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☆ Pension reform defiance brings new blood to French trade unions
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Leigh Thomas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Interest is growing among younger and private sector workers, where unions tend to be less well represented. Vacheron said that more than 30% of the CGT's recent joiners were under the age of 35 while 70% were coming from the private sector, which traditionally is dominated by the CFDT. "Since the retirement reform is contested by the young and old, public and private sector workers, they see a utility in belonging to unions, unions are attractive," Vacheron said. "Unions are rebuilding themselves from the ground up through recruitment and not only street protests," sociologist Michel Wieviorka said. Labour relations consultant Stephanie Matteudi-Lecocq said that the momentum coming from pension reform pushback could ultimately put unions back on more solid footing in companies.

☆ Factbox: Why Ukraine is bidding for F-16 jets and will it succeed?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

WHAT KIND OF FIGHTER JETS COULD UKRAINE GET? Ukraine wants F-16s, which it says are "four or five times" more effective than Soviet-era jets it currently has. However, Polish President Andrzej Duda reiterated on Tuesday that Poland has too few F-16 jets to be able to give any to Ukraine. Britain will not send jets to Ukraine, a spokesperson for Sunak has said, since Britain does not have the F-16s that Ukraine wants. Denmark said in February it was "open" to the idea of sending fighter jets to Ukraine.

REYKJAVIK, May 16 (Reuters) - European leaders will travel to Iceland on Tuesday for a two-day summit meant to show their support for Ukraine but also send a powerful message on core democratic values many feel are under threat in and outside Europe. The CoE's democratic values are upheld by the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights, where citizens can take governments to court in case of human rights violations. Even Russia didn't want to leave the Council of Europe, Turkey doesn't want to leave either." European leaders such as Germany's Olaf Scholz, Britain's Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron will attend the summit in Reykjavik, while Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy will address his counterparts via videolink. Macron's office said the Council is looking at how its little-known bank, the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB), could help meet the needs of struggling Ukrainians.

☆ Brazil's Petrobras scraps fuel import parity policy, shares rise
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Companies Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras FollowRIO DE JANEIRO, May 16 (Reuters) - Brazil's state-run oil giant, Petrobras (PETR4.SA), has approved a new commercial strategy to set diesel and gasoline prices, it said on Tuesday, ditching its previous import parity policy without revealing a specific fresh pricing formula. "The end of pricing parity is not good, but this was already expected." "The new policy scraps the 'import parity' terminology, but in our view it has not changed materially," Credit Suisse analyst Regis Cardoso said. The import parity policy was adopted in 2016 by former President Michel Temer. People close to Lula celebrated the announcement, with his Mines and Energy minister, Alexandre Silveira, telling reporters the policy would not impose as much volatility as the import parity used to.

☆ Victor Wembanyama: How ‘Wembymania’ gripped France due to the most exciting draft prospect since LeBron James
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Ben Morse | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

There have been few players whose journey to the pinnacle of basketball have been as highly followed; in figures released by the NBA, Wembanyama is No. And I keep having to explain to them that having a sold-out, 15,000-people crowd for a regular French professional basketball game is not normal at all,” she said. His father was a high jumper, his mother was a former basketball player who is now a coach and his two siblings – older sister Eve and younger brother Oscar – are basketball players. And the French basketball system where he has been nurtured has helped develop his unique talent, says Krasnoff. “And it certainly has driven US interest in French basketball, at least as far as Wembanyama is concerned.

The new pricing system scraps a so-called fuel import parity policy that more closely aligned prices at the pump with the oil market and exchange rates. In a research note, JPMorgan (JPM.N) described the reworked pricing policy as "more friendly than investors expected." The policy shift will be tested when oil prices rise, and apply upward pressure on what consumers can expect to pay for motor fuels or LPG. Petrobras' new pricing policy also came under criticism from some as too opaque. The previous pricing policy was adopted seven years ago by conservative former President Michel Temer.

