EADS vows to keep self financing drone project

VILLEPINTE, France – The CEO of EADS' defense and security division said Wednesday that the European company will keep financing its drone project until cash-strapped governments are able to commit.

EADS will keep ploughing its own funds into the project because to fall behind in this technology would mean being excluded from large parts of the defense industry, Stefan Zoller told The Associated Press.

The unmanned aerial vehicle or UAV business is currently dominated by the U.S. and Israel.

To read the full story click here.

EU keeps eye on US financial regulation bill

LONDON—The European Union is hoping the financial overhaul moving through Congress will converge with EU calls for more regulation to fix the failures that led to the 2008 banking and credit crisis.

The U.S. overhaul is being welcomed by EU leaders from French President Nicolas Sarkozy to British Prime Gordon Brown, who have long argued for the need to reign in the financial system -- but trans-Atlantic accord starts to falter however when leaders move from broad goal-setting to implementation and details.

In particular, European officials are skeptical of proposals to ban banks from risky trading on their own behalf. They fear it would handicap global European financial players such as Deutsche Bank AG and France's BNP Paribas SA.

To see the full story click here.

Partygoers worldwide have unusually cheap Champagne to help them forget economic pain of 2009

PARIS - Partygoers worldwide have at least one good reason to forget the economic pain, job fears and mortgage woes of 2009: unusually cheap Champagne for New Year's.

Champagne houses and retailers have had a tough year, forcing some to make aggressive price cuts. But the discounting is causing divisions among vintners, and analysts warn the move could threaten the bubbly's premium reputation.

In supermarket chains such as Carrefour SA and Auchan, French shoppers were snapping up real Champagne for less than C10 ($14) a bottle, as even high-end producers such as Laurent Perrier compete with cheaper bubbly such as Italian prosecco and Spanish cava.

To see the full story click here.

Businesses Fear Europe Recovery Will Remain Timid

From his upstairs office, Jerome Frantz can hear the delivery trucks as they rumble into the yard of the auto parts business his grandfather founded 90 years ago.

In better times, each day Frantz would have as many as 60 big trucks pulling into the forecourt of Frantz Electrolyse just outside Paris, loaded with metal parts to be heat treated and coated in a protective covering.

But demand for auto parts fluctuates with the fortunes of the auto industry including major customers such as Renault SA and PSA Peugeot Citroen SA — and then with little warning. The summer was weak, but September and October saw a slight pickup, with as many as 35 trucks rolling up each day.

Now Frantz is counting only 25 on a good day.

To see the full story click here.

G-20 leaders promise tighter regulations

PITTSBURGH -- World leaders took credit Friday for pulling the economy "back from the brink," and promised a new world order of tighter financial regulation and more inclusive global governance to protect the world from future meltdowns.
The gathering of the world's 20 top economies cautioned that the recovery remained fragile and agreed to keep stimulus plans, which include government spending and low interest rates, in place in their respective countries.
Turning from the crisis-management of previous summits, the Group of 20 leaders pledged to set up more rigorous financial rules that would cut down on some of the risky behavior and excesses that have been blamed for rocking the global economy. And they vowed better coordination over economic policies.
To see the full story, click here.

World's automakers cut costs, wait for turnaround

PARIS -- The world's automakers are driving defensively.
Car and truck manufacturers are conserving cash by running down inventories and cutting everything from pay to travel, especially in Japan. German carmakers have gotten help trimming workers' hours through government programs that compensate staff for lost pay.
All have been ruthless about saving money as they endure a recession-led sales slump and hang on until a turnaround finally comes. For now, that seems the best investors can hope for as the companies report very mixed financial results this week.
German automaker Volkswagen AG on Thursday posted an actual profit, like Japan's Honda Motor Co. the day before. But French carmaker Renault SA, and Japan's Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Mazda Motor Corp., lost millions, even billions of dollars.
To see the full story click here.

World leaders vow to restart stalled trade talks

L'AQUILA, Italy – Leaders of the exclusive club of eight industrialized leaders plus five of the fastest developing nations are calling for open markets and a battle against protectionism as the answer to the world's economic meltdown.
But the need to save jobs back home is pulling them in the opposite direction. How can the goal set by the leaders — completing a long-stalled world trade deal by next year — be reconciled with major pressures to protect local industries?
Meeting in the quake-stricken Italian city of L'Aquila, the leaders said they wanted to finally reach an agreement next year on a long-stalled world trade deal, according to a draft of a joint declaration obtained by The Associated Press. It's a familiar pledge that has failed to prompt action in the past.
To see the full story click here.

