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CNN —A 24-year-old man has been hailed as a hero for chasing a man suspected of launching a knife rampage in Annecy, which left six people injured including four toddlers. Two young children are still in intensive care following Thursday’s knife attack in southeast France, when screams rippled through a playground in the small alpine town during the brutal assault. A 31-year-old Syrian asylum-seeker was detained shortly after in suspicion of carrying out the attack, French media and CNN affiliate BFMTV reported Thursday. People lay flowers near the scene at a lakeside park in Annecy, France, on Friday, after a knife attack left four children and two adults wounded. He is on a nine-month journey across the country to visit the most beautiful cathedrals of France, he told BFMTV.

Persons: BFMTV, Henri, ” “, Frenchman, “, ”, ” Henri, Peter Byrne, Emmanuel Macron, Brigitte Macron, Benoit Lagneux, Olivier Veran, François Astorg, Brigitte, Veran, Macron Organizations: CNN, Getty, Reuters, France, Annecy Locations: Annecy, France, Grenoble, AFP, Geneva, hitchhike

☆ A cluster of ancient neolithic standing stones in France were bulldozed to make way for a DIY store
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

39 ancient monoliths were swept away from a site in France to make room for a DIY store. The stones, thought to date back 7,000 years, are in a region famed for its standing stones. Montaubin is on the edge of the Carnac region of France famed for its menhirs, or ancient standing stones. The nearby tourist sites of Ménec, Kermario, and Kerlescan, which collectively hold around 3,000 ancient stones, are carefully managed. Mr BricolageThe UNESCO application, if it goes through, will see the sites more closely regulated.

Persons: —, Christian Obeltz, Olivier Lepick, Louise Chaulin, Mr Bricolage, Bricolage, Lepick, Obeltz Organizations: Service, UNESCO, Brittany Cultural Affairs Office, Agence France, Local Locations: France, Montaubin, Ouest, Carnac, Ménec, Brittany, UNESCO

☆ IMF chief says there's no significant slowdown in lending and the Fed may need to do more
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Jihye Lee | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The International Monetary Fund has yet to see enough banks pulling back on lending that would cause the U.S. Federal Reserve to change course with its rate-hiking cycle. "We don't yet see a significant slowdown in lending. The Federal Reserve in a May banks report warned that lenders are worried about conditions ahead, as trouble in mid-sized financial institutions in the U.S. caused banks to tighten lending standards for households and businesses. A majority of major global central banks, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, have tightened their monetary policy aggressively to tame soaring inflation. Meanwhile, the world's global debt has swelled to a near-record high of $305 trillion, according to the Institute of International Finance.

Persons: Georgieva, Kristalina Georgieva, Karen Tso, Pierre, Olivier Gourinchas, IIF Organizations: Monetary Fund, U.S . Federal Reserve, Federal Reserve, CNBC, Institute of International Finance Locations: Dubrovnik, Croatia, U.S

☆ French Minister Dussopt says 'not exhausted, nor weakened' by favoritism charge
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, June 3 (Reuters) - French Employment Minister Olivier Dussopt said on Saturday he was innocent following a charge of favouritism in the award of a water contract in 2009 and would defend himself against the charge, adding he was "not exhausted, nor weakened". "I expect to convince the court of my good faith and my innocence," Dussopt, who played a key role in President Emmanuel Macron's decision to push through unpopular pension reforms, told France Inter Radio. Dussopt will face a court hearing in November over the allegation, France's financial prosecutor said on Friday. An official at Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne's office said on Friday Dussopt continued to have her backing. The allegation of favouritism relates to before Dussopt took up his current ministerial role and when he was a local mayor.

Persons: Olivier Dussopt, Dussopt, Emmanuel Macron's, Elisabeth Borne's, favouritism, Mimosa Spencer, David Holmes Organizations: French, France Inter Radio, Thomson

☆ Three Europeans return home after release by Iran in prisoner swap
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( Charlotte Van Campenhout | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

They arrived around 2:45 a.m. (0045 GMT) and were greeted by Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib, Belgium's Belga news agency reported. Danish citizen Thomas Kjems flew on to Copenhagen, landing at around 11 a.m. (0900 GMT) on Saturday. Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg tweeted photos of the two Austrians arriving in Vienna. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian tweeted on Saturday that he had told Lahbib that he hoped the prisoners' release would "open a new page" in Iran's relations with Belgium and Europe. Belgian government officials said that officially there were still 22 Europeans in Iranian prisons, but that no more Europeans would be exchanged for Assadi.

