The Brazilian José Graziano da Silva, 61, was elected Sunday Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). He becomes the eighth five-year patron of the technical agency of the United Nations established in 1945 to fight against hunger and promote agriculture in the Third World. FAO is currently the largest UN agency with an annual budget of about one billion dollars. The Brazilian succeeds Senegalese Jacques Diouf and the Lebanese Edouard Saouma who each led the Organization for eighteen years.

A graduate in agronomy, economics and rural sociology, Graziano da Silva in 2006 was Assistant Director-General, in charge of Latin America and the Caribbean. At the 37th General Conference of FAO, he obtained the votes of 92 members of 180, winning in front of the former Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos.It's sort of a victory for the emerging markets when Christine Lagarde is the favorite in the IMF against the Mexican Agustin Carstens.

José Graziano da Silva will head the FAO on 1 January 2012, at a crucial time, in a context of soaring agricultural commodities. His road map is all mapped out after the agreement snatched last week in Paris G20 agriculture: the text gives a role to the international organization in the fight against price volatility and sets a target to increase production World Food 70% by 2050 to feed 9 billion people online pay day loans. Knowing that today nearly one billion malnourished.The organization must support a new global database measuring the levels of production and stocks, and a "forum for rapid response" meant to anticipate retaliatory trade embargo on the export type.

"Three meals a day"

In Brazil, Graziano da Silva is responsible, as Minister of Food Security in the first Lula government in 2003, the ambitious "Fome Zero" (Zero Hunger), considered a resounding success that has reduce inequalities and thousands of Brazilians out of extreme poverty.

His election to the FAO, he chose the slogan "ensure three meals a day," which is still an illusion for a third of humanity."I am no longer the candidate of Brazil, I am the CEO of all countries," said Jose Graziano in Spanish, visibly moved after the announcement of his election.

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At a time when competition in the market for online savings, Cortal Consors wants to restore the voice. The BNP Paribas subsidiary specialized in savings and online brokerage has launched an image campaign, which aims to strengthen its reputation. She recalls in particular that it was behind several innovations on the savings market, including the marketing of all mutual funds. The property line puts the means of communication with a budget increase of 30%. "In recent years we have invested less than our competitors," admits Gommard Benedict, CEO of the brand which claims 530,000 customers and hopes to reach 25,000 to 40,000 per year.

Through this campaign, Cortal Consors stands out from most of its direct competitors (BforBank, ING Direct, Fortuneo …) focusing on the custom board heritage.And by offering a savings account paying 3.25% for one year (2.23% net), while the majority of promotions for new customers rising to 4% or 6% gross for three months. The online bank hopes in this way retain investors increasingly fickle, quick to hunt for bargains.

Customers rather rich

Especially since the savings market is fought. Online banks, which have made their product booklets of conquest (according to a survey Credoc Monabanq, 56% of their clients have at least one) must now cope with the onslaught of traditional banks. "We have more difficulty in asserting our difference," says Andre Coisne, CEO BforBank, a subsidiary of Credit Agricole.

Involved? The new prudential rules (known as Basel 3) requiring that in future banks have more capital and assets easily accessible, thus more "liquid". Result, they direct more savings to their customers bank books and other deposit account. During the first 4 months of the year, the booklets were not controlled and drained about 10 billion euros in savings.

To remain competitive, banks multiply the distance marketing innovations (promotional rates reserved for first customers …). They want so optimistic. Especially since, according to the study of Credoc, "nearly 31% of customers would consider it as their main bank." Customers even more interesting because they are financially above the average rather rich, young, Parisian and graduates.They also hold more financial products than the average …

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Despite the crisis, the 1000 British richest people saw their wealth rise by an average of 18% over the last twelve months, reaching 452 billion euros, according to the annual ranking of The Sunday Times. With 20 billion euros, the steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal is the leader, even if he has suffered the greatest loss, 22%, due to the decrease of its shares, followed by two Russian oligarchs, Alisher Usmanov , another steel giant, and Roman Abramovich, owner of the famous football club Chelsea direct payday lenders.

