In light of growing concerns in Europe’s troubled car industry, German auto parts supplier Bosch is considering firing employees from its Salzgitter plant if a trade dispute between China and the Netherlands over Dutch chipmaker Nexperia is not resolved soon.
After China banned exports of Nexperia’s finished goods in response to the Netherlands seizing control of the business whose Chinese owner Wingtech has been identified by the United States as a potential threat to national security, Bosch and other suppliers are scrambling for alternatives.
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The standoff, in addition to US tariffs and Chinese restrictions on rare-earths exports, could result from Nexperia’s chips being widely used in automotive parts.
In an email to the Reuters news agency, a Bosch representative said, “We are currently doing everything we can serve our customers and reduce production restraints.”
She continued, “We are planning to make adjustments to our working hours, especially in Salzgitter,” adding that potential furlough measures were being put together at the plant.
Around 1,400 people work at Salzgitter, which is Bosch’s lead plant for motor control units for combustion and electric vehicles.
Volkswagen, which includes Porsche and the core VW brand, announced earlier on Friday that it had secured production in Germany for the upcoming work week.
Short-term effects on the Volkswagen Group’s production network are not generally ruled out, according to a spokesperson.
Worse situation
Mercedes and BMW both issued warnings about the networks of their suppliers.
A regional IG Metall union representative in Germany issued a Friday warning about a worsening situation.
At a conference in Munich, Horst Ott, IG Metall district manager in the southern state of Bavaria, stated that some automotive suppliers are already experiencing “severe difficulties” and have begun to announce employee furlough plans.
He didn’t use the company’s name.
In an effort to stop production stops, Bosch claimed to be looking for alternative suppliers and optimizing its global production network.
The majority of Nexperia chips are produced in China, with Europe and China being the main producers.
Industry sources claim that there are potential alternatives to switching suppliers, with Infineon, NXP, and Texas Instruments being the only ones that take longer due to the approval processes.
A political solution has been requested by auto industry organizations.
As inflationary pressures continue to weigh on the domestic economy, consumer prices in the United States decreased less than expected in September.
Prices increased by 0.3% in September from the previous month, a slowdown from the 0.4% increase in August, according to the consumer price index (CPI) report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday.
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The CPI increased by 3% in comparison to the same period last year. A 2.9% increase was reported in the last month’s report.
The price of gasoline, which increased by 4.1 percent per month, was the main driver of the increases. Over the same time period, the energy index increased by 1.5 percent overall. After rising by 0.5% on a monthly basis in August, food prices increased by 0.2% in September.
After rising 0.3% in August, prices for items and services other than food and energy, such as clothing, travel, household, and shelter, increased by 0.2% on a month-ahead basis in September.
The Federal Reserve meeting is scheduled for next week, when the central bank is anticipated to cut its benchmark interest rate by another 25 basis points to 3.75 percent or 4.
According to Heather Boushey, senior research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Reimagining the Economy Project, “Today’s release of new consumer price index data shows an economy where prices continue to rise faster than the Federal Reserve’s preferred pace.”
The government shutdown, however, resulted in a partial economic data blackout, with more than half of US economic data unavailable, making the central bank use only limited data to gauge interest rates.
There was a change in the CPI report. It is used to assist the US Social Security Administration in making its initial cost-of-living adjustment, which was due on October 15. The Social Security Administration announced that beneficiaries will see a 2.8% increase in monthly payments in 2026 after the release of the CPI data on Friday.
Before the government shutdown, a large portion of the information was released. The Bureau of Labor Statistics already faces budgetary and staffing constraints, which means that the data for the November reports is not being collected. This poses challenges for economists in the months to come.
According to Boushey, the Trump administration’s inability to develop a coherent economic strategy could cause the country’s economy to turn around.
Due to the shutdown, the White House stated that the federal government wouldn’t release inflation data until next month.
On X, the social media platform that was formerly known as Twitter, the White House stated, “Surveyors cannot deploy to the field – depriving us of critical data.”
At the Kerem Shalom crossing, Israeli protesters are seen blocking aid trucks. Hamas is accused of violating the ceasefire. WHO estimates $7 billion will be spent on reconstruction of Gaza’s crumbling health system and warns that deliveries will continue to be “fraction of what is needed.”
On the site of what was the White House’s East Wing, US President Donald Trump has begun construction of a $ 300m ballroom.
The complex’s first significant structural change since 1948 was the beginning of the construction project, which started on Monday. The former East Wing, which was used for ceremonies and the first lady’s offices, is being torn down.
Concerning the level of access this might grant donors to the country’s most powerful man, the work is being funded by private donations from people, businesses, and tech companies, including Google and Amazon.
