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AFP - The first European airline group, the German airline Lufthansa said Thursday aimed at the elimination of 3,500 full time jobs in its administrative services in the coming years, to carry well a drastic cost-cutting plan.

These cuts staff, on an unprecedented scale for the group, should achieve a 25% administrative costs, according to a statement. Approximately one third of the savings program ("Score") announced earlier this year will be achieved through reductions in personnel costs, it is pre- Cise.

Score should allow the group, who suffers from a breakdown of profitability, improve its annual operating profit of at least 1.5 billion euros from the end of 2014 compared to in 2011.

Lufthansa wants to eliminate duplicate positions in his administration, "those who do not create value for customers" and grouping units. 

"Only if we restructure the administrative functions and now we resort to job cuts that we can maintain long-term jobs and create new" justified the group's boss Christoph Franz said in the statement.

Its going through a difficult group. In the first quarter it posted a net loss of 397 million euros and an operating loss of 381 million euros, according to figures released worse than expected Wednesday night and charged including flamblée the fuel prices.

Spanish oil giant Repsol has filed a complaint partnership before a New York court to seek compensation to the Argentine government after its expropriation of its subsidiary YPF, announced Wednesday a spokesman the company.

"The class action was filed Tuesday" jointly by Repsol and by the firm américaince Texas Yale Capital, a shareholder in YPF, said the spokesman, without specifying the amount of compensation requested, to be determined by the U.S. justice system.

Repsol accused of not investing enough in Argentina, President Cristina Kirchner announced in April the partial re-nationalization of YPF, which was privatized in 1999. 

This decision, ratified by the Argentine Parliament in early May, has caused considerable tension with Spain.

The plaintiffs assert that "to convince American and other investors to buy shares in the company formerly owned by the state, Argentina is committed to shareholders not to regain control of the company without providing all investors with compensation, "the text of which AFP obtained a copy.

The plaintiffs' request accordingly compensation for damages due to breach of contract in Argentina, "the text presented by the law firm Davis Polk and Wardwell in court in Manhattan.

Repsol Yale Capital and Texas claim that the Argentine government is forced to launch a takeover bid (OPA) of YPF. 

Tuesday, Repsol had also served on Cristina Kirchner the existence of a "controversy" for the expropriation of 51% of YPF, the first step towards the opening of an international arbitration.

This will definitely not a first-in May as the other. Five days before the second round of the presidential election, Labor Day of 2012 is, in France, looks like a battle in which ultimate political badges and stems of lily will compete buttonholes of the French. It must be said that for the first time, activists of all stripes will beat the streets of Paris to try to impose their political color: "red" union will face the "blue" Navy who, each in their so, prepare to be at "blue-white-red" of the Presidential Majority (UMP). The big news this year.

A battle of symbols that speaks volumes about the political climate of the French between the two towers. "Choose your side, citizens," quipped the director of "Liberation" Nicolas Demorand in its editorial of April 30. It seems far advocated the idea of ​​unity in his time by Marshal Petain, founder in 1941 of the "Labor Day and national harmony." Today, for observers, is the great division. "The Berlin Wall rebuilt in the middle of Paris," adds the editor of the leftist daily. Worse, "a civil war," according to Bernard Brown, a former colleague of Raymond Barre.

"True" Labor Day ….

In the streets of the French capital, each hopes to collect a maximum of supporters. The union first, very angry by the "political capture" of Nicolas Sarkozy, who has decided to organize on that day, a rally with his political camp .

For the first-in May, this is the first big event of the union struggle worldwide. Almost a priesthood for the General Labour Confederation (CGT), a leading trade unions in France, who made this day a duty of remembrance in memory of nine workers killed in northern France in 1891 and 1 May 1936, which saw the emergence of paid leave.

"On 1-May told a story, 1-May said this desire for social transformation, 1-May said that international solidarity," said Danielle Tartakowsky on France 3, a professor of contemporary history at the University ; Paris-VIII.