In a country with 73 billionaires, against 53 last year and 75 before the crisis, Queen n 'PAGE arrives at the 257th place with an estate valued at 300 million pounds, up 3%. This circle has 108 women in total.

A week of respite. That is what has been unable to agree representatives Democrats and Republicans in Congress Friday night to Saturday. Released by the spokesman of the House of Representatives John Boehner, the agreement between the two sides held in suspense the United States for several days, the deadline expires Friday night. Failing to find consensus on the establishment of the federal budget for the year, officials threatened to paralyze this Saturday utilities "not essential", putting 800,000 officers on forced labor

The debt ceiling: the next topic of discussion

The agreement reached last night, however, is only temporary, avoiding this disaster scenario time a week. Congress must still agree on a final agreement and vote in next week's final act on the budget for fiscal 2011 which expired on September 30.According to comments reported by the Republicans, the agreement provides the budget cuts of 37.8 billion dollars spread over the rest of the year.

Cuts historically high, and considered "painful" by Democratic President Barack Obama speaking just minutes after the announcement of the agreement, but "necessary" to allow the U.S. to live within their means. A major point of contention was the amount of budget cuts, Democrats want to limit them to 33 billion dollars not to compromise too much the U.S. recovery by drastic cuts, while Republicans wanted to bring $ 61 billion .

The debt ceiling: the next topic of discussion

For his part, Rep. John Boehner believes that the compromise reached in the snatch will "reduce costs and keep our government in working order." Still, the U.S. budget problems are not over. Far from it. If the agreement reached by both parties to avoid a political crisis difficult to 18 months of presidential and legislative elections and a halt to the recovery of the U.S. economy, of bitter debate looming once again for the next weeks.

First on the budget for 2012, but especially on the possible increase in the debt ceiling and on the measures used to reduce it.A debate arises today, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has warned that the legal debt ceiling (14,290 billion), would be met from May 16 next, and that extraordinary measures would not reduce the maturity until 8 July. On April 1 this year, the federal government debt had already passed the 14.251 billion dollars. And the budget deficit probably will cross the bar of 1400 billion, despite cuts passed in the night. Already engaging the coming hostilities, John Boehner said this morning that the measures proposed in the coming weeks by Republicans would reduce the deficit of $ 500 million over 10 years.

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The interest rate the European Central Bank, which determines the cost of money in the entire euro zone, banks in particular, was raised by 0.25 point to 1.25%. It is the first rise in the cost of money for 3 years. This decision was announced between the lines several weeks ago in previous speeches the President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Jean-Claude Trichet.

ECB reacts to the acceleration of inflation, which reached 2.6% in March, surprising analysts on the rise. Developments due mainly to "increased energy prices," said Jean-Claude Trichet at a press conference Thursday afternoon.

In this context, he reiterated his warning against "second-round effects", that is to say that higher wages would fuel higher prices."We are particularly attentive to this issue," he warned. The social partners should not take for reference the current inflation, but the target of 2% set by the ECB during the negotiations on wages, pleaded Jean-Claude Trichet.

The first in a long series?

The press conference of the ECB was scrutinized by analysts awaiting signs of future rate increases. Most of them estimated that up this Thursday is the first in a series that will take place during 2011. "The ECB has decided that this increase was the first in a series," Jean-Claude Trichet timed.

At the same time, it did not indicate in his opening statement that rates were at an appropriate level, implying that future adjustments.At Societe Generale, analysts expect an increase of 25 basis points (0.25%) every quarter to an interest rate of 2% in late 2011.

Route risky "

That prospect worries some observers, however. The ECB is "a risky road to recovery," said James Nixon, an economist at Societe Generale CIB. While growth in the euro zone is distributed. But it remains very uneven across countries. Germany experienced a strong recovery while the peripheral countries, subjected to rigorous programs are still in recession.