Persons: Thomas Kjems, Read, Dane, Asadollah Assadi, Olivier Vandecasteele, Assadi, Hadja Lahbib, Belgium's, It's, I've, Alexander Schallenberg, Hossein Amirabdollahian, Lahbib, Amirabdollahian, Massud Mosaheb, Kamran Ghaderi, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, Kazem, Ahmadreza, Louise Rasmussen, Tom Little, Charlotte Van Campenhout, Bart Biesemans, Andrew Gray, Francois Murphy, Hugh Lawson, Mark Potter, Frances Kerry Organizations: Copenhagen Airport, Europeans, Belgian Foreign, Austrian, Ministry, Austrian Friendship Society, Danish, Assadi, Iranian, Thomson Locations: Copenhagen, Denmark, Iran, BRUSSELS, DUBAI, Tehran, Belgian, Belgium, France, Oman, Danish, Vienna, Iranian, Europe, ., Swedish, Brussels, Dubai

"The risk of a downgrade is exacerbated every time Congress flirts with the debt ceiling," said Calvin Norris, Portfolio Manager & US Rates Strategist at Aegon Asset Management, who sees another downgrade as still a risk. Economic damage from the 2011 and 2013 debt ceiling battles had a chilling impact. Rating agency Fitch and other smaller agencies recently placed the U.S. credit rating under review. Reuters GraphicsCASCADE EFFECTInvestors use credit ratings as one of the metrics to assess the risk profiles of governments and companies. In the 2013 debt ceiling crisis the legislative standoff did not cause a rating downgrade, although Fitch placed its rating under review.

Persons: Kevin McCarthy, Joe Biden, Leah Millis, Calvin Norris, Wendy Edelberg, Edelberg, Fitch, William Foster, ”, Andy Sparks, Olivier d'Assier, Peter Crane, MSCI's Sparks, Davide Barbuscia, Megan Davies, Nick Zieminski Organizations: U.S, White, REUTERS, Senate, Republicans, Aegon Asset Management, AAA, Government, Office, The, Brookings Institution, Moody's, Moody’s Investors Service, Applied Research, Crane, Treasury, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, U.S, United States, Washington, APAC, Qontigo

☆ IMF urges BOJ to keep ultra-low rates, but be ready to shift course
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Leika Kihara | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

It won't happen overnight" as the public must be convinced Japan won't fall back to deflation, Gourinchas said, adding it was "too early" for the BOJ to tighten policy. While it was appropriate to keep interest rates ultra-low, the BOJ must keep in mind the experience of other central banks that are still struggling to tame high inflation. So, there is a need to be vigilant and to be ready to tighten monetary policy if inflation remains too elevated." He also said it would be "very difficult" to tighten monetary policy while maintaining YCC, due to the challenge of determining the appropriate level for two rate targets. And then, if the need arises to tighten monetary policy, it can do so as part of the usual tightening of the policy rate," he said.

Persons: Pierre, Olivier Gourinchas, Gourinchas, Kazuo Ueda, Leika Kihara, Sam Holmes Organizations: Bank of Japan, Monetary Fund's, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Japan, TOKYO

The recording indicates Trump understood he retained classified material after leaving the White House, according to multiple sources familiar with the investigation. Meadows didn’t attend the meeting, sources said. The revelation that the former president and commander-in-chief has been captured on tape discussing a classified document could raise his legal exposure as he continues his third bid for the White House. On the recording and in response to the story, Trump brings up the document, which he says came from Milley. However, there’s no indication Trump followed the legally mandated declassification process, and his attorneys have avoided saying so far in court whether Trump declassified records he kept.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, Jack Smith, Mark Milley, Trump’s, Mark Meadows, Margo Martin, Meadows, Trump “, ”, Dave Butler, Martin, Olivier Douliery, Susan Glasser, Milley, Glasser, ” Milley, Honig, They’ve Organizations: CNN, Federal, White, Justice Department, Trump, Prosecutors, Joint Chiefs, Staff, Milley, Capitol, Getty, Yorker, National Archives, Records Administration, The Justice, Lago, Office, Fox News Locations: Iran, Bedminster , New Jersey, Washington ,, AFP, New, Milley, Lago, Florida, Bedminster, Trump

☆ Rossi proud to see Alpine back on the podium
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Alan Baldwin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

I am happy for the team," the Frenchman told Reuters as he walked to the pitlane for a celebratory group photograph. On Sunday, in Alpine's 50th race under that branding, Gasly was seventh and the team overtook McLaren for fifth in the constructors' standings. "I’m proud of them and they should be proud too," said Rossi. Ocon, a winner in Hungary in 2021 with Alpine, said his third career podium capped a "superb weekend" for the team and hoped it was the start of something bigger. "From the simulator to really all the practice sessions, we improved the car from beginning to end and we didn't make a wrong foot any time," said the first Frenchman on the Monaco podium since Olivier Panis in 1996.

