France shooting: organised gangs prey on drivers travelling abroad

Could this be a symptom of unemployment?
Both Spain and France have a very high unemployment rate, with the young making up it's base.

Car-jackings and "distraction" robberies have become such a problem that earlier this year the Foreign Office warned British drivers travelling abroad that they had become "easy targets" for the gangs.

Thieves typically trick their victims by faking accidents, throwing stones at their windscreens to shock them into stopping, or pretending to need help.

Once the target vehicle has pulled over, the robbers either stage a hold-up or distract the occupants to get them out of the car while an accomplice steals valuables or even the car itself.

Hundreds of British tourists have been victims of such thefts, particularly in Spain but also in France.

British registration plates are an easy giveaway that the occupants are on holiday and likely to have cash and valuables with them in the car. Hire cars are also a regular target.

Gassed?

France has had other, equally sinister crime waves in recent years.

In 2007, the Foreign Office advised caravanners to install alarms after a string of tourists in France were gassed and robbed as they slept.

Britons were also warned to stay only

France shootings: Three victims shot in head

Three of the four victims of a shooting in the French Alps were shot in the head, a French prosecutor has said.

A man, named by UK neighbours as Saad al-Hilli, 50, from Surrey, and an elderly woman were found dead in a car. A French cyclist, found nearby, was also shot dead.

An automatic pistol was used, and the killer "targeted" the victims rather than indiscriminately firing into the car.

Zainab, found shot outside the British-registered car, has been transferred to a hospital in the city of Grenoble where she has been placed in a medically-induced coma. She is due to be operated on again.

She was shot once, and had head fractures. "She suffered a violent attack," Mr Maillaud said

France forced to import electricity

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/8078740/France-forced-to-import-electricity.html

The people don't care about Corporate France, and what's best for them, and why should they? Corporate France doesn't go out of it's way for them.
This is war, and the battle lines have been drawn.
Job outsourcing is not just a particular phenomena of the United States, it's happening all over the world.

Production was cut at four of France's 58 nuclear reactors due to a 10-day rolling strike, while at least another 12 were shut for maintenance.

Work has also stopped at two of France's three liquefied natural gas terminals.


French airlines complained that the strikes had now cost them more than April's Icelandic volcano eruption, a price tag they put at 188 million euros (£167 million). Air France, the national air carrier, said it was losing five million euros (£4.4 million) a day from blockages while the chemical industry said a billion euros (£888 million) in turnover had evaporated since the start of strikes last month.

With all of France's oil refineries out of action and a quarter of its filling stations without fuel, Mr Sarkozy broke his silence to call for an end to the disruption.

"We cannot be the only country in the world where, when there is a reform, a minority wants to block everyone else," he said.

"By taking hostage the economy, companies and the daily lives of French people, we are going to destroy jobs."

Even the entertainment industry was hit, as the pop singer Lady Gaga postponed two concerts in Paris due Friday and Saturday, while the Oscar-winning actor Tim Robbins cancelled a debut tour with his band.

Marseille close to standstill as worst strikes in 15 years cause French chaos

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/8082814/Marseille-close-to-standstill-as-worst-strikes-in-15-years-cause-French-chaos.html

The battle rages on
Week 2 has begun

The cars abandoned along the stretch of motorway leading to Marseille Airport made it look as if the inhabitants of France's second city had fled some terrible disaster.

Their owners had in fact parked as neatly as they could and dragged their suitcases to the terminal on foot to catch flights to holiday destinations and business meetings - the only way to get past the barricades that were thrown up by protesters on Thursday morning.


Marseille has been crippled by strikers. A fleet of huge ships cruises offshore, unable to dock, their lights reflecting against the still waters of the port at night. From the air it looks like a giant game of Battleships.

In the city centre, streets are still piled high with rubbish after the refuse collectors joined dock workers, train drivers, students and airport staff who have brought the city almost to a standstill.

Students and families join French pension protests

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101002/wl_nm/us_france_pensions_protests



French families, students and private sector workers joined mass demonstrations on Saturday as trade unions ramped up pressure on the government to drop pension reforms.

Opposition to President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to raise the retirement age to 62 from 60 showed no signs of abating and hundreds of thousands across the country marched in the fourth round of rallies in as many months

Unions said that about 2.9 million had marched, while police said the crowds numbered 899,000. The union figure was about the same as at the last demonstrations on September 23. The police figure was slightly lower.

About 230 protests took place across the country with a bigger turnout of families

Reckless Europe beats reckless America at property bubbles

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ambroseevans-pritchard/100007092/reckless-europe-beats-reckless-america-at-property-bubbles/

I think Ambrose has underestimated the US inventory, or he just hasn't figured out that the banks have it well hid off their balance sheets, but that's beside the point. The point is how many countries that he points out who all coincidentally had the same type of bubble at the same time.
What a convenient coincidence, or is it? It would seem to me that the same type of banking model practice has been put to extensive use world wide, and world wide it blew up into their face.
Can you see the outline of a plot here, that was FED fortified?
Or else the world got stupid all at the same time.
The we didn't know excuse just doesn't wash anymore
This was an intentional take down.


Once and for all, let us nail the lie that the global credit crisis was basically a US sub-prime property bubble that went wrong, and that Europe was merely an innocent bystander hit by shrapnel.

This is the property bubble chart on Page 12 of the IMF’s latest report (Article IV) on France.

As you can see, France had the most extreme price rises from 1997 to 2009, followed by Spain and Italy some way below.

The Anglo-Saxons were more moderate. The US bubble was tame by comparison (measured by price: inventory overhang is another matter) and has largely corrected. This the American way, a short sharp purge. The Club Med bubbles have not corrected, by a long shot.

Germany and France examine 'two-tier' euro

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/7837874/Germany-and-France-examine-two-tier-euro.html


Germany and France are examining ways of creating a "two-tier" euro system to separate stronger northern European countries from weaker southern states.

A European official has told The Daily Telegraph the dramatic option was being examined at cabinet level.

Senior politicians believe their economies need to be better protected as they could not cope with another crisis on a par the one in Greece.


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View from the lab: continental driftThe creation of a "super-euro" zone would initially include France, Germany, Holland, Austria, Denmark and Finland.

The likes of Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal and even Ireland would be left in a larger rump mostly Mediterranean grouping.

The official said French and German officials had first spent months examining how to exclude poor-performing states from the euro but decided it was not feasible.

A two-tier monetary system in the 16-member euro zone is being examined as a "plan B".

"The philosophy is the stronger countries might need to move away from countries they can't afford to bail-out," said the official. "As a way of containing the damage, they may have to do something dramatic, though obviously in the short term implementation is difficult.

"It's an act of desperation. They are not talking about ideal solutions but the

Air France pilots claim 'foolproof' speed sensors introduced after Brazil plane crash

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/tr...re-faulty.html

The value of your life
Is it worth demanding for
Looks like Goodrich might be getting some business real quick

Since the crash, Air France has replaced all older Thales pitot tubes on Airbus A330 and A340 planes with a newer Thales model. It already uses the new model for its A320 planes.

However, the latest incident on July 13 occurred with the new model and France's main pilot's union, SPNL, demanded that Thales monitors be replaced by those made by the company's US-based competitor, Goodrich, which provides pitot tubes to 70 percent of the world's aircraft.

“We are asking that the fleet be modified with sensors that have not been the object of any complaint,” said Erick Derivry, a spokesman.

The union said a calculator that converts pressure into a speed reading might also have to be replaced.

Air France said: "All the necessary measures will be taken