Day … or "real work"

In fact, the social partners did not took off to see Nicolas Sarkozy seize the symbol of his campaign workers to serve. The president-nominee, in fact, called on his supporters to mass on Wednesday, around him, Trocadero square, opposite the Eiffel Tower. He intends to reaffirm its commitment to the value "work". The "real work", he had even seen fit to indicate the day after the first round.

The phrase was "unfortunate" he eventually confessed to by the outcry. But his message got through. "On 1-May belongs to no one," insisted the outgoing president by targeting unions, accused of "privatizing" the day and call to vote against him. "It's a celebration of all who work […] I will speak before a sea of ​​tricolor flags because blue-white-red is bright and vivid the Republic France! "

By choosing to wield the May-first as a political weapon, Nicolas Sarkozy made a sudden doubling or tripling. It not only defies the social partners in the eclipsing of the media scene, but it also works on the beds of the National Front (FN), only political party to occupy up & rsquo ; now, the streets of Paris against trade unionists. Finally, inviting politics to Labor Day, he broke with a neutrality rule that only the FN did not comply.

Holland plays the offset

Marine Le Pen is part indeed in the family tradition started by his father in 1988, which at that time, had made every effort to block the road to "red" François Mitterrand. Twenty-four years later, the daughter observed the same line with some adjustments. If in 1988, Jean-Marie Le Pen tried to ally with the right hand of Jacques Chirac to oppose the reelection of Mitterrand, the option of a merger with the Presidential Majority is now unthinkable for her daughter. This first-in May, Marine Le Pen would call for a vote blank or invalid.

Francois Hollande only seems to want to escape this huge uproar social-political-media. He sought to contradict Nicolas Sarkozy, who accused him of "scroll with those that divide France"? Anyway, Wednesday, the Socialist candidate will shift. He is traveling to Nevers to pay tribute to Pierre Beregovoy, former Socialist Prime Minister who had committed suicide on 1 May 1993. "On 1-May, it's party workers and the unions, he repeated before the cameras. I want them to be respected. " At a time when three oppose France, the Socialist candidate does, it seems, not further divide. "This is a tribute to Francois Hollande to break with this vision of a France at war against each other", written about it Annie Ernaux, associate professor of modern, in his blog on Lemonde.fr. The question is who will benefit from this day releasing a heady perfume election.

AFP - In the slippery clay underfoot Americans, France hopes to reach his third semifinal of Davis Cup in a row on the courts of the Monte Carlo Country Club from Friday to Sunday.

The framework is princely and lavish displays. For the first arrival of a team on the Rock of France on the occasion of the quarter-finals, it was difficult to imagine a more prestigious opponent that the United States.

Record holder for victories (32), the U.S. team plays with more certainly McEnroe, Sampras, Agassi or even Roddick. But it still has the gift to the gigantism, embodied today by John Isner (2.06 m), opposite to Gilles Simon Friday, while Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will try to return the young Ryan Harrison, 19 years, in opening his studies.

A France-USA is not a meeting like the others. We all remember the 1991 final in Lyon and the decisive victory of Guy Forget about Pete Sampras.

But there were also five finals won by the Musketeers between 1927 and 1932. The final loss to Grenoble in 1982, won the semifinals at Roland Garros in 2002 and texting during the defeat Richard Gasquet in the quarterfinals in Winston-Salem in 2008, the last dated shock .

N.16 The episode of the rivalry between the two bastions also promises. There are already part, sublime, "face the great blue mountains behind", as summarized Forget, Isner calling him, the site of "crazy".

There is also the context of a possible last meeting for Forget who will head the Paris Masters tournament in the fall after a seven-two - four seasons - at the head of the Blues . A revolution!

In sporting terms, the stakes are too heavy. A third semi-final would install a permanent place at the highest level which will eventually lead one day to one tenth bowl of silver, the first since 2001.

