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It must then travel to Tokyo to demonstrate the solidarity of France to Japan. Nicolas Sarkozy, the economic forum in Davos, January 27, 2011.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy began Wednesday in Beijing a mini-Asian tour that will take him Thursday at Nanjing (eastern China) for a seminar on the monetary system and Tokyo, three weeks after the earthquake and tsunami that ravaged northeastern Japan.

Arriving early afternoon in the Chinese capital, Sarkozy should immediately meet the French in the new Chinese Embassy before a meeting and dinner with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao.

According to the entourage of the Head of State, these conversations should focus primarily on bilateral issues and the folders "hot" of world events, including the international military operation under way against the Libyan regime of Colonel Gaddafi pushed by France and Great Britain but heavily criticized by China.

Following his meeting with Chinese leader, Nicolas Sarkozy was immediately set sail on Nanking, the ancient imperial capital of the east, where it will start work Thursday morning seminar finance ministers , central bank governors and experts of the G20 countries on reforming the international monetary system.

This day of reflection should lead to the first tracks of reform, which Mr Sarkozy has made a priority of "his" chair of the forum of the twenty largest economies in the world.

As soon as her opening speech, he will head to Tokyo for the last and most dramatic step in this journey Express.

While Japanese authorities are struggling in the midst of a nuclear disaster caused by the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck the country on March 11, the President of the G8 and G20 wanted to visit Japan to demonstrate the solidarity of France and countries in these two forums.

During this short visit, the first in Japan since his election in 2007 except for participation in the G8 summit in Toyako in 2008, Nicolas Sarkozy will hold talks with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and meet the French community in Japan before returning Paris.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange closed lower by 0.21% Tuesday, reflecting concern about the evolution of the nuclear accident in Fukushima-Daiichi and the consequences of the earthquake on business results.

The Nikkei lost 19.45 points to 9,459.08 points and the Topix broader yielded 7.64 points (-0.89%) to 850.21 points.

The share price Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) has been suspended for the meeting following massive sell orders, the Japanese media reporting that the government might consider nationalizing the company. He finished down more than 18%.

Titles Nissan Motor and Toyota Motor fell respectively 0.14% and 1.21%.Japanese automakers continue to suffer from an interruption of supplies of assembly parts required for production vehicles.

The glimmers of hope interviews with the restoration of electricity to restart the cooling systems are now obscured by the lack of information provided by Japan. Water is sprayed on the reactor 4, March 23, 2011

TEPCO, the plant operator said Friday that the reactor vessel No. 3 – The most disturbing – is damaged. "Radioactive substances have escaped away from the reactor," he explained on his side Hideyuki Nishiyama, a spokesman for the Japan Nuclear Safety. "According to this analysis suggest that we believe that the ability of containment yet reached a certain level, but there is a strong risk that the reactor is damaged," he added. This would mean that the reactor core would melt and could begin to attack containment.Bad news confirmed by the Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety, "the containment of reactor No. 3 seems more tight."

The place this week has largely eroded the optimism of the weekend. White fumes were seen escaping from the reactors 2, 3 and 4. Steam, radioactive, definitely. It was probably releasing pressure inside the reactors. But smoke, black one, has also been seen above the reactor 3. Smoke that would be the result of "interaction fumes of molten core, that is to say nuclear fuel – about 2,800 degrees – which is no longer cooled, and the containment steel" according to one expert quoted by France 24.A hypothesis also resumed by IRSN which refers to "the possibility of a rupture of the reactor vessel followed by an interaction between the corium (a mixture of fuel and molten metal) and concrete at the bottom of the enclosure containment. " If the enclosure yielded widely, discharges become significant and the rescue work of the plant would be compromised by the ambient levels of radioactivity.

TEPCO considers that the "work of cooling could take a month, who knows," in the words of his spokesman. If the electrical connection is effective, the restoration of electricity requires an audit of all equipment to prevent short circuits after the injection of sea water operation is much longer than expected and there remains unclear whether the cooling systems are operational.

But the company is increasingly criticized.

According Nouvelobs.com, the First Chamber of the Court of Auditors has decided to transmit to the Court of fiscal discipline and financial reports involving the President of CDR. Bernard Tapie

The Court of fiscal discipline and fiscal responsibility to punish gross negligence committed by state agents in the management of public finances, was seized as part of the case Tapie, Le Nouvel Observateur reported Tuesday on its website .

Moreover, the government management of this case is severely criticized in a report from the Finance Committee of the National Assembly which will be issued within ten days, it was told AFP source close to the folder.

The Court of budgetary and financial discipline (CDBF) is chaired by the first President of the Court of Auditors, Didier Migaud.Litigants are members of ministerial cabinets, officials and persons related to a body subject to review by the Court of Auditors.

