Danny Puff

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sony Corp said it will launch its next-generation PlayStation this year, hoping its first video game console in seven years will give it a much-needed head start over the next version of Microsoft's Xbox and help revive its stumbling electronics business.

The new console will have a revamped interface, let users stream and play video games hosted on servers, and allow users to play while downloading titles as well as share videos with friends. Its new controller, dubbed DualShock 4, will have a touchpad and a camera that can sense the depth of the environment in front of it.

Sony, which only displayed the controller but not the console, said on Wednesday the PlayStation 4 would be available for the year-end holiday season and flagged games from the likes of Ubisoft Entertainment SA and Activision Blizzard Inc, whose top executives also attended the glitzy launch event.

It did not disclose pricing or an exact launch date.

Sony's announcement comes amid industry speculation that Microsoft Corp is set to unveil the successor to its Xbox 360 later this summer. The current Xbox 360 beats the seven-year-old PlayStation 3's online network with features such as voice commands on interactive gaming and better connectivity to smartphones and tablets.

But all video game console makers are grappling with the onslaught of mobile devices into their turf.

Tablets and smartphones built by rivals such as Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd already account for around 10 percent of the $80 billion gaming market. Those mobile devices, analysts predict, will within a few years be as powerful as the current slew of game-only consoles.

"It looks good and had a lot of great games but the industry is different now," Billy Pidgeon, an analyst at Inside Network Research, said of the new PlayStation.

"It'll be a slow burn and not heavy uptake right away."

MIGRATION TO MOBILE

Console makers will also have to tackle flagging video game hardware and software sales, which research firm NPD group says have dropped consistently every month over the last year as users migrate to free game content on mobile devices.

PlayStation 4 will have an app on Android and Apple mobile devices that connects to console games and can act as a second screen, Jack Tretton, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, said in an interview.

"Playstation 4 ... really connects every device in the office and the smartphone and the tablet out there in the world," Tretton said.

The console, which has been in development for the last five years, will have 8 GB of memory and will instantly stream game content from the console to Sony's handheld PlayStation Vita through a feature called "Remote Play," the company said.

"What Sony is banking on is the ease of the use of this system," Greg Miller, PlayStation executive editor at video game site IGN.com, said.

After six years, Sony PlayStation sales are just shy of Xbox's 67 million installed base and well behind the 100 million Wii consoles sold by Nintendo Co Ltd, according to analysts.

Tretton said it would be a big undertaking to manufacture and distribute the console in Sony's four major markets by the end of the year, adding that it would be a "phased rollout" that starts before the end of the year.

Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia predicted Sony would probably get a couple of million units of the PlayStation 4 out by the 2013 holiday season and 7 million or 8 million out a year later.

Sony also announced a strategic partnership with video game publisher Activision Blizzard to take its Diablo III game to the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 consoles.

Activision's upcoming sci-fi shooter game "Destiny" in development by its Bungie Studio will also be available on PlayStation consoles.

(Editing by Gary Hill, Bernard Orr and Edwina Gibbs)

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Joe Garagiola, the Major League baseball veteran best known for his affable personality and quick wit as a sports commentator, game show host and even late-night television personality, retired from broadcasting on Wednesday.

Garagiola, 87, who made his Major League debut with his hometown team, the St. Louis Cardinals, in 1946 and ended his baseball career nine seasons later with the New York Giants, embarked on a much longer broadcasting career in 1955.

He began calling Cardinal radio broadcasts on KMOX that year and went on to a nearly three-decade association with NBC starting in 1961, making his mark as a commentator for the network's baseball game of the week broadcasts into the 1980s.

Garagiola crossed over from sports to NBC's news division, serving as a "Today" show panelist from 1967 to 1973 and again from 1990 to 1992, and also worked in entertainment television.

During the 1960s and 70s, he filled in for Johnny Carson as an occasional guest host of NBC's "Tonight Show" and presented various game shows, including "He Said, She Said", Joe Garagiola's Memory Game", "To Tell the Truth" and "Strike It Rich".

