Inside these posts: France

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France steps up Europe’s scrutiny of Google

France’s antitrust regulator on Tuesday put Google on notice not to abuse what it said was its dominant position in online search advertising.

In the latest sign of growing regulatory scrutiny of Google in Europe, the watchdog said Google’s market power was not necessarily bad or illegal but its practices needed to be monitored to avoid anticompetitive impact. Get the full story »

Continental ordered to pay in Concorde crash

A French court has ordered Continental Airlines Inc. to pay Air France SA more than $1.3 million in damages over the crash of a supersonic Concorde jet outside Paris a decade ago that killed 113 people. The court, in a lengthy verdict Monday, also found a Continental mechanic guilty of manslaughter.

The presiding judge confirmed that titanium debris dropped by a Continental DC-10 onto the runway at Charles de Gaulle airport before the Concorde took off was to blame for the crash. Investigators said debris gashed the Concorde’s tire, propelling bits of rubber into the fuel tanks and sparking a fire.

Genzyme makes case for demanding higher Sanofi bid

Genzyme Corp. made its case for why it is worth more than Sanofi-Aventis’s $18.5 billion offer, forecasting 2011 profit above Wall Street estimates and sales of $3 billion for its experimental multiple sclerosis drug. Get the full story »

French youth riot, block airport over retirement vote

Striking rail workers burn tracks, protesting a move to delay retirement until age 62. (Reuters)

Protesters blockaded Marseille’s airport, Lady Gaga canceled concerts in Paris and rioting youths attacked police in Lyon on Thursday ahead of a tense Senate vote on raising the retirement age.

A quarter of the nation’s gas stations were out of fuel despite President Nicolas Sarkozy’s orders to force open depots barricaded by striking workers.

French up ante in fight over later retirement

Arcelor Mittal steel workers protest pension reforms that would delay retirement until age 62, in Marseille, France. (Jean-Paul Pelissier/Reuters)

French trade unions began a fresh wave of strikes against pension reform on Tuesday, testing the resolve of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government as the unpopular bill edges closer to becoming law.

Rail services, flights and sea ports ran below capacity as the unions kept up their battle against a plan to make people work longer for their pensions, including raising the minimum retirement age to 62 from 60. Get the full story »