International Headlines and Stories

– Manage the post-Fukushima

The renaissance that nuclear power seemed to promise, in the world, there are a few more months, will she be? Areva had put in a position to be a key player in the expansion of civil atom, only controlled and profitable alternative to fossil fuels and "clean" in CO2 emissions which is more. The French group and hired some 12,000 people each year to keep pace expected of its business.

Since 11 March, the situation has changed dramatically: Germany, Switzerland and now Italy, have decided to end their civil nuclear program. India, with firm orders for new reactors was expected before the summer, will surely prolong his reflection. Anne Lauvergeon refused to believe in a "nuclear winter".For her as for other supporters of the atom, the policy decisions taken today as the heat of the moment can be questioned tomorrow.

For now, the international development of Areva is at stake in the coming months, all the nuclear installations in Europe will be reviewed. Although the terms of these "stress tests" are still being defined, Areva will necessarily be at the forefront. Like Anne Lauvergeon, his successor will have to become a diplomat of nuclear power, both to reassure his interlocutors on the safety of this activity and convince them to pursue an effective dialogue with the French group.

– Restore the finances of the company

For a long time, critics of Anne Lauvergeon stigmatize poor operational management of the company and its finances in jeopardy.In 2010, the company has also accused an operating loss of 423 million euros and the rating agency has become mediocre. The group also suffers from having camped on his credo of "vertical integration", to the point of purchase, too expensive, its own uranium mines, which now require large investments. Finally, the action Areva is listed in this form since May 30, has lost nearly 15% high risk personal loans.

– Pacifier relationship with EDF

Relations have never been easy between the two companies, they have become abominable between Anne and Henri Proglio Lauvergeon, CEO of the utility since the fall of 2009. Regularly called to order by the state, their shareholders to both, the two companies to work together STRIPS sentenced last fall to formalize a strategic partnership.

All aspects of collaboration are concerned, the supply of uranium to the reprocessing of spent fuel, to building new reactors. But the various working groups have not yet yielded any conclusions. Again, the management of Areva will be watched around the corner. Luc Oursel will be on a narrow track of restoring harmonious relations with EDF, without appearing the vassal.

Seen from the Elysee, the issue is crucial because it is to harmonize relationships within the French nuclear industry to win export contracts. Without compromising the ability of Areva to sell only his skills to other electricians global EDF's competitors.

– To service the Finnish EPR

It's really cursed the site for Areva. The new generation of reactor Olkiluoto 3 should have been operational in 2009. It will not be before 2012.His bill, expected around 3.5 billion euros, has appreciated by 3 billion euros, lead accounts Areva. The company – which has staked his credibility by taking on the project management of this project – no longer has the right to make mistakes. The EPR is the cornerstone of its international development. And it is that Luc Oursel return the task to make a successful export, arguing its assets in terms of safety.

At the same time, the new leader of the nuclear group will tackle the launch of the TDD, a new medium-power reactor that. Through this case is the ability of the company to expand its portfolio of facilities that will be tested.

When the European Commission is not happy, she indicated in a letter. According to sources, the States Dexia shareholders received one of these missives comminatory few weeks ago. Since then, the Franco-Belgian bank is boiling. The summits have intensified last week. A strategic committee of the board of directors was held on Monday, the eve of a plenary session where the accounts have been arrested in the first quarter. Reportedly, Pierre Mariani, Dexia's managing director, has called for an acceleration of sales of the group, the risk of large losses.

The European Commission accuses Dexia does not respect the roadmap that it had agreed lip service in February 2010, in consideration of state aid received in 2008. Brussels gives go to Dexia in June to come into compliance.The ultimatum is serious: the Commission has in its hands a "nuclear weapon" which would jeopardize state aid … His criticisms affect the balance of Dexia's balance sheet and profitability of own funds on certain transactions below target. "The Commission's complaints are very technical. But the tone makes it clear that the Commission wants a fight because she never believed in Dexia's business model, "recalls a close case.

