[ad_1]
France’s leader of the far-right National Rally says a ‘dishonourable alliance’ prevented his party from winning a majority. Jordan Bardella spoke after exit polls showed the RN party coming in third, despite projections for a far-right victory.
Published On 7 Jul 2024
[ad_1]
Voting has begun in mainland France on Sunday in pivotal runoff elections that could hand a historic victory to Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally and its inward-looking, anti-immigrant vision — or produce a hung parliament and political deadlock.
French President Emmanuel Macron took a huge gamble in dissolving parliament and calling for the elections after his centrists were trounced in European elections on June 9.
The snap elections in this nuclear-armed nation will influence the war in Ukraine, global diplomacy and Europe’s economic stability, and they’re almost certain to undercut President Emmanuel Macron for the remaining three years of his presidency.
The first round on June 30 saw the largest gains ever for the anti-immigration, nationalist National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen.
Jean-Francois Badias / AP
A bit over 49 million people are registered to vote in the elections, which will determine which party controls the 577-member National Assembly, France’s influential lower house of parliament, and who will be prime minister. If support is further eroded for Macron’s weak centrist majority, he will be forced to share power with parties opposed to most of his pro-business, pro-European Union policies.
Voters at a Paris polling station were acutely aware of the far-reaching consequences for France and beyond.
“The individual freedoms, tolerance and respect for others is what at stake today,” said Thomas Bertrand, a 45-year-old voter who works in advertising.
Racism and antisemitism have marred the electoral campaign, along with Russian cybercampaigns, and more than 50 candidates reported being physically attacked — highly unusual for France. The government is deploying 30,000 police on voting day.
The heightened tensions come while France is celebrating a very special summer: Paris is about to host exceptionally ambitious Olympic Games, the national soccer team reached the semifinal of the Euro 2024 championship, and the Tour de France is racing around the country alongside the Olympic torch.
Mohammed Badra / AP
As of noon local time, turnout was at 26.63%, according to France’s interior ministry, slightly higher than the 25.90% reported at the same time during the first round last Sunday.
During the first round of voting last Sunday, the nearly 67% turnout was the highest since 1997, ending nearly three decades of deepening voter apathy for legislative elections and, for a growing number of French people, politics in general.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal cast his ballot in the Paris suburb of Vanves Sunday morning.
Macron is expected to vote later Sunday morning in the seaside town of La Touquet. Le Pen is not voting, because her district in northern France is not holding a second round after she won the seat outright last week. Across France, 76 other candidates secured seats in the first round, including 39 from her National Rally and 32 from the leftist New Popular Front alliance. Two candidates from Macron’s centrists list also won their seats in the first round.
The elections wrap up Sunday at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT) in mainland France and on the island of Corsica. Initial polling projections are expected Sunday night, with early official results expected late Sunday and early Monday.
Laurent Cipriani / AP
Voters residing in the Americas and in France’s overseas territories of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, Saint-Barthélemy, Saint-Martin, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyana and French Polynesia voted on Saturday.
The elections could leave France with its first far-right government since the Nazi occupation in World War II if the National Rally wins an absolute majority and its 28-year-old leader Jordan Bardella becomes prime minister. The party came out on top in the previous week’s first-round voting, followed by a coalition of center-left, hard-left and Green parties, and Macron’s centrist alliance.
Pierre Lubin, a 45-year-old business manager, was worried about whether the elections would produce an effective government.
“This is a concern for us,” Lubin said. “Will it be a technical government or a coalition government made up of (various) political forces?”
The outcome remains highly uncertain. Polls between the two rounds suggest that the National Rally may win the most seats in the 577-seat National Assembly but fall short of the 289 seats needed for a majority. That would still make history, if a party with historic links to xenophobia and downplaying the Holocaust, and long seen as a pariah, becomes France’s biggest political force.
If it wins the majority, Macron would be forced to share power with a prime minister who deeply disagrees with the president’s domestic and foreign policies, in an awkward arrangement known in France as “cohabitation.”
Another possibility is that no party has a majority, resulting in a hung parliament. That could prompt Macron to pursue coalition negotiations with the center-left or name a technocratic government with no political affiliations.
