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☆ A potential first-of-its-kind fighter jet purchase could be a sign Saudi Arabia isn't happy with what it's getting from the US
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Paul Iddon | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Saudi Arabia is reportedly considering a large number of French-made Dassault Rafale fighter jets. In July, Germany announced it would not allow additional Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets to be delivered Saudi Arabia. The Saudi air force's 72 Eurofighters are its second most numerous fighter type behind its US-made F-15s. Bandar Algaloud/ReutersIn the near-term, Saudi Arabia may find Rafales more burdensome than beneficial, given its extensive investment in US and British aircraft. A Saudi Air Force F-15 taxis for takeoff at King Faisal Air Base in February 2021.

Persons: France's, Toni Anne Barson, Sebastien Roblin, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Joe Biden, Roblin, Salman, FAYEZ NURELDINE, Ryan Bohl, RANE, Rafales, Jamal Khashoggi, Bohl, Justin Bronk, Katherine Walters, Paul Iddon Organizations: Dassault Rafale, Saudi, Service, Privacy Policy, France's La Tribune, Eurofighter Typhoon, United Arab, La Tribune, French Dassault Rafale, Saudi Eurofighter Typhoon, Getty, East, NATO, Bandar Algaloud, Reuters, British, Royal Saudi Air Force, Royal United Services Institute, Saudi Air Force, King Faisal Air Base, US Air Force, Staff, Rafale, Washington Locations: Saudi Arabia, British, Riyadh, Wall, Silicon, Privacy Policy Saudi Arabia, Saudi, Germany, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, French, Provence, Washington, Yemen, Iran, China, France, AFP, London, Russia, North Africa, NATO, United States, Bandar, Croatia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Greece

LONDON, July 28 (Reuters) - French telecoms firm TDF is studying options for its fibre business including a sale, four people familiar with the matter told Reuters, in a deal that could value the fibre unit upwards of 1 billion euros. The sellers are looking for as much as 1.3 billion to 1.6 billion euros for the fibre unit, according to one of the people, a price that buyers may find difficult to swallow. TDF - a former unit of France's leading telecoms operator Orange - provides broadcasting, fibre and telecoms infrastructure with some of its radio antennas sitting on top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The fibre unit's EbitdaAL, which deducts the cost of the leases from EBITDA, reached 28.7 million euros last year up from 21.6 million euros a year earlier, while revenues grew 42.8% to 52 million euros, according to TDF’s latest annual results. Two of the sources said the fibre unit's valuation will depend on the number of homes connected to fibre, market penetration and growth rate.

Persons: Brookfield, Sweden's, Les Echos, Andres Gonzalez, Amy, Jo Crowley, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: TDF, Reuters, Brookfield Asset Management, BNP Paribas, BNP, Brookfield, Orange, Eiffel, Sweden's EQT Partners, PSP Investments, APG, Management, Arcus Infrastructure Partners, Agricole, CAA, Thomson Locations: Paris, Europe, TDF, EBITDA

☆ Europe markets open lower as investors look to euro zone inflation data
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON — European markets were lower Monday as investors digest a heavy week of earnings and look ahead to euro zone inflation data and a key policy decision from the Bank of England. Food and beverage stocks were 0.9% lower in early deals, while oil and gas stocks were up 0.3%. Preliminary euro zone inflation data will be released at 11:00 a.m. CET, with a further fall from June's 5.5% expected to provide some relief for policymakers. The European Central Bank's Christine Lagarde signaled last week that the bank was "open minded" about whether it would raise rates in September as inflation shows signs of easing. The move would mark its 14th consecutive rise as U.K. inflation remains high, having fallen only slightly to 7.9% in June.

Persons: Christine Lagarde, France's Legrand, Pearson Organizations: Bank of England, Bank of Japan, Nikkei, Nasdaq, Heineken Locations: June's, Asia, Pacific, Europe, Netherlands

☆ Frenchman Marchand breaks Phelps world record in 400m medley
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

[1/4] Fukuoka 2023 World Aquatics Championships - Swimming - Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A, Fukuoka, Japan - July 23, 2023 France's Leon Marchand in action during the men's 400m medley final REUTERS/Issei KatoJuly 23 (Reuters) - Leon Marchand of France set a world record in the men's 400 metres individual medley, cruising to the gold medal in a time of four minutes, 2.50 seconds at the world championships in Fukuoka in southwest Japan on Sunday. Marchand broke the long-standing mark of 4:03.84 set by American great Michael Phelps at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and he finished 4.06 seconds ahead of silver medallist Carson Foster of the United States. Japan's Daiya Seto took the bronze. Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Hugh LawsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: France's Leon Marchand, Issei Kato, Leon Marchand, Marchand, Michael Phelps, Carson Foster, Daiya Seto, Shrivathsa Sridhar, Hugh Lawson Organizations: Marine Messe Fukuoka, Thomson Locations: Fukuoka, Japan, France, American, Beijing, United States, Bengaluru