"Rising interest rates will add considerably to the cost of debt of the peripheral countries, fears James Nixon.And it remains to prove that increasing rates in a context of soaring oil prices, already able to cut consumption, does not cause back in recession and no recovery of the banking crisis in Europe. "

With a rate of 1.25%, "the EC's monetary policy remains very accommodative, has defended Jean-Claude Trichet. Our decision is to anchor inflation expectations of economic actors to a level commensurate with the objective of the ECB's 2%. "

Not a single car is out of the manufacturers plants yesterday, three days after the earthquake that struck Japan on Friday. Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Renault's partner in the Archipelago, had discontinued production of not knowing when they would resume. Mitsubishi Motors has closed its units left Aichi, Gifu and Okayama and will not open today.

Some of their production centers are located in the northeast area is devastated by the earthquake and tsunami, but all are affected, unable to procure spare parts. Toyota, with 12 factories are closed now lose $ 72 million per day. The car, running lean for stocks as low as possible, is paralyzed from a link in the chain flu.PSA Peugeot Citroën is indirectly affected: electric cars Peugeot and Citroen iOn are manufactured at Mitsubishi.

The energy shortage is real

The Sendai area, closest to the epicenter of the earthquake, is also an important industrial center for electronics, telecommunications and machine tools. Sony has frozen seven sites and one of its plants in Blu-ray is flooded. Canon, world's leading producer of cameras, has warned that he risked arrest eight of its plants. His rival Panasonic has already suspended some of its production.

The semiconductor industry is also likely to be particularly affected. According to the IHS firm iSuppli, Japan accounted for 20.9% of the global market last year.Two manufacturers, Shin-Etsu and Sunco, providing silicon wafers, have announced plant closings.

Everywhere, the reduction of production capacity is compounded by shortages of electricity, interruption of rail traffic, the collapse of roads and port closures. East Japan Railways, which serves the suburbs of Tokyo, is able to ensure that 20% of its normal traffic. The cessation of nuclear power plants will cause an energy deficit of 4,700 megawatts. "Tokyo Electric Power has introduced blackouts to regulate demand," said Arnaud Bauduin, a specialist on Japan at OFI Asset Management.Similarly, 20% of refining capacity is currently suspended. "

After stopping all production after the tsunami, the fourth largest global steel, Nippon Steel, took over the supply of all its sites, except that of Kaimishi near the area hit by the disaster. Rival JFE has meanwhile revealed yesterday that he was forced to stop supplying a site near Tokyo due to a problem of energy supply.

At the Tokyo Stock Exchange, which fell 6.18% yesterday, all the industrial stocks were battered. Nissan lost 9.5%, Honda 6.5% and Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) plunged 23.5%.

Credit Suisse figure to 122 billion euros or 129 damage, about "40% of the damage caused by the earthquake in Kobe in 1995, stressing that the region has fewer offices, fewer plants and fewer highways .

Supplementary budget

The Japanese economy, driven by its exports, was already weakened by soaring oil prices and a rebound in Europe and still hesitant in the United States. It will be difficult to recover. Nomura expects that GDP (gross domestic product) in the country, which contracted by 1.3% in the fourth quarter of 2010, may not return until the third or fourth quarter of this year. The archipelago, say the analysts of the firm, must also take into account a possible drop in domestic consumption.

Despite this, the rating agency Moody's, which stresses the importance of saving Japanese, does not provide an immediate fiscal crisis. It is betting instead on government spending that will be needed for reconstruction and can help accelerate recovery of the Japanese economy.This does not prevent the opposition already ask the government a supplementary budget for fiscal year ending March 31.

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Finally! After a year of zero order, the 747-8 Intercontinental Boeing B carries a great breakthrough. In addition to China, the most promising market in the world. Air China has announced the purchase of five jumbo jets worth an estimated U.S. list price at $ 1.54 billion. Boeing has made "substantial concessions on price," said Air China becomes the third customer for the Intercontinental after Lufthansa and Korean Air.