According to a pledge form seen by CBS News, donors may be eligible for “recognition” of their contributions. However, more information about this has not been made.
What will the cost of the new ballroom be?
Since plans were made public earlier this year, the estimated cost of building Trump’s ornate, 8 360 square meters (90, 0000 square feet) ballroom, which he claims will accommodate 999 people, has fluctuated.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that the cost would be about $200 million in a statement released in August. Trump, however, increased that figure to $300 million this week.
The National Capital Planning Commission, the federal agency overseeing these operations, is shut down, and construction began during a US government shutdown.
On October 22, 2025, US President Donald Trump presents a rendering of the planned ballroom in the White House’s Oval Office.
Who provides the ballroom funding?
Every President has dreamed of having a ballroom at the White House to accommodate guests for grand parties, state visits, etc., Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday. I’m honored to be the first president to finally start this urgent project at no extra cost to the American taxpayer.
He added that “The White House Ballroom is being privately funded by numerous generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly” and that he himself would also contribute to the bill.
However, it appears that at least some of the donations were made as part of negotiations with Trump regarding other matters.
As part of a legal agreement with Trump, YouTube will contribute $22 million to the ballroom’s construction as part of a settlement in 2021 regarding the suspension of his account following the Capitol riots that year when his supporters seized Congress on January 6 in an effort to stop Joe Biden from assuming the presidency. Alphabet, the parent company of YouTube and Google, is the same.
How much money would be donated by the White House was not made public. On a list that the White House gave to the media included other well-known donors, some of whom have recently been involved in US legal battles. Among them are:
Amazon
The Federal Trade Commission settled with Amazon last month over allegations that Jeff Bezos-founded multinational tech company had enrolled millions of customers in its streaming service, Prime, without their knowledge and made it difficult to revoke the subscriptions.
In addition to fixing its subscription system, Amazon will pay $ 2.5 billion in penalties and refunds as a result of the settlement.
Apple
CEO Tim Cook serves as CEO of US-based multinational Apple, which produces the iPhone, iPad, and MacBook.
Apple requested on Tuesday that a US appeals court overturn a federal judge’s April ruling that forbids it from collecting commissions on some app purchases.
Coinbase
The largest US cryptocurrency exchange is Coinbase. CEO Brian Armstrong serves as its leader.
A US federal judge upheld the company’s claim that it had the authority to file a narrowed lawsuit on September 30 and that it had the authority to sue the company for allegedly hiding significant business risks, including the possibility of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit and the possibility of losing assets in bankruptcy.
Google
A significant antitrust lawsuit against Google was brought by the US Department of Justice last month. The tech giant unlawfully monopolized online search and search advertising, according to a federal court ruling.
Lockheed Martin
President and CEO Jim Taiclet serves as the company’s president and CEO.
Lockheed Martin agreed to pay $ 29.74 million in February to settle federal claims that the business had overcharged the US government by providing inflated cost estimates for F-35 fighter jet contracts from 2013 to 2015.
Microsoft
Satya Nadella, the tech group’s CEO, made a record $ 96.5 million in 2025 as the company’s CEO.
Family of Lutnick
The Family of Lutnick is associated with businessman Howard Lutnick, who is also Trump’s commerce secretary.
The investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald is led by Lutnick. His business, Cantor Gaming, has previously been accused of repeatedly breaking state and federal laws, according to Politico’s report from February.
Twins Winklevoss
There are separate donors for Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.
The brothers are known for cofounding the Gemini and Winklevoss Capital exchanges as well as US investors and entrepreneurs.
The SEC agreed to settle a lawsuit involving Gemini’s unregistered cryptocurrency lending program to retail investors last month.
Who else is there?
The list also includes:
Altria Group
Booz Allen Hamilton
Caterpillar
Comcast
Emilia Fanjul and J. Pepe
Hard Rock International
HP
Meta Platforms
Micron Technology
NextEra Energy
Palantir Technologies
Ripple
Reynolds American
T-Mobile
Tether America
Union Pacific
Adelson Family Foundation
Stefan E. Brodie
Betty W. Johnson Foundation
Cascarillas Charles and Marissa
Shari and Edward Glazer
Harold Hamm
Benjamin Leon Sr.
Foundation for Laura and Isaac Perlmutter
Stephen A. Schwarzman
Konstantin Sokolov
Jeff Sprecher and Kelly Loeffler
Paolo Tiramani
Is Trump’s ballroom’s private funding moral?
Bruce Fein, a constitutional lawyer, claimed that the private funding is in violation of the Anti-Deficiency Act.