No matter what happens, Macron’s centrist camp will be forced to share power. Many of his alliances’ candidates lost in the first round or withdrew, meaning it doesn’t have enough people running to come anywhere close to the majority he had in 2017 when he was was first elected president, or the plurality he got in the 2022 legislative vote.
Both would be unprecedented for modern France, and make it more difficult for the European Union’s No. 2 economy to make bold decisions on arming Ukraine, reforming labor laws or reducing its huge deficit. Financial markets have been jittery since Macron surprised even his closest allies in June by announcing snap elections after the National Rally won the most seats for France in European Parliament elections.
Regardless of what happens, Macron said he won’t step down and will stay president until his term ends in 2027.
Many French voters, especially in small towns and rural areas, are frustrated with low incomes and a Paris political leadership seen as elitist and unconcerned with workers’ day-to-day struggles. National Rally has connected with those voters, often by blaming immigration for France’s problems, and has built up broad and deep support over the past decade.
Le Pen has softened many of the party’s positions — she no longer calls for quitting NATO and the EU — to make it more electable. But the party’s core far-right values remain. It wants a referendum on whether being born in France is enough to merit citizenship, to curb the rights of dual citizens, and to give police more freedom to use weapons.
With the uncertain outcome looming over the high-stakes elections, Valerie Dodeman, a 55-year-old legal expert said she is pessimistic about the future of France.
“No matter what happens, I think this election will leave people disgruntled on all sides,” Dodeman said.
[ad_2]
[ad_1]
Demonstrators take part in a rally against the far right following the announcement of the results of the first round of the French parliamentary elections at Place de la Republique in Paris on June 30, 2024.
Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images
“We’re scared of what might happen,” Amel, 34, told CNBC ahead of the final round of voting in France’s snap election this weekend.
The vote is being closely watched by all quarters of French society to see if the nationalist, anti-immigration National Rally (RN) builds on its initial win in the first round of voting, or whether centrist and leftwing parties have been able to thwart the party’s chances of entering government.
“It’s a very, very tense time. And it’s the first time that the far right is winning at the first turn [the first round of the ballot]. So it’s a very big deal,” Amel, a therapist who said she will vote for the leftwing New Popular Front, added.
“We are very anxious and we are trying to get everyone to vote, trying to tell people who don’t vote to go and vote, and to try to convince people who vote for the extreme right that they are not a good answer [to France’s problems].”
France’s far-right RN rejects the “extremist” label, saying it stands up for French values, culture and citizens at a time when many are fed up with France’s political establishment that’s been led by President Emmanuel Macron since 2017.
But RN’s opponents and critics warn France is on the brink of a political catastrophe if an overtly anti-immigration, nationalist and euroskeptic party wins a majority in this snap election called by Macron after his party lost heavily against the hard-right in European Parliament elections in June. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has said French voters now have a “moral duty” to halt the party’s advance.
For young, left-leaning voters like Amel, RN’s surge in voter polls, and the fact it won the most votes in the first round of the election last weekend, are worrying developments that make them fear for France’s societal cohesion.
“I am worried about the country’s future. I think it’s getting worse and worse,” Amel, who preferred to only give her first name due to the sensitive nature of the situation, said. “It’s going be like a kind of civil war. I hope it will not reach that, but people will just not mix anymore and will be scared of each other. And this is very scary.”
The snap election has thrown the country’s political polarization into sharp relief as polls ahead of the final round of voting on Sunday imply a deeply divided nation.
The first round of the election resulted in the far-right RN winning 33% of the vote, with the leftwing New Popular Front (NFP) garnering 28% and the coalition of parties supporting Macron (Ensemble, or Together) winning 20% of the vote.
Left wing supporters react as the results of the first round of French parliamentary elections are announced in Nantes, western France on June 30, 2024.
Sebastien Salom-gomis | Afp | Getty Images
Since the results of the first ballot, parties on the center-right and left have gone all-out to prevent RN’s advance in the second ballot, aiming to prevent a parliamentary majority for the party at all costs. Joining forces in a so-called “Republican Front,” centrists and leftwing parties have withdrawn candidates in many constituencies where one of their candidates was better placed to beat the RN.
By offering voters a starker choice and fewer options, the anti far-right front hopes that the electorate will vote for the non-RN candidate. Whether it will work remains to be seen and analysts point out that French voters might not take kindly to being directed how to vote, or who to vote for.