Wet firecrackers

The year seems favorable since the Blues are, according to the rule of alternation in position to receive most of their rivals. Including Spain, they could find in the semifinals in mid-September, a year after being stopped at the same stage by the band to Nadal in Cordoba.

If the France-Spain takes place, Forget will dispatch to close all the clay courts of France. But for now they will serve, after a unanimous vote of the players, to accommodate the U.S., known allergy to ocher, even if they just beat in Switzerland in the first tower.

The umpteenth package of Gael Monfils, earthy best of France, came a chill. The Blues are still favorites with a leader, Tsonga, N.6 world, a lieutenant, Simon, N.13 world, and a double Llodra / Benneteau able to play eye to eye with the Bryan brothers.

The United States, themselves, go into the unknown after their package N.1 Mardy Fish, replaced by Ryan Harrison, 66th world, who will play his first match in Davis Cup challenge, a course not e ; empty into a career.

Knowing that Tsonga is a favorite of both meetings and that the double looks complicated, the meeting between Simon and Isner could be the pivotal part of the weekend. "I do not spit on for two more days but I feel really good, I'm ready," said Simon, who arrived Tuesday only.

The giant Isner hope with him that the dirt and potentially wet conditions did not turn its missiles in wet firecrackers.

"On sunny days like today, the surface is quite fast," he said Thursday during the draw, in bright sunshine. Without a roof over the short, the weather may be a topic of the weekend.

AFP - Real and Barca in the semi-finals of the Champions League, three Spanish clubs in four semi-finals of Europa League football Iberian saw its heyday in the field, but it is far to do the same in his accounts, often burdened by heavy debt.

Just take some of the debts of the five Spanish clubs in the spotlight on the European scene to find that their benefits in finance are less bright than on the pitch.

Real example shows an overall debt in 2010-2011 to 590 million euros, when Barca ticked off at 578 million to annual revenues reaching only 479 million for Real and 451 million for the Barca. 

Valencia and Atletico, qualified in the semifinals of the Europa League, are just as dunces, with respectively 382 and 514 million in arrears.

But the last digit to be a scandal, it is 752 million euros owed by the professional clubs in the Spanish tax authorities.

Pharaonic investments

The formalization of this amount in March, very disturbing at a time when Spain has 5 million unemployed, had been followed by the announcement of a plan by the ministries ; re Sports to "get paid to football" the debt it has dug.

But so far, it is still in the announcement effect. 

Another sign that Spanish football is caught by the crisis: six of the twenty Premier League clubs - Rayo Vallecano, Racing Santander, Real Betis, Zaragoza, Granada and Mallorca - are currently in receivership, along with six other the second division.

For economics professor Jose Maria Gay Liebana, football specialist at the University of Barcelona, ​​the origin of the overall debt of football in Spain, it amounts to 3.5 billion, is looking into a phenomenon comparable to that which led to the bursting of the housing bubble in 2008.

"Football is the mirror of the general economy in Spain. For years, we spent beyond our means, we increasingly into debt. For football, it's the same for years, clubs have invested Pharaohs. And since they did not have the equity to finance these expenditures, they are heavily indebted, "he says.

New law

A good example of that hype was building the "new Mestalla" by the club Valencia.

In 2007, exhilarated estate, Valencia chooses to offer a new 70,000 seater stadium, when the club has only 39,000 subscribers. The cost of work, 300 million euros, to be funded by the sale of the land of the old stadium for 400 million euros.

Two years later, work stops when the club realizes that he can not sell his old cabinet, the crisis being passed by.

This accumulation of debt can also be explained by the absence of a strong economic control from the Football League (LFP), partly because it had not up to pre ; feels the legal means to apply sporting sanctions drastic.

Until very recently, the LFP had no power to demote a club on the grounds that he was insolvent. 

"A new law took effect in January 2012, which now allows authorities to relegate a club insolvent, in my opinion will change many things," said the lawyer sport Juan de Dios Crespo.

