore a new bridge quickly

BALTIMORE - Following the collapse of the Baltimore bridge, US President Joe Biden has promised the East Coast city rapid assistance. He would "move heaven and earth to rebuild the bridge as quickly as humanly possible", the President said on Friday during a visit to the site of the accident in the state of Maryland, according to a report in the newspaper "USA Today". His government would also do everything in its power to bring those responsible for the collapse to justice. The head of state appealed to Congress in Washington to approve the necessary funds for reconstruction.

More than 400,000 balcony power plants - number rising rapidly

BONN/BERLIN - More and more German balconies are being fitted with solar cells. The market master data register now lists more than 400,000 plug-in solar systems in operation. In the first quarter alone, 50,000 of the devices, also known as balcony power plants due to their frequent installation location, were put into operation. The actual figures are likely to be even higher, however, as there are unregistered systems on the one hand and systems can also be registered later.

Novartis: Leqvio significantly lowers bad cholesterol

BASEL - Early treatment with the cholesterol-lowering drug Leqvio can bring significant benefits, according to the pharmaceutical company Novartis. In combination with statin therapy, the "bad" cholesterol LDL-C can be significantly lowered, Novartis announced on Sunday night. The data from the "V-Initiate" study were presented at a congress in the USA. Compared to standard treatment, a significantly higher proportion of patients who received Leqvio achieved the recommended LDL-C target.

Europe's leading banks move closer to US competition

FRANKFURT - Europe's leading banks caught up with their US competitors last year thanks to increased interest income. EY partner Ralf Eckert explained that the major European banks had caught up significantly with their competitors in a number of key performance indicators. "They were able to benefit more than average from the significant rise and normalization of interest rates and increased their profits significantly more than American institutions."

Setback for BVB in top match: 0:1 against Stuttgart

DORTMUND - Away coup in Munich, a home defeat against Stuttgart - disillusionment has returned to Dortmund just one week after the statement win at FC Bayern. With the 0:1 (0:0) on Saturday, coach Edin Terzic's team conceded their third defeat against VfB this season and suffered a severe setback in the fight for Champions League qualification. After Serhou Guirassy's goal (64') in front of 81,365 spectators, BVB slipped to fifth place. That gives little encouragement for Wednesday's quarter-final first leg at Atlético Madrid.

Facebook group Meta allows more AI content with warnings

MENLO PARK - Facebook company Meta will allow more AI-generated or manipulated photos and videos with warnings on its platforms instead of deleting them. With this change, Meta is following a recommendation from its independent supervisory body, which feared a restriction of freedom of speech. The relaxation does not apply to content containing hate speech, bullying or misinformation about elections, as the company announced on Friday.

Music subscriptions in Europe can now be purchased outside the App Store

CUPERTINO/BRUSSELS - Music streaming providers in the European Economic Area will in future be allowed to direct their users to subscribe outside the Apple App Store. However, the iPhone company wants to charge a fee of up to 27 percent of the purchase price. The US company introduced the new option around a month after the EU Commission imposed a billion-euro competition fine following a complaint from rival Spotify.

^

More news

-ROUNDUP 2: Rising rail tolls - Ministry responds to industry concerns

-ROUNDUP/Musk: Tesla to unveil Robotaxi on August 8th

-Deutsche Bahn must save - also in terms of personnel

- 'Ende Gelände' blocks coal-fired power plant in Gelsenkirchen

°

Customer tip:

ROUNDUP: You can read a summary in the company overview. There are several reports on this topic on the dpa-AFX news service.

/mis