The final result on Sunday evening — the outcome of a snap election Macron did not need to call — will show just how hard it could be to find a consensus in national politics and government going forward.
How the nation will react to the result is also uncertain. France is no stranger to civil unrest given the widespread “Yellow Vest” anti-government movement of recent years, and street protests since the first round of voting on June 30.
France’s Interior Ministry appears to be preparing for more trouble after Sunday’s poll, reportedly ready to deploy around 30,000 officers across France on Sunday night amid fears of violence after polls close. Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin is reported to have said 5,000 police would be on duty in Paris and its surrounding areas to “ensure that the radical right and radical left do not take advantage of the situation to cause mayhem.”
France’s police force has, at times, been accused of being heavy-handed with demonstrators during previous periods of unrest, firing water cannon and tear gas at “yellow vest” demonstrators in 2019.
Tension rises as demonstrators gather in Place de la Republique, to protest against the rising right-wing movement after the Rassemblement National’s victory in the first round of early general elections in Paris, France on June 30, 2024.
Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images
A member of the gendarmerie, France’s military force in charge of law enforcement and public order, told CNBC that the “French elections are a mess” and that the “public divide has rarely been so flagrant in France.”
“People’s opinions are becoming more and more divided and this is felt in everyday life,” the gendarme, who asked to remain anonymous due to the nature of his job, told CNBC.
The officer — a father of three who’s in his 40s, and a right-leaning voter — said the polarization in French society was “very worrying, but unfortunately normal with the ‘diversity’ of our society.”
“More and more people with different values and educations are being forced to co-exist, and this clearly doesn’t work,” the officer, who works in Bordeaux in southwestern France, said.
“I am worried about the country’s future, because we are too generous to people who aren’t willing to integrate and contribute to our society, this can not last.”
The police officer said he expected civil unrest after the vote, whichever party gained the most votes.
“There will be civil unrest whoever is elected, this is France and the people speak their mind.”
Political experts agree that the current febrile atmosphere of French politics, and antagonism between the main bodies of voters, are the ingredients for further civil unrest.
“You’ve got here all the recipe for a super-polarized political scene and that, of course, translates into civil society as a whole,” Philippe Marlière, professor of French and European politics at University College London, told CNBC.
“If you’ve got only 33-34% of people voting for the far-right it means the rest is wary of that, or completely opposed to it, so that will translate on every level of politics — institutional politics, party politics, the National Assembly, but also in society. You will have a very polarized society in which younger people, ethnic minorities, women, and in particular feminists, would be very worried,” he said.
Marlière did not discount the possibility of violence on the streets if a far-right party was elected to government. “We’re not there yet. But if there are very unpopular, very antagonizing and very hostile policies to some groups, there will be demonstrations on a scale that you have unrest in the street,” he said.
Like other hard-right parties in Europe, the National Rally has tapped into voter insecurities regarding crime, immigration, national identity and economic insecurity. RN’s 28-year-old leader Jordan Bardella has told voters he will “restore order,” curb immigration and tackle delinquency but he and party figurehead Marine Le Pen have rowed back on some of their more strident promises and rhetoric, back-pedaling over taking France out of NATO, for example, and moderating the party’s traditionally pro-Russian stance.
Bardella said he would still support the sending of arms to Ukraine but not the deployment of ground troops, as Macron suggested was a possibility.
Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella at the final rally before the June 9 European Parliament election, held at Le Dôme de Paris – Palais des Sports, on June 2, 2024.
Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images
It’s uncertain how many of National Rally’s policies would be enacted even if the party made it into government. The “Republican Front” also appears confident ahead of the second round of voting that its strategy to hurt the RN’s vote share is working.
An opinion poll published by Ifop on July 3 suggested voters might tend toward a centrist pro-Macron or leftwing candidate rather than the RN candidate if that is the choice they are presented with on the ballot paper on Sunday. If the choice was between a far-left and far-right candidate, however, the picture was more nuanced, showing a split vote.
Analysts predict that RN is less likely to be able to achieve an absolute majority of 289 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly, but is still likely to gather the most votes, creating a hung parliament scenario and headache for Macron and uncertainty for France’s political and economic outlook.
“The political landscape is in turmoil and can’t really work any longer, at least not by the old rules,” Ipsos analyst Mathieu Doiret told CNBC Thursday.
