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Renault to Cut 4,000 Jobs
Renault, France's second-largest carmaker, will cut 4,000 jobs in the country under a savings program to make up for soaring raw-material costs and flagging European auto markets. Workers were informed of a program to end 3,000 white-collar jobs through voluntary departures, the automaker said. An additional 1,000 factory jobs will be cut at a French plant that assembles the Laguna mid-size car, it said.
CHINA
A Post-Olympic Quest for Gold
China's leaders are planning tax cuts and a public-works spending spree to make sure their economy's growth isn't doused along with the Olympic flame. Ten of 11 Summer Olympics host nations analyzed by Morgan Stanley economist Stephen Jen saw growth and investment slump in the year following the games; the only exception in his study, which stretches back to 1956, was the United States in 1996. China's expansion was already slowing before the Beijing Games ended last month.
China has already eased lending restrictions and halted an appreciation of the yuan that was starting to pinch exports. Now, after four straight quarters of decelerating gross domestic product growth, the government is considering a fiscal stimulus of as much as $58 billion, according to economists and Chinese news media.
HONDURAS
U.S. Lifts Ban on Melon Exports
Honduran officials say the United States has lifted a more than five-month ban on cantaloupe imports from one of the country's biggest melon farmers. Agriculture Minister Hector Hernandez says the Montelibano melon company was given the green light to resume melon exports to the United States after a salmonella scare.
EXECUTIVES
Gates Charity Names New CEO
Jeff Raikes, 50, a former top executive at the software giant, will be the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's second leader since its inception in 1997. He is replacing Patty Stonesifer, another former Microsoft exec and friend of the Gateses'. She announced in February that she would step down. Raikes starts today; the charity has denied requests for media interviews to give him 100 days of solitude to focus on his new job.
