Since 2017, the German company Govecs has produced the ‘E-Schwalbe’, an electric scooter inspired by the iconic East German original. The various models, offering different options in terms of battery capacity, power output, and top speed, are manufactured by a subsidiary in Poland. However, the future of the E-Schwalbe is now in doubt, as Govecs has filed for insolvency at the Munich District Court, Electrive.com reported.

U.K. Treasury chief Rachel Reeves Wednesday announced a second consecutive year of hefty tax rises, a move aimed at reassuring investors that the British state wasn’t slowly going bust under the weight of growing welfare spending and ballooning interest payments on government debt, the Wall Street Journal reported.

U.K. insolvencies are rising sharply, with a leading trade credit insurer saying any new government policies that stand to raise business costs risk further pressuring vulnerable sectors, Bloomberg News reported. The increase reflects the impact of measures announced in last year’s budget, including higher minimum wages and reduced business relief rates, according to Coface SA. The data analyzed by the firm showed insolvencies rose 3.9% year-on-year between May and October, reversing a decline seen before the policies took effect in April.

Russia's depressed car market has shown weak signs of recovery as 2025 draws to an end, but is set to hit near-record lows early next year as higher scrappage fees drive up prices, dealers and experts say, Reuters reported. Far from signalling a genuine rebound, a jump in sales of new cars in October reflects a rush by buyers to complete purchases before the higher charges kick in, they say. The outlook highlights the structural crisis in Russia's auto sector that goes back to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Countries must act now to keep slowing population growth from wreaking havoc on their long-term economic prospects, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said in a semiannual report on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The report said that aging populations have already begun to hinder economic growth in some nations — and that in emerging Europe, the drop in the share of working-age people is projected to reduce annual per capita GDP growth by an average of almost 0.4 percentage points a year between 2024 and 2050.

Ireland wants to help Canadian tech companies scale up across the Atlantic Ocean, its enterprise minister told The Logic, as the country gets ready to shepherd new regulations on artificial intelligence through the European Union next year. Peter Burke, Ireland’s minister for enterprise, tourism and employment, was in Toronto and Ottawa last week on a mission to expand trade and investment with Canada—especially through greater connections in the tech sector.

Finnish fuel chain Teboil, which is owned by Russian oil major Lukoil filed for corporate restructuring on Friday, news agency STT reported, citing a court filing, according to Reuters. The United States last month hit Lukoil with sanctions over Moscow's war in Ukraine, disrupting the company's international business. Teboil had on Wednesday said it was preparing to shut down all its stations as fuel runs out. Earlier in the week it had said it expected Lukoil to sell the chain. It was the first of Lukoil's international businesses to say it would close down as a result of the sanctions.

Britain’s largest life insurers have passed a key stress test from the Bank of England amid fears a shadow banking bubble could leave them vulnerable to a market crash, The Telegraph reported. The 11 insurers, including Aviva and Legal & General, were given a clean bill of health by the watchdog after being tested with an imagined market meltdown that wiped out almost £9bn of their capital.

A coalition of thousands of French retailers has sued the Chinese fast fashion retailer Shein, accusing it of unfair competition, according to the French Retail Council, a move that escalated a backlash against the company in France this week, the New York Times reported. The class action suit, filed on Wednesday in a commercial court in southern France, was brought on by 12 federations and 100 large French brands.