☆ Monaco Grand Prix: Max Verstappen cruises to victory, avoiding rain-induced chaos
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Issy Ronald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Max Verstappen cruised to victory at the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday, his fourth win in six races this season as he extended his lead at the top of the drivers’ standings. A relatively straightforward race was transformed in the closing stages as it began raining in Monaco, causing chaos all through the field as the drivers fought to keep their cars from sliding on the wet track. Verstappen avoided any potential mishaps, while second-placed Fernando Alonso lost time when he had to pit twice after attempting to avoid using intermediate tires. The conditions changed late in the race when it began raining. That extra pit stop gave Verstappen a comfortable buffer, even as he clipped the wall, as he held on for the win.

☆ Electricity prices in Finland flipped negative — a huge oversupply of clean, hydroelectric power meant suppliers were almost giving it away
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A new nuclear reactor, as well as unexpected floods, are leading to a glut of clean energy. While much of Europe was facing an energy crisis, the Nordic country reported that its spot energy prices dropped below zero before noon. "Now there is enough electricity, and it is almost emission-free," Ruusunen told Yle, adding that Finns could "feel good about using electricity." Ruusunen told the National that Finland wanted wind to become its primary power source by 2027. Finland is now dealing with energy prices being too lowAn offshore windfarm near the Aland Islands, an autonomous archipelago that is a region of Finland in the Baltic sea.

“It’s often the little things that some people might not notice, those last touches made at the end that are the most important,” says Fournier. Over the years, the duo have collected thousands of objects that they keep in multiple storage spaces, awaiting just the right project. Fournier discovered the work of Culot when he bought some teacups at auction a few years ago. “We want to support and share the work of artisans we love,” Fournier says. “Work made by hand that confronts the growing uniformity of the world.” oeildeko.com.

Persons: Karl Fournier, Olivier Marty, Yves, “ It’s, ”, Fournier, Nathalie Guihaumé, L’Oeil de KO, Rosie McLachlan, Marie Lautrou, L’Oeil de, Pierre Culot, ” Fournier, oeildeko.com Organizations: Yves Saint Laurent Museum, Estate, Pierre Locations: Paris, Marrakesh, Los Angeles, British, Belgium

☆ France's Breillat back to breaking taboos at Cannes with 'Last Summer'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Caption : The 76th Cannes Film Festival - Screening of the film "L'ete dernier" (Last Summer) in competition - Red Carpet Arrivals - Cannes, France, May 25, 2023. Director Catherine Breillat, cast members Lea Drucker, Olivier Rabourdin, Clotilde Courau, Samuel Kircher and producer Said Ben Said... Read moreCANNES, May 25 (Reuters) - French director Catherine Breillat's new erotic thriller "Last Summer," premiered on Thursday night, bringing her taboo-breaking style to the Cannes Film Festival. Lea Drucker, who won France's top Cesar award for best actress in 2019's "Custody," stars as Anne, while newcomer Samuel Kircher plays Theo. Olivier Rabourdin, from "Taken" and "Midnight in Paris", is the husband, Pierre. Breillat called that film her most accessible work, as it was "completely unlike the films I usually make in that it does not break any taboos".

☆ Premarket stocks: Will the debt ceiling debate finish the Fed's inflation fight?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

New York CNN —Over the last 14 months, the Federal Reserve has taken a deliberate and economically painful approach to combating elevated inflation rates through interest rate hikes. The regional banking crisis and a possible debt-ceiling induced default on US debt could change all of that. What’s happening: There are two policy options that the Fed can use to address elevated inflation. For the first quarter, Lowe’s said overall sales fell 5.5% to $22.3 billion. Home Depot missed on first quarter sales and lowered its outlook for the year after customers slowed their spending.