Faced with this pressure, Pierre Mariani offers to settle permanently in the past. His plan: sell bulk whole sections of the 138 billion euros of assets under management now in extinction. In political terms, this would allow him to get out once and for all that power relationship with the Permanent Commission. Financially, the arbitration is to anticipate future losses and thus save carrying costs story boost future profitability.The Franco-Belgian bank can afford. It has, in fact, a thick mattress capital drives, with a ratio of 13.4%.

No recapitalization

The bank would therefore not need recapitalization whatever the magnitude of the purge restraint. Until then, sales of portfolio inherited from the past were carried out over the water, almost no impairment. But the debt crisis is not helping European Dexia. The bank just to give Crediop Sabadell and its subsidiaries specialized in the financing of local authorities in Italy and Spain.

Go faster? Reflection is ongoing. New decisive meetings are scheduled in two weeks. The acceleration advocated by Pierre Mariani may please the market, but it has a price.According to preliminary calculations, among many possibilities mentioned, the most radical scenario would result in a potential loss of 2 to 3,000,000,000 euros in 2011. The bitter pill for shareholders of Dexia, the Deposit and the state on the French side, Arco, and other Ethias Holding Communal Belgian side, who had subscribed to a capital increase to 9.90 euros per share in October 2008 – it is now worth less than 3.

Monday, Dexia declined to comment on the assumptions and figures, merely stating: "The group will continue to accelerate the financial restructuring while also investing in its franchises." And remember, proof of soundness, that Dexia has generated 280 basis points from Tier One ratio since late 2008.

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"The Paris Bourse ends in the green again

The sessions are followed and do not resemble the Asian stock markets. After all generally closed higher Wednesday, they slipped into the red on Thursday, hurt by the sharp drop on Wall Street last night. Like the U.S. stock markets, Asian financial markets are affected by falling oil prices. A trend that seems to reverse this Thursday in electronic trading in Asia, oil starting again significantly higher to 99.50 dollars (1.31%).

Japan: current accounts slashed by the earthquake

Anyway, this revival does not seem to reassure investors, oil prices have not passed the symbolic 100 dollars, according to some analysts. The Nikkei 225 closed sharply down from 1.50% to 9716.65 points. In the oil sector, Inpex shows a sharp decline of 3.42% to 564,000 yen.

After publishing yesterday's annual and quarterly results, and reassuring comments on its outlook for production, Toyota leapt 3.05% to 3370 yen and Nissan, which has published, after market, net income increased more than seven takes 1 , 40% to 795 yen.

On the macroeconomic front, the country saw its current account surplus dropped 34.3% in March year on year to 1.679 billion yen (14.6 billion euros), due to the earthquake of 11 March, which has disrupted production and exports.

The Taiwan Stock Exchange is resistant to red wave

In China, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong coward 0.83% to 23,098.80 points. Aluminum Corp. of China sells 2.42% to 6.86 Hong Kong dollars, CNOOC, 1.82% to 18.28 Hong Kong dollars and China Coal Energy, 2.95% to 9.86 Hong Kong dollars.As for the CSI 300 in Shanghai, it was down 0.17% at 3139.71 points.

Other financial centers in the Asian region, one resists Exchange: Taiwan, including Taiwan TAIEX gained 0.33% to 9050.50 points. Conversely, the KRX 100 Index dropped 1.48% from Seoul to 4558 points, the S & P / ASX 200 in Sydney fell sharply from 1.28% to 4718.80 points, the FTSE Straits Times sells 0.70 % to 3154.96 points and the BSE Sensex 30 Bombay lost 0.29% to 18,531.50 points.

France and Ivory Coast are the two favored destinations of Africans who emigrate. The former colonial power in its home soil 2.754 million while the world's largest producer of cocoa welcomes 2.448 million. World Bank figures cited in the introduction of a groundbreaking study aimed to "increase the impact (economic) migration to Africa." This is a reminder that all Africans will live outside their country of origin does not necessarily leave the continent."Two thirds of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, especially the poorest, will relocate to other parts of the continent, while in the case of North Africa 90% have gone overseas," notes the report .

