(AFPTV) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy faces protests this week against pension reform plans as he limps into the last two years of his first term weakened by scandal and disastrous opinion poll ratings. French unions have called a national day of strikes and rallies for Tuesday Duration: 01:36(AFPTV)

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 07:45:42 GMT

(AFP) - A man walks through the empty Gare de Lyon railway station in Paris. French President Nicolas Sarkozy's government faced a showdown with angry trade unions on Tuesday as thousands prepared to march against plans to raise the minimum retirement age to 62.(AFP/Joel Saget)

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 07:45:42 GMT

(AFP) - Teachers take part in a strike in Marseille, southern France, to protest against reforms planned by the ministry of education. French teachers went on strike Monday on the eve of a nationwide general stoppage called by trade unions opposed to President Nicolas Sarkozy's plans to raise the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62.(AFP/Gerard Julien)

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 07:45:42 GMT

(AFP) - A woman in Strasbourg's railway station reads notices on a board informing travellers about a nationwide strike starting September 7, 2010. Labour leaders have called on all public and private sector workers to observe a one-day stoppage and to attend one of the 190 protest rallies organised around the country.(AFP/Patrick Hertzog)

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 07:45:42 GMT

(AFP/File) - Australia left interest rates on hold at 4.50 percent for the fourth month on Tuesday, with the central bank saying inflation was close to its target and the global outlook uncertain.(AFP/File/Torsten Blackwood)

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 07:37:17 GMT

(AFP/Getty Images/File) - British bank Barclays has named American Bob Diamond (seen here), one of the world's highest paid bankers, as its new chief executive.(AFP/Getty Images/File/Chris Mcgrath)

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 07:23:57 GMT

(AFP/File) - Barclays, the third-biggest British bank, said that the current chief executive John Varley would step down at the end of March, 2011.(AFP/File/Shaun Curry)

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 07:23:57 GMT

(Canadian Press) - FILE - In this file photo made March 3, 2010, Hewlett-Packard Company Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mark Hurd speaks during an appearance in Conway, Ark. Hurd is in talks to take a top executive job at Oracle Corp., the database software maker run by his friend Larry Ellison, a person with direct knowledge of the discussions said. It wasn't immediately clear what job Hurd would take. But the person told The Associated Press on Sunday that Ellison, the only person to serve as Oracle's CEO since he founded the company 33 years ago, wouldn't be leaving that post. This person emphasized that the talks were not yet finalized. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston, File)

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 07:04:49 GMT

(AFP/File) - Maruti-Suzuki Swift cars roll off the assembly line at the company's plant in Manesar, some 50 kms south of New Delhi. India's leading car maker, Japan-owned Maruti Suzuki, said Tuesday it would invest 35 billion yen (416 million dollars) to build a new factory to meet growing local demand.(AFP/File/Prakash Singh)

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 06:58:53 GMT

(AFP) - China's vice president Xi Jinping Tuesday vowed to treat foreign firms equally in government procurement, amid growing complaints that the nation's business climate has worsened, state media said. Xi said at an investment forum that China was taking "a serious and responsible attitude" in talks to join the World Trade Organisation's Government Procurement Agreement.(AFP/Adrian Bradshaw)

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 06:53:07 GMT

(AFP/File) - HSBC Holdings Group Chairman Stephen Green is to become the trade minister in Britain's new coalition government(AFP/File/Eric Piermont)

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 06:49:14 GMT

(AFP/File) - Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (pictured in April) said more Asian nations will be inclined to forge trade pacts with Taiwan if it secures such a deal with his city-state first, Taiwanese media said Tuesday. Lee, in an interview with the Taipei-based China Times, said the two sides hope to sort out details for the planned deal within "the next few months."(AFP/File/Tang Chhin Sothy)

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 05:25:25 GMT

(AFP/File) - New Zealand's major 7.0 earthquake disrupted supplies from one of the country's biggest breweries, an official said Tuesday, warning operations may not return to normal for weeks.(AFP/File/Saeed Khan)

