The picture is datelined Beverly Hills, Tuesday, and we shall come to its breakout star's business with Paris Hilton shortly. But first, you should know that Chantal is married to Cameroonian president Paul Biya, 76, and that she always dresses as Chaka Khan by way of the Carrington mansion.

Yes, Paul is a little older than her - 38 years to be precise. And, yes, he is said to lack the charisma of Robert Mugabe, though he has been ranked the world's 19th most evil dictator.

And yes, there are those who carp that the second Mrs Biya does not possess the sainted grace of her husband's first wife, Jeanne-Irene. Lost in Showbiz has immersed itself in all things Chantal this week, and was quite agog at the Cameroonian blogger who whispered about all the goings-on up at the presidential palace.

But who are these shadowy underminers, if not the internet equivalent of Mrs Danvers, hellbent on terrorising sweet, innocent Chantal into thinking that she can never measure up?

UBS, Switzerland's biggest bank, has said it will cut 8,700 jobs worldwide by the end of next year, after reporting first quarter losses. UBS said on Wednesday it would need to shrink its workforce in order to reduce costs, after its losses reached about $1.75bn for the first three months of this year. The bank, which has been hit hard by the financial downturn, said it will "adapt its size to the changed market conditions and lower levels of business.'' It said the bank...

AIR FRANCE-3000 ARBEITSLOS

Der größte Lufthansa-Konkurrent Air France will bis 2011 zwischen 2500 und 3000 Stellen streichen. Im Ende März endenden Geschäftsjahr 2008/2009 fallen bereits 2400 von 70 000 Arbeitsplätzen weg.

Diese Information des Finanzblattes «La Tribune» wurden am Mittwoch aus dem Unternehmen bestätigt. Der Mutterkonzern Air France-KLM hat im Schlussquartal 2009 bei knapp sechs Milliarden Euro Umsatz einen Verlust von 505 Millionen Euro geschrieben und erwartet für das gesamte Geschäftsjahr einen operativen Verlust von 200 Millionen Euro.

Der Konzern reduziert seine Kapazitäten um vier Prozent. Der Staatsanteil an dem Konzern beträgt 15,7 Prozent.

8700 jobs last

Switzerland's biggest bank, has said it will cut 8,700 jobs worldwide by the end of next year, after reporting first quarter losses.

UBS said on Wednesday it would need to shrink its workforce in order to reduce costs, after its losses reached about $1.75bn for the first three months of this year.

The bank, which has been hit hard by the financial downturn, said it will "adapt its size to the changed market conditions and lower levels of business.''

It said the bank would reduce the number of its employees from 76,200 to 67,500 in 2010.

The latest round of cuts comes on top of 11,000 job cuts which were announced in October 2007.

Oswald Gruebel, UBS chief executive, said the bank will take time to recover from the economic crisis.

DIKTATORGELD-MONEY-ADAGE.com

Aufschrei gegen Verarmung und Inflation: Eine Werbekampagne in Simbabwe fällt durch Kreativität auf, in den USA sind Swimmingpools steuerlich vorteilhaft und Schönheits-OPs in Mode.

Adage.com, ein amerikanisches Internet-Portal für die Werbeindustrie, präsentiert wöchentlich die fünf kreativsten Kampagnen. Simbabwe - ein Land, das unter Diktator Robert Mugabe eher für Negativschlagzeilen sorgt, kam dabei unerwarteterweise zu Ehren. Denn die Werbeaktion der simbabwischen Zeitung The Zimbabwean kam auf den dritten Platz. Die öffentlich ausgehängten Plakate bestehen aus Original-Geldscheinen, die alle nichts mehr wert sind.

EUROPA FALSCHE WEG

Europa ist bei der Bekämpfung der Weltwirtschaftskrise nach Ansicht des Nobelpreisträgers Paul Krugman auf dem falschen Weg. „Die Vereinigten Staaten haben recht, Europa hat unrecht“, sagte der Wirtschaftswissenschaftler, der in den vergangenen Monaten besonders die deutsche Regierung für ihre abwartende Haltung kritisiert hatte. Die Mitgliedstaaten der Europäischen Union müssten viel aggressiver als bisher versuchen, die Wirtschaft durch Konjunkturprogramme anzukurbeln. Dabei wies er Bedenken zurück, dass die großzügige amerikanische Intervention die Inflation beschleunigen und das höhere Defizit den Haushalt zu stark belasten könnte. „Eine Billion Dollar mehr wird das Problem nicht wesentlich vergrößern“, sinnierte der Hochschullehrer von der Eliteuniversität Princeton am Montagnachmittag auf einer Pressekonferenz in New York.