In addition to his Major League stints with the Cardinals and the Giants, the left-handed-hitting catcher played for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago Cubs during a 676-game career that earned a .257 batting average, 42 home runs and 255 RBI.

"I really appreciate everything that has happened to me," Garagiola said at news conference at the Arizona Diamondbacks spring training facility in Scottsdale, Arizona. "I don't deserve a lot things that happened to me, but I remember Jack Benny said he had arthritis, and he didn't deserve that either."

Garagiola capped his Hall of Fame broadcasting career as a part-time television analyst for the Diamondbacks since 1998.

(Writing by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Steve Gorman and Pravin Char)

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Palestinian filmmaker on his way to the Academy Awards said on Wednesday he was held at Los Angeles International Airport and threatened with deportation before being allowed into the United States.

Emad Burnat, whose "5 Broken Cameras" is competing for an Oscar in the Best Documentary Feature category, said U.S. immigration officials took him, his wife and 8-year-old son aside when they arrived in Los Angeles from Turkey on Tuesday evening.

"Immigration officials asked for proof that I was nominated for an Academy Award ... and they told me that if I couldn't prove the reason for my visit, my wife Soraya, my son Gibreel and I would be sent back to Turkey on the same day," Burnat said in a statement.

Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said in a series of Twitter messages that he stepped in to help resolve the situation.

"Although he (Burnat) produced the Oscar invite nominees receive, that wasn't good enough & he was threatened with being sent back to Palestine. ... Apparently the Immigration & Customs officers couldn't understand how a Palestinian could be an Oscar nominee. Emad texted me for help ... I called Academy officials who called lawyers. I told Emad to give the officers my phone # and to say my name a couple of times," Moore tweeted on Tuesday evening.

Burnat said he and his family were detained for about an hour.

U.S. officials declined to comment on the incident, citing privacy laws.

"Travelers may be referred for further inspection for a variety of reasons to include identity verification, intent of travel, and confirmation of admissibility," U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement. "The United States has been, and continues to be, a welcoming nation."

Burnat, a farmer, is the amateur filmmaker behind "5 Broken Cameras," which documents about five years of protests against land seizures by Israeli forces and Jewish settlers in his village of Bil'in in the occupied West Bank. It was co-directed by Israeli activist and filmmaker Guy Davidi.

It is the first Palestinian film to be nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the Oscars, according to representatives for the film.

"5 Broken Cameras" is one of five films nominated for an Oscar in the documentary category. One of its competitors is Israeli film "The Gatekeepers," which looks at the decades-old Middle East conflict through the eyes of six top former Israeli intelligence bosses.

The Oscars, the highest awards in the movie industry, will be presented on Sunday in Hollywood.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Stacey Joyce)

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NEW YORK (AP) Sony wants you to know that the PlayStation 4 is coming this holiday season, but not what it will look like.

The Japanese electronics giant talked about its upcoming console for the first time Wednesday and showed what it can do, without actually revealing the device itself during the two-hour event. Presenters played games that were projected on screens in a converted opera house, but the PlayStations themselves were hidden backstage.

"I don't know that the box is going to be something that's going to have a dramatic impact on people's feelings about the game. It will be a color and a size fairly comparable to previous consoles," said Jack Tretton, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, the U.S.-based arm of the PlayStation business.

"There's a big story to tell here, and it's going to take between now and the holiday season to get all the details out there," Tretton said in an interview.

Tretton said the price of the PS4 hasn't been decided yet, but hinted that it wouldn't be as high as the PlayStation 3 was initially. The PS3 debuted in 2006 with two models for $500 and $600. It now sells for about $300.

The PS4 will be jostling for attention this holiday season with Microsoft's successor to the Xbox. Details on that device are expected in June. Xbox 360 came out a year before PS3 and has been more popular, largely because of its robust online service, Xbox Live, which allows people to play games with others online. Having an event this early allows Sony to grab the spotlight for a few months, though the lack of an actual device was noted by many people on Twitter and elsewhere.