Top chefs take note: Michelin says cuts needed

PARIS (AP) — The coveted Michelin stars can make or break a restaurant. But so can an economic crisis.
"It's not caviar every day," the Michelin guide's director said Monday as he urged France's great chefs to invent new ways of keeping customers.
Some of the world's best restaurants are losing business, particularly from corporate clients, and are having to offer cheaper menus, even at the top end, Jean-Luc Naret told The Associated Press.
To read the full story click here.

French farmers protests US duties on Roquefort

PARIS (AP) -- French farmers called Wednesday on President Barack Obama to stop holding Roquefort cheese "hostage" in a trans-Atlantic trade fight.
Militant farmer Jose Bove -- known for attacking McDonalds -- and others protested outside the U.S. Embassy in Paris, hoping to reverse a decision by the former Bush administration to slap new sanctions on some European foods. Those sanctions include a tripling of import duties for the pungent Roquefort.
To read the full story click here.

Airbus, Boeing heading for tough 2009

For many of us, the New Year is about making resolutions -- but for rival planemakers Airbus SA and Boeing Co., 2009 will be about keeping promises.
Both face production challenges in getting their delayed flagship jets to airline customers who are eager to put newer, less fuel-hungry jets into service.
The Chicago-based planemaker is beset by problems with its 787, which analysts say look greater than the troubles Airbus faced with its A380 superjumbo.
To read the full story, click here.

World markets tumble on Lehman news

PARIS - Stock markets tumbled in Europe and Asia on Monday after the double-fisted blow from Wall Street news that Lehman Brothers had filed for bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch would be sold to a large U.S. bank.

To see the full story click here.

Airbus CEO: Insider-trading probe a 'show trial'

DOGMERSFIELD, England — Airbus CEO Thomas Enders dismissed a French insider trading investigation as a "show trial" and said a probe into his sale of shares in parent company EADS have not affected the way he runs the European planemaker.

To read the full story, click here.

Enders the next day: "You are the lady who asked me the question that got me into trouble."

NASA Chief Urges Europe to Build Manned Spacecraft

PARIS (AP) — NASA encouraged Europe on Thursday to develop its own manned spaceship, which would give the world - and particularly the U.S. - another way of reaching the international space station.
To see the full story, click here.

Alcatel-Lucent shareholders vote to make it easier for board to fire top executives

(AP:PARIS) Shareholders of Alcatel-Lucent voted on Friday to make it easier to fire CEO Patricia Russo, whose 18-month term at the head of the merged telecommunications giant has seen its stock plunge by a half amid a string of profit warnings.

In a rowdy annual meeting in Paris full of jeers and whistling, shareholders of the American-French company also voted to link Russo's severance benefits to performance conditions.
To see the full story click here.


Societe Generale cites lack of management in fraud

PARIS (AP) — Investigators at Societe Generale said yesterday they suspect a former futures trader had help as he tried to cover up unauthorized positions that led to billions in losses at the French bank.

In two long-awaited reports, the investigators said the French bank's management failures and culture of risk-taking were partly to blame for failing to uncover the purported fraud, which led to a loss of more than $7 billion.

To see the full story click here.

Music industry weighs giving away music

CANNES, France — After years of fighting the Wild West of freely downloaded music, the mainstream music industry welcomed a former desperado to their annual schmoozefest Monday, highlighting the difficulty of their search for a solution to plunging CD sales.

And that solution might be: give music away legally and find another way — such as advertising — to make money.
To see the full story, click here.

Societe Generale Uncovers Massive Fraud

In what appears to be the largest trading fraud ever carried out by a single person, a young trader at French bank Societe Generale is accused of making unauthorized bets on stock markets that cost the bank nearly $7.2 billion but may not have netted him a cent.

The bank called the fraud "exceptional in its size and nature," and said it apparently went undetected for more than a year by its own multilayered security systems.

It would place the young trader, identified as 31-year-old Jerome Kerviel, atop the pantheon of rogue traders for a scheme from which bank executives said he apparently did not make a personal profit.

To see the full story.

Boeing, Airbus Backed Up

TOULOUSE, France, Jan. 16 -- The problem for Airbus and Boeing isn't too few customers, it's making planes fast enough to meet demand.

To see the full post, click here.

France's new finance chief causes a stir

PARIS — She's French. She's female. And she is causing quite a stir. Christine Lagarde, the first woman finance minister for a G-8 nation, was rated the best minister in President Nicolas Sarkozy's government last month by one of France's top-selling newspapers. Not bad for a political newcomer who only two years ago was unknown outside legal and business circles, and who is vocally pro-market in a capitalism-wary nation.
For the full story click here.

Areva's $11.9 billion deal could spark more sales in China

PARIS – French nuclear engineering company Areva SA hopes to sell as many as six additional third-generation nuclear reactors to China following its record $11.9 billion order this week to build and supply fuel for two, a top executive said Tuesday.
To see the full story, click here.