The semiconductor crunch that has battered the auto sector leaves carmakers with a stark choice: pay up, stock up or risk getting stuck on the sidelines as chipmakers focus on more lucrative business elsewhere.

Car manufacturers including Volkswagen, Ford and General Motors have cut output as the chip market was swept clean by makers of consumer electronics such as smartphones - the chip industry’s preferred customers because they buy more advanced, higher-margin chips.

APRNEWS - Abiy arrives in Berlin, meets Chancellor Merkel

Abiy Ahmed’s delegation arrived in the German capital, Berlin, on Tuesday morning. He has so far held a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

APRNEWS - Mesut Ozil thanked Arsenal fans for their “love” at a pre-season friendly after a torrid week following his racism allegations against Germany’s football body.

Ozil watched Arsenal’s penalties defeat to Atletico Madrid on Thursday from the bench but he received one of the biggest cheers of the night when his image was flashed up on the big screen.

REUTERS - World number two Rafa Nadal has been named in Spain’s squad for their Davis Cup World Group quarter-final against Germany in Valencia next month.

The 31-year-old has not played in the competition since helping five-time winners Spain return to the top tier of world tennis with victory in India in 2016.

AFP - Former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont is to appear in court Monday following his arrest in Germany which triggered a wave of protests in Catalonia where thousands of separatists faced off with police.

German police arrested Puigdemont on Sunday, after he crossed the border from Denmark, under a European warrant issued by Spain.

REUTERS  - Angela Merkel’s conservatives and their Social Democrat (SPD) partners faced a chorus of scepticism on Thursday as allies and opponents alike criticized a loveless coalition deal that some said showed the German chancellor’s time was coming to an end.

REUTERS - A 27-year-old Nigerian man suspected of being a member of Boko Haram and killing people in Nigeria during attacks on schools and a village has been arrested in Germany, the federal prosecutor said on Friday.

REUTERS - Germany will face old rivals France and the Netherlands after the trio were drawn together in the same three-team group for the inaugural UEFA Nations League, the latest addition to the football calendar, on Wednesday.

BBC - Five people have been killed in storm-related accidents as hurricane-strength winds tear across northern Europe.

REUTERS - German Chancellor Angela Merkel is considering joining French President Emmanuel Macron at the World Economic Forum in Davos next week in what could turn into an epic clash of competing world views with U.S. President Donald Trump.