Sony did reveal that the insides of the PS4 will essentially be a "supercharged PC," much like an Xbox. That's a big departure from the old and idiosyncratic PlayStation design and should make it easier for developers to create games. Sony Corp. is using processing chips made by Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

"One of the big challenges we faced in the past was that we created great technology that we handed over to the development community, and they had to go through a learning curve before they could harness it. And when they did, we saw some phenomenal games," Tretton said. "We wanted to lower that barrier of entry and really give them the ability to create tremendous gaming experiences from Day One."

The adoption of PC chips also means that the new console won't be able to play games created for any of the three previous PlayStations, even though the PS4 will have a Blu-ray disc drive, just like the PS3. Instead, Sony said gamers will have to stream older games to the PS4 through the Internet.

Other new features revolve around social networking and remote access. With one button, you can broadcast video of your game play so friends can "look over your shoulder virtually," said David Perry, co-founder of the Sony-owned Internet game company Gaikai. With remote play, you can run a game on the PS4 to stream over the Internet to Sony's mobile gaming device, the PlayStation Vita, which debuted last year.

The goal is to make the PS4 so good at figuring out what games and other content you want that it can download it without being asked, so that it's available when you realize you do want it, Sony said.

"Our long-term vision is to reduce download times of digital titles to zero," said Mark Cerny, Sony's lead system architect on the PS4.

The PS4 is arriving amid declines in video game hardware, software and accessory sales. Research firm NPD Group said game sales fell 22 percent to $13.3 billion in 2012. With the launch of the PS4, Sony is looking to attract people who may have shifted their attention to games on Facebook, tablet computers and mobile phones.

Forrester analyst James McQuivey said Sony is missing the point by building what amounts to an upgraded PS3.

"Sony believes the future will be like the past and has built the game console to prove it," he said. "Tablets and smartphones now engage more people in more minutes of gaming than consoles will ever achieve."

Sony showed an updated controller that adds a touchpad and a "share" button. The controller also features a light bar, which means a new PlayStation camera can more easily track the device for motion control.

The bulk of Wednesday's event was devoted to demos of games for the PS4, including a realistic team racing simulator, "Drive Club," super-powered action sequel "Infamous: Second Son," artsy puzzler "The Witness" and several first-person shooter games, including "Killzone: Shadow Fall." Beyond games, the PS4 will let people create animation in 3-D using a Move motion controller all in real time.

Last fall, Nintendo launched the next generation of gaming consoles with the Wii U, which comes with a tablet-like controller called the GamePad. The controller allows two people playing the same game to have different experiences depending on whether they use the GamePad or a traditional Wii remote, which itself was revolutionary when it came out because of its motion-control features.

Judging by Wednesday's event, Sony seeks to improve but not revolutionize game play. The games were updates to existing ones, with improved graphics.

"At the end of the day, this is a device by gamers for gamers," Tretton said. "The games that people go out and spend billions of dollars on are your traditional shooters."

The original Wii has sold more units since its launch than both its rivals, but it has lost momentum in recent years as the novelty of its motion controller faded. Nintendo said it sold 3.1 million Wii Us by the end of 2012. It was a disappointing start for the first of a new generation of gaming systems.

In some ways, notably its ability to display high-definition games, the Wii U was just catching up to the PS3 and the Xbox 360, the preferred consoles to play popular games such as "Call of Duty."

All three console makers are trying to position their devices as entertainment hubs that can deliver movies, music and social networking as they try to stay relevant in the age of smartphones and tablets. The PlayStation online network will have access to Sony's video and music services, as well as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon, with paid subscriptions to those services. People will also be able to access Facebook.

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Lang contributed from Los Angeles.

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AMRITSAR, India (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron says a giant diamond his country forced India to hand over in the colonial era that was set in the late Queen Elizabeth I's crown will not be returned.

Speaking on the third and final day of a visit to India aimed at drumming up trade and investment, Cameron ruled out handing back the 105-carat Koh-i-Noor diamond, now on display in the Tower of London.

One of the world's largest diamonds, some Indians - including independence leader Mahatma Gandhi's grandson - have demanded its return to atone for Britain's colonial past.

"I don't think that's the right approach," Cameron told reporters on Wednesday after becoming the first serving British prime minister to voice regret about one of the bloodiest episodes in colonial India, a massacre of unarmed civilians in the city of Amritsar in 1919.

