France

International Team of Engineers to Develop Next Generation of Energy, Environmental Solutions

BELFORT, France--23 June 2009-- GE Energy today opened a new Technology Center in Belfort, the company’s European headquarters for the past 10 years and its international center of excellence for the manufacturing of medium-sized gas turbines.

The new Technology Center will house up to 400 engineers from 15 different countries, who will work to develop the most advanced technology to help customers address environmental and energy challenges.

Covering 12,000 m2, the center will be fully operational by September2009 and represents GE Energy and Sempat’s (Société patrimoniale du Territoire de Belfort) joint investment of approximately € 25 million.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, April 6, 2009 -- Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today said that he will attend the Group of Eight (G8) Agricultural Ministerial in Treviso, Italy, April 18-20.

"Hunger and malnutrition afflict more than one billion people around the world, causing human suffering, political instability and economic stagnation," said Vilsack. "This ministerial affirms our strong commitment to global food security and provides a unique opportunity to work with other agriculture ministers in developing a shared strategy to deal with food security issues."    » read more »

Three of Only Four Americans at the Tour Riding for Garmin-Chipotle

Boulder, Colo, June 24, 2008 -- Team Garmin-Chipotle presented by H30 today announced its much-anticipated Tour de France roster, which features three of only four Americans in the entire Tour peloton. The riders that will represent Team Garmin-Chipotle in tackling the world’s toughest sporting event are:

* Magnus Backstedt
* Julian Dean
* Will Frischkorn
* Ryder Hesjedal
* Trent Lowe
* Martijn Maaskant
* David Millar
* Danny Pate
* Christian Vande Velde    » read more »

Two Weeks of Action Highlighted by Women’s Semifinals Live June 5 and 250+ Live Hours on ESPN360.com

May 19, 2008 -- Tennis’ second Grand Slam of the year – Roland Garros, the 2008 French Open presented by Aviva – will begin on ESPN2 – the Grand Slam Network – on Sunday, May 25, and the network will present more than 51 hours from Paris, culminating with the women’s semifinals live Thursday, June 5. ESPN networks have televised the French Open 1986 – 1993 and since 2002. In addition, ESPN360.com will have more than 250 live hours of coverage, also starting on Sunday, May 25.    » read more »

May 14, 2008 -- Kansas Lieutenant Governor Mark Parkinson is voicing his concern with the Air Force’s decision to outsource American military tankers to French-based Airbus.

“There are simply too many questions related to economic impact, national security, construction costs, mission capabilities and above all, the integrity of the Air Force’s selection process, to allow this decision to go unchallenged,” Parkinson said. “The Air Force’s decision to send a $35 billion contract - the second largest in U.S. history - and 19,000 jobs to Europe is not only bad for American workers, but a threat to our long-term national security.”    » read more »

May 6, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – The French-based AREVA company has notified Idaho’s Senator Larry Craig, Governor Butch Otter, Senator Mike Crapo and Congressman Mike Simpson that it has selected Bonneville County, Idaho, as the site of its $2 billion first U.S. uranium enrichment plant.    » read more »

April 07, 2008, Cannes, France -- Warner Bros. International Television Distribution and HBO have signed a landmark multi-year deal to be the initial suppliers of programming to France Telecom Orange’s just-announced multi-platform pay television service, it was announced today by Jeffrey Schlesinger, President, Warner Bros. International Television Distribution and Charles Schreger, President, Programming Sales, HBO.    » read more »

31 March 2008 -- Je sais que la terre est plate, the fourth studio album from EMI Music France artist Raphaël, has debuted at number one on the official French Ifop album chart with first week sales of 72,248. Released on Monday 17 March by EMI’s Delabel imprint, the album is also number one in the music downloads chart.

Je sais que la terre est plate has also scored strong debuts in Belgium (n°2) and in Switzerland (n°3).

Caravane, Raphaël’ s previous album, was the best selling album of the year in France in 2005 with an impressive 1,800,000 copies sold. The following year Raphaël received three French national music awards (Victoires de la Musique) for Best male artist, Best song and Best album, as well as one NRJ music award.    » read more »

Paris, March 5, 2008 -- Vivendi’s Combined General Shareholder Meeting (ordinary and extraordinary) will take place on Thursday, April 24, 2008, at 3pm, in the Louvre Carrousel - Salle Delorme, 99 Rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris, France.

Meeting announcements, including the agenda and resolution texts, were published in the March 5, 2008 issue of Bulletin des Annonces Légales Obligatoires. This issue also provides details regarding attendance and voting rights at the General Meeting.    » read more »

14 February 2008 -- Iron Maiden’s year has got off to a roaring start with the February 4th release of the band’s long-awaited DVD Live After Death smashing straight into the UK music DVD charts at Number One not only outpacing its nearest competitor by three to one, but outselling the rest of the Top 6 combined!    » read more »

12 February 2008 -- French air traffic controllers are in the second of a planned five-day strike that has disrupted some flights at Paris-Orly airport.

Half of the flights leaving Orly were canceled Tuesday morning, while others experienced delays. Air traffic is reported normal at Charles de Gaulle airport.

The communist-led General Labor Federation union called the strike to protest government plans to centralize air traffic control for the Paris region at a single site.    » read more »

29 January 2008 -- The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today held a productive meeting with a number of EU Sports Ministers and their representatives at its headquarters in Lausanne. Aimed at fostering stronger dialogue between the governments and the Olympic Movement, this first gathering was a concrete step towards closer collaboration now that sport is mentioned in the EU Treaty - agreed upon by heads of states in Lisbon in October last year.    » read more »

30 January 2008 -- The board of the French bank Societe Generale has decided to keep chairman Daniel Bouton in his post despite increasing pressure for his resignation following a $7 billion trading scandal at the institution.

The board of directors announced the unanimous decision after crisis talks Wednesday. The board had called the meeting to discuss a strategy to avoid further upheaval that could lead to a hostile takeover of the bank.    » read more »

29 January 2008 -- Prosecutors filed preliminary charges Monday against a French trader accused of causing multi-billion dollars losses to France's second largest bank in allegedly illicit speculation.    » read more »

27 January 2008 -- French bank Societe Generale says the rogue stock trader suspected in one of the world's largest-ever bank frauds held market positions worth $73 billion when the fraud was discovered last week.

In a statement Sunday, the bank says action was taken last week to liquidate the deals, limiting losses to $7.2 billion.    » read more »