☆ Leon Marchand, 21-year-old French swimming star, breaks Michael Phelps’ last remaining world record
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-23 | by ( Issy Ronald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Although Michael Phelps retired seven years ago, his legacy has continued to tower over swimming. But on Saturday, Phelps’ last remaining world record was smashed by 21-year-old Leon Marchand at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukoka, Japan, as the Frenchman completed the 400 meters individual medley in 4:02.50, shaving an enormous 1.34 seconds off Phelps’ previous mark. Phelps himself had held the world record for almost 21 years, setting a series of increasingly faster times during his stint as the world’s most dominant swimmer. “I’m two seconds faster than my previous record, I beat the world record, it’s amazing… I don’t know what to say, I’m so happy.”France's Leon Marchand competes in the final of the men's 400m medley. Meanwhile Australia’s Ariarne Titmus set a world record in the women’s 400 meter freestyle with a time of 3:55.38, so blistering that she held off Katie Ledecky in second place.

Persons: Michael Phelps, Phelps ’, Leon Marchand, Frenchman, ” Marchand, “, Phelps, ” France's Leon Marchand, Manan Vatsyayana, Carson Foster, Australia’s Ariarne, Katie Ledecky Organizations: CNN, Olympics, Getty Locations: Fukoka, Japan, Beijing, AFP, Japan’s

☆ Titmus shatters world record to win 400m freestyle gold at worlds
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FUKUOKA, Japan, July 23 (Reuters) - Reigning Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus of Australia smashed the world record as she blazed to victory in a battle royale for the women's 400m freestyle title on the opening day of the swimming events at the World Aquatics Championships on Sunday. New Zealand's Erika Fairweather edged McIntosh to grab the bronze, finishing 4.21 seconds behind Titmus. Earlier, Australia's Sam Short won the men's 400m freestyle race a year after his compatriot Elijah Winnington prevailed. The women's and men's 4x100m freestyle relays will bring an end to the day's proceedings at the Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall. Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru Editing by Toby DavisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Ariarne, Titmus, Summer McIntosh, Katie Ledecky, Ian Thorpe, Pieter van den Hoogenband, Michael Phelps, Erika Fairweather, McIntosh, Australia's Sam Short, Elijah Winnington, Ahmed Hafnaoui, Germany's Lukas Martens, Winnington, France's Leon Marchand, Carson Foster, Jacob Whittle, Shrivathsa Sridhar, Toby Davis Organizations: Paris, Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall, Thomson Locations: FUKUOKA, Japan, Australia, Athens, Tunisia, Budapest, British, Bengaluru

National police said on Thursday night that officers faced new incidents in Marseille, Lyon, Pau, Toulouse and Lille, including fires and fireworks. The local prosecutor said the officer involved had been put under formal investigation over voluntary homicide and would be held in prison in preventive detention. Under France's legal system, being placed under formal investigation is akin to being charged in Anglo-Saxon jurisdictions. He said the officer had aimed down towards the driver's leg but was bumped, causing him to shoot towards his chest. The unrest has revived memories of riots in 2005 that convulsed France for three weeks and forced then-president Jacques Chirac to declare a state of emergency.

Persons: Emmanuel Macron, Pascal Prache, Mercedes, Nahel, Gonzalo Fuentes, Laurent, Franck Lienard, didn't, Lienard, Prache, Macron, Jacques Chirac, Benoit Van Overstraeten, Layli, Noemie Olive, Leigh Thomas, Michel Rose, Richard Lough, John Stonestreet, Frank Jack Daniel, Alexandra Hudson, Daniel Wallis, Gerry Doyle Organizations: Nike, National, Lille, Le Vieux Port, REUTERS, Reuters, Thomson Locations: France, Paris suburb NANTERRE, Algerian, Nanterre, Paris, Rivoli, Marseille, Lyon, Pau, Toulouse, France's, Le Vieux, Provence, Paris suburb, Clichy, Blanc Mesnil

☆ France unrest: Riots spread, police officer charged with shooting teenager dead
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Benoit Van Overstraeten | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The shooting of the 17-year-old, identified as Nahel, took place in Nanterre, on the western outskirts of Paris. The teenager, who was too young to hold a full license in France, was driving illegally, a source familiar with the investigation said. The Nanterre prosecutor said he was known to police for previously failing to comply with a traffic stop order. The unrest has revived memories of riots in 2005 that convulsed France for three weeks and forced then-president Jacques Chirac to declare a state of emergency. Tuesday's killing was the third fatal shooting during traffic stops in France so far in 2023, down from a record 13 last year, a spokesperson for the national police said.