"It is the same question with the Elgin Marbles," he said, referring to the classical Greek marble sculptures that Athens has long demanded be given back.

"The right answer is for the British Museum and other cultural institutions to do exactly what they do, which is to link up with other institutions around the world to make sure that the things which we have and look after so well are properly shared with people around the world.

"I certainly don't believe in 'returnism', as it were. I don't think that's sensible."

Britain's then colonial governor-general of India arranged for the huge diamond to be presented to Queen Victoria in 1850.

If Kate Middleton, the wife of Prince William, who is second in line to the throne, eventually becomes queen consort she will don the crown holding the diamond on official occasions.

When Elizabeth II made a state visit to India to mark the 50th anniversary of India's independence from Britain in 1997, many Indians demanded the return of the diamond.

Cameron is keen to tap into India's economic rise, but says he is anxious to focus on the present and future rather than "reach back" into the past.

(Reporting By Andrew Osborn; Editing by Michael Roddy)

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NEW YORK (AP) Sony unveiled its next-generation gaming system, the PlayStation 4, and promised social and remote capabilities. Wednesday's announcement gives the struggling Japanese electronics company a head start over Microsoft and an Xbox 360 successor.

The new PlayStation's controller resembles that of the PlayStation 3, but adds a touchpad, motion control and a "share" button. The Japanese electronics giant said the console will be part of a new ecosystem focused on hardware, software and "the fastest, most powerful gaming network."

The PlayStation 4 will be Sony Corp.'s first major game console since the PlayStation 3 went on sale in 2006. Microsoft Corp. is expected to unveil the next Xbox in June at the E3 video game expo in Los Angeles. Last fall, Nintendo started selling the Wii U, though it plays catch-up in some respects in bringing the ability to play high-definition games.

Although the Xbox 360 came out a year before PlayStation 3, Microsoft's game machine has been more popular, largely because of its robust online service, Xbox Live, which allows people to play games with others online. The original Wii has sold more units since its launch than both its rivals, but it lost momentum as the novelty of its motion controller faded. Sales of the new Wii U have been slow.

Underscoring the importance of a new PlayStation and the U.S. market, Sony is holding its announcement event in New York rather than in Japan, as it had in the past. The event is at the Hammerstein Ballroom in midtown Manhattan.

Here's a running account of the PlayStation event, presented in reverse chronological order. All times are EST. Presenters include Andrew House, president and group chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.; Mark Cerny, lead architect for the PlayStation 4; and David Perry, co-founder of the Internet game company Gaikai, which Sony bought last year.

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8:05 p.m.

The event wraps up without Sony showing off the device or saying anything about price or availability. The event focused on the new console's social and remote features and games that are being developed for it.

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7:50 p.m.

Sony continues to bring game developers on stage to talk about upcoming releases and plans for the PlayStation 4. Video from the various games is shown on the giant screen.

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7:40 p.m.

More than an hour and a half into the presentation, Sony has yet to show the PlayStation 4 machine. There's no word yet on price or release date, though availability isn't likely for several months.

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7:30 p.m.

It's 9:30 a.m. Thursday in Tokyo, and the event is being streamed live at Sony's website.

Yoshinori Ono from Japanese game maker Capcom addresses the audience in Japanese, with a translator offering the remarks in English.

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7:25 p.m.

Beyond games, Sony is touting the PlayStation 4's fast graphical capabilities. You'd be able to create animation in 3-D using a Move motion controller all in real time.

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7:15 p.m.

Another game showcased was "The Witness." It's a puzzle game that explores an abandoned island. It will be developed exclusively for the PlayStation 4.

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7 p.m.

Among the offerings planned: "Drive Club." An executive from Evolution Studios says it's been a concept for a decade, but made possible with the new machine. The game will be about driving the best cars in the world in the best locations in the world, using 3-D models of engines built by the development team.

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6:50 p.m.

The event continues with demonstration of games that can be played on the new PlayStation.

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6:45 p.m.

Like Nintendo and Microsoft, Sony is trying to position its device as an entertainment hub that can deliver movies, music and social networking as it tries to stay relevant in the age of smartphones and tablets.

