Today Hot News

This visit was highly anticipated. A month after announcing he was suffering from prostate cancer, multibillionaire Warren Buffett met this weekend's 40,000 shareholders of his holding company Berkshire Hathaway in Omaha, in the U.S. state of Nebraska, where he lives since 1956. Saying "in shape", he has worked hard to reassure his health. The investor of 81 years and has participated in a competition to launch newspapers in the corridors of CenturyLink Center, before pushing the song with the cheerleaders from the University of Nebraska and an ice cream with gusto low interest rate personal loans. "I have four doctors, several of which are shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway," he has said, in response to a question at the general assembly, whose key exchanges are transcribed on the site of CNBC. He reiterated that his treatment, which induce "not a single day of hospitalization," would not prevent him from working.

The investor of 81 years aparticipé a contest to launch newspapers in the corridors of CenturyLink Center.

Christine Lagarde is more than ever determined to "increase the firepower of the International Monetary Fund", that its financial resources. But if the euro area "is the epicenter of the potential risks" of the global economy, "Europe is not the only one? We are not obsessed with a region "said Thursday in Washington, executive director of the IMF during a press conference that opened two days of spring meetings of IMF and World Bank.

Capacity building support from the Fund will be the highlight of the discussions to be attended especially the G20 finance ministers. Christine Lagarde has renewed its appreciation to Japan, "the first country that has decided to commit themselves" to the tune of 60 billion euros, while acknowledging "the Scandinavian countries who responded to the call and Singapore."

The Japanese contribution is the first quantified commitment to a non-European. This is in addition to those States of the euro area itself, which from the outset, have said they would put 150 billion euros in the pot (just under $ 200 billion). But Christine Lagarde, who had advanced earlier this year the figure of 500 billion, reduced its ambitions "to just over $ 400 billion" figure it has itself argued in an interview Tuesday Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore.

Bilateral borrowing agreements

The negotiations will be very difficult and should not be concluded this week with the aim of reaching agreement at the annual meetings of October 2012 in Tokyo. On behalf of the United States, Tim Geithner, Treasury Secretary, said two days ago that his country "would not put money" but would support those participating in the operation. Recall that this strengthening of resources take the form of bilateral loan agreements with its 188 member countries (including the last admitted this week is Southern Sudan). It is not a capital increase of the IMF, as such. Now this is where the rub the side of the emerging countries, including China and Brazil, who would like to link this extension means the Fund to an expansion of their representation. Now it is even less question that the last reform of 2010 increasing quotas and powers to the board in favor of emerging countries mainly, has still not been ratified by the necessary majority. Within the G20, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Indonesia, Mexico and the United States, have not yet ratified, do we reported to the IMF.

Christine Lagarde must also combat the widely held in international public opinion that the firewall is only designed to help Europe, Spain and Italy, among others. She also found that Spain does not need assistance plan "for now".

Executive Director of the IMF insisted on Thursday the new initiatives launched recently, as "the trust fund for the poorest countries", mentioning also "the five countries of the Arab Spring, for which we need more resources." But the difficulty is to find a common agreement with the governments, especially with Egypt, for which the loan of $ 3.2 billion from the IMF, which should be a catalyst for international aid, is still pending .

ALSO READ:

"The IMF maintains pressure on European banks

"Spain is mobilized to clean up its financial sector

"The IMF revises up slightly its forecast for growth

A water sports center has replaced five towers in the district of Val Fourré in Mantes-la-Jolie. Photo credits: ANRU

The Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) announced tonight that it has raised its system of crisis to the nuclear Penly, Seine-Maritime. Yesterday, two fire starts in a reactor caused a leak of radioactive water on an attached cooling system. The water was then collected in tanks provided for this purpose inside the building. But following the intervention of the EDF teams and firefighters, "since 4:00 this morning, there is no leakage at the joint of the pump," EDF said in a statement this morning. "This return to normal on the cooling system has removed the internal mobilization plan at 5:15 this morning."

