Opus Dei Pair Accused Of Making French Woman Work For Fifteen Years Without Pay

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Two members of the Roman Catholic minority movement, Opus Dei are under trial after being accused of forcing an assistant to work for 15 years without pay, reports News24.

The accuser, Catherine Tissier, was 14-years-old when she joined Donsen hotel school where religious matters were conducted by Opus Dei. Tissier accepted the faith, but also worked 14 hours a day without payment for her services.

By the time she was 29-years-old she weighed only 86 lbs as a result of her labors, reports the Irish Independent.

After visiting her family, and a doctor, she was told she should not go back to the school due to her poor health.

The couple have been charged with undignified punishment and illegal employment.

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How The French And German Economies Are Doing Compared To The Periphery

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Good chart in the latest Markit Eurozone PMI report.

As you can see, the scene on the periphery is pretty ugly, but the situation for France and Germany, growth-wise, is hardly better.

Nominally things aren't quite as bad, but the direction is exactly the same. Down.

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Coke Cancels $24 Million French Investment After Soda Tax Announced

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Coca-Cola announced today that it will be putting a €17 million ($24 million) investment in a French factory on hold because of the French plan for a tax on sugary sodas, reports the AP.

The French government had hoped that the tax would not only help fight obesity but also help raise €120 million ($168 million).

However, Coca-Cola responded by saying arguing that the tax was unfair as the soda is “not harmful to health.”

On Coca Cola's French website, it says “[obesity] is not linked to the consumption of a particular product, but depends on the global nutritional balance."

Read more at France24 >

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French Startup Media Company FrenchWeb Raises Almost $1 Million From French Entrepreneurs

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FrenchWeb, a blog and mini-media empire focused on the fast-growing world of French startups, just raised an angel round of almost $1 million from 17 French web entrepreneurs. 

Founded only in 2010, FrenchWeb says it had 270,000 Google Analytics unique visitors in June. The site, which started out as a simple series of video interviews, often breaks news and has quickly become a must-read resource for French startup folks, and this investment just speaks to how well the French startup ecosystem is doing. 

As far as we know, no plans from founder Richard Menneveux to raise his own venture fund. 

Don't Miss These 12 Super-Hot French Startups ?

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French Startups Are Still On A Roll

  x You have successfully emailed the post. The French startup ecosystem is probably the most underrated out there, as we've been arguing. New data shows this: a compilation of the venture fundraisings of this year shows 75 venture financings for the year versus around forty at the same point last year.

75 venture deals in eight months isn't huge yet, but this only includes institutional VCs, and what matters is the trend: the French online ecosystem is still surging. 

(Via FrenchWeb in French)

Don't Miss: #LEWINNING: Meet 12 French Startups To Reckon With ?

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French Austerity, Really?

Sigh. France cuts growth targets, unveils austerity plan. We’re told that it is doing so because it expects slower growth — which the austerity will make even slower.

But France faces soaring interest rates, right? No:

ECB, Bloomberg

At this point the entire advanced world is doing exactly what basic macroeconomics says it shouldn’t be doing: slashing spending in the face of high unemployment, slow growth, and a liquidity trap. It’s a global 1937. And if the result is another recession, the witch-doctors will just demand more bleeding.

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"Les Super-Riches" French Pull A Buffett And Ask For More Taxes

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Sixteen of France's wealthiest individuals have mimicked Warren Buffett's call for an "exceptional tax levy" on the wealthy to help their country manage its debt burden.

The announcement—published on the website of magazine Le Nouvel Observateur this week—surfaces just ahead a planned announcement by French President Nicolas Sarkozy on new austerity measures meant keep budget deficits under control.

Tension has been high ever since rumors circulated that France could lose its treasured AAA rating. Austerity measures are already expected to cut taxes on the rich.

According to WSJ, a public call for such a levy may be intended to paint a more positive picture of "les riches." Billionaires—in particular, L'Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt—have recently come under fire for attempting to evade tax collection.

Here's the English translation of their public appeal (via WSJ):

We, chairmen of companies and business leaders, business men and women, finance professionals or wealthy citizens, call for an exceptional levy that would target France's richest taxpayers.

This exceptional tax should be calculated in a reasonable way and designed so as to avoid undesirable effects, such as capital outflows and an increase in tax evasion.

We are aware of the fact that we have benefited from a French model and a European environment which we are attached to and which we want to help preserve. This tax is not a solution in itself: it must be part of a wider reform of the tax system, encompassing spending as well as tax receipts.

At a time when rising public debt and deficits are threatening France's and Europe's future, and when the government is asking everyone to show solidarity, we feel we must contribute.

A full list of signers is available here.

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