Essen

MADRID - Spanish construction and services giant ACS said Thursday it has launched an all-share takeover bid for Germany's largest builder, Hochtief AG, in which it already holds a nearly 30 percent stake.

BERLIN - Theo Albrecht, the secretive co-founder of Germany's worldwide discount supermarket chain Aldi, a co-owner of Trader Joe's in the United States and one of Europe's richest men, has died at age 88.

ESSEN, Germany - The Emscher river in western Germany's Ruhr region was one of the country's most polluted for decades, so bad that parents spooked children with warnings they could die if they fell into the poisonous stew of sewage and chemical waste.