“We are in a situation so far from our traditions and political habitus that it’s very difficult to adapt to this new situation for every stakeholder.”
[ad_2]
[ad_1]
The last decade has seen the explosion of the rosé wine industry worldwide, but orange wines are the next frontier. And one of France’s most renowned winemakers has made it his mission to make orange wines go mainstream. Gérard Bertrand, a former professional rugby player, transitioned into the world of wine after taking over his family’s estate following his father’s death. Over the last 35 years, he has become a leading figure in the Languedoc-Roussillon wine region in southern France, championing sustainable practices like organic and biodynamic winemaking. His ambition has grown his holdings to 17 estates, spanning more than 900 hectares of vines, making him one of France’s largest independent winemakers.
“My father was a leader in the wine industry; he was the first to believe in the region in the south of France in the 1970s. I started to do my first harvest in 1975, when I was 10 years old. And at the end of the harvest, my father said to me, ‘You know, you’re lucky because when you are 60, you will have 50 years of experience,’” Bertrand tells Observer. “And now I’m 59, and I have already done 14 vintages, and during the same time, I already played rugby, as well.”
And given Bertrand’s recent dedication to orange wines, he isn’t even close to done yet.
If you’re not already familiar with orange wines, you’re not alone, but that won’t be the case for long. Orange wines are made from white grapes, but with extended skin contact during fermentation, resulting in a unique, deep orange-hue and flavor profile. Winemakers macerate the grapes alongside their solid parts—namely the skins, seeds and stems—for a period ranging from a few days to several months.
This method, though considered trendy now, is actually an ancient technique with roots dating back more than 4,500 years in the country of Georgia, often referred to as the birthplace of wine. In those times, traditionally, grapes were not pressed before fermentation. Instead, the Georgians let the wines macerate in buried amphora (clay pots), called Kyevris. This unique winemaking technique eventually spread to the rest of Europe, first inspiring the winemakers in present-day northern Italy, France, Spain and Portugal. Today, orange wine continues to be produced in Europe, as well as many other parts of the world, including the United States, New Zealand, Australia and France.
Bertrand is an admirer of this ancestral winemaking method. In particular, he loves the structure of this skin contact wine made with white grapes using red winemaking methods, which gives the wine some tannic qualities, among other things.
“I wanted to pay tribute to these people because they created a new category,” Bertrand explains. “And it was also amusing for me to try to make a rebirth of orange wine with less bitterness, and also less tannins, in order to have to create wines for drinking, not only for tasting.”
In recent years, orange wine has slowly but surely grown in popularity among winemakers, sommeliers and other certified wine experts, as well as devoted wine lovers, for its inventiveness and creativity.
But compared to rosé or popular white varietals like chardonnay or sauvignon blanc, orange wines have more of an uphill battle in the challenge for greater market share. To start, for casual or even more advanced wine drinkers, orange wines have a different taste to them—a bite, a bit tangy or gritty, or whatever you want to call it based on your experience. While this might be a winsome experience for some wine drinkers, it’s not for everyone.
“Orange wine has a different taste profile, especially because of the aging during the winemaking process—more or less one month minimum, and then 12 months of aging in oak,” Bertrand explains. “And then the maceration process and skin contact development reinforces the aromatic profiles, resulting in notes like peanut butter or apricot.”
Secondly, for stemming from such an ancient tradition, orange wine is still a newer product on shelves in American wine stores or included on wine lists at restaurants stateside.
That said, Bertrand’s company has done the research (in partnership with London-based market research firm Kantar Group), arguing that the desirability and demand for orange wine is there among U.S. consumers. According to the 2023 study, almost half (42 percent) of American wine drinkers are already aware of orange wines. Among those who are aware, nearly three-fourths (73 percent) have already tried orange wine, with one-third (31 percent) of them saying they drink it regularly. At the same time, 84 percent of U.S. wine drinkers who have never tried orange wine said they are open to trying it, which Bertrand says represents a significant opportunity for growth. (For reference, the study was based on a sample of 1,000 people who drink any type of wine and are living in the United States, aged 21 and over. Quotas were balanced to census demographics by age, gender and U.S. Census region.)
