'Made in France' no more

The French papers are consumed with more grim economic news. Alongside climbing unemployment levels, Libération reports that the last factory of a major lingerie manufacturer is to be closed. But Les Echos say the French can be consoled: even as companies like Kodak face bankruptcy in the US, other businesses emerge. And in extra-terrestrial news, a piece of Mars lands - on Earth.

In the French newspapers is more grim news of stubbornly high unemployment. Libération reports on the lingerie manufacturer Lejaby, which is going to close its last factory.

It calls the move "devastating" - the latest in a string of closures costing some 750,000 over the past decade.

Libération says it shows that even producers of high-end, specialised items are not immune to the vagaries of globalisation.

But Les Echos say the French can be consoled by the creative destruction of US-style capitalism. Even as companies like Kodak face bankruptcy, other businesses emerge in its shadow. It's part of a culture of entrepreneurship, says Les Echos, which needs to be nurtured in France.

In the oft-neglected extra-terrestrial sphere, Le Parisien has news of bits of rock that were discovered in the south of Morocco last summer. American scientists have discovered that this is debris created when an asteroid crashed into Mars. The resulting rock revolved around the sun, and broke up in the atmosphere, on its thousands-of-years-long journey down to Earth.

By Kyle G. Brown