Krugman wäre nicht der scharfzüngige Kolumnist und Buchautor, wüsste er nicht eine scheinbar simple Antwort auf die drängende Frage, wie eine Neuauflage der Großen Depression zu vermeiden sei. Er forderte staatliches Handeln auf breiter Front, ohne allzu sehr ins Detail zu gehen: aggressive Strategien, um die Kreditklemme auf den Finanzmärkten zu beseitigen, ein weiter Gestaltungsspielraum für die Geldpolitik, umfangreiche Konjunkturprogramme. „All diese Maßnahmen haben in der Vergangenheit gewirkt, und sie werden ohne Frage auch diesmal helfen“, betonte er.

The Neue Zuercher Zeitung (NZZ) quoted Swiss officials as saying they might block progress in cooperation with China, India and other emerging countries in protest against being placed on the OECD's "grey list".

On Wednesday Switzerland blocked a payment of 136,000 euros (180,000 dollars) to the OECD, a 30-member organisation of major industrialised countries.

Officials were now considering delaying their membership subscription of 10 million Swiss francs (8.65 million dollars) or blocking the 2011 reelection of OECD secretary general Angel Gurria, the paper reported.

The federal finance ministry could not be reached for comment.

But Interior Minister Pascal Couchepin told Sonntag, another Sunday paper, that it was not up to the OECD to act as a "restaurant guide" on the issue.

The Neue Zuercher Zeitung (NZZ) quoted Swiss officials as saying they might block progress in cooperation with China, India and other emerging countries in protest against being placed on the OECD's "grey list".

On Wednesday Switzerland blocked a payment of 136,000 euros (180,000 dollars) to the OECD, a 30-member organisation of major industrialised countries.

Officials were now considering delaying their membership subscription of 10 million Swiss francs (8.65 million dollars) or blocking the 2011 reelection of OECD secretary general Angel Gurria, the paper reported.

The federal finance ministry could not be reached for comment.

But Interior Minister Pascal Couchepin told Sonntag, another Sunday paper, that it was not up to the OECD to act as a "restaurant guide" on the issue.

Pasciucco told the paper that the controversy "hurt morale" and "stunned people such that our wind-down has slowed down."

"Taxpayers probably have been damaged," Pasciucco told the Journal, adding that 20 of the unit's 370 employees quit amid the controversy.

AIG, which has received an estimated $180 billion of U.S. government bailouts since September, prompted a nationwide outrage last month for paying $165 million of bonuses tied to the money-losing financial products unit that was the cause of its near collapse last year.

More than three months into a medical leave from Apple Inc, Chief Executive Steve Jobs remains closely involved in key aspects of
Steve Jobs

running the company, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook runs the day-to-day operations, but Jobs has continued to work on the company's most important strategies and products from home, the newspaper said in a story on its website.

He regularly reviews products and product plans, and was particularly involved in the user interface of the new iPhone operating system that Apple unveiled last month, the Journal said.

Jobs, an Apple co-founder who is considered the company's creative leader, is also involved in the development of future projects, the paper said, citing people with knowledge of the company's strategy.

Jobs, 54, who was treated in 2004 for a rare form of pancreatic cancer, took a medical leave in early January, saying he would return in June and would remain involved in "major strategic decisions while I am out".

But he has made no public appearances or statements since then, and it has been unclear just how involved he continued to be, the Journal said.

The Congressional Oversight Panel, the body named by the Congress to oversee the federal bailout under the Troubled Asset Relief Programme (TARP), is working on a report examining instances of potentially inappropriate lending by banks that got government capital, according to the Wall Street Journal.

"The people who are subsidising the activities of the banks through their tax dollars are the same people who are furnishing the high profits through consumer lending," Elizabeth Warren, chairwoman of the Congressional Oversight Panel told the Journal in an interview.

: US banking giant Goldman Sachs said Monday it had raised 5.5 bn dollars from investors, including from Asia and Europe, for a fund to
acquire private-equity assets.

GS Vintage Fund V is the latest fund raised by the Alternative Investments & Manager Selection Group of Goldman Sachs Asset

GM, which is operating under $13.4 billion of emergency government loans, has until June 1 to win sweeping concessions from bondholders and the United Auto Workers union. The Obama administration has warned that the alternative would be bankruptcy.