The executive branch of government is required by the US federal law to not accept donations from private individuals for official government purposes unless Congress has given them a legally enforceable consent.
According to Fein, the act safeguards the “congressive power of the purse.”
Consider the following analogy: Congress won’t fund a wall with Mexico. Could Trump proceed with the construction of the wall that Congress rejected funding with funding from Elon Musk or another billionaire friends?
All six people on board a maritime vessel have been killed as a result of the US’s 10th missile strike on it.
The total number of dead since the start of the bombing campaign is 43, with Friday’s attack adding to that number.
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The US government has announced three strikes this week in as many days, which is also a rapid escalation of the air strikes.
Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, identified the victims as Tren de Aragua members and shared the news about the most recent bombing on his social media account.
He further claimed that President Donald Trump had once more granted permission for the alleged strike in Caribbean Sea waters.
Hegseth wrote that despite providing no proof, “the vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling,” and that it was moving along a known narco-trafficking route.
Hegseth added that this was the first nighttime military attack on a boat.
He then made a second, stronger, point, repeating the assertion that drug traffickers should not be treated similarly to armed organizations like al-Qaeda.
Hegseth remarked, “We will treat you like we treat al-Qaeda, if you are a narco-terrorist smuggling drugs in our hemisphere.” We will track your people, hunt you down, and kill you, whether it be day or night.
[Andrea de Silva/Reuters] [Turbo and Tobago] remembers Chad Joseph, who they claim was killed in a US military attack in the Caribbean.
Legal concerns grow.
Latin American cartels have traditionally been referred to as “foreign terrorist organizations” by the Trump administration, but they have started doing so this year.
Legal experts also contend that using military force alone does not support the use of terrorism.
Colombia and Venezuelan leaders have already condemned the bombing campaign as “murder,” and UN human rights experts have also criticized the killings as potential violations of international law.
Treaties like the UN Charter, which forbid the use of force in self-defense, are largely exceptions.
In response to the strikes, UN human rights experts, including Ben Saul, wrote that “international law does not permit the unilateral use of force abroad to combat terrorism and drug trafficking.”
11 people were killed when a missile strike on September 2st, which started the bombing campaign. In the same month, two more attacks were carried out.
However, the strikes have increased in frequency and their scope expanded in October.
While the majority of the known strikes were concentrated in the Caribbean, two were carried out for the first time last week in the Pacific Ocean.
Two survivors and a first come to mind when an attack on October 16 targeted a submersible.
Since then, those survivors have been re-admitted to Ecuador and Colombia, their home countries. The government in Ecuador let the man go shortly after his arrival, claiming that there was no evidence to charge him with a crime.
The bombing campaign has drawn criticism from opponents of extrajudicial killings. Some of the victims have been named as their loved ones by families in Colombia and Trinidad and Tobago, an island nation off the coast of Venezuela.
According to the families, the men were fishermen and not drug traffickers.
As Chad Joseph’s family claims he was one of the victims of a number of US airstrikes, his home in Las Cuevas, Trinidad and Tobago, is ad a banner hangs outside his residence [Andrea de Silva/Reuters].
Trump asserts authority.
The Trump administration has nonetheless stated that it has no intention of halting its drug trafficking campaign.
The US president has also repeatedly threatened to expand his bombing campaign to include targets overland, a promise that hasn’t yet been fulfilled.
Trump was asked on Thursday at a White House roundtable about his plan to crack down on illegal drugs and why he hasn’t asked Congress for military authorization as the bombing campaign progresses.
Why not just ask for a declaration of war if you are going to fight these cartels and Congress is likely to support it? The president was questioned by one reporter.
Although it has previously issued “authorizations for the use of military force” or AUMFs for the president to carry out specific attacks, Congress still has the exclusive authority to authorize military action under the Constitution.
Critics claim that US presidents’ unilateral decisions have been increasingly used to justify military campaigns.
Trump was clear that he needed no such approval when the reporter inquired about it.
“I don’t believe we’ll need to request a declaration of war.” I believe that we will simply murder those who enter our nation with drugs. OK? We’re going to murder them. At Thursday’s roundtable, Trump responded, “They’re going to be, like, dead.”
Trump had claimed that the number of fatal drug overdoses supported his decision to launch the deadly bombing campaign at a press conference with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte the day before.
According to him, “This is a national security issue,” claiming that 300,000 US citizens have lost their lives as a result of the drug trade. And that gives you authority.
However, US government data does not support those statistics. According to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 73, 690 overdose deaths occurred in the US between April and April.
A new international security force, led by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, will only be able to support countries that Israel is “comfortable with.” He reiterated that UNRWA would not play a role in Gaza’s governance and that Hamas would not be involved.