As Côte d'Ivoire has positioned itself as the main attraction is obviously surprising: the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has noted that over 150,000 Ivorians have fled to Liberia in recent weeks . But the fact is that since the time of French colonization, the country has continued to attract labor nearby. At that point in the 1970s, President Houphouet-Boigny had to launch the concept of ivoirité to reassure citizens worried about the influx of foreigners.

The ebb and flow demographic facing Côte d'Ivoire illustrate the ambivalence of inter-African migration.Although they mainly follow economic motivations for richer countries like Nigeria and South Africa. But sometimes they are "forced migration". UNHCR now counts 2.2 million refugees who have fled as a result of wars or natural disasters, not counting the 6.5 million people displaced within their own country.

Brain drain reaches alarming levels

It can not therefore underestimate the negative impact of migration on neglected regions. The chief economist of the World Bank for Africa, Shantayanan Devarajan, admits that "human capital flight" penalize "the small countries and low income" and "fragile countries emerging from conflict . More general phenomenon, the brain drain, brain drain, is reaching alarming proportions.The Bank notes that a graduate in eight African higher education living in OECD countries. It is a scourge in Ghana: 37.1% of physicians trained in its schools and 55.9% of practitioners were born on the land are working abroad. In total, 11% of nurses and 18% of doctors educated in the south of the Sahara are working in other lands, resulting in a shortage of medical personnel even more pronounced than the country's poor.

Despite these caveats, experts from the World Bank believe that "Africans living abroad are a vital resource." The main channel, it is the remittances, the remittances, as the English word, that expatriates send regularly to their families back in the motherland. This vector is now more important than official development assistance.He pumped $ 39.7 billion in 2010, with 21.5 billion for North Africa and 18.2 for sub-Saharan regions. These funds are also less volatile than foreign direct investment, which fell in 2009 with the crisis.

Introduce dual citizenship for their emigrants

It is possible to increase the impact of these funds that are within families across national borders, said Dilip Ratha, senior economist with the Bank on matters of migration. "Some countries, like Mexico and Turkey, have tried to direct their capital for collective investment, but it did not work. We must preserve their privacy, as is a personal decision to emigrate, "the former judge of Crédit Agricole Indosuez economist of Indian origin.He suggested, however, to tackle the endemic problem of transaction costs, totally excessive (you must pay $ 20 for sending $ 200). The solution would be to play the network of posts and mobile phone companies.

Beyond remittances, Dilip Ratha advocates to mobilize the entire savings of diasporas, which he estimated at $ 30.4 billion annually to sub-Saharan countries. The idea would be to issue savings bonds, similar to what Israel and India have long been, and that Greece seeks to establish with its own diaspora.These securities, issued off-market rates, for ratings from 100 to 10,000 dollars would be used to "finance infrastructure projects and health education."

Last but not least, Dilip Ratha urges African States to introduce dual citizenship for their emigrants (only accept 20 of 54) to strengthen their links with foreign communities. He had no doubt that these diasporas have a great future in view of demographic developments. By 2050, the population of working age will decline by 88 million in Western Europe, where sub-Saharan Africa will have increased his $ 699 million!

Before settling in a small apartment in St. Cloud, just steps from the Seine, has Lagneau Lawrence thought he would never be able to leave Saint-Ouen. At issue: a "preemptive right" exercised by the mayor Audoniens when selling his old studio in 2009, and who has earned more than a year of court proceedings.

This right of preemption makes it possible for local authorities to be given priority when selling a property on any other potential buyer, and at a price generally below the claims of the seller. To exercise this right, the community must demonstrate a specific urban project (renovation, rehabilitation, etc …).But in Saint-Ouen, as in other suburbs of Paris run by municipalities left (Saint-Denis, Bobigny, Bondy, Montreuil, Les Lilas, Nanterre …), the right of first refusal is now held up for the sole purpose of discourage owners from selling their property at a price above the market, otherwise they would face lengthy legal proceedings …

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The net is closing around the football clubs. By last weekend, the president of the Professional Football League (LFP), Frederic Thiriez confirmed the loss of 114.1 million euros for the Ligue 1 clubs in 2009-2010. The report of the National Monitoring Directorate and management has not yet been validated by the union of professional football clubs (UCPF). "The clubs have been affected by the global crisis and the slowdown in the transfer market," he says.