Gérard Bertrand Wines now includes several orange options, each with its own distinct character and at varying price points. For curious wine drinkers who aren’t convinced yet, the Orange Gold is a good place to start. This organic wine has a very approachable suggested price of $25 in the U.S., an easy investment for experimenting with a new wine for fun. And Orange Gold lives up to its name. Housed in a striking bottle decorated with sun beams that enhance its golden hues, the wine offers a complex bouquet of white flowers, candied fruits and a hint of white pepper. It’s crafted from a blend of chardonnay, muscat, viognier, grenache blanc, chenin and roussanne grapes.
For more experienced oenophiles looking for an exciting bottle, there is the Villa Soleilla, named for the estate where it is produced. Villa Soleilla is the newest addition of luxury accommodations at Bertrand’s Château l’Hospitalet, a five-star wine and beach resort just outside of Narbonne in the Languedoc region within the south of France, along the coast of the Mediterranean.
Being a premium wine, this biodynamic wine is also more of an investment, with a suggested retail price of $195 in the U.S., although, similar to most white and rosé wines, it is one you shouldn’t let sit in your wine fridge for too long, as it doesn’t age well in the same way that red wines do.
“Villa Soleilla is already biodynamic-certified, and Orange Gold is organic. We apply the same recipes into the vineyards. For winemaking, we use only natural ingredients in the vineyards—this is easy,” Bertrand says about practicing sustainable winemaking. “We don’t have any issue with the winemaking, but we use amphora, and we also use some oak casks in order to develop complexity. And we age our wine for a minimum of one year before bottling.”
Summer is a prime time to consume orange wine as an alternative to heavier reds you might want to save for fall and winter, not to mention if your palate is tired of the usual white or rosé wines. Orange wines also pair well with a multitude of dishes. But Bertrand’s favorite food pairing? A French classic: cheese.
“The number one priority for us is really to pair all the orange wines that we make with a cheese plate. That’s because when you have a cheese plate at home or at the restaurant, you get lost. With goat cheese, it’s better to have a white; with camembert, a red; with blue cheese, a fortified wine,” Bertrand says. “The only wine that covers the spectrum of cheeses is really an orange wine. And depending on the level of maturation and the level of concentration, as well as the blend [of grapes], you can play with a lot of cuisines, from couscous to tuna tartare to Wagyu beef burgers.”
Bertrand also suggests that orange wine makes for a great cocktail mixer. Wine cocktails have resurged in popularity over the last few years as a lower-alcohol option compared to mixing drinks with much higher-proof spirits. One lower-ABV cocktail recipe developed in-house is called “Orange Sunset,” consisting of Orange Gold wine, bergamot orange and sparkling water.
“This is really a great cocktail to celebrate the sunset anywhere in the world,” Bertrand says.
Bertrand is already looking ahead to his next development, one of which is still somewhat of a rarity in the wine world, albeit still not available just yet: an orange sparkling wine.
“It’s always amazing to be the first to market, and it was a challenge for us because when you make sparkling wine with the bubbles, the bubbles develop bitterness. It was a challenge to create orange wine and then to develop the fermentation in order to develop the bubbles,” Bertrand says. “But finally, after two weeks of experimentation, we found a way to have sparkling orange wine and to avoid bitterness. And it’s amazing. I really love the intensity of the aromatic profile.”
Bertrand says that he hopes that orange wines will eventually slot into the top four categories of wine, which right now stands at red, white, sparkling and rosé.
“I remember when rosé was starting slow, in France and exporting to other markets in early 2000. And now it’s an amazing category,” Bertrand says. “I think it takes time, and not all the chefs and sommeliers like to pair with orange wines yet. It will [only] be a matter of time when more winegrowers are involved.”
[ad_2]
Rachel King
Source link
[ad_1]
Neither Portugal nor France have been convincing at the tournament to date despite the array of talent at their disposal, but they have potential match-winners who only need an instant to find a decisive moment.
Portugal and France head into their quarterfinal meeting as two tournament favourites that few actually expect to win Euro 2024.
It’s a mouth-watering encounter, filled with superstars on both sides, yet both have struggled to impress – most especially in attack.
Portugal’s campaign has seen a lot of ups and downs as the Selecao started with two wins before suffering a shock defeat to Georgia and needing a dramatic penalty shootout win over Slovenia to reach the quarterfinals.