Persons: Emmanuel Macron, Gerald Darmanin, Macron, Darmanin, Elisabeth Borne, Pascal Prache, Nahel, Stephanie Lecocq, Jacques Chirac, Benoit Van Overstraeten, dominique Vidalon, John Stonestreet, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: Government, . Police, REUTERS, Reuters, Prosecutors, Police, Thomson Locations: Paris, PARIS, France, North, Nanterre, Paris suburb, Republic, Lille, Toulouse, Amiens, Dijon, Clichy

☆ EU antitrust regulators approve Vivendi, Lagardere deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, June 9 (Reuters) - Vivendi (VIV.PA), the French media conglomerate controlled by billionaire Vincent Bollore, on Friday won conditional EU antitrust approval for its acquisition of France's largest publisher Lagardere (LAGA.PA). Vivendi last year announced the deal which would give it control of Lagardere's flagship weekly publications Journal du Dimanche (JDD) and Paris Match. Vivendi said in a statement that it was confident it would finalise those two transactions by the end of October. "The remedies proposed by Vivendi will allow for the preservation of existing competition in those markets, to the benefit of consumers." Reuters reported in April that the remedies were sufficient to help Vivendi gain EU antitrust clearance for the acquisition.

Persons: Vincent Bollore, Margrethe Vestager, Daniel Kretinsky, Yannick Bollore, Foo Yun Chee, Bart Meijer, Sudip Kar, Gupta, Louise Organizations: Vivendi, Paris Match, European Commission, Reuters, Le Monde, TF1, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, EU, Czech, Le

☆ France's Le Maire wants to break food price inflation "spiral" by autumn
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Summary Le Maire: economic growth remains solidLe Maire: meeting next week to tackle inflation concernsPARIS, May 3 (Reuters) - Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Wednesday that he would meet with retailers and suppliers next week to discuss ways to break the food price inflation "spiral" by autumn, which is a major concern for cash-strapped consumers. Le Maire also told Franceinfo radio that economic growth remained solid in France despite recent strikes and protests against President Emmanuel Macron's legislation to raise the retirement age by two years to 64. Le Maire has since repeatedly called on both sides to reopen negotiations to ensure that a recent fall in global wholesale food prices is passed on to consumers. Le Maire has even threatened to take action if they do not respond to his calls. Bank of France governor and European Central Bank member Francois Villeroy de Galhau said last month he expected food price inflation to start easing in the second half of this year.

☆ 'Focused on the job': France's Le Maire defends writing of steamy novel
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Dominique Vidalon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PARIS, May 3 (Reuters) - French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said he was fully focused on creating growth and fighting inflation after coming under fire for penning a steamy novel that was published hours before France's credit rating was downgraded by an agency. "I am 100% focused on the job," Le Maire told Franceinfo radio. It is a graphic account of Oskar having sex with a character named Julia that has exposed Le Maire to mocking and criticism. The French edition of the Huffington Post headlined a story "Bruno Le Maire has written about an anus and no one was ready for this." "These are 10 lines out of a 480 pages book," Le Maire shot back when pushed on his writings during the Franceinfo interview.

☆ The worst Pentagon leak in years may have started in a gamer chatroom, where people weirdly keep posting classified documents trying to win arguments on the internet
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The leaked Pentagon documents may have started in an online chatroom for gamers. It's not the first time users have leaked classified or sensitive information to the internet to settle a debate. "Here, have some leaked documents," the user wrote in response to the discussion. In recent years, players of "War Thunder" — a combat video game — have shared highly sensitive information to various chatrooms on multiple occasions, including content about tanks, fighter jets, and missiles. In one case, a user posted information from the manual of an F-16 fighter jet, as well as content about the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile.

☆ "Calm down!" EU finance ministers play down SVB contagion despite banking shares rout
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Philip Blenkinsop | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SummarySummary Companies European bank shares down nearly 10% over two daysMinisters try to soothe markets as investors dump bank stocksFrance's Le Maire: "calm down!" BRUSSELS, March 13 (Reuters) - European finance ministers and the EU's economics commissioner played down the contagion risk of the collapse of U.S. Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) while European bank shares saw their biggest rout since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. At the start of a Eurogroup finance ministers meeting in Brussels, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire called on markets to "calm down" and European Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni stressed he did not see a risk of contagion for European banks following SVB's collapse (SIVB.O). France's Le Maire and his Belgian counterpart Vincent Van Peteghem also said they saw no specific concern for their country's banks, as investors were dumping their financial institutions' shares. Belgian finance minister Vincent Van Peteghem also poured oil on the waters.

