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Thirty years after it discarded the Datsun brand, Japanese carmaker Nissan has confirmed that it is bringing it back, with the name plate going on low cost vehicles for emerging markets.
Chief executive Carlos Ghosn, on a visit to Jakarta, said Datsuns will go on sale in Indonesia, as well as India and Russia, from the start of 2014.
“It’s a green car, an affordable car, a small displacement, with high local content,” Ghosn said of the Datsun.
Other than that no details have emerged, but the vehicle will not be the same as Renault-Nissan’s low-cost Logan models, nor the companies joint venture cars made in China.
Nissan plans to invest the equivalent of 300 million euros in Indonesia to double its capacity there and will triple its dealerships in Southeast Asia’s largest economy to 90,000.
After meeting Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono , Ghosn said: “The priority (for Nissan Motors in Indonesia) is for the Indonesian market,” Ghosn said. “If there is any room for more capacity it will be located for the domestic (market) rather than for exports, although cost is competitive.”
Nissan has been pushing rapidly into emerging markets, including a partnership with Ashok Leyland in India and a recently announced factory in Brazil, where it aims to triple its market share by 2016.
Nissan and its French partner, Renault, are also close to announcing a deal to raise the alliance’s stake in Russia’s AvtoVAZ, the maker of Lada cars, to increase growth there.
More about: Car industry, Japan, Nissan, RenaultCopyright © 2012 euronews

Animated films aimed at adults were the emerging trend at this year’s Cartoon Movie in the French city of Lyon.
The forum for makers and buyers of animated movies showcased 55 films to about 700 industry professionals.
Typical of the wave of grown-up films is the award-winning Spanish movie Arrugas – Wrinkles. Funny yet moving, it is centred on the frienship between two men in an old people’s home.
More about: Animation film, Cinema, LyonCopyright © 2012 euronews

Macky Sall shot to his present political height of Senegal’s president-elect in a space of 12 years, building on experience. He is originally a geological engineer. He was named minister of mining and energy 11 years ago, then interior minister, and prime minister in 2004. He became chairman of the National Assembly for 2007-2008.
Now 50, he led his political career in the shadow of President Wade. He managed Wade’s re-election campaign in 2007, as number two in the Senegalese Democratic Party.
But Wade was furious when the National Assembly called his son, Karim, to explain his actions at the head of an agency responsible for work surrounding an Islamic summit in Dakar in March of 2007.
Wade held it against Sall, and forced him to resign in 2008, not only as Assembly chairman but also from his positions as mayor and parliament member.
But Macky Sall was not planning on leaving politics. He formed his own party and ran for the office of national president, with other candidates’ support after making it into the second round. Singer Youssou’N Dour was one of them.
The Karim Wade affair lent credibility to Sall’s self-definition as a republican who resisted nepotism.
One typical demonstrator said: “We need change. Everybody knows that if Abdoulaye Wade leaves power it’s just to pass it on to his son. To avoid that we need to vote Macky.”
Sall did not campaign on an anti-Wade platform. Just before the voting, for instance, he talked about working to resolve the Casamance conflict over regional independence, now going on for 30 years.
Sall said: “If I am elected president, I will do everything possible to get an immediate cease-fire, and above all to create the conditions for lasting and definitive peace. A national inclusive effort will be organised with all the parties involved, the fighters in the MFDC, all the actors involved in the process and the neighbouring countries Gambia and Guinea Bissau.”
More about: Presidential elections, Senegal, Senegal politicsCopyright © 2012 euronews

As the Geneva Auto Show opened, the theme that emerged was that demand for luxury vehicles is holding up better than the mass market.
Sales figures also show some carmakers are proving more successful than others in tapping stronger demand from north America and emerging markets.
On the luxury front, the head of Audi in France, Benoit Thiers, said what you get is more important than size: “Luxury clothing is available in all sizes — large, extra large and even extra small. It’s the same with cars: with growing urbanisation and our customers increasingly living in cities, they are more and more looking to own a small, premium car.”
Audi believes demand for luxury vehicles in China, where it is market leader, will continue to expand.
The projected figures for this year tell the story with sales in Western Europe this year forecast to be 12.1 million vehicles, just half those in Asia at 24.2 million.
The contrast at Geneva can be seen from BMW and Volkswagen’s issuing upbeat forecasts while Peugeot announced it was selling cheap shares to fund its tie-up with General Motors.
Japanese car maker Nissan underscored its confidence by saying it would invest 150 million euros to build its new Invitation compact car in Sunderland in northeast England, creating a total of 2,000 jobs at Nissan and its suppliers.
More about: Car industry, Geneva, ShowCopyright © 2012 euronews