According to Le Nouvel Observateur, the First Chamber of the Court of Auditors has decided to transmit to the Attorney General a financial report that court involving Jean-François Rocchi, Chair of the Consortium de Réalisation (CDR), the public entity responsible for liquidate liabilities of the Credit Lyonnais.

Scemama Bernard, president of EPFR, the public institution that oversees and funds the CDR is also covered by this procedure, the paper said.

According to Le Nouvel Observateur, Jean-François Rocchi particularly convinced that the board of the CDR to abandon legal proceedings which opposed the former Credit Lyonnais and Bernard Tapie on the sale of Adidas, to use a private arbitration.

Christine Lagarde referred

The economy minister, Christine Lagarde, is clearly concerned. She had indeed ordered Jean-François Rocchi resort to such arbitration, said the newspaper.

In 2008, the arbitral tribunal had acknowledged the moral and financial businessman in the sale of Adidas in 1993, which had reported a substantial gain at Credit Lyonnais. The state had been ordered to pay 285 million euros in compensation (400 million with interest), including 45 million for the only damage morale husband Tapie.

The decision raised a storm of controversy in the political world and had bounced back in September 2010 when Le Canard Enchaine had said that Mr. Tapie would pocket actually 210 million euros from the state and not between 20 and 50 million as had been assured Christine Lagarde in 2008.

In its report, the Committee of Finance compiles the hearings conducted on this matter, and an estimate of the amount actually received by the businessman, between 200 and 220 million euros, according to the source familiar with the matter.

"Several critical elements in managing this emerging business," said this source. Notably, "The principle is that the state does not compromise when it comes to his interests. But the CDR structure that exists solely because the state is behind, passed a compromise to defer to an arbitral award, "she says, assuring that" the Court of Auditors is very doubtful about the legality of that legal compromise ".

"On the other hand, the compromise that led to the constitution of the arbitral tribunal has been a vote of the Board of CDR but was changed the next day by the President of CDR" without consulting the board , says the source."But it is this change that introduced the concept of moral damage, which cost 45 million to the state."

An agreement by European leaders on a competitiveness pact to give an end to the debt crisis in the region reinforce the existence of a Europe of two speeds and could threaten the political cohesion of the European Union, said Tuesday U.S. investor George Soros.

With the upcoming EU summit on Thursday, during which these measures must be formally adopted, George Soros wrote in the Financial Times that this initiative "set in stone a two-speed Europe".

"This will cause a resentment which will threaten the political cohesion of the European Union," he says.

"(The EU) will see a discrepancy with chronic surplus countries continued to advance while the deficit countries will be drawn down by the weight of their accumulated debt," he observes.

Following a Franco-German initiative, the leaders of the Eurozone agreed last week on a series of measures calling on European countries to set limits on their leverage in their constitutions, to review systems of wage indexation on inflation and make the labor market more flexible.

"The requirements in terms of competitiveness will be placed on uneven ground, placing the country indebted in an untenable position," said George Soros.

"Even Spain, which had a debt ratio lower than in Germany at the beginning of the crisis could be driven down."

According to George Soros, the European Financial Stability (FESF) will come to the rescue of the banking system but also from the states to reach a debt restructuring to avoid a banking crisis.

He also advocates the creation of common European bonds to remove the premium related to the cost of borrowing for countries complying with these rules.

The return of electricity in the plant commissioning would dy cooling system. Provided that it still works. Follow the live situation this Friday. Damage the plants are visible in this picture.

10:22: Nissan announces it will test the radioactivity of vehicles leaving its assembly lines in Japan.

10:19: Italy, France and Germany will sell part of their foreign exchange reserves denominated in yen, in order to lower it. The Japanese currency, safe haven, has career highs in recent days, reaching 76.36 yen to the dollar. A record. Review section of the expansion. Com: Why the Stock Exchanges and oil are falling while the yen rises

10:15: Note to readers. The information reaching us are more rare.The Japanese authorities, who held "press points" every two hours earlier this week have clearly decided to communicate less.

10:12: L'Expansion. Com reports on the human toll and the situation of victims.

10:08: The IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency, will measure the radioactivity in Tokyo on Friday evening, Japan time.

10:04: ASN, the Nuclear Safety Authority, made the point this morning on the state of the reactors. :

– Reactors 1, 2 and 3: "reactor fuel No. 1, 2 and 3 was partially melted. Cooling of each reactor by injection of seawater continues. The containment of reactor No. 1 remained joined after the explosion on the reactor. containments reactors 2 and 3 are potentially damaged. "

– Units 3, 4 and 5: "The reactor No. 4, 5, and 6 were shut down during the earthquake.Unlike reactors, reactor No. 4 reactor No. 5 and 6 contained the fuel in their hearts during the earthquake. "

The pressure in the reactor No. 5 and 6 is increasing. The electrical generator of the No. 6 reactor can nevertheless ensure far cooling of these two reactors.