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 05:14:08 GMT

(AFP/File) - The head of South Korea's second-largest automaker Kia Motors has resigned to take responsibility for mass vehicle recalls caused by defective electrical wiring, according to the company.(AFP/File/Mark Ralston)

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 04:43:10 GMT

(AFP/File) - Bank of Japan headquarters are pictured in Tokyo. Japan's central bank on Tuesday kept its key interest rate unchanged at 0.1 percent, as expected, in order to continue nurturing a moderate recovery, while pledging to combat deflation.(AFP/File/Toshifumi Kitamura)

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 04:38:17 GMT

(AFP) - A man walks through a village in Petrosani, west of Bucharest, on August 20, 2010. In the economically devastated mining town of Petrosani, the Roma people who were recently sent back from France admit their anxiety about the future.(AFP/Daniel Mihailescu)

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 04:28:25 GMT

(AFPTV) - As the European Parliament debates the recent expulsions of Roma from France, back in Romania, efforts are being made to provide training and job opportunities for members of this often persecuted minority. In the village of Francesti, Roma are being given carpentry skills with European funding. Duration: 00:02:15(AFPTV)

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 04:28:25 GMT

(AFP) - A Romanian Roma lays a flower in support of Roma rights during a demonstration in front of the French embassy in Bucharest September 6, 2010. Around 100 people gathered in a protest in the front of French embassy to Romania to protest against recent measures by the French government to expell Roma people of Romanian and Bulgarian origin.(AFP/Daniel Mihailescu)

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 04:28:25 GMT

(AFP) - People take part in a demonstration to protest against xenophobia and French government immigration policy, especially the deportation of the Roma minority, on September 4, 2010 in the French eastern city of Strasbourg.(AFP/Johanna Leguerre)

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 04:28:25 GMT

(AFP/File) - A branch of Shinhan Bank, South Korea's third-largest bank, is seen in Seoul. The bank, in an unusual move, announced last week it had asked prosecutors to investigate its former chief Shin Sang-Hoon for alleged embezzlement and breach of trust.(AFP/File/Kim Jae-Hwan)

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 04:22:56 GMT

(AFP/fILE) - A man passes a closed store with rental signs in Athens In August 2010. The European Union and International Monetary Fund put together a 110-billion-euro (140-billion-dollar) rescue package for Greece in May after Athens could no longer raise fresh funds from the financial markets at a sustainable price in order to meet its debt and payment obligations.(AFP/fILE/Aris Messinis)

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 01:40:45 GMT

(AFP/File) - Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou reshuffled his government Tuesday to speed up the economic revival of recession-mired Greece, which had been on the brink of bankruptcy, the government spokesman said.(AFP/File/Dieter Nagl)

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 01:40:45 GMT

(AFP/File) - A man sticks a notice in the entrance of a Hellenic Postbank reading 'work stoppagge' in central Athens in July 2010. In exchange for a bailout, Athens agreed to sweeping economic reforms and a draconian series of spending cuts and tax increases which sparked a series of protests across the country, including six general strikes.(AFP/File/Aris Messinis)

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 01:40:45 GMT

(AFP/Getty Images/File) - Former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Mark Hurd, who resigned last month following a sex scandal, has joined US software giant Oracle as its new co-president, The New York Times said.(AFP/Getty Images/File/Justin Sullivan)

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 01:15:46 GMT

(AFP) - US President Barack Obama boards Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. Obama Monday promised more than 50 billion dollars to create jobs rebuilding roads, railways and airports, targeting huge unemployment and ripping resurgent Republicans.(AFP/Tim Sloan)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 21:50:16 GMT