While Bernardo Silva and Bruno Fernandes have found the net, their veteran skipper Cristiano Ronaldo has struggled in front of goal. The 39-year-old, playing in a record sixth Euros, had a penalty saved against Slovenia in extra time in the round of 16, prompting him to burst into tears of frustration.
Ronaldo scored in the shootout that followed, but questions have been raised over his place in the lineup as his goal-scoring powers are on the wane. The Al Nassr forward has taken more shots than any other at Euro 2024 (20) but has not scored in his last eight tournament matches.
Pre-tournament favourites and twice world champions France have also been sluggish, failing to score from open play in the tournament.
France’s stalwart forward Kylian Mbappe scored a penalty in his comeback against Poland after breaking his nose in their opener, while France’s other two goals have come courtesy of the opposition.
France’s assistant coach Guy Stephan said Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann have been singled out for unfair criticism.
“We all downplayed Mbappe’s broken nose a bit,” Stephan told reporters. “It doesn’t explain everything, but the shock was traumatic. The mask he is forced to play with is not easy, it’s difficult for his peripheral vision.
“He also had a somewhat tiring end to the season. But Kylian remains a top, top-level player. There are times when these top-level players are a little less good.
“With Griezmann, we’re talking about a player who has 133 caps, who has scored 44 goals, who, until last March, played more than 80 matches in a row for the France team,” he added.
The misfiring forward lines of both sides need to spark to life for both sides, as the winner of the contest awaits Germany or Spain in the semifinal in Munich.
Friday’s contest will be a repeat of the Euro 2016 final in Paris when Portugal stunned the hosts to win 1-0 thanks to an extra-time goal from striker Eder.
France are looking for their third triumph, while Portugal seek to add to their solitary 2016 title.
Portugal (6), France (2)
28 games – 6 wins for Portugal, 19 for France, 3 draws.
Last five matches:
Portugal: D L W W W
France: W D D W D
[ad_2]
[ad_1]
The investigative office of the Paris Appeals Court has rejected a request by the lawyers of French Culture Minister Rachida Dati for an end to prosecution procedures related to the Carlos Ghosn affair.
In charges dating back to 2021, Dati is under investigation for payments totalling $950k (€900K) that she is alleged to have received between 2010 and 2012 from a subsidiary of the French and Japanese Renault-Nissan automobile alliance, when it was under fallen automobile tycoon Ghosn’s leadership.
She is charged with “passive corruption by a person who at the time was holding an elective mandate” and “benefiting from abuse of power” related to allegations that she received the money in exchange for lobbying services at the European Parliament.
Dati, who is a lawyer by profession, was a Member of the European Parliament from 2010 to 2019. She has categorically denied the allegations.
The politician’s lawyers said they would appeal the decision.
“We’re advising Madame Dati to take up the case in the court of cassation because we believe the law is on our side,” Olivier Pardo and Olivier Bluche told press following the ruling.
“This decision does not have any bearing on Madame Dati’s innocence,” they added.
Ghosn – who now lives in Lebanon, having dramatically fled Japan in 2019 where he faced corruption charges related to his time at the head of Nissan – has denied any direct dealings with Dati, saying the fees she received were for legal work.
Dati, who was previously a spokesperson for centre-right President Nicolas Sarkozy during his presidential campaign and was Justice Minister from 2007 to 2009 under his presidency, was appointed as French culture minister in January by centrist Prime Minister Gabriel Attal.
Her appointment took the French culture world by surprise and came just days after Attal had been catapulted into the role of prime minister by President Emmanuel Macron, in a cabinet reshuffle aimed at reinvigorating his flagging presidency.
Since taking on the role, Dati has fallen foul of the state broadcasting sector with her plans for a BBC-style merger of the different units encompassed by public networks France Télévisions and Radio France under one roof.
In the backdrop, her time in the role is coming to an end due to a snap election called by Macron. The far-right Rassemblement National party is currently on track to win the most seats in a second round of voting on July 7, in a development that will sweep the president’s centrist government from power.
[ad_2]
Melanie Goodfellow
Source link
[ad_1]
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about 3.8% in the first six months of the year, lagging way behind the Nasdaq, up 18.1%, and the S&P 500, which jumped 14.5% — as investors plowed into artificial intelligence-related stocks.
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters
This report is from today’s CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.
