Latest update: 12/03/2010

- Boeing - EADS - USA

Plane clash: EADS pulls out of bidding war with Boeing

The United States has been accused of protectionism after EADS pulled out of the bidding for a $35bn contract to build air tankers for the US Air Force. EADS and its partner Northrop Grumman had already won the tender in February 2008, but that was cancelled after an appeal by American rival Boeing. EADS says the Air Force's requirements are now unfairly geared towards Boeing's aircraft. Their withdrawal leaves Boeing as the only competitor left in the running.

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10/02/2012 - MEXICO

Mexican indigenous group battles with famine

The Tarahumara people from northern Mexico are struggling to survive a chronic food shortage after one of the most severe droughts ever to strike their remote homeland. They are no strangers to famine, but this time the drought has combined with freezing temperatures to force many away from their mountain communities to seek food handouts elsewhere. Their plight has prompted an outpouring of aid across Mexico.

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10/02/2012 - FRANCE

Renault's new factory sends French workers into a spin

Renault boss Carlos Ghosn and Morocco's King Mohammed VI opened the carmaker's new factory near Tangiers on Thursday with great ceremony. The plant will have an initial capacity of 170,000 vehicles, expected eventually to reach 400,000. Yet the partly state-owned Renault has faced a storm of criticism over the project, seen by some in France as denying French workers jobs that were rightfully theirs.

09/02/2012 - CHINA

The war on microblogs

The Chinese government is cracking down on the country's most popular microblogs in an effort to prevent any Facebook or Twitter-inspired revolution spreading to China. As of mid-March, users of Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, will be forced to register their microblogs under their real name. But with 250 million Chinese people logged on, it's unlikely the government can clamp down completely.

09/02/2012 - GREECE

Greeks fear austerity overdose

Just how much more belt-tightening can the Greek population bear? As Greece's government prepares a new austerity plan, a condition for receiving a second vital bailout from the European Union, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, protests have become a regular fixture in Athens. Greeks say they're being bled dry.

08/02/2012 - GERMANY

Germany's green growth running out of steam

The German government plans to decommission its nuclear plants by 2022 and to obtain 80% of all energy from renewables by 2050. Today, renewable energy sources already account for nearly a fifth of Germany's electricity, but the construction and transfer of wind energy from offshore farms is not making as much headway as had been expected.

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EADS

by Anonyme - 15/03/2010 - 18:44

dear Europe, cry me a river!

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I find your lack of accurate

by Anonyme - 15/03/2010 - 14:02

I find your lack of accurate information on this story very troubling. You have allowed a story to be printed that inflames the controversy on this matter without properly identifying the facts.

The Air Force has three types of tankers they want to replace. As a result there will be three competitions to replace them, the KC-X competition, KC-Y competition, and the KC-Z competition. The KC-X is the first of these competitions to be run. The KC-X competition is designed to replace the KC-135, a tanker based on the Boeing 707 airframe and in most cases over 35 years old. This is the smallest of the three tankers in the air force inventory. Proposals by Boeing and Northrup/EADS are supposed to reflect this. Unfortunately Northrup/EADS proposed and aircraft that is much bigger than the KC-135 it was supposed to replace while the 767 is the same size and has the same capabilities. Critics worldwide have failed to recognize this small, and in your opinion irrelevant, detail. If Northrup/EADS is so keen on staying in the competition why don't they use a smaller aircraft similar to the 767? Could it be EADS doesn't have an offering that size? The Northrop/EADS offering using the A330 is more suitable to the KC-Y competition, which is supposed to replace the KC-10.

It's time accurate reporting became the norm, not the current state of reporting where only some parts of the facts are offered and twisted to create a problem where none exists. I hope you will do some research into this a print a more accurate story on this subject in the near future.

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