Klaus Lauer

German media group ProSiebenSat.1 said on Thursday it has approved an agreement with U.S. private equity firm General Atlantic on the acquisition of the U.S. firm's minority stakes in dating platform ParshipMeet and internet holding NuCom Group.

More than half a million people are facing travel disruption at German airports on Monday where a 24-hour strike has led to thousands of flight cancellations in a dispute about workers' pay.

Shares of ProSiebenSat.1 tumbled on Thursday, a day after the German media group said it was in talks with General Atlantic (GA) to regain full ownership of two of its units.

Volkswagen's CEO has spoken to the carmaker's Chinese joint venture partners about their interest in investing in Europe but was not aware of any concrete decisions on their part, a VW spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Ryanair plans to operate a full schedule of flights from Tel Aviv this summer and is hopeful that Ben Gurion Airport will reopen its shuttered Terminal 1, senior executive Eddie Wilson said in an interview on Thursday.

Lufthansa is set to acquire a stake in Italian state-owned airline ITA on Jan. 13, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters on Wednesday, bringing to a close years of talks.

The German economy will grow by only 0.1% next year, following two consecutive years of contraction, according to the forecasts of the German Economic Institute IW, seen exclusively by Reuters on Thursday.

The four German states with a Volkswagen presence want to work together to ensure that the struggling carmaker does not shut any of its plants, the states' economy ministries said in a joint position paper seen by Reuters on Monday.

Irish low-cost airline Ryanair said on Thursday it would cut 12% of its traffic through German airports, making good on threats to reduce its presence in the country due to some of the highest location charges in Europe.

German media empire Axel Springer will be split between CEO Mathias Doepfner and private equity firm KKR , the company said on Thursday, in a deal that secures the billionaire chief executive's control over news titles Bild and Politico.