☆ 'Quick and dirty': France's Macron expected to push through pension reforms after years of pushback
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Silvia Amaro | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The French government is presenting new plans to update the pension system. French President Emmanuel Macron is going at it again: a new pension reform will be presented Tuesday, and is expected to face some backlash. Macron is serving his second term as France's president but overhauling the pension system is a long-standing promise that dates all the way back to when he was first elected in 2017. The public sector also has "special regimes," or sector-specific deals that allow workers to retire before they're 62. Public sector workers — arguably the ones with the most to lose from potential reforms — protested for several days in some of the country's biggest strikes in decades.

☆ Key match-ups in World Cup final between Argentina and France
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Fernando Kallas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Semi Final - Argentina v Croatia - Lusail Stadium, Lusail, Qatar - December 13, 2022 Argentina's Julian Alvarez celebrates scoring their second goal with Lionel Messi and Nahuel Molina REUTERS/Carl RecineDOHA, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Argentina and France meet in Sunday's World Cup final at Lusail Stadium. Here are three of the key match-ups that are likely to have a strong bearing on the result:Kylian Mbappe v Nahuel MolinaMbappe is a candidate for the World Cup's player of the tournament, having led France to their second consecutive final. The jet-heeled 23-year-old forward has scored five times in six games, surpassing his tally from the 2018 tournament, and has now scored nine World Cup goals in 13 appearances across the two editions. Molina arrived at the World Cup having faced criticism after struggling in his first season with Atletico Madrid, but he has been solid during the tournament and started every match. Lionel Messi v Aurelien TchouameniOne of the most anticipated match-ups will be Argentina great Messi against France's rising star holding-midfielder Tchouameni.

☆ France's Le Maire: We went too far in use of consulting firms
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, Nov 27 (Reuters) - The French government made excessive use of consultancy firms in the past and is now striving to correct that, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Sunday. For years, this government and previous governments relied too much on consultancy firms. This was corrected by the Prime Minister's instruction that all ministries cut by 15% the use of consultancy firms," Le Maire told France 3 television. Between the first half of 2021 and the first half of 2022, the Finance Ministry had for instance managed to cut by 34% its use of consultancy firms, he added. A report by the French Senate in March 2022 had notably pointed out that the government was "dependent" on consulting firms such as McKinsey.

☆ France's Le Maire: Europe must defend its economic interests against U.S. subsidy package
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, Nov 27 (Reuters) - France may try to negotiate some exemptions from the duties and limits imposed by the U.S. anti-inflation act but Europe must act to protect the bloc's economic interests, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Sunday. Le Maire will accompany French President Emmanuel Macron on a state visit to the United States next week. "France may ask for exemptions on some duties and limits imposed by the U.S administration. Le Maire told France 3 television. "China favours Chinese production, America favours American production, it is time Europe favours European production...All European states must understand that today in the face of these American decisions, we must learn to better protect and defend our economic interests," he added.

☆ Engie CEO: Winter 'quite comfortable' from gas standpoint
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Companies Engie SA FollowRIYADH, Oct 25 (Reuters) - The situation for this coming winter in terms of security of gas supply is "comfortable", the chief executive of France's leading gas importer Engie (ENGIE.PA) said on Tuesday. "Today the situation for this winter is actually quite comfortable from the gas standpoint," Catherine MacGregor told the annual Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference in the Saudi capital Riyadh. "The situation of the security of supply in Europe is something we've been working on extremely hard even before the war broke out." Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting By Aziz El Yaakoubi and Hadeel Al Sayegh, writing by Nadine Awadalla and Maha El Dahan, Editing by Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Exclusive: Scores of Google rivals want EU tech law used in antitrust case
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Oct 17 (Reuters) - More than 40 European rivals to Google's shopping service urged EU antitrust regulators on Monday to use newly adopted tech rules to ensure the Alphabet unit complies with a 2017 EU order to allow more competition on its search page. The European Commission fined Google 2.4 billion euros ($2.33 billion) five years ago and told the firm to stop favouring its shopping service. The company subsequently said it would treat its own shopping service the same as competitors when they bid in an auction for adverts in the shopping box that appears at the top of a search page. "Google's prominent embedding of Shopping Units is a prima facie infringement of the DMA's ban on self-preferencing," they said. The most paramount case at the heart of the calls for the DMA needs to be brought to an effective end," the companies, from 20 European countries, said.

☆ Cryptoverse: Hack jitters push bitcoin investors back to the future
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Hannah Lang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The global hardware wallet market, valued at $245 million in 2021, is expected to swell to over $1.7 billion by 2030, according to market research firm Straits Research. Reuters GraphicsBLOWING HOT AND COLDAlthough hot wallets are usually free and offer quick access to crypto, they can be vulnerable to hacks. In August, nearly 8,000 crypto wallets on the Solana blockchain were hit by hackers who made off with more than $5 million in crypto. loading"Users are strongly encouraged to use hardware wallets," Solana said at the time. France's Ledger, another hardware wallet maker, said it saw a spike in sales after the Solana wallets heist.

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