This acquisition will enable the Chinese company to increase from 6.6% the capacity of its fleet comprises 381 aircraft in late June 2010. In terms of large aircraft, Air China, which already operated B 747 classics from the 1980s, chose the balance between the two offers on the market. She had in fact already ordered five A380 super jumbos.For Boeing, the resumption of large aircraft orders is good news and crown-month campaign commercial. In contrast, Airbus has just been served the cancellation of ten A 380 by one of its biggest customers, the lessor ILFC U.S..

The fact remains that the day of 8 March 2011 was auspicious for both manufacturers rivals. Boeing recorded $ 12.6 billion worth of orders (at MSRP). Also in China, Hong Kong Airlines has signed a memorandum of understanding with Boeing for six Boeing 777 freighter version and 32 B 787 Dreamliner. And ILFC also signed a contract for 33 medium-range B 737. The leader in aircraft leasing and acquisitions justified its cancellation of its ten A 380 by the need to rebalance their portfolios in order, dominated by large appliances.ILFC also has also announced the purchase for some 8.86 billion dollars, 100 A 320 and A 321, 60 NEO will feature the new engine from Pratt & Whitney.

Finally, Turkish Airlines has signed a firm order for ten medium-haul A321 and three A330-200F freighter aircraft for an estimated $ 1.6 billion.

Cancellations will travel faster than the revolutions themselves Arab. While the wind blows still timidly revolt in the Middle East, several of them noted a sharp drop in hotel bookings.

Jordan in particular, several sources said that cancellations had reached 50%. A tour operator confirms that in 3000 tourists who booked a trip in the coming months, 1200 had already annulled. Jean-Francois Rial, CEO of Voyageurs du Monde, a leading tour operator in France, also referred 50% of cancellations to the country. This situation is particularly worrying for a local economy where tourism represents 14% of GDP, with a turnover estimated at one billion dollars in 2010.

Syria is no exception.Ghassan Chahine, owner of Naya Tours agency in Damascus, said he registered 35-40% cancellations for peak tourist season which runs from March to May, mainly by Europeans. The Syrian Minister of Tourism Saadallah Agha al-Qala, has been forced to revise downward its objectives: "We do not expect an increase of over 11% to 12% of the number of tourists" against an average annual growth of 15% since the early 2000s.

"All in the same bag"

Tourism professionals in the Middle East denounced the confusion in the minds of Western tourists. "They are influenced by media coverage and put all countries in the Middle East in the same bag, do not differentiate one country from another," said Nabulsi Touhami, office of tourism in Jordan. Tourists have canceled their trips to all Arab countries. "

Jean-Francois Rial, "people are more worried about what might happen in other countries than those where the revolution is over. Is that King Abdullah will not jump, do as the king of Morocco does not have a problem, as Hu Jintao? ". Ghassan Chahine agrees: "People tend to think that the revolts are taking place across the region."

Hopes

Despite their concerns, industry professionals want to believe in an imminent improvement in the situation. "The perception of people change very quickly. It does not take much time before the booking for a country not resume, "says Sean Tipton of the Association of British tour operators.

Until the fears subside, tour operators could, like the Maghreb, betting promotions.Marmara, the leading destination Tunisia is already seeing the success of its offer a "pay for a given": "We found in March the level of bookings last year, with 8000 departures scheduled within a month," explained Le Figaro Florian Vighier, its director general.

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Only a handful of very senior diplomats is concerned. But the symbol cringe, while the government has hammered in 2010 he had to work late to save the pensions and deferred the legal age. The Foreign Ministry is finalizing a system accessible to early retirement from 58 years to its executives.

The draft order, as Le Figaro has obtained, will be discussed Feb. 28 at the High Council of State Civil Service, the final step before publication. It will allow "plenipotentiaries" and "Foreign Affairs Adviser hors classe" (a few hundreds of diplomats for the functions of ambassador, consul or important director at the Quai d'Orsay) to receive an "end device activity "for six months to three years.Volunteers will receive a "special allowance of departure" and keep "equal pay in the amount of treatment indicial (…) plus the allowance of residence in Paris." Clearly, any salary excluding bonuses. The sum will be partially combined with income from employment in the private but also in a public company or an administration.