A newspaper said the government's goal was to prepare for a fast "surgical" bankruptcy, quoting people who had been briefed on the GM plans.

Sources familiar with the situation told Reuters that GM was in "intense" and "earnest" preparations for a possible bankruptcy filing.

GM, which is operating under $13.4 billion of emergency government loans, has until June 1 to win sweeping concessions from bondholders and the United Auto Workers union. The Obama administration has warned that the alternative would be bankruptcy.

A newspaper said the government's goal was to prepare for a fast "surgical" bankruptcy, quoting people who had been briefed on the GM plans.

Sources familiar with the situation told Reuters that GM was in "intense" and "earnest" preparations for a possible bankruptcy filing.

In India, another huge emerging market, the effects of the global downturn slowed economic growth to just below 7 percent in the 2008/09 fiscal year that ended in March, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said.

Shrinking demand at home and abroad has cut India's factory output and exports sharply since October. But a jump in China's industrial output last month, along with a record rise in new lending, gave credence to the idea that the bottom of the worst global crisis since the Great Depression may not be far away.

Charilaos Stavrakis said the infusion in the Greek Cypriot south of the island would come in the form of eight-month bonds to be issued next week at an interest rate of 1.5 per cent.

He said the bonds could in turn be used by the island's commercial and cooperative banks as collateral to clinch European Central bank loans at 1.25 per cent.

"This is a practical decision, exceptionally significant, that will be implemented immediately," Stavrakis told reporters after a meeting with bank chiefs.

The Boeing 737-800 aircraft will replace about one-fourth of American's current aging fleet of McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series jets, which have been the subject of several maintenance problems in the past year.

American took delivery of the first two planes late last month, held a media open house Monday, and planned to put them into service carrying passengers Tuesday in Chicago.

The planes are the newest generation of Boeing's workhorse 737 series. American already has 77 Boeing 737-800s it bought nearly a decade ago. They list for $72.5 million to $81 million. American officials said they paid less than sticker price, but wouldn't say how much.

``This is a strategic investment for our future,'' said pilot Jim Kaiser as he stood in the aisle of a jet that still had that new-plane smell of leather, plastic and carpeting.

The 99 companies, which include Honeywell International Inc, Nike Inc, Patagonia, BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, Johnson Controls Inc and HSBC Holdings PLC, come from 35 different industries.

"The mission of our group is to improve corporate behavior," said Alex Brigham, executive director of the Ethisphere Institute, an international think-tank based in New York dedicated to the advancement of best practices in business ethics, corporate social responsibility, anti-corruption and sustainability.

The companies are chosen against their peers within their industry, as each industry operates under different circumstances, Brigham said.

The New York-based bank reported net income applicable to common shareholders for the quarter ended March 27 of $3.39 a share. For the quarter ended February 29, 2008, the company posted net income for common shareholders of $1.47 billion, or $3.23 a share.

Analysts had on average expected earnings of $1.49 a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Goldman said it planned to use proceeds of its share offering plus additional funds to repay the $10 billion of capital it received from the US government under the Troubled Assets Relief Program.

As part of a major policy shift from the Bush administration's more hardline approach to Havana, Obama lifted limits on family travel and money transfers by Cuban Americans in the United States to Cuba.

The decisions unveiled by the White House do not eliminate Washington's trade embargo against Cuba set up 47 years ago, but it does hold out the prospect for improving ties between the two longtime foes.

A Manhattan judge cleared the way for the newly filed Chapter 7 petition last week by granting a request from the same investors to lift a temporary order barring bankruptcy for Madoff. They had argued that a bankruptcy case was needed to protect their rights amid an ongoing scramble to seize his assets.

Madoff, 70, pleaded guilty last month to federal charges his secretive investment advisory service actually was a multibillion Ponzi scheme in which he paid longtime clients with money from new ones. He is jailed, awaiting a June sentencing for charges that carry a sentence of up to 150 years in prison.

Navid Goraya, RBS' global head of Islamic banking, said margins have increased as financing costs have fallen, putting the Islamic sector on a solid footing this year. "Profitability has not been hurt," he told the Reuters Islamic Banking and Finance Summit on Monday.

