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Deutsche Lufthansa flight attendants resumed work after an eight-hour pay strike forced Europe’s second-largest airline to cancel most services at its main Frankfurt airport hub. Cabin crew members reported for duty after the walkout called by the Unabhaengige Flugbegleiter Organisation union ended at 1 pm, said Thomas Jachnow, a Lufthansa spokesman. The airline canceled at least 207 flights, primarily within Europe as well as services to and from some US cities, Tel Aviv and Chennai, India, according to Lufthansa’s website. The dispute centres on the pace of pay raises and whether separate wage scales apply to some groups of workers as Lufthansa implements a 1.5 billion-euro ($1.9 billion) savings programme dubbed Score.

Japan’s industrial output resumes slide in July

Japanese industrial production resumed its slide, falling 1.2% in July from June amid slumping global demand, the govern-ment said on Friday. It’s a disappoin-ting sign for the world’s third-biggest economy and suggests that any sort of recovery is sputtering. Manufacturers had much rosier predictions a month ago, when they forecast that factory output, a key indicator for Japan’s export-oriented economy, would jump 4.5% in July. But weak global and domestic demand is weighing on manufacturers, particularly electronics makers, who are facing intense competition from South Korean, Taiwanese and other Asian manufacturers. The strong yen, which erodes overseas earnings, is also eating into profits.

Merkel to visit Spain, Austria next week

The German governm-ent says Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit Spain and Austria next week in the latest round of eurozone

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