The PlayStation online network will have access to Sony's video and music services, as well as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon as long as you have subscriptions to those services. You'll also be able to access Facebook.

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6:40 p.m.

Perry talks about Gaikai's vision of letting people explore any game in the PlayStation store for free. The idea is gamers will then buy what they like.

He says PlayStation 4 will allow for virtual spectating. With one button, you can broadcast your game play so friends can "look over your shoulder virtually."

It will have a feature called remote play, in which you run the game on the PlayStation, which then sends the video to your handheld PlayStation Vita device over the Internet so you can play remotely.

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6:30 p.m.

Cerny says the new PlayStation will have hardware compression so sharing video of game play will be easier. You can browse live game video of games your friends are playing.

Adopting Facebook's philosophy, Sony will transition to an online game network based on real names, even as people will also be able to keep their aliases.

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6:25 p.m.

Cerny appears in a plaid shirt and jeans as he touts the ease in which computer programmers will be able to write games for the new system. He says that with so many devices around, the value of having a powerful computer on a single chip has diminished. Instead, Sony is building the new PlayStation on top of a traditional PC architecture, and in doing so, game creators will have an easier time developing games.

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6:10 p.m.

Just before announcing the PlayStation 4, House refers to "a moment of truth and a bold step forward for PlayStation and the company." He says Sony is looking to offer powerful opportunities to connect and play, including on mobile through a companion PlayStation Vita released last year.

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6 p.m.

The PlayStation event begins with a light and video show at the storied Hammerstein Ballroom in midtown Manhattan. In attendance are analysts and journalists representing news organizations around the world.

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LONDON (AP) British music put on a brash, confident show at the Brit Awards on Wednesday, celebrating a resurgent industry whose bands and artists are topping charts around the globe.

Winners ranged from established acts such as Coldplay and Adele to world-conquering boy band One Direction, who won in the new Global Success category.

One Direction's Louis Tomlinson called the prize "absolutely mind-blowing."

American artists Frank Ocean and Lana Del Rey were among the non-British winners at a ceremony that embraced the mainstream while rewarding artists with distinctive personalities.

Surfing English folk singer Ben Howard and chanteuse Emeli Sande each won two awards.

Sande was named best British female artist and won the album of the year prize for her debut "Our Version of Events," which has been in the British charts for more than a year. Scotland-raised Sande got a big boost in 2012 when she performed at both the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics.

"This is a dream, really," said Sande, who beat Alt-J, Mumford & Sons, Plan B and Paloma Faith to the album prize.

She thanked everyone "who made me feel like I'm part of something much bigger."

Howard was named British breakthrough act and British male artist of the year.

"I'm not very good at speeches," the 25-year-old singer said, accurately though he may have to get good at it if his career continues to take off.

Long derided as dull, the Brits have become a lively celebration of "Cool Britannia" music and style, featuring a dinner for hundreds of artists and industry figures followed by a televised concert and awards show for thousands of paying fans.

Hard rockers Muse opened the show at London's O2 Arena with a typically robust performance of their song "Supremacy" all thundering music, dazzling light show and 60-piece orchestra. Other performers ranged from tween-pleasing One Direction to American artists Taylor Swift and Justin Timberlake.

Timberlake, dapper in a tuxedo as he performed "Mirrors," was described by host James Corden, in a nod to Europe's horse meat scandal, as "95 percent beefcake with just a little touch of horse."

One Direction performed a mashup of post-punk classics "One Way or Another" and "Teenage Kicks," their single for Britain's Comic Relief charity.

Mumford & Sons were named best British group. The banjo-twanging band topped U.K. and U.S. charts with their second album "Babel," which was named album of the year at the Grammys earlier this month.

Soul singer Amy Winehouse who died in July 2011 from accidental alcohol poisoning was among the other nominees for British female artist, eligible thanks to her posthumous "Lioness: Hidden Treasures" album. Her father, Mitch Winehouse, arrived for the awards ceremony at London's O2 Arena wearing a waistcoat emblazoned with a picture of his daughter.