[1/4] Twitter, X Corp., and Tesla CEO Elon Musk poses with French President Emmanuel Macron prior to their talks, Monday, May 15, 2023 at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France. Some 200 business leaders attending the event in Versailles close to Paris have so far made commitments to invest a combined 13 billion euros ($14 billion), the most since Macron first held the summit in 2018, his office said. Musk, who also lunched with Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, said he was confident Tesla would make "significant investments" in France in the future, without giving a timetable. "No announcement today but I am very impressed with President Macron and the French government and how welcoming they are," he told reporters. Morgan Stanley plans to increase headcount in France by 200 by 2025, bringing total staff in the country to 500.

PARIS, May 14 (Reuters) - France is poised to win record foreign investment pledges when President Emmanuel Macron receives global business leaders, including Tesla's Elon Musk, on Monday at the annual Choose France summit in Versailles. Executives attending the event in Versailles close to Paris have so far made commitments to invest a combined 13 billion euros ($14 billion), the most since Macron first held the summit in 2018. Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla (TSLA.O), met Macron at his official residence the Elysee Palace. France previously tried to convince Musk to build a European gigafactory in the country, but he chose Germany, his only European gigafactory so far. PALATIAL BACKDROPOver the last five years, Macron has invited top CEOs to the opulent Versailles Palace to try to secure billions in foreign investments.

☆ In Battle of Basquiats, Valentino Gets $67 Million for Masterpiece ‘The Nile’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Kelly Crow | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Fashion designer Valentino Garavani posed in his Fifth Avenue apartment in 2010 with the ‘Nile’ painting in the background. Photo: Jonathan Becker/Art: Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York/ Richard PrinceFashion designer Valentino Garavani sold a nearly 12-foot-wide Jean-Michel Basquiat painting that interrogates the history of slavery for $67 million at Christie’s on Monday. Mr. Garavani paid $5.2 million for 1983’s “El Gran Espectaculo (The Nile)” in 2005, but the triptych came up for bid with a $45 million estimate, according to auction database Artnet . This time around, two dogged bidders chased it higher, with an anonymous telephone bidder winning it.

☆ Leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan to meet May 14 in Brussels -EU
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Annegret HilseMay 8 (Reuters) - The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan are to meet next week in Brussels, the European Union said on Monday, the latest attempt to secure a durable peace accord and resolve longstanding differences over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. An announcement on the EU Council's website said a three-corner meeting with Council President Charles Michel would take place at EU headquarters. Armenia and Azerbaijan, both former Soviet states, have fought two wars over 30 years focusing on Nagorno-Karabakh, recognised as part of Azerbaijan but populated mainly by Armenians. In a six-week conflict in 2020, ended by a Russian-brokered truce, Azerbaijan recovered territory lost in the first war dating from the collapse of Soviet rule. "The leaders have also agreed to continue to meet trilaterally in Brussels as frequently as necessary to address ongoing developments on the ground and standing agenda items of the Brussels meetings," the EU statement said.

It also highlights Russian frustration at failing to complete the capture of Bakhmut after more than nine months of costly, intense battle. ANGRY TIRADEWhat looked real, however, was Prigozhin's fury at Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov. "If Putin wants him to be in combat, he'll force him in one way or another to do so." Marten said its involvement in the battle for Bakhmut, including fighters recruited from Russian prisons, had allowed Putin to avoid declaring a full-scale mobilization. Whatever its immediate intentions around Bakhmut, Wagner is likely to remain a significant player in the war, given Prigozhin's personal ambitions and determination to stay in the limelight.

☆ Russia-Ukraine War: Live Updates
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Matthew Mpoke Bigg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

Smoke rises from the side of the Ilsky Oil Refinery manufacturing complex in the Krasnodar region in southern Russia. For the past several days, Russian infrastructure near Ukraine’s border and in Russian-controlled Crimea has been targeted repeatedly. But it has usually maintained ambiguity about involvement in attacks on Russian territory. Russian officials reported strikes on train lines in Russia’s Bryansk region on Monday and Tuesday. Four drones also attacked storage facilities on Thursday at one of the largest oil refineries in southern Russia’s Krasnodar Territory, according to Tass, the Russian state news agency.