(AFP/Getty Images/File) - Construction workers move a piece of concrete during work in Los Angeles in July 2010. US President Barack Obama Monday promised more than 50 billion dollars to create jobs rebuilding roads, railways and airports, targeting huge unemployment and ripping resurgent Republicans.(AFP/Getty Images/File/Kevork Djansezian)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 21:50:16 GMT

(AFP/File) - People drive on Highway 134 (Ventura Freeway) at the end of the evening rush hour in Glendale, California, on September 3. US President Barack Obama Monday promised more than 50 billion dollars to create jobs rebuilding roads, railways and airports, targeting huge unemployment and ripping resurgent Republicans.(AFP/File/Robyn Beck)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 21:50:16 GMT

(AFP) - US President Barack Obama makes remarks on the economy at the Milwaukee Laborfest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. US Obama Monday promised more than 50 billion dollars to create jobs rebuilding roads, railways and airports, targeting huge unemployment and ripping resurgent Republicans.(AFP/Tim Sloan)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 21:50:16 GMT

(AFP) - European Union President Belgian Herman Van Rompuy (R) speaks with Belgium Finance Minister Didier Reynders before a meeting on Economic Governance at the EU headquarters in Brussels. Plans to radically re-draw cross-border economic government across Europe hit a stumbling block on Monday 10 days from a deadline for concrete action set by European Union leaders.(AFP/John Thys)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 21:15:27 GMT

(AFP/File) - Traffic backs up in the central business district in Beijing in August 2010. The number of vehicles on China's roads will more than double to at least 200 million by 2020, a top official was quoted Monday as saying, further straining the nation's environment and energy supply.(AFP/File/Liu Jin)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 19:36:29 GMT

(AFP/File) - A worker sorts out oil palm bunches before processing them at a factory in Dengkil, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, in 2009. Malaysia's once-vaunted biofuel industry has seen production grind to a halt since a March announcement that the government's mandatory switch to the green energy will be delayed to June 2011.(AFP/File/Saeed Khan)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 19:26:36 GMT

(Canadian Press) - A man talks on his mobile phone at the Central Bank of Afghanistan in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Sept. 6, 2010. Afghanistan's largest Kabul Bank remained solvent after a nearly weeklong run on the troubled institution, according to Central Bank Governor Abdul Qadir Fitrat, which is being criticized for looking the other way at the bank's mismanagement problems for too long. (AP Photo/Mustafa Quraishi)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 19:23:52 GMT

(AFPTV) - VIDEO: Afghan savers descend upon scandal-hit bank to withdraw money. Duration: 00:58(AFPTV)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 19:19:16 GMT

(AFP/File) - Afghans wait to withdraw money from the Kabul Bank on September 2. Afghanistan's government said Monday it has frozen assets held by some of Kabul Bank's owners as the crisis-hit institution faced huge withdrawals by depositors nationwide.(AFP/File/Shah Marai)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 19:19:16 GMT

(AFP) - Hundreds of teachers demonstrate in the streets of Paris against reforms proposed by the ministry of education. French teachers went on strike Monday on the eve of a nationwide general stoppage called by trade unions opposed to President Nicolas Sarkozy's plans to raise the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62.(AFP/Bertrand Langlois)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 19:13:29 GMT

(AFP/Getty Images/File) - Russian acrobats form part of the Sochi 2014 performance during the Closing Ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics at BC Place in Vancouver, Canada, in February 2010. The chief of a top contractor building infrastructure for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in the Russian city of Sochi has been fired in a corruption scandal, its holding company announced Monday.(AFP/Getty Images/File/Kevork Djansezian)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 18:47:14 GMT

(AFP/Getty Images/File) - The General Motors Company World Headquarters in Detroit, Michigan. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, has hired General Motors' Ted Chu as its chief economist, the investing firm said on Monday.(AFP/Getty Images/File/Bill Pugliano)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 18:40:59 GMT

(AFP) - Passengers wait to board an underground train at Liverpool Street Station in London. Workers on London's Underground train system started a 24-hour strike over staffing cuts on Monday, threatening disruption for millions of commuters.(AFP/Carl Court)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 18:12:24 GMT