The reactor, cooling down, remain stationary between 4 and 10 days, time to repair the pump circuit and "understand what happened in detail," said the AFP Dominique Mining , director of EDF's nuclear fleet. "The teams were able to re-enter the reactor building" during the night, he said, adding that "there is light, there is no smoke." The repairs could be made from this weekend.

Someone slightly burnt

The ASN provides that "the incident had no impact on the environment" and listed in Level 1 ("anomaly") on account that the seven nuclear safety INES scale.

No radioactive contamination was detected on the 29 persons involved in the reactor building to extinguish the fire starts but one of them was slightly burned during surgery, said last night the Director General of ASN Jean-Christophe Niel. "This is an injury limited" according to information from EDF, he said.

Sorry, this video is not available on your device.

500, 700 or 1 trillion? The euro area has an appointment this Friday in Copenhagen for the latest additions to its financial firewall and anti-crisis to its arsenal, while the political fatigue sets in Europe against austerity.

The divisions that have come to light between Paris, Berlin and Brussels on the future size of the bailout fund serious concern to markets, while in bad times, according to the OECD. Thursday, the Milan Stock Exchange fell 3.30%, that of Paris lost 1.43% and the euro retreated to $ 1.32.  

After months of negotiations, the seventeen ministers of finance of the common currency must agree on how the European Stability Mechanism (MES), the permanent emergency fund that will begin to relay the temporary established in 2010 .

The lending capacity of the firewall, initially set at 500 billion, will undoubtedly raised to 700 billion or more through a tardy concession of Germany, the main funder. For their part, the European Commission, IMF, OECD and France, through the voice of Baroin, grow to a figure of around 1 trillion.

Haggling

But setting this ceiling, watched by the markets, is largely theoretical. The ultimate capacity of loans depends on the leverage chosen, from a capital contribution set at 80 billion, for all seventeen countries. It also depends on the timing of national inputs, the speed of repayment of loans and additional committed instant payday loan lenders. In practice, the total actually available would increase from 250 today to 500 billion in the summer of 2014, according to internal documents.

The other unknown in Copenhagen is the estate of Jean-Claude Juncker, for seven years as head of the Eurogroup. The German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, appears as a favorite difficult to unseat. But several factors could delay his consecration. Other seats are vacant at the European Central Bank (ECB), the EBRD (European Bank of Development) and the MES, and the capitals hear bargain their support. In France and Greece, the decisive elections also prohibit release too fast or too openly extra power in Berlin.

Among all these bargains is a reluctance on course to be risks that creep. Except Germans, Europeans impatient with an austerity too severe. Spain is a general strike and Portugal still struggling to finance its debt, despite EU support. Ireland hopes to win the support of the ECB to deal with an immediate deadline. The Netherlands, once model of rigor, in turn sink into an endless government crisis against a backdrop of budget cuts emergency.

ALSO READ:

"Growth remains fragile in the euro area

"Euro area: a firewall to 1,000 billion euros (OECD)

"Europe: final negotiations for the future relief fund

The giant Danish DFDS and the French Louis Dreyfus (LDA), owner of LD Lines, have finally announced the birth of their joint venture that will operate five ferry routes between France and England (Dover-Dunkerque Dover- Calais, Portsmouth to Le Havre, Dieppe, New Haven) and between France and Tunisia (Tunis-Marseille). LD Lines line between Saint-Nazaire and Gijon, Spain will not belong to the joint venture.

Last year, the two partners were involved in a bid to take over Sea France, the SNCF subsidiary whose termination of service was delivered in January. But the offer was violently rejected by the unions.

1160 employees in 2013

Since LD Lines, in partnership with the Danish DFDS, has two ships on the Dover-Calais line, previously operated by Sea France no teletrack payday loan. This is a new step, predictable, but that was difficult or impossible to implement at the time of the attempted rescue of Sea France.

The joint venture will be owned by DFDS 82% and 18% by LDA. Officially launched on July 1, she will manage nine ships. DFDS those under the British flag and those of LD Lines under the French flag. "It is not intended eventually to operate under a single flag, says Christophe Santoni, the CEO of LD Lines. For reasons of social or commercial, we retain the two pavilions. "In 2013, the ferry company expects to achieve a turnover of 276 million euros. It will employ 1160 people in total.

