He joined with Italy's Agnelli family, which controls the Fiat industrial group, in a friendly counter-bid for Worms.

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Unfederalist Mr Chirac was obliged to make a Euro-friendly counter-pitch.

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The trend runs counter to the more entrepreneur-friendly changes cited above.

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One hardwood floor maker even wrote a counter book called The Truax that boasted about how friendly the logging industry is.

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Some counter that the hours gap would shrink if employers offered more family-friendly policies, such as flexible hours and easier on-off ramps for moving in and out of the workforce.

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To counter the tendency toward aloofness, Martin insists that floorwalkers take lessons on how to be friendly and approachable.

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But while Apple slashed prices for several iPod models in September, analysts worry that Apple will have to cut margins further still to counter everything from cheap, new laptops offered by the likes of Dell to new media-friendly, touch-screen handsets being readied by Nokia.

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