Nevertheless, the president of the LFP is aware that the explanation goes beyond the mere "fact crisis." Revenue transfers fell sharply (-41% in 2009-2010), wages that are consistent, in equity base (-28.8% in 2009-2010) are all reasons for the economic difficulties of football French."Success" of the tender on the television rights to be held between April 30 and May 15 is more than ever sought by clubs in Ligue 1. In other words, they hope that Canal + will raise its offer or another broadcaster will file his candidacy. In an exclusive interview figaro.fr, president of Olympique Lyonnais, Jean-Michel Aulas has admitted that in case of falling revenue from TV rights, it will sell two or three players at the end of the season and reduce the wage bill of around ten million euros.

In addition to increasing revenue, including sponsorship and ticket sales, the long-term goal for the elite of French football is to significantly reduce its expenses. Involved soaring player salaries. "For at least three years, wages have been higher by at least 20% on budget," said Richard Oliver, president of the DNCG free credit score online.While the practice of financial fair play must be established at European level in three years, the DNCG intends to strengthen its supervision of accounts of football clubs.

"Addressing the hazards athletes"

From the 2011-2012 season, the supervisor will compare the funds' own clubs with bigger operating loss, excluding transfers recorded in the last three years. If it was higher than the equity, off-recurring items, the club's transfers in question are framed over a period of three to five years. "The goal is to allow clubs to deal with uncertainties sports, not as a qualification for a European Cup or relegation to a lower division," said Richard Oliver.

At first glance, the clubs would be on the same wavelength as the DNCG.The average salary of new contracts signed in Ligue 1 when last winter transfer window is actually down 7% from the summer of 2010. Yet the annual report of the supervisory authority on the accounts of French clubs for the 2009-2010 season which was published last Friday was postponed. The reason? League 1 expressed pessimism annoyed by the DNCG. "The concerns are not in France when there are foreign clubs, and big clubs, who would not qualify if the financial fair play were applied today," said Jean-Pierre Louvel, president of the 'UCPF.

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Electroshock. The announcement from Steve Jobs yesterday (Monday) to take off again, weighed heavily on investor sentiment. As usual, when the captain left Apple-temporarily-ship Apple, the first symptom is the sudden shiver, followed by the heart racing. And generally, the stock price of the third widest largest market capitalization in the world wins. Is still the case on Tuesday: Mid-afternoon, the title loses 3.55% to 336.11 dollars.

According to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, "every time Steve Jobs had to leave to sick leave, the impact on Apple stock was lower. The last time the boss's absence, between January and June 2009, the same as Apple has jumped 50% over the period.A few months ago, however, while the man had appeared weak and emaciated at a conference, he had plunged 10% in one week.

Quarterly results expected tonight

So even if the statement sent to its employees, only six lines and rather elusive – you know neither the severity of her condition or the duration of his absence – the mere fact of being "transparent" seems a better way Apple. Tim Cook has sought to clarify that "Jobs is not leaving his post as CEO, we believe that his absence will be both shorter and less serious than last time."

Finally, this Tuesday is the day that Apple unveils its quarterly results. Good numbers might cons-balance the bad news on the health front of Steve Jobs.However, unless major surprise, the publication of tonight should again be placed under the sign of growth and performance, including its flagship iPhone and iPad.

And nothing seems to stop the mad rise of the mark to market the apple. The Apple stock, which has exceeded for the first time in its history the 350 dollars last week, still rose 50% over the last six months. Last May, Apple has ousted its longtime rival Microsoft in terms of market capitalization, which topped the beginning of this year's $ 300 billion.