☆ Bud Light Maker Offers Financial Support to Workers Targeted Over Dylan Mulvaney Backlash
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Jennifer Maloney | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney spoke out for the first time since her Bud Light promotion sparked controversy. Photo: Jacquelyn Martin/AP; Caroline Brehman/ShutterstockThe maker of Bud Light said it will triple its U.S. marketing spending on the brand this summer and is providing financial support to front-line teams and wholesalers who have taken the brunt of a backlash to a company promotion with a transgender influencer. Bud Light’s delivery drivers, sales representatives and independent distributors have been confronted by angry people on the streets, in bars and in stores. “They are our neighbors, family members and friends. They are in every community in America,” Anheuser-Busch InBev Chief Executive Michel Doukeris said on a conference call with analysts Thursday.

☆ Budweiser maker's profit jumps as customers absorb higher prices
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Philip Blenkinsop | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Bottles of non-alcoholic beer and dishwasher soap are pictured at Anheuser-Busch InBev brewery in Leuven, Belgium November 25, 2019. The maker of Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona repeated its 2023 forecast that core profit (EBITDA) would grow in line with its medium term outlook of between 4% and 8%, with revenue to grow ahead of EBITDA. He said AB InBev would invest more in Bud Light over the summer. First-quarter results of AB InBev's rivals Heineken and Carlsberg also showed consumer willingness to absorb higher prices. AB InBev's core profit rose by 13.6% on a like-for-like basis to $4.76 billion, compared with the 5.6% average increase expected in a company-compiled poll.

☆ Bud Light Maker Compensates Workers Targeted in Dylan Mulvaney Backlash
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Jennifer Maloney | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Bud Light sales fell sharply after a company promotion with transgender social-media star Dylan Mulvaney. Photo: Jacquelyn Martin/AP; Caroline Brehman/ShutterstockThe maker of Bud Light said it would triple its planned U.S. marketing spending on the brand this summer and is providing financial support to front-line teams and wholesalers who have taken the brunt of a backlash to a company promotion with a transgender influencer. Anheuser-Busch InBev also will continue its support of LGBT rights organizations, said the company’s chief executive, Michel Doukeris .

☆ What boycott? Bud Light controversy led to only a 1% drop in global sales volume, CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Grace Mayer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Anheuser-Busch's global CEO Michel Doukeris discussed the impact of recent Bud Light backlash. Doukeris said the drop in Bud Light sales represented only 1% of the company's global sales volume. Previously, the Wall Street Journal reported that Bud Light Sales dropped by 17% by mid-April, per data created by Bump Williams Consulting and analyzed by Nielsen. By April 22, Bud Light sales in US stores dropped 21% compared to the previous year, per the sales data analysis reported on by the Journal. Bud Light has also reportedly offered a free case of beer to every employee of its wholesale distributors.

☆ It's 'too early' to asses any potential Bud Light backlash, Anheuser-Busch CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Jordan Valinsky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

He focused attention on the company’s global reach, saying that Bud Light is just one beer within its portfolio and it’s not changing the company’s full-year outlook. He also reiterated that the Mulvaney post wasn’t an ad campaign, and blasted the “misinformation” surrounding the sponsored post. The video went viral, with some responding with anti-trans rhetoric and calls for a Bud Light boycott. The week prior, Bud Light revenue was down 17%, even as sales of rivals Miller Lite and Coors Light increased. The company said it is going to increase investment in Bud Light as it continues to deal with sagging sales.

☆ MetLife profit drops as economic worries hurt investment income
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 3 (Reuters) - MetLife Inc's (MET.N) first-quarter profit missed Wall street estimates on Wednesday as growing economic uncertainty hurt the insurer's investment income, sending its shares down 2% in extended trading. Adjusted net investment income fell 8% to $4.6 billion in a quarter marred by a string of high-profile bank collapses that roiled financial stocks. "We remain focused on managing risk across economic cycles and controlling what we can to deliver for our shareholders and our stakeholders," Khalaf said. Adjusted premiums, fees and other revenues - excluding pension risk transfers (PRT) at MetLife - rose 3% to $11.54 billion. Rival insurer Prudential Financial Inc (PRU.N) had reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday due to a decline in its assets under management.

