Business news with words east+plans+power. 2 news.

GERMAN companies, including Bayer AG and MTU Aero Engines Holding AG, plan to hire more workers and increase investment next year even as growth in Europe's largest economy slows. Nineteen of the 29 German companies that participated in an annual Bloomberg News survey yesterday said they intend to hire staff next year. Thirteen out of the 15 that commented on investment plans said they will spend as much or more than this year. Most participants expect the economy to slow. Executives expect the economy to keep expanding as the lowest unemployment rate in more than 14 years encourages consumer spending and demand from emerging economies such as China and east Europe fuels sales abroad. The euro's 10-percent increase against the US dollar in the past year has made exports less competitive, record oil prices have sapped consumers' purchasing power and a credit squeeze has pushed up borrowing costs. "Germany's business sector is rather confident about the new year despite the

Curbing dangerous nuclear technologies gets trickier WHEN Russia announced it had started shipping low-enriched uranium fuel to power the civilian nuclear reactor it is helping Iran build at Bushehr, George Bush tried to squeeze some comfort out of a piece of news which--for the international effort to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions--was a disappointing about-turn. "If the Iranians accept that [Russian] uranium for a civilian power plant, then there's no need for them to learn how to enrich," he said on December 17th. True, in theory. But Iran refuses to follow such logic. By making long-delayed fuel shipments to Bushehr now, Russia will weaken further the UN Security Council effort to end Iran's defiance. It also risks undermining plans to limit the spread of dangerous nuclear technologies at a time when many governments, including a number in the volatile Middle East, plan to invest in nuclear power. ...