When David attacked Goliath … The BFD software company, building on its 4 million euros in annual turnover and its 37 employees, went into battle against BNP Paribas, which displays 6 billion euros of profit on the clock. According to Le Parisien, she accused the banking giant to have poached one of its engineers in order to terminate a subcontract of 900,000 Euros. The story began when BFD, who worked for three years developing a computer program to BNP Paribas, has suddenly learned earlier this year that this contract would not be renewed. But Philip Michelin, the boss of the company, ensures that negotiations were on track. "I had even planned to mobilize more than five employees on this issue," he tells Le Parisien. Finally, it has laid off four people.

Bad news never comes alone, the boss of BFD was later discovered that one of its best engineers left him to join the ranks of BNP Paribas. Strange coincidence: the employee, who worked for the computer company for twelve years, was supervisor of the BFD program that developed for the bank, called Easy Doc, whose purpose was to enable employees to share their knowledge. "He knew by heart the project. If BNP Paribas has poached is to continue development of Easy-Doc is from our services, "protested Philip Michelin. Sickened, he adds that this hiring is even more "unacceptable" that the contract between BNP Paribas and BFD included an "opt-poaching".  

BFD, which further argues partnerships with other major banks like Societe Generale, Natixis, Credit Agricole and HSBC, does not stop there. The company complained to the High Court. Bailiffs have made a seizure of computer equipment, February 1, the antenna of Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis, BNP Paribas. "We are looking for emails that could prove that the bank has canvassed the employee," says Philippe Michelin daily. BNP Paribas, meanwhile, declined to comment on "a judicial proceeding."

ALSO READ:

"Bonus plummeting in French banks

"Banks: Justice disavows the Competition Authority

"BNP Paribas: 6 billion profit despite the crisis

For Pierre Chappaz, running a business is like managing a football team. "The coach sets the overall strategy, recruiting players, helping them to play as a team, while respecting their strong personalities," says the entrepreneur known for having co-founded Kelkoo. This is why Wikio, the company he founded in 2006 and renamed Ebuzzing meanwhile, made nine mergers and acquisitions since its inception.

Combines the latest in Ebuzzing BeeAd, the advertising agency specializing in online video, created by the founders of the music download site Beezik. When he met them, Pierre Chappaz was "immediately said, if these players could join our team, we would be able to win the European Cup," he writes on his blog.

Ebuzzing now specializes in communication on social networks – an analysis of conversations in the diffusion of video advertising – fabric and its offer of a new advertising format. BeeAd indeed offers users to watch a video ad to access media content. This model was initially tested on the platform Beezik, which allows downloading music for free provided you have clicked on a video advertising. "This will provide a complete solution of video and social networks to advertisers," said Bertrand Quesada, CEO and cofounder of Ebuzzing.

40 million

"We were approached by many groups for a takeover, but we wanted to keep moving. We had enough cash in reserve and good technological edge, said Jean Canzoneri, CEO and cofounder of BeeAd. Building on Ebuzzing, we opted for speed. "BeeAd will indeed be launched internationally through the network group Ebuzzing. Mid-April, the offer should be marketed in Italy, Germany, Spain and the UK.

To satisfy both parties, the transaction – the amount has not been revealed – based "largely on a share exchange," says Bertrand Quesada. BeeAd leaders become "shareholders and associates" of Ebuzzing. The system should generate 40 million euros in turnover in 2012 and doubled in a year. And that, not including revenue could be generated internationally by BeeAd. This expansion will be accompanied by 30 to 50 recruits. They will add to the 200 people working at Ebuzzing and 40 employees Beezik.

ALSO READ:

"The start-up Ebuzzing raises € 25 million

"Fusion of Wikio and Overblog

"Beezik invented free download

LE FIGARO. – Your mission in the Ministry of Agriculture will soon end, what measures are you most satisfied?

