McDonald's is one of the largest businesses in France, with more than 73,000 employees and euro 4 billion in annual sales

French tax officials turn hungry eye to McDonald's

If we want affordable, practical and fully green technology," Eric Feunteun said in an interview in an office building on the edge of Paris, "the electric vehicle is the answer at this stage."

David Jolly: Sheer numbers could scuttle clean car push

Big Tobacco is pushing back against Europe's effort to remove the marketing allure from smoking.Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco, two of the world's biggest tobacco companies, sued the British government over new rules, starting next May, that would require cigarettes to be sold in plain packages.Britain would be the first of the European Union's 28 countries to impose the regulation, which formed part of a broad new set of tobacco rules, also governing electronic cigarettes, that the union approved last year but has left up to member states to enact. Ireland and France are among others planning to follow suit.The tobacco industry has expressed alarm over a growing international move toward laws mandating that colourfully branded cigarette boxes be replaced with drab, uniform packages displaying prominent health warnings, including pictures of diseased human tissues. The industry has responded with costly lawsuits and threats to invoke trade treaties, particular

Tobacco giants sue Britain over packaging rules

It may not be at escape velocity yet, but the European economy is definitely picking up steam, an official forecast showed on Tuesday, as low oil prices, favourable foreign-exchange rates and central bank stimulus added momentum to a modest recovery.The European Commission said it was revising upward its forecast for euro zone economic growth this year to 1.5 per cent, from 1.3 per cent, accelerating from the 0.9 per cent growth posted last year.For 2016, the commission predicted that the euro zone economy, composed of the 19 member nations that share the euro, would grow by 1.9 per cent."Euro zone G.D.P. is likely to beat both the US and the UK in the first quarter, the first time since 2011," Christian Schulz, an economist with Berenberg Bank in London, said before the commission's new forecasts were announced. "It shows that Europe is becoming normal again."He predicted that the euro zone would show first-quarter expansion of 1.6 percent.The United States' economy expanded a meager

Economic growth in Euro zone appears to be gaining momentum

Just a week after it appeared that Ferdinand K Piëch,Volkswagen's powerful chairman, was preparing to throw his hand-picked chief executive and presumed successor under the Microbus, the company announced Friday that the executive, Martin Winterkorn, would have his contract renewed.Winterkorn "is the best possible" person for his job and has "the full support" of the executive committee of the board, according to a statement from VW headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany. The board will seek to extend his contract when it expires in February next year.While the politics surrounding the announcement remain murky, it came after board members held a crisis meeting on the question on Thursday, and it appeared to be a defeat for  Piëch. On April 10 he had told Der Spiegel that he had "distanced" himself from Winterkorn. Piëch fired Winterkorn's predecessor, Bernd Pischetsrieder, also once his protege, after similarly hanging him out to dry in the press.Piëch is a formidable force in the aut

Volkswagen boss to stay, even after slight

Business Standard

Last year, Nokia completed the sale of its handset business to Microsoft for roughly $7.2 billion to focus on building equipment used to power cellphone networks by the world's major carriers like AT&T and VodafoneThe Finnish telecommunications giant Nokia said on Tuesday that it was in advanced talks to buy Alcatel-Lucent, its French rival, in a deal that could further consolidate the global telecom industry.A merger would increase pressure on other major telecom manufacturers, including Ericsson of Sweden, which holds the largest market share in the sector. In recent years, a number of Chinese rivals, including Huawei and ZTE, have also become major challengers for new contracts with global carriers, particularly those in Asia.A potential transaction for parts of Alcatel-Lucent had been rumoured for months, as the French telecom manufacturer sought to sell assets and focus on its more profitable divisions.The companies' chief executives - Michel Combes of Alcatel-Lucent and Rajee

Nokia in advanced merger talks with Alcatel-Lucent

France's economy minister, Arnaud Montebourg, said he intervened in GE's bid to protect French interests

In GE's deal for Alstom, French interventionism wins out

We look forward to working with the Alstom team to make a globally competitive power and grid enterprise: Jeffrey R Immelt

Alstom board backs GE offer; final deal in sight

Minister's meeting with Immelt put off after Siemens offer

France warns Alstom on GE alliance talks

It was the biggest shortfall since 2008, when the bank posted a loss of £24.3 billion

RBS posts $15-bn loss for 2013

Many economists say that the ECB is now all but certain to take action at its March 6 meet

European Central Bank holds interest rate at 0.25%

Emerging countries have come to depend heavily on overseas cash inflows to fund their current account deficits and have seen their currencies fall sharply over the past few monthsGlobal stocks got off to a rocky start on Thursday, with eyes glued to emerging markets, after the Federal Reserve's decision to continue scaling back its monetary stimulus to the United States economy.The Japanese stock market led declines, closing 2.5 per cent lower, as investors fretted about the potential toll that a stronger yen might be taking on the earnings of the country's export sector.European markets were down slightly in midday trading, and index futures suggested that the Standard & Poor's 500 index, which fell 1 per cent on Wednesday, would be little changed at the opening bell in New York.Emerging market currencies including the Turkish lira, South African rand and Indian rupee fell again. In a sign that the distress in emerging markets is creeping closer to the developed world, the Hungari

Global markets volatile after Fed cuts stimulus

European countries sharply reduced their deficits last year, official data showed Monday, even as their overall debt grew as governments pushed ahead with austerity measures in the face of the euro crisis.

European countries slashed deficits in 2011, data show

Clear signs of the political and social cost of the Euro zone crisis sent stock markets tumbling on Wednesday as debt-laden Greece faced a crippling 24-hour strike and Spain cleaned up after violent protests Tuesday near the country&rsquo;s Parliament.

Markets tumble after unrest in Spain and Greece 

Spain warned Tuesday that the moment was nearing when it would be unable to borrow in the bond market without help from its European partners, as Group of 7 finance and central bank officials held a teleconference to discuss the crisis in Europe.