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After meetings marked by lower Friday Asian stock markets start the week on a positive note. On Monday, the few markets open on this holiday react positively to the announcement of the weekend: recovery, by the People's Bank of China, China's central bank, a quarter point (0.25%) of its Interest rates on loans and deposits, as of December 26. That measure, designed to control runaway inflation in the country, was expected. Despite initial fears that the Chinese economy slowed by the tighten monetary policy, investors welcomed the news, considered positive in the long term.

In China, the Shanghai Stock Exchange the tone Monday, as Hong Kong is closed. The Shanghai Composite was up 0.36% to 2845 points.Financial stocks are up in the image of China Ping An (+1.7%), or Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (+0.5%).

In its wake, the Tokyo Stock Exchange has evolved into positive territory during a quiet session. The Nikkei, which started on a gain of 0.13%, has increased his earnings to finally close on a rise of 0 no fax payday advances.75% to 10,355.99 points. The broader Topix index finished with a gain of 0.33% to 904.68 points. The volume of transactions was particularly low with only 1.25 billion shares traded on the primary market. Note that the small rise in the yen against the dollar during the session did not prevent operators from entering the correct side of the business of exporting companies.

In India, the Sensex gained 0.43%. Scholarships in Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines are closed.Only the Korean KOSDAQ is in the red (-1.23%).

Oil in a disorganized

For their part, crude prices were mixed Monday in electronic trading in Asia. Unlike investors in equity markets, oil markets are cooled by the surprise increase in interest rates according to analysts.

In morning trading, a barrel of light sweet crude for February delivery yielded 23 cents to 91.28 dollars. One of Brent North Sea crude for February delivery gained 12 cents to 93.89 dollars.

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The new head of the UMP, Jean-Francois Cope, was accused in a head-to-head Monday at Matignon, "I'll guarantee, you will be acclaimed Wednesday!" The prime minister smiled . With or without such security, Francois Fillon knows that quick cash advance…

While Apple iPad promises to be "the" Christmas 2010, the multimedia tablet arrives in stores operator Orange.

Until now, customers could buy French on the web in Apple Stores, Fnac, Surcouf, some Carrefour, Leclerc and Casino between 600 and 800 euros.

With the grant from Orange, the price of the iPad 3G falls to 279 euros when purchased with a dedicated package, revealed Monday Stéphane Richard, CEO of France Telecom, Business on BFM.

Orange will offer two packages. One to 35 euros per month, with a commitment of 24 months including 2 GB / month, unlimited WiFi hotspots Orange, unlimited e-mails (including attachments) and unlimited WiFi access at Orange TV . It should offer a second package at 31 euros a month for 1 GBOrange customers will receive a 15% discount on these rates.

SFR and Bouygues in negotiations

Orange is the first operator in France to announce the marketing of the tablet. Not surprising because the French had so far been an excellent distribution channel for Apple iPhone with 3.25 million units sold (including 2.6 million in France), Orange is the second largest seller of the iPhone world behind the U.S. ATT. The French group still expects to sell one million iPhones for Christmas, including well over half in France. However, Orange does not reveal the amounts of iPad he managed to get from Apple.

Beside the iPad, Orange will also offer other tablets: the Samsung (Galaxy) for Christmas and later two other tablets, Huawei and Archos.

Its competitors SFR and Bouygues Telecom are themselves still in negotiations with the firm at the apple.If SFR also hopes to have the iPad for Christmas shopping, Bouygues Telecom does not think the market before 2011.

Because as always with Apple, negotiations are tough. "The demands are huge for Apple. It requires operators of sales volume commitments hallucinating. And also requires very high levels of subsidies, "says an analyst. Apple has not met its sales targets, so it now requires operators to help them. "

It will not be so simple for Apple to get rid of operators, although considering developing its own SIM card. "Whether the iPhone or iPad, if there was no grant of financial operators, Apple would sell a lot, lot less.So the balance of power between Apple and the operators are not quite as lopsided as you might think, "said Stéphane Richard.

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