☆ The French château with more than 100 fighter jets
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Miquel Ros | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —The sleek, dark-gray lines of a F-16 Fighting Falcon jet, flanked by two other veterans of the Cold War skies, a French Dassault Mirage IV and a F-104 Starfighter, is not what you would usually expect to come across when walking into the courtyard of a 700-year-old French château. The majority of them were acquired as scrap,” says Christophe Pont, Michel’s son and current owner and manager of the château. Courtesy Miquel RosIn the mid-1980s, Pont, who was ex-military, made inquiries with the French Air Force about the possibility of getting one of their decommissioned Mirage III fighter jets to exhibit at the château. The request was granted and six months later what would become the kernel of the world’s largest private fighter aircraft collection was on its way to Savigny-lès-Beaune. Château de Savigny-les-Beaune, Rue Général Leclerc, 21420 Savigny-lès-Beaune, France; +33 3 80 21 55 03

[1/9] A demonstrator throws a tear gas during the traditional May Day labour march, a day of mobilisation against the French pension reform law and for social justice, in Nantes, France May 1, 2023. Sophie Binet, leader of the hardleft CGT union, said the pension reform had left Macron isolated. Macron says the French reform is needed to keep one of the industrialised world's most generous pension systems in the black. French pension payments as a share of pre-retirement earnings are comfortably higher than elsewhere and a French man typically spends longer in retirement than those in other OECD nations. Trade unions say the money can be found elsewhere.

Michel Gaubert first crossed paths with Karl Lagerfeld when he worked at a record store on the Champs-Élysée. “All his life Karl was obsessed with music,” he recalled. All his life Karl was obsessed with music. Then one day Eric came and asked if I wanted to work with the Karl Lagerfeld brand. Karl said Diane de Beauvau-Craon [a French princess and a pal of Mr. Lagerfeld’s] would call me.

☆ LVMH chief Bernard Arnault ordered a makeover for Tiffany's Fifth Avenue store after getting lost inside
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

LVMH's CEO ordered a makeover of Tiffany's flagship Fifth Avenue store after getting lost in it. The Tiffany flagship store on Fifth Avenue pictured in 1995. Since the acquisition, LVMH has overhauled the design of Tiffany's flagship store, which reopened Wednesday after being closed since 2019. Tiffany & Co. brand ambassador Gal Gadot, Alexandre Arnault (left) and Tiffany CEO Anthony Ledru open the revamped Fifth Avenue store on April 26. When asked about that figure, Arnault told the Journal: "You cannot dream when you talk numbers.

[1/2] FILE PHOTO-French President Emmanuel Macron delivers his speech during the National Conference on Disability at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, April 26, 2023. "You talk a lot of nonsense everyday," the man told Macron, after the president, barely able to squeeze in an answer, said he should get his numbers right. Such direct confrontations, the president reckons, are essential to give people a cathartic release after weeks of anger directed at the government's pension bill and Macron himself. Before the pension reform protests, the government managed to pass legislation on issues such as nuclear energy and renewables with the help of both left-wing and right-wing lawmakers outside Macron's centrist alliance. That was apparent again this week, when his prime minister Elisabeth Borne was forced to give up on an immigration bill.

☆ Opinion: Russia has stifled another Putin opponent. Here’s how the West might help him
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Opinion Casey Michel | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Editor’s Note: Casey Michel is the director of the Human Rights Foundation’s Combating Kleptocracy Program. While the West must continue to call for the release of those two high-profile political prisoners, it should not overlook Kara-Murza. US lawmakers in the US Congress have issued a range of congressional resolutions and individual statements highlighting Kara-Murza’s plight. The disjointed Western response to Kara-Murza’s plight only works to Russia’s advantage. It’s long past time to create a coordinating body to ensure that Western sanctions packages are aligned and airtight.

☆ Pras Michel Convicted of Involvement in Foreign-Influence Scheme Linked to 1MDB
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( C. Ryan Barber | Aruna Viswanatha | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Pras Michel, former member of the Fugees, exits federal court in Washington. Photo: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg NewsWASHINGTON— Pras Michel , who rose to fame in the 1990s as a member of the Fugees hip-hop trio, was found guilty Wednesday of serving as the linchpin of a multimillion-dollar foreign-influence scheme that spanned two presidencies and combined celebrity with political intrigue. After a monthlong trial, a jury in Washington convicted Mr. Michel on charges he improperly injected millions of dollars in donations to then-President Barack Obama ’s re-election campaign in 2012 and, years later, illegally lobbied the Trump administration.

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