The question is whether public authorities will dare confront the dose of unpopularity in Spain that includes the act of attacking a football club.

For the record, then there was talk in the 90 to demote the Celta Vigo and Sevilla, sporting bodies were forced to retreat under the pressure of the street.

The European Commission has opened an investigation Tuesday on the sale of the Luxembourg subsidiary of Dexia Bank which was dismantled in late 2011, to determine if the operation is consistent with market conditions and had no element of state aid.

Following the dismantling of the Franco-Belgian-Luxembourg Dexia, a private investor connected with the royal family of Qatar has acquired 90% of the Luxembourg branch, Dexia BIL, the Luxembourg government committing itself to take the remaining 10% to $ 100 million.

"Given that the proposed sale is the result of exclusive negotiations with a private investor (…) The Commission opened an investigation to determine whether the sale price is consistent with the market, "she justifies in a statement.

The divested business includes mainly the "retail banking and wealth management" Dexia BIL, while other activities are decoupled from the operation, said The Commission said that it did not have "sufficient information to about the value of the separate activities of the operation at this stage". A situation that prompted it to initiate this procedure.

The opening of an investigation gives interested parties the opportunity to comment on the sale.

The takeover of the Luxembourg bank is part of the overall agreement found between Belgium, France and Luxembourg as part of the dismantling of the Dexia group, the first victim of bank crisis debt.

The three states had agreed in early October to ensure the financing of Dexia up to 90 billion euros, thus enabling the bank to complete its dismantling.

But as the guardian of competition, the European Commission must decide whether these subsidies are consistent with European law. 

Brussels gave the green light to a temporary agreement between the three countries on a mechanism to guarantee funding of the bank, for a total of 45 billion euros at most but limited in time.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir promised Thursday to "teach a lesson by force" in southern Sudan, for its part has assured not want war feared by the community International.

Before hundreds of rampaging militiamen, Bashir denounced the inaction of the United States and the UN since the army took Southern Sudan April 10 control of the border area of ​​Heglig, main oil field in Sudan.

"America will not impose sanctions, and the Security Council either, but the Sudanese people will punish them," he told Mr. Bashir, in uniform. "We'll give them a lesson by force (…). Heglig is not the end. This is the beginning, "he added.

Wednesday, Mr. Bashir had promised to overthrow the government of South Sudan, led since secession in July 2011 by the former rebels of the People's Liberation Movement Sudan (SPLM), calling it " insect "pest.

Faced with this verbal escalation, Juba seemed to try to calm things down, calling Wednesday for a resumption of negotiations under the auspices of the African Union (AU), and not ensuring Thursday be "at war" with Sudan.

Southern Sudan "is not at war and is not interested in a war with Sudan," said Minister of South Sudanese Information, Barnaba Marial Benjamin, referring to the Sudan as "a nation neighbor and friend, not as an enemy." 

In contrast, Southern Sudan still refuses to withdraw its troops from Heglig, he claims as part of its territory even if the area is considered Sudanese by the international community.

After a devastating civil war (1983-2005, 2 million dead) that led to the partition, the two Sudans fail to reach agreement on outstanding issues, foremost among them the Boundary and sharing of oil revenues.

The verbal escalation has been accompanied since late March of violent clashes, mainly in the area of ​​Heglig, as well as bombings by the Sudanese air force in the territory of South Sudan, raising fears the international community a new open war. 

An AFP journalist who went around Heglig saw corpses littering the floor, carcasses of destroyed tanks and South Sudanese soldiers entrenched their positions through the area.

Thursday, the spokesman of the South Sudanese army, Colonel Philip Aguer, said the troops of Juba were still repulsed several attacks on the ground. The Sudanese army has for its part provided evidence regarding the progress of the fighting.

Meanwhile, the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), the most militarized rebel groups in Darfur (western Sudan), announced it has taken two military posts in a Sudanese forty kilometers north of Heglig.