WORLDCRISIS

The report praises efforts by some leaders, such as Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, to reject or reverse decisions aimed at making it harder for companies in foreign countries. President Barack Obama was also commended for ensuring that "Buy American" provisions in the United States' $789 billion stimulus package comply with international agreements.

But its shame list was longer. In the footwear sector alone, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, the European Union, Turkey and Ukraine have enacted or are considering measures designed to slow imports from China or Vietnam, the report showed.

Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, France, India, Russia, and the United States were cited for automotive tariffs, subsidies, credits, licenses or other changes deemed dangerous to trade.

Argentina, the 27-nation EU, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Russia, Turkey, the U.S. and Vietnam were listed for protective steel regulations.

It was Lamy's second report on protectionism this year. Future reports are expected every two months as the WTO steps up its monitoring of the crisis.

But I'm also keenly interested to see Tweetie for Mac. If it is half as good as Tweetie for iPhone, I will love it. http://www.atebits.com/tweetie-mac/

EURO KRISIS

Der Kurs des Euro EURUS.FX1 hat sich am Mittwoch im Nachmittagshandel stabilisiert. Zuletzt wurden für die Gemeinschaftswährung 1,3242 US-Dollar gezahlt, nachdem der Euro im frühen Handel noch bis auf 1,3145 Dollar gefallen war. Die Europäische Zentralbank (EZB) hatte den Referenzkurs am Mittag auf 1,3231 (Dienstag: 1,3255) Dollar festgesetzt. Der Dollar kostete damit 0,7558 (0,7544) Euro.

Zunächst hatten schwächelnde Aktienmärkte den Euro belastet. "Als die Aktienkurse im Zuge der Bekanntgabe der ersten Ergebnisse für das erste Quartal 2009 ins Trudeln gerieten, nahm die Risikoaversion zu und schon ging es für den Euro abwärts", erklärten die Experten der HSH Nordbank die Kursentwicklung. "Möglicherweise hält das Protokoll der letzten Sitzung des geldpolitischen Ausschusses der US-Notenbank Fed noch etwas Neues bereit", so die HSH Nordbank und hofft auf eine Begründung für den Ankauf von 300 Milliarden Dollar an Staatsanleihen. Die Auswirkungen auf den Devisenmarkt sollten sich den Experten zufolge allerdings in Grenzen halten.

Devisenexperte Klaus Gölitz von M.M. Warburg verwies ebenfalls auf die Aktienmärkte als Impulsgeber. "Derzeit ist Euro/Dollar ein Spiegelbild des DAX und des Futures auf den Dow Jones . Mit der Erholung der Aktienmärkte ging es auch für den Euro wieder etwas nach oben", sagte Gölitz. Insgesamt sei die Grundstimmung aber relativ ruhig. Die Positionen auf dem Devisenmarkt seien seit dem G20-Gipfel relativ ausgewogen und die Volatilität sei vor dem langen Osterwochenende deutlich zurückgekommen.

http://2above.com/twitter-apps/twitter-desktops-head-on-clash-tweetdeck-vs-seesmic/

DUMMES GELD

Es steht im Kleingedruckten, irgendwo ganz unten auf dem Prospekt: "Das Zertifikat darf nicht in den U.S.A. oder an eine U.S.-Person im Sinne der Regulation S des U.S. Securities Act 1933 verkauft werden."

Nein, das Papier ist vor allem für deutsche Anleger gedacht, so wie viele andere Zertifikate auch. Kein Wunder, dass auch von der Pleite der US-Investmentbank Lehman Brothers besonders viele Deutsche betroffen sind - hierzulande wurden besonders viele Papiere der Bank verkauft.

Wer ein Zertifkat kauft, erwirbt damit keinesfalls einen Anteil an einem Wert, also an einer Aktie oder einem Fonds. Stattdessen ist solch ein Papier wie eine Wette. Gewettet wird auf die Entwicklung von Aktien, Rohstoffen, Indizes oder Wechselkursen. Deutschland war in den letzten Jahren das Land der Zertifikate. "Der Markt umfasst hier aktuell knapp 400.000 Produkte, monatlich kommen teilweise bis zu 40.000 neue auf den Markt", sagt Harald Rotter von der Schutzgemeinschaft der Kapitalanleger (SdK). Im Dezember 2004 hatten die Deutschen 47,5 Milliarden Euro in die Papiere investiert, auf dem Höhepunkt im September 2007 waren es fast 140 Milliarden Euro. Ein rasantes Wachstum.