Persons: shouldn’t, ”, Laurence Ball, Edward Boehne, Jerome Powell, Ben Bernanke, Powell, Ball, there’s, Austan Goolsbee, “, Julian Brigden, Bernanke, ” Bernanke, Olivier Blanchard, Bryan Mena, Blanchard, David Goldman, Parija, Lowe’s Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, New York CNN, Federal Reserve, Johns Hopkins University, ” Former Philadelphia Fed, Fed, Valley Bank, Signature Bank, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Yahoo Finance, Partners, International Monetary Fund, Brookings Institution, Target, Walmart, Home Depot Locations: New York, ”, Washington ,, America, California

☆ Former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke says there's more work ahead to control inflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty ImagesWASHINGTON — Former Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke, who guided the central bank and the U.S. economy through the Great Recession, thinks central bankers still have work to do to bring down inflation. Since leaving the Fed in 2014, Bernanke has been a distinguished senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. watch nowTheir paper notes that inflation has evolved since ballooning to a 40-year high in the summer of 2022. In a forum Tuesday presented by the Brookings Institution, Bernanke, Blanchard and other high-profile economists and academics discussed the root causes and what policymakers should do as they review policies for the future. The Fed only began raising interest rates in March 2022, a full year after its preferred inflation gauge eclipsed the target.

Persons: Ben Bernanke, Saul Loeb, Olivier Blanchard, Bernanke, Blanchard, Jason Furman, I'm, … Organizations: Federal Reserve, Thomas Laubach Research, Federal Reserve Board, AFP, Getty Images WASHINGTON, Former Federal, Fed, Brookings Institution, Peterson Institute for International Economics, of Economic Advisers, Harvard Locations: Washington , DC, U.S

☆ Former Fed Chair Bernanke argues economy must slow further to bring down inflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( Bryan Mena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Inflation has cooled in the past several months, according to the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge and the Consumer Price Index, though some Fed officials have said that it’s not cooling fast enough. Indeed, the labor market remains on strong footing. “Overheating in the labor market has played a minor role but an increasing one over time. Overall inflation crept up throughout that year, then the Fed began to raise interest rates in March 2022 from near zero. Despite the failures of three regional banks since March, the Fed still raised interest rates two more times during that period.

Persons: Ben Bernanke, ” Bernanke, Olivier Blanchard, Blanchard, they’re, Mary Daly, ” Daly, isn’t Organizations: DC CNN, Former Federal, Fed, International Monetary Fund, Brookings Institution, Federal Reserve Bank of San Locations: Washington, Washington ,, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

☆ Biden bets DeSantis’ ‘Florida blueprint’ will help him flip the Sunshine State and win reelection
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Edward-Isaac Dovere | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

Shevrin Jones, a Florida state senator and member of the Biden campaign’s advisory board of elected officials, said he’s eager to tell the country the story of what he’s seen under DeSantis’ leadership. Biden and DeSantis and their wives walk to meet with local residents affected by Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers, Florida, on October 5, 2022. The voter registration advantage Florida Democrats had when President Barack Obama narrowly won the state in 2012 has flipped to Republicans. An adviser to the former New York City mayor told CNN that so far, there has been no outreach to Bloomberg’s operation from either the Biden campaign or the DNC. There was also a fleeting belief that they could push Biden over the top in Florida – though Trump ended up carrying the state by 3 points.

Companies JPMorgan Chase & Co FollowNEW YORK, May 18 (Reuters) - The young entrepreneur Charlie Javice has been indicted on charges of defrauding JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), the largest U.S. bank, into buying her now-shuttered college financial aid startup Frank. A four-count grand jury indictment made public on Thursday in Manhattan federal court charges Javice with securities fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy. In connection with that, prosecutors were granted more time to have Javice indicted by a grand jury. JPMorgan separately sued Javice and former Frank chief growth officer Olivier Amar in December in Delaware federal court for fraud, saying they inflated Frank's customer base to induce the bank's purchase. Javice countersued JPMorgan, saying it owes millions of dollars after firing her "without valid cause" in November.

☆ GOP law cut Big Pharma tax rates by 40%, Senate report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

A Republican law has slashed the average tax rates of big pharmaceutical companies by more than 40% since it was enacted in 2017, Senate Finance Committee Democrats said in a report Thursday. That provision allowed U.S.-based pharmaceutical companies to access lower tax rates on their foreign income, the report said. Pharmaceutical companies report 75% of their taxable income overseas, the report said. The report said the average rate fell to 11.6% in 2019 and 2020, which resulted in billions of dollars in tax savings for pharmaceutical companies. Wyden also obtained similar information about other U.S. pharmaceutical companies, including Abbott Laboratories , Amgen , Bristol Myers Squibb and Merck .