Conversion

The device opens up to 30 diplomats, who have until the end of 2013 to be candidates. This, the ministry said in a report annexed to "deal with overstaffing (…) related to a particular pyramid unfavorable." The same purpose had led to the same device, open to 20 diplomats in 2008-2009.

In a preparatory meeting to the Board, "the department's representative explained the need to respond if a hundred diplomats, said one trade unionist low fee payday loans.About 60 are on mission to the Quai d'Orsay, without that we know very well the nature of their mission, others awaiting assignment. In other words, paid to do nothing – often against their will. "The ambassadors are appointed by the Council of Ministers, these are very political positions, decrypts a connoisseur of the administration. Much of these diplomats are "underutilized" in Paris as labeled on the left. "

Today Minister of European Affairs, Laurent Wauquiez ensures not forgotten about his recurring on the necessary "cultural revolution" in employment of older workers, when he was Secretary of State for Employment. "The goal is that 100% of beneficiaries are switching, certainly not that they cease any activity," he assures.In the past, some have become consultants, gallery owners … "It also justifies the device by" reducing the number of posts of ambassadors, parallel to the "opening – necessary – these posts to non-diplomats." Recent examples: Serge Lepeltier, former environment minister, last week appointed ambassador "climate" in lieu of Brice Lalonde, and Jean-Christophe Rufin, a doctor, writer, ambassador to Senegal from 2007 to 2010.

The controversy has increased the ceiling on Friday on unemployment benefits managers, an idea launched Thursday by Pierre Mehaignerie, the UMP president of the Social Affairs Committee of the National Assembly, in an interview published on lefigaro.fr. The most virulent reaction came from the CFE-CGC. "There is no question of wasting our time with false good idea to limit who imagine in time, restrict or limit unemployment compensation on the grounds that it would promote more rapid reintegration into employment," said its chairman Bernard Van Craeynest. For the owner of the plant managers, unemployment compensation is "an insurance mechanism in which everyone contributes according to his salary and compensation is based on the injury he suffered" and that it is unimaginable to cap the reimbursement claims.As "for auto insurance," he says.

The idea of capping executive benefits is not new, since France is one country that offer the best conditions for compensation to the unemployed who were receiving a very high income. A framework for under 50, who has contributed for two years in its 28 months of activity and who had a monthly salary higher than 11,540 euros gross, so is certain to receive an allowance of 6,764 euros gross per month for two years. Or, after social security deductions, a check of nearly 6,000 euros every month! And if over 50 years – which is often the case at this level of compensation – the compensation period is extended to three years. By comparison, an unemployed German may touch 2215 euros per month for two years or, worse, 1073 euros for one year if he is Italian.Nothing to do so.

A ceiling of 3000 euros

The suggestion of the 4th vice-president of the UMP will have at least had the merit to highlight this feature of the French regime. "Pierre Mehaignerie raises a real problem that could encourage the social partners to be more imaginative" in the renegotiation of the agreement unemployment insurance that starts Jan. 24, admits it in the entourage of the head of the state. "The idea to release additional resources for youth employment is not so preposterous," abounds near Xavier Bertrand, Minister of Labour."Let us negotiate the social partners are aware of their responsibilities," they replied Lawrence Berger, the leader of the delegation CFDT, which he considers "Pierre Mehaignerie legitimate to speak", asks the policies do not encroaching on their field of negotiations.

Some unionists, however, agree on condition of anonymity that the plane frames allowances may be an idea to dig. "Why not, if it creates new rights for the other job," judge and a negotiator. A plant would even asked Unedic quantify the resources released if the ceiling was lowered to 3000 and 4000 euros … The reason? Few unemployed would suffer.Better, more "symbolic" – Unedic refuses to communicate – in view of the average amount of unemployment compensation (1111 euros gross per month), their average length of membership (10 months) and also the average wage French (1580 euros per month).

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