Economy

BMW recalls half a million cars – can catch fire

BMW is recalling hundreds of thousands of cars globally due to a risk of the engine catching fire, reports AFP. According to German Bild, 575,000 vehicles are affected worldwide.

The fault is in some of the starter motors in cars manufactured between July 2020 and July 2022. It covers a total of sixteen car models.

“BMW recommends that after starting the engine – especially with remote start – you do not leave the vehicle unattended with the engine running,” the car giant writes in a statement.

Political situation in France
Macron's comfortable election promise about jobs completely unattainable

During the 2022 and 2024 election campaigns, French President Emmanuel Macron promised that unemployment would be down to 5 percent by the end of his term in office in 2027. New figures on Tuesday confirm that 7.9 percent of the population is unemployed and show with all clarity that the promise seems to be completely unattainable, writes Le Monde.

A year ago, the figure was 7.3 and in the last quarter it was 7.7, so the development is also negative. In neighboring Germany, the figure is 3.8 and the EU average is 5.9 percent.

Macron's election promise was very comfortable in the sense that he cannot be re-elected in 2027 anyway. If the promise fails, he "really never needs to be held accountable for it," writes the newspaper.

During his first term, Macron managed to reduce unemployment from 9.6 to 7.1 percent, which was a historically low figure. But since then, a number of problems have arisen and the issue has quietly disappeared from the government's agenda.

The Climate Threat Sweden and the Climate
Doctoral student: "Sweden should stick to green investments"

Swedish politics has become more reluctant to the green industry, and this contributes to China now taking the lead in terms of the steel industry's transformation. This is what Jonas Algers, a doctoral student at Lund University, writes in SvD Debatt.

"If green steel, like batteries, solar cells and electric cars, becomes a technology that is first developed in the EU but then commercialized in China, it will reduce Sweden's export opportunities and make the EU more dependent on China."

On Thursday, EU leaders will meet to discuss the Union's competitiveness. It is an excellent opportunity to refocus attention on the Swedish steel industry and industrial policy, he writes.

People are drinking less beer – Heineken cuts

Beer giant Heineken has announced that it will cut up to 6,000 jobs over the next two years to reduce costs, several media outlets report.

The company, which owns brands such as Amstel and Tecate, is being pressured by reduced beer consumption in key markets such as the US and Europe. Consumers are cutting back on alcohol for health reasons and to cope with rising living costs.

Total sales volume fell by 1.2 percent in 2025.