10:01: The safety agency now classifies the Japanese situation in Units 1, 2 and 3 to Level 5 "serious accident" on a scale of 7. Classififcation on accidents, see this document.

10.00: TEPCO announced that the us grasp this power line had been raised. The connection to the cooling system will only take place Saturday. Japanese officials hope to cool the reactors normally afterwards.

The action NicOx flames in the Paris Stock Exchange Friday morning after the announcement of a licensing agreement for naproxcinod, including biotechnology laboratory said however that it should not deduct items on a next authorization.

Around 9:10, the action NICOX flies from 17.6% to 2.58 euros after being suspended for a time at the opening.

The agreement with the Spanish Grupo Ferrer gives it a license option for anti-inflammatory if it is approved.NicOx said in a statement that the agreement should "not be construed as any indication as to the likelihood or the expected date of approval for naproxcinod in Europe."

Nicox was shaken last summer by the decision of the American Health, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) not to allow her treatment against osteoarthritis, the most advanced product group.

The title was then dropped 20%, having already unscrewed from 45% in May in the wake of the negative opinion of an expert panel, which found it did not have sufficient information on potential risks of the drug and on which the Food and Drug Administration had based its decision.

Over the whole 2010, the NicOx tumbled more than 60%, bringing its market capitalization to 180 million euros.

In late February, the laboratory has indicated its intention to appeal the decision of the FDA.

To date, naproxcinod has not received permission to market in Europe, said NicOx. Under the terms of the agreement, Ferrer has an option that could be exercised after the potential approval of the drug.

This option is for the exclusive distribution rights naproxcinod in Greece and Portugal and co-marketing rights in Spain and Germany. NicOx retains all rights in all other territories, the statement added.

Italy's Eni on Wednesday urged Europe to lift sanctions imposed on Libya, the Libyan army, while taking back the land previously conquered by the opposition to the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.

The Italian oil group, very established in Libya, is the first western society to demand that the links are renewed with Tripoli, which could soon reopen the floodgates of black gold.

International sanctions imposed on Libya prevent foreign companies to be active, which opens the door to trafficking of small operators poorly understood.

"The facilities are in perfect condition but we must first make sure that operations are not covered by sanctions," said Eni CEO Paolo Scaroni.

"Whatever happens, we derive a bullet in the foot by imposing sanctions, because by depriving us of that oil, we do not provide our energy security."

At the beginning of the insurgency Libyan and rebel forces have seized several oil sites and seemed poised to take Tripoli, with the blessing of Western powers.

But the Libyan army has since reversed the trend and taken most of the oil sites from the coast.

"PUTTING ON THE WRONG HORSE"

According to Paolo Scaroni, Eni's relations with Libya are not challenged.

"I do not consider they have been compromised.We have maintained relationships with the National Oil Corporation (NOC), which is our main interlocutor "in Libya, he said.

On Wednesday, the director of the NOC, Shokri Ghanem, told Reuters that existing contracts with Western oil companies would be honored.

Eni has invested billions of dollars in Libya, Italy and imported before the violence began 500,000 barrels of Libyan oil per day, or 22% of its consumption.

The Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, was considered the closest partner of Muammar Gaddafi in Europe, but recently called to relinquish power.

The Libyan leader has since said he feels betrayed by her former European allies.

"It seems to me that it was too soon backed the wrong horse and it will be difficult to change," said an adviser to a firm of risk analysis working on Libya.

"From a practical standpoint, I do not see how large companies such as Eni may return in the middle of the sanctions, even if Qaddafi called Berlusconi to send him his blessing," added the source, who did not wish to be named.

The BoJ will absolutely prevent a financial crisis adds to the crisis. It has injected 3 trillion yen to 20,000 billion already provided the money market.

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) announced it yet injected 3,000 billion yen (26 billion euros) in the money market to support the economy after the earthquake, most of the 5,000 and 15,000 billion yen already injected respectively in the and Monday morning.

This new funding brings to 23,000 billion yen (202 billion yen) the total amount provided by the BoJ to the interbank market since Monday.

The amount of massive injections performed Monday by the central bank was unprecedented for a single day.

The BoJ will absolutely prevent banks from areas hard hit by the earthquake and the severe problems in nuclear power plants are short of money.

The monetary policy committee had also decided on Monday to boost its quantitative easing.

It will increase from 5,000 billion yen (44 billion euros) its purchases of various assets and keep its key rate in the range 0.0% to 0.1%, to facilitate funding and stabilize markets.

The earthquake and ensuing tsunami claimed thousands of lives and caused considerable destruction. They have also disrupted production throughout the archipelago, while electricity supply is a problem with the decision of 11 nuclear reactors, four of which will doubtless not be returned to service.