(AFP/File) - An A320 Airbus aircraft. The World Trade Organization will issue its long-awaited opinion on Europe's challenge to American subsidies to US aerospace giant Boeing next week, a source close to the matter said Monday.(AFP/File)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 17:12:52 GMT

(AFP/File) - Members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) chant slogans under heavy police presence during a march in Durban on September 3. South African public sector unions announced the suspension Monday of a three-week-old strike that has crippled the health service and forced widespread school closures.(AFP/File/Rajesh Jantilal)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:43:16 GMT

(AFP/File) - The European Union's budget commissioner Janusz Lewandowski, seen here in April 2010, has taken a swipe at the billions of euros which Britain gets back from the EU budget.(AFP/File/Georges Gobet)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:25:53 GMT

(AFP/File) - US President Barack Obama walks across the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on September 5, after arriving on Marine One. Obama unveiled plans Monday to spend at least 50 billion dollars to expand and renew US roads, railways and airports, in a fresh bid to fire up sluggish economic growth.(AFP/File/Saul Loeb)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:25:19 GMT

(AFP/Getty Images/File) - Construction workers move a piece of concrete during work on the Exposition Light Rail Transit Line that will connect downtown Los Angeles and Culver City in Los Angeles, July 2010. US President Barack Obama unveiled plans Monday to spend at least 50 billion dollars to expand and renew US roads, railways and airports, in a fresh bid to fire up sluggish economic growth.(AFP/Getty Images/File/Kevork Djansezian)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:25:19 GMT

(AFP/File) - The European Union's budget commissioner Janusz Lewandowski (seen here in January 2010) took a swipe on Monday at the billions of euros which Britain gets back from the EU budget.(AFP/File/John Thys)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:45:54 GMT

(AFP/File) - An effigy of German Chancellor Angela Merkel is draped in flags and surrounded by posters of anti-nuclear power protesters during a demonstration outside the Chancellery in Berlin, September 5. Merkel on Monday hailed government proposals to postpone Germany's exit from nuclear power as a "revolution," setting up what one opposition MP called a "fiery autumn" of protests.(AFP/File/Odd Andersen)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:17:02 GMT

(AFP/File) - A worker stands next to the sluice leading to the reactor in the nuclear power station in Gundremmingen, Germany. Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday hailed government proposals to postpone Germany's exit from nuclear power as a "revolution," setting up what one opposition MP called a "fiery autumn" of protests.(AFP/File/Christof Stache)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:17:02 GMT

(AFP/File) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel gives a joint press conference with Finnish Prime Minister Mari Kiviniemi (not in picture) in Berlin on September 1. Merkel on Monday hailed government proposals to postpone Germany's exit from nuclear power as a "revolution," setting up what one opposition MP called a "fiery autumn" of protests.(AFP/File/Johannes Eisele)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:17:02 GMT

(AFP/File) - The reactor inside the nuclear power station in Gundremmingen, southern Germany, July 2010. Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday hailed government proposals to postpone Germany's exit from nuclear power as a "revolution," setting up what one opposition MP called a "fiery autumn" of protests.(AFP/File/Christof Stache)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:17:02 GMT

(AFP/Getty Images/File) - US President Barack Obama visits neighbors in the backyard of the Weithman family in Columbus, Ohio, August 18. Obama unveiled plans Monday to spend at least 50 billion dollars to expand and renew US roads, railways and airports, in a fresh bid to fire up sluggish economic growth.(AFP/Getty Images/File/Mike Munden)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:03:13 GMT

(AFP/File) - The sun sets over an oil platform waiting to be towed out into the Gulf of Mexico at Port Fourchon in Louisiana in May. World oil prices diverged on Monday, the end of the traditional peak demand season for motor fuel in the United States.(AFP/File/Mark Ralston)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 14:59:53 GMT