UK housing market downturn eases but sentiment remains ‘fragile’, surveyors say – business live

Brent crude dips slightly below $78 a barrel; most Asian stock markets bounce back

Volkswagen’s proposal to slash up to 100,000 jobs and close factories faces a major test on Thursday as they are formally put to its supervisory board, with protests planned at all plants in Germany.

IG Metall, the influential staff union, has organised demonstrations involving shop stewards and union council members at 18 sites at Europe’s biggest carmaker, including its headquarters. It told the chief executive, Oliver Blume, that he cannot “pass the buck for failures of recent years on to the workforce”.