The 8.9 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on Friday have dramatic consequences. The provisional toll is 1,000 dead, while a nuclear leak is now officially considered. Another earthquake hit the west of the archipelago. The very strong earthquake of magnitude 8.8 to 8.9 and the tsunami that hit Japan Friday, March 11 caused extensive damage

The important point to 23:00:

– A historical earthquake struck Japan Tuesday At 14h, local time. Strong aftershocks have still occurred. An assessment agency, confirmed by the Japanese Ministry of Defense reported 1,000 dead, at least.

– Tsunami Warning for the entire Pacific Ocean basin. NHK issues a new warning for Japan after a new earthquake west of the Japanese archipelago. The Marquesas Islands are also highly threatened.

– The damage seems considerable.A petrochemical complex in Sendai was hit by a huge explosion. The city is ravaged. Several fires were reported in Tokyo.

– Nuclear Alert sounded after failures in the cooling of a central hit. The situation seems more difficult than previously announced, the government announced that a small leak is possible. The local inhabitants were evacuated.

– The army is called in reinforcements. The relief rally, while many countries have offered assistance.

To follow live on the earthquake information, click here.

A very strong earthquake with a magnitude of 8.9, according to sources, took place Friday, March 11 in northeastern Japan, a major triggering a tsunami several yards on the Pacific coast.The tsunami of 10 meters shortly thereafter swept the coasts of the prefecture of Sendai, reported the media, which broadcast pictures of flooded houses and cars under water in coastal cities (see video below). Since the first tremor, strong aftershocks up to 5.5 on the Richter scale, occur, compounding the damage.

The Kyodo news agency, monitored by the Ministry of Defence report, 13 hours after the quake, at least 1000 dead and many wounded, and hundreds of missing persons. The government spokesman referred to "a considerable number of deaths." Four passenger train and a ship with 100 people on board were missing.A dam burst in the northeast, according to Kyodo, sweeping away houses in its path.

Japan is regularly hit by earthquakes, is the largest country in the world prepared for such disasters. Contingency plans were immediately activated and the resources mobilized. Numerous testimonies indicate the distribution of blankets, food and water just hours after the first quake.

A tsunami warning was issued on almost all coasts of the Pacific by the U.S. Centers for tsunamis and an evacuation order was triggered Mariana Islands. The wave has just hit Hawaii, causing no casualties, according to initial information. Another earthquake of magnitude 6.6 on the Richter scale, occurred west of the archipelago.NHK, Japanese television, announces warning for the islands of Japan that night.

Most countries in the threatened area evacuate their coastal communities. This is the case in the Marquesas Islands that could be hit by waves of 2 to 3 meters. Chile has issued an alert late Friday. In Tahiti and New Caledonia, the alert is lifted. United States, the AP announced at 16:15 evacuation of some coastal areas of California, state on alert for several hours. The first waves reached Oregon to 16.45. The Hawaiian archipelago has also been affected, without major damage.

The quake with a magnitude of 8.9 according to the American Institute of Geophysics (USGS) who had previously estimated at 7.9 and 8.8, occurred at 24.4 km depth to 2:46 p.m. (5:46 GMT) and about a hundred miles off the coast of Miyagi Prefecture."We have been shaken so violently that he had to cling to not fall," testified an official of the municipality of Kurihara, hardest hit in this prefecture. "We could not get away from the building because the tremors did not stop to succeed," she told AFP by telephone.

Nuclear power plants in Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures were automatically adopted, said its operator, the company Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), which serves the capital. . However, a problem of cooling of the central Fukushima led to the outbreak of the atomic alert. 6000 people are being evacuated. TEPCO reported tonight "risk of radioactive leaks" if the pressure does not fall into the reactor. A flight risk recognized by the government.An expert quoted by the BBC believes that the pressure drop is imperative "in the coming hours."

Networks of fixed and mobile telecommunications were heavily disrupted, noted AFP. Mobile networks have implemented a lightweight messaging system, limited to 100 characters, not to saturate the telephone network.

Ten fires were reported in the capital, and there were several casualties in the media. In the Tokyo area, a refinery was on fire Iichihara, according to images broadcast on Japanese television. Flames hundreds of feet are visible. Authorities casually refer people in areas affected by fires to protect themselves from the rain for fear of toxicity.

Narita International Airport, located about fifty kilometers east of Tokyo, has reopened after an interruption of traffic for several hours.Shinkansen express trains were stopped across the northeast and the motorways of the Tokyo area closed a few minutes after the earthquake. Subways and commuter trains are stopped. There is no electricity for 8 million homes, including 4 million in Tokyo.

Rescuers try to help the victims in challenging conditions. Thousands of rescue workers are at work in the northeast. The UN and many countries, including China and France, offer their help. The United States, who have forces in Japan, participating in several operations, including one to the center of Fukushima.