Coldplay was named best British live act, beating nominees including The Rolling Stones, who celebrated their 50th anniversary with a series of sold-out shows last year.

Adele won the best British single prize for her James Bond theme "Skyfall." The soulful singer sent a message from Los Angeles, where she is rehearsing for Sunday's Academy Awards.

There was no repeat of last year, when she was cut-off mid-speech because the show was running late an incident Corden referred to in mock-embarrassment several times.

The Black Keys were named best international group, while Del Rey took the trophy for international female solo artist. The U.S. singer, who began as an Internet sensation, won a breakthrough Brit award last year and on Wednesday thanked Britain for supporting her.

The international male trophy went to R&B star Frank Ocean, who said it was "definitely a long way from working fast food in New Orleans" and was the only winner to thank artist Damien Hirst for creating the polka-dot Brit Awards statuette.

Style standouts included Swift, who performed "I Knew You Were Trouble" in a hoop-skirted white number more wedding cake than wedding dress that she shed to reveal black undergarments. Jessie J drew attention in a deeply low-cut black dress.

Most of the awards are chosen by more than 1,000 musicians, critics and record industry figures, with several decided by public vote.

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Online: www.brits.co.uk

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LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (Reuters) - An Arkansas Crime Lab preliminary autopsy confirmed country music singer Mindy McCready's death was a suicide from a single gunshot wound to the head, the Cleburne County Sheriff's Office said on Wednesday.

McCready, 37, whose career was overshadowed by substance abuse and suicide attempts, was found dead on the porch of a house in Heber Springs, Arkansas, on Sunday afternoon beside her boyfriend's dead dog. Officials have said she shot the dog.

"It is with the deepest sadness we say goodbye to an extraordinary and gifted talent, a daughter, a mother and friend, Miss Mindy McCready," McCready's family said in a statement released on Wednesday.

The statement requested a time of "quiet" for her family and friends and said McCready's "friends in music" were planning to host a memorial in Nashville soon.

The singer's 1996 debut album, "Ten Thousand Angels," sold 2 million copies. Four other studio albums followed. Her fifth album, "I'm Still Here," was released to acclaim in 2010.

McCready, though, had a complicated personal life with a history of substance abuse, suicide attempts, family disputes and tragedy. She was in a legal dispute over custody of her oldest son, Zander, with the boy's father at the time of her death.

In November 2011, she left Florida with Zander and fled to Arkansas. McCready's mother, who had custody of the child, filed a missing person report against her daughter and regained custody.

Last month, record producer David Wilson, the father of McCready's son Zayne, who was born last year, was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in Heber Springs. An investigation was ongoing into his death.

(Editing by David Bailey and Leslie Adler)

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PARIS (Reuters) - The CEO of a U.S. tire company has delivered a crushing summary of how some outsiders view France's work ethic in a letter saying he would have to be stupid to take over a factory whose staff only put in three hours work a day.

Titan International's Maurice "Morry" Taylor, who goes by "The Grizz" for his bear-like no-nonsense style, told France's left-wing industry minister in a letter published by Paris media that he had no interest in buying a doomed plant.

"The French workforce gets paid high wages but works only three hours. They get one hour for breaks and lunch, talk for three and work for three," Taylor wrote on February 8 in the letter in English addressed to the minister, Arnaud Montebourg.

"I told this to the French union workers to their faces. They told me that's the French way!" Taylor added in the letter, which was posted by business daily Les Echos on its website on Wednesday and which the ministry confirmed was genuine.

"How stupid do you think we are?" he asked at one point.

"Titan is going to buy a Chinese tire company or an Indian one, pay less than one Euro per hour wage and ship all the tires France needs," he said. "You can keep the so-called workers."

As the leaked letter drew outrage in France, Montebourg penned a scathing response, spelling out the reasons why France routinely ranks as a leading destination for companies to invest, beating China and India in mid-2012.

"Can I remind you that Titan, the business you run, is 20 times smaller than Michelin, the French (tire) technology leader with international influence, and 35 times less profitable," Montebourg wrote, in a two-page letter in French.

"This just shows the extent to which Titan could have learned and gained, enormously, from a presence in France."