A car bomb exploded in Syria’s second city Aleppo on Sunday, killing at least three people and wounding 25 others.
The attack came a day after two blasts killed 27 people in the capital Damascus, which Syrian officials blamed on “terrorists”.
The latest explosion occurred as crowds gathered in Damascus to hold memorials for the victims of Saturday’s bombing, which targeted security offices.Dozens of people waving Syrian flags prayed for the victims.
Meanwhile hundreds of supporters of President Bashar al Assad came together at the site of Saturday’s explosions. Many chanted pro-Assad slogans and condemned the violence.
Security forces also broke up an opposition march of more than 200 people. They briefly arrested two activists.
Syrian activists blame government forces for regular blasts in both cities, accusing them of trying to prevent people joining the uprising, which marked its one year anniversary last week.
More about: Armed conflicts, Attack, Bashar al-Assad, Car bomb, SyriaCopyright © 2012 euronews

Two high profile government security buildings have been bombed in the heart of the Syrian capital Damascus killing at least 27 people and wounding 150 or so more.
State television blamed both explosions on terrorists trying to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.
Syria’s news agency Sana said the first device detonated outside an air security intelligence centre.
Witnesses said the explosion was enormous.
Residents loyal to the Assad regime living nearby reacted angrily, believing that the attacks were foreign inspired, and had targeted civilians.
“No one in the world will be able to twist our arm,” said one. “We will continue to support our country. We will sacrifice our blood, our children and our souls for Syria. No matter what the opposition do, they will remain smaller than the smallest boot of any Syrian soldier.”
There were similar scenes of destruction at the Criminal Police Headquarters.
The Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri posted a message on the internet last month urging Muslims around the region to help the Syrian rebels, who have been trying for a year to oust the regime.
The attacks echoed similar suicide bombings in Damascus and Aleppo in December and January that killed 98 people.

More about: Armed conflicts, Bashar al-Assad, Explosion, Syria, VictimsCopyright © 2012 euronews

Republican Mitt Romney is a step closer to winning his party’s nomination for the presidency after a comfortable win in the Illinois primary. He defeated his closest rival, Rick Santorum, by 47 percent to 35 percent.
Romney now has twice as many delegates at the nominating convention as Santorum.
The win gave Romney a fresh burst of momentum in the White House campaign and new ammunition for his argument that it is time for Republicans to rally around his campaign and end an increasingly bitter nominating battle.

Romney’s campaign has argued that his rivals cannot catch him in the contest to pick a challenger to Obama in the November 6 election.
Santorum and Newt Gingrich hope to keep Romney from capturing a majority of delegates by the time the nominating contests end in June, leaving the choice up for grabs among the party’s mostly conservative delegates heading into the August nominating convention in Tampa, Florida.
More about: 2012 Republican primaries, Mitt Romney, USA presidential elections 2012Copyright © 2012 euronews

The city of Toulouse and the surrounding south western region of France have been put on the highest level of terrorism alert following the shootings of three children and a rabbi at a Jewish school.
More than 100 police officers have been sent to the area to hunt for the gunman after the same weapon was discovered to have been used in the killing of three soldiers last week.
Yesterday the culprit escaped on a stolen scooter – its number plate was picked up by closed-circuit TV which also caught the killings on camera.
Jewish community representative Nicole Yardeni said: “He looked very normal, very determined but very normal. He was very calm and very organised, like some one killing animals.”
The soldiers who were murdered were of North African and Caribbean descent and were also shot dead in Toulouse, and the nearby town of Montauban.
One line of investigation is focusing on the far right. A national magazine has suggested the gunman could be one of three soldiers dismissed from the military base in the town in 2008 for neo-Nazi activities (see picture below).
Criminologist Stephane Bourgoin gave his profile of the killer: He said: “he’s a special type. He’s different, not like the mass killer Anders Breivik, or the Columbine killers, but rather he is a serial killer, and in a specific category called an serial sniper.”
Security has been tightened across the region with guards posted outside all faith-based schools as well as all Jewish and Muslim religious buildings. Pressure is mounting on investigators to catch the gunman before he strikes again.
More about: France, Inquiry, Judaism, Nicolas Sarkozy, Religion, Toulouse shootingCopyright © 2012 euronews