Last year, the JEM and several movements in Darfur had created a common front with the rebel Sudanese states of Southern Kordofan (where Heglig) and Blue Nile, to overthrow the re ; regime in Khartoum, accused of not representing the country's diversity.

But JEM denied fighting alongside the army of South Sudan. 

Tuesday, the Security Council UN has raised the possibility of sanctions against Sudan and South Sudan to persuade them to leave their "logic of war", according to diplomats.

The UN, AU, the United States and the European Union require Juba Heglig withdraw its troops, and that Khartoum stop its air raids in southern Sudan.

"Given the escalating violence in recent weeks and the rhetoric, we are very concerned," said Mark Toner Wednesday, a spokesman for the Department of U.S. State.

China, a longtime ally of Khartoum but that has not taken sides between the two countries, expressed concern Thursday, reiterating his calls for calm.

South Sudanese President Salva Kiir is expected next week in Beijing.

REUTERS - The foreign ministers of the Arab League met in Baghdad on Wednesday to discuss ways to implement the plan to resolve the crisis in Syria presented by the former secretary ; of Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

The authorities in Damascus last year faced an uprising that killed more than 9,000 dead, according to the UN, said accepting the six-point plan, which provides for a cease- fire and opening a political dialogue but does not require the departure of President Bashar al Assad. 

"This is a very important step that Syria has accepted this plan," he told Reuters Iraqi Foreign Minister, Hochiyar Zebari, whose country hosts an Arab summit for the first time in two decades. "It's a chance the last chance for Syria and we have to track the results on the ground," he added.

Wednesday, however, the television station Al Manar, owned by Lebanese Hezbollah close to the regime in Damascus, said that Syria would reject any move made at the top of Baghdad. "Syria will not deal with any initiatives from the Arab League in Baghdad," said a Syrian official quoted by Al Manar.

Syria was suspended last year of the Arab League, which denounced the crackdown and asked Bashar al Assad to withdraw of his power for twelve years to allow opening a dialogue and guarantee a peaceful transition.

But the pan-Arab organization members are divided on how to respond to the continuing violence in Syria, which could ignite the entire region by fanning ethnic rivalries and religious. 

Sunni regimes in Saudi Arabia and Qatar are leading diplomatic initiatives to isolate the Baathist regime of Bashar al-Assad, an Alawite who is a member of a sect of Shiism. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is himself a Shiite.

Other Arab countries like Algeria, Egypt and Iraq are more cautious, fearing that the fall of Assad could lead to a spiral of violence even more serious than that bloody day Syria.

"The priority today is the end of violence," said Baghdad the chief diplomat of the United Arab Emirates, Anwar Karkach. "We support the proposal of Kofi Annan."

Washington expects acts

The plan of UN envoy and the Arab League calls for the withdrawal of heavy weapons and troops from inhabited areas, the ability to send humanitarian aid to populations in areas combat and the release of political prisoners.

It says nothing about the fate of Bashar al Assad - Russia and China, citing non-interference, refuse that the Syrian president is forced to leave.

The Arab foreign ministers, who are to meet Sunday in Turkey for a second meeting of "Friends of Syria" after that of Tunis, it should defend the idé e of a transfer of power provided by the Syrians themselves, according to the Iraqi foreign minister. 

Kofi Annan will report the results of his mission on Monday at 10:00 local (14:00 GMT) to the Security Council of the UN, probably by videoconference.

If the plan is accepted by Damascus is "an important first step" is its implementation by all parties and at all levels that will be crucial, said the former chief UN.

Formal acceptance of the project did not stop tens of Syrian soldiers entering Lebanese territory Tuesday, where they clashed with Syrian insurgents who were re fugiés, according to residents and security sources in the region. (See)

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that Assad would be judged by his actions, not his words.

"Given the past Assad and all the promises he has not held, we expect immediate action. We will judge the sincerity and seriousness of Assad on what he does, not what he says, "she said.