Montebourg's letter, a copy of which was sent to Reuters, said Taylor's comments, "as extremist as they are insulting", illustrated his ignorance of France.

Union leaders also reacted furiously. CGT official Mickael Wamen said Taylor belonged more "in an asylum" than in the boardroom of a multinational and noted his views were based on a visit to a troubled plant whose operations had been cut back.

The vicious exchange made for another public knock to France's business image after verbal attacks last year by Montebourg on firms seeking to shut ailing industrial sites prompted international derision.

Combined with concern over plans for a 75-percent "millionaires' tax", Montebourg's antics drove London Mayor Boris Johnson to tell an international business audience that it seemed France was being run by left-wing revolutionaries.

Socialist President Francois Hollande may take some comfort in the view Taylor expressed of Washington: "The U.S. government is not much better than the French," he wrote, saying Western leaders were failing to halt state-subsidized Chinese exports.

TWO TOUGH-TALKERS

The row has pitted an outspoken former anti-globalization campaigner, the loose cannon of Hollande's government, against a right-winger who revels in provocation and tough-talking.

Proud of being "The Grizz" -- his group's logo features a cartoon bear and its website opens to the roar of a grizzly -- Taylor has clashed with unions before and once suggested that a U.S. judge was "smoking dope" after a ruling against his firm.

He built up Illinois-based Titan over 23 years into a global brand in tires for tractors and other off-road machinery and ran for the White House in the 1996 Republican primary, campaigning on a pro-business ticket.

At that time, he admitted to being "abrasive" in order to "get the job done": "The politicians, they all want you to like them," he told an interviewer. "I don't care if people like me."

To Montebourg, the author of "Kill All the Lawyers and Other Ways to Fix the Government" wrote: "You're a politician so you don't want to rock the boat ... France will lose its industrial business because its government is more government."

Taylor's letter was a response to Paris having approached Titan as a possible buyer of U.S. group Goodyear's Amiens Nord factory in northern France. Montebourg told reporters earlier on Wednesday that he would put his answer in a letter.

In it, he noted the United States is the No. 1 investor in France with 4,200 U.S. subsidiaries employing nearly half a million people in the country. He said those firms appreciated French productivity and "savoir-faire" and warned that Paris would fight others which exploit cheap labor.

Montebourg has often lashed out at cheap imports of manufactured goods from low-wage countries such as China and last year told the boss of Indian steelmaker ArcelorMittal he was unwelcome in a spat over a shuttered plant in France.

Despite having per-head productivity levels that rank among the best in Europe, economists blame France's rigid hiring and firing laws for a long industrial decline that has dented exports. Many also fault the country's 35-hour work week for diminishing competitiveness with Germany.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co's Amiens Nord plant employs 1,250 people, who have been battling demands they work more shifts or accept layoffs. The site now faces closure.

Talks last year with Titan over a possible rescue fell down after a failure to reach a deal with unions on voluntary redundancies.

Taylor accused France of being at fault. "Titan is the one with the money and the talent to produce tires. What does the crazy union have? It has the French government."

(Additional reporting by Christian Plumb and Elizabeth Pineau; Writing by Catherine Bremer; Editing by Alastair Macdonald and Giles Elgood)

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SALEM, Ore. (AP) Legislative sessions can be dull and boring, but Oregon lawmakers have moved to commemorate the humdrum even if no one is quite sure how.

Based on their mundane names, the communities of Dull, Scotland, and Boring, Oregon, formed an international partnership last year to build cultural and commercial connections.

And Oregon House lawmakers took that a step further Wednesday, voting to make Aug. 9 Boring and Dull Day, putting the name of the U.S. town first despite mild objections from their European counterparts.

The plan, which now heads to the state Senate, is intended to boost tourism.

Republican Rep. Bill Kennener, the proposal's sponsor, announced the bill with a 10-minute speech, but never got around to saying what one might do in observance.

A fellow Republican, Rep. Kevin Cameron, later joked that he spotted an intern falling asleep during the address.

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Follow Lauren Gambino on Twitter at https://twitter.com/LGamGam

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