Bruno Le Maire. – I am proud to have initiated the Battle of regulation in Europe and having secured the CAP budget. I do not regret the hundreds of hours of negotiations that allowed us to achieve: for without the CAP, farmers know that French agriculture is not as strong today. There are also contracts between producers and manufacturers that provide visibility and stability to farm incomes, modernizing sectors of slaughter cattle and finally the reform of the wine that allowed him to resume in 2011 its first place worldwide.

With what results?

We handed agriculture at the heart of the national pact. We have him set the objective: competitiveness, with the aim of sustainable agriculture. No one will return our choice because they produce results. The price of beef back, and demanding meat markets French saving account pay day loan. This is the first time in 14 years! The average income of farmers increased from € 14,500 in 2009 to € 30,200 in 2011. The surplus of the agricultural trade balance has doubled in two years. There are still too many gaps, and I remain vigilant on prices. But it gets better. And more personally, farmers have learned a lot myself. They can always count on me.

What are the issues that remain unresolved?

We must first deal with the chain of fruit and vegetables which is more fragile today. Will largely continue to reduce labor costs, as decided by the president. When I hear Francois Hollande said that there is no problem of labor costs, I see he does not know the reality of the agricultural world.

Finally, it will come to correct misunderstandings and clashes between environmentalists and agricultural world.

ALSO READ:

"An Exhibition of Agriculture policy very

The opening of Sunday shopping has become a topic of this Friday's presidential campaign. Nicolas Sarkozy, the president now officially a candidate for reelection, took hold of the States General of Trade to revive a debate that has never really stopped since the adoption of the "law Maille". The Act of August 10, 2009 allows the Sunday opening of shops in some towns and tourist areas and hot springs and in some big cities. More generally, the Labour Code provides for the possibility for all stores to open five Sundays a year authorized by the mayor or the prefect.  

"If the French put their trust in me at the next presidential election, the first step that I will implement will be to continue the flexibilities already made with regard to Sunday opening of shops for you to adapt to changing lifestyles, "it said in the statement that was read by the Secretary of State for Trade, Frédéric Lefebvre. "Broadening the conditions for opening of shops on Sundays, giving you more freedom, it's growth for your business is employment for the French, it's purchasing power for your employees , is the strengthening of the tourist attraction that France is strong, "argued the head of state, resuming his campaign slogan. Already in 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy had placed Sunday working at the heart of his campaign, when he presented himself as the candidate of purchasing power and it boasted its famous slogan: "Work more to earn more" .

And since, traders remained dissatisfied. In his "Pact for the development of commerce", presented in November 2011 with the intention of being sent to the candidates in the presidential election, the Board of Trade of France (FPS) requested the opportunity for each merchant to open " freely from 10 to 12 Sundays a year ", even if his store is located" out of area tourism. " The association already put forward "changing lifestyles" and "ambition tourism in France" to justify its request. During sales in January, Frédéric Lefebvre assured that some foreign tour operators were programming does not weekend in Paris because their customers can not be done shopping.

"A little air"

The issue of Sunday opening is sized. With 730,000 businesses, trade accounts for 20% of private jobs in France and 10% of GDP. Its annual sales reached 1.4 trillion euros, said the FPS. However, the federation does not argue for an opening of "all the shops, every Sunday throughout France." "What we want is a relaxation, a little air," said its chairman Gerard Atlan, quoted by AFP. "The dealer should be there when there is revenue to do, when there is none, it closes."

Like Nicolas Sarkozy, the Socialist candidate Francois Hollande has taken hold of the subject. In a video broadcast on the same Estates General of Trade this morning, he says he will engage in "negotiations" on the issue "controversial" work on Sundays. Last date flowage in a parliamentary report prepared last November that voluntary employee to work on Sunday in the authorized areas was "not sufficiently guaranteed" by some companies. For Francois Hollande, it is to find "a balance between the rights of employees" and concern for traders to "respond to new forms of competition." First union to respond, the CFTC has regretted the "social choice" favored by Nicolas Sarkozy, according to the union, further open the way for the "hyper-consumerism."

ALSO READ:

"Frederic Lefebvre argues for balances on Sunday

"Convenience stores open on Sundays in trial