"If he is ready to close this dark chapter in Syrian history, it can be proved immediately by ordering his forces to cease fire and withdraw from populated areas," continued the chief U.S. diplomat.

AFP - Seven people were killed and dozens injured by the explosion of three bombs Saturday in a city of extreme southern Thailand plagued by an insurgency, the military said. The explosions occurred in the center of Yala around noon (0500 GMT), just minutes apart . "Seven people are confirmed dead and over 70 others were injured in bomb blasts in Yala, "he told AFP Colonel Pramote Promin, a spokesman for the army in the south. "Three bombs exploded, the first was a car bomb and second and third were hidden on motorcycles, "he added. Several buildings were on fire and many vehicles were damaged. A policeman of the city of Yala has in turn indicated that over 50 people had e ty taken to hospital after the explosions that have succeeded in ten minutes. Another bomb exploded on a motorcycle just a little later in the neighboring province of Pattani , injuring a policeman, police said district of Mae Lan. The insurgency has claimed more than 5,000 lives since January 2004 in the extreme south of Thailand, re ; region linked to Malaysia until the early twentieth century and where rebel groups are fighting against the domination of Bangkok. The conflict is political, but has acquired a religious dimension in a population predominantly of Malay and Muslims, unlike the rest of the country, mainly Buddhist. A series of fifteen coordinated explosions took place in October in Yala, causing chaos and killing at least one civilian. Two insurgents were also killed when their craft craft had exploded prematurely. These attacks marked the seventh anniversary of an event during which 85 anti-government militants had been killed ; s. This October 25, 2004, seven people were shot dead by police during a demonstration in Tak Bai, and 78 others were crushed or suffocated in trucks which took them into custody.

REUTERS - Spaniard Fernando Alonso has signed Sunday the 28th victory of his Formula One career and first this season by winning the Grand Prix of Malaysia, in racing conditions made de ; silicates by rain.

Without a wrong committed five laps remaining, the Mexican Sergio Perez could have challenged the first place in the double world champion 2005-2006 but a slight overrun the condemned in second place.

Already the third last week in Australia, Lewis Hamilton finished in the same place, just ahead of Australian Mark Webber (Red Bull) and Finn Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus -Renault). 

The reigning world champion, German Sebastian Vettel, meanwhile has scored no points (11th), victim of a collision in race with the HRT of Narain Karthikeyan, as Jenson Button (14th), winner in Melbourne but also hooked by the same car.

On the French side, Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso) finished in eighth place, which enabled him to write his first four four points in the championship of World Drivers while Charles Pic finished 20th.

Third party in line Sunday, hopeful, Romain Grosjean has meanwhile been forced to retire from the fourth round after an overrun of its Lotus-Renault . 

Scheduled at 16:00 local time, the Malaysian Grand Prix has taken a dramatic turn when, after only eight laps, the race was interrupted by heavy rains, the track being wet and reduced visibility.

"It's a real surprise"

At that time, the two McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button were in the lead, ahead of the Sauber Sergio Perez.Cinquante minutes later, the race resumed and Fernando Alonso, before the fifth red flag, took the opportunity to quickly surpass Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton after a successful pit stop.

Buoyed by this good spiral, he then got the better of Sergio Perez at the 17th lap before taking advantage of technical problems of Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button. 

"It's a real surprise to win today," said Fernando Alonso to the press after his victory, which allowed him to take, by the way, the head of drivers' championship. "Our goal was to score as many points as possible. This is an incredible result, a huge team effort, "added the Spaniard.

Fernando Alonso could however be steal the victory on the wire by Sergio Perez as his Sauber has been extremely rapid in the limit. Without his mistake, he could have become the first Mexican to win a Grand Prix since 1970.

"I knew I had to move fast to hope to double it because my front tires were being degraded. I came out a bit wide in a left turn and I hit a buzzer. I was all wet after that and I had no chance of winning, "said after the race the young driver aged 22.