Blackout Britain – it’s only just the beginning. BASF, the world’s largest chemical company, has been headquartered in Germany since before the country formally existed. Founded in 1865 by the industrial pioneer Friedrich Engelhorn, it still occupies the vast site on the banks of the Rhine at Ludwigshafen where its first dye and soda factories were built. A third of its staff are employed... 

A local resident wades to a neighbor’s house on a flooded street near the swollen Elbe River in Elster, Germany, on June 7, 2013. Officials in eastern Germany have issued evacuation orders for thousands of people living near the swollen Elbe River. According to reports on Sunday, in Magdeburg, the state capital of Saxony-Anhalt, over 23,000 residents were evacuated after many buildings and streets... 

Floods in Central Europe kill 10 people in Czech Republic. Hundreds of people have been evacuated from the eastern city of Dresden in Germany, where thousands of troops are deployed to help flood-hit areas. On Wednesday, a city spokeswoman said that some 600 people needed to leave their homes in Dresden because of the flood. Electricity cut off was reported in parts of the city. The military also said...