German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday after meeting with leaders of Adam Opel GmbH that it was "not yet determined" whether the automaker would be given 1 billion euros ($1.25 billion) in loan guarantees from the government, the Associated Press reported yesterday. Opel, a subsidiary of General Motors Corp., is seeking the guarantees because the company expects difficult credit conditions on the open market due to the world financial crisis. Merkel said that government officials planned further talks on the issue and should come to a decision by Christmas.

The economy of the euro zone slipped into recession for the first time during the third quarter, the European Union’s statistics agency confirmed Friday, as the financial crisis continued to depress manufacturing activity and consumer demand, the New York Times reported today. Gross domestic product declined 0.2 percent in the third quarter from the previous three months in both the euro zone, which comprises the 15 countries that use the euro as their currency, and the European Union as a whole, according to an initial estimate published by the agency Eurostat.