☆ Exclusive: Oilfield firm SLB retrenches as Russia sanctions squeeze
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Liz Hampton | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

While SLB wasn't in breach of sanctions, the decision has triggered a backlash from employees and human rights groups. Reuters was unable to establish why SLB implemented new restrictions on its Russian business. Earlier this year, the U.S. expanded sanctions on Russia, including some targeting its mining and metals sector. Both last year also restricted financial transactions with Russia and placed export restrictions on certain energy equipment, technology and services. "Any new Global SLB Group-wide systems/applications should not be connected to or accessible by Russia," SLB told employees in a late-March memo viewed by Reuters.

☆ Opinion | Government Budget Deficits Can Pay for Themselves
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Peter Coy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Now some other economists have demonstrated a second mechanism by which a government could run deficits and never have to pay for them. Unlike Blanchard’s mechanism, it doesn’t depend on the relationship of interest rates to economic growth. Their research came out last month as a working paper released by the National Bureau of Economic Research. “Can Deficits Finance Themselves?” is the paper’s provocative title — evoking, to me anyway, the Laffer Curve theory that tax cuts can pay for themselves. The economists concluded that “deficits contribute to their own financing via two channels.” First, they can accelerate economic growth, which generates more tax revenue.

☆ IMF still concerned by banking sector wobbles - chief economist
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Reuters Staff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

FILE PHOTO: A participant stands near a logo of IMF at the International Monetary Fund - World Bank Annual Meeting 2018 in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, October 12, 2018. REUTERS/Johannes P. Christo/File PhotoPARIS (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund remains concerned about recent turbulence in the banking sector despite actions by the U.S. and Swiss authorities to deal with troubled banks on their watch, its chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said on Monday. Speaking to journalists in Paris, he added that “the story is not over” and that EU banks were not immune to problems as long as the bloc did not go further to complete long-discussed mechanisms to deal with failed banks.

May 8 (Reuters) - Dutch postal firm PostNL (PTNL.AS) on Monday reported a surprise operating profit for the first quarter, supported by a smaller-than-expected drop in parcel volumes and adaptive measures implemented last year. Delivery and postal firms from PostNL to Germany's Deutsche Post (DPWGn.DE) and U.S.-based FedEx (FDX.N) have seen parcel volumes fall from their pandemic highs as demand normalises while high inflation erodes consumer confidence. Volumes for PostNL's parcel distribution business fell 6.5% to 81 million items, while analysts had expected a drop of 8%. PostNL confirmed its full-year guidance of normalised EBIT between 70 million and 100 million euros and free cash flow between 10 million and 40 million euros. ($1 = 0.9056 euros)(This story has been corrected to say 81 million items, not 81 million euros, in paragraph 5)Reporting by Olivier Cherfan and Augustin Turpin; Editing by Himani SarkarOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Richard Dreyfuss on new Oscars diversity rules: ‘They make me vomit’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Actor Richard Dreyfuss is not a fan of the Academy Awards’ new diversity guidelines. Officials announced in 2020 that beginning in 2024, movies must meet certain criteria for representation to be eligible for the Academy Award for best picture. “I don’t think that there is a minority or a majority in this country that has to be catered to like that,” Dreyfuss went on to say during the interview. “Is someone else being told that if they’re not Jewish they shouldn’t play the Merchant of Venice? “Because it says that we’re so fragile that we can’t have our feelings hurt.”CNN has contacted reps for Dreyfuss for further comment but has not yet received a response.

☆ Italy calls for clearer apology from France over migration 'insult'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ROME, May 7 (Reuters) - Italy remains dissatisfied with the apologies offered by Paris after a French minister accused Rome of mishandling the influx of migrants, Italy's foreign minister Antonio Tajani said on Sunday. "Clearer words are needed," Tajani, who is member of the conservative Forza Italia party, told Italian state-owned television RAI in an interview. "I hope that the French government changes its position and that an apology comes that represents a contrast to the positions adopted by the Interior Minister. French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said last week that Italy's right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had been "unable to solve the migration problems on which she was elected". Tajani called off a visit to Paris at the last minute on Thursday in a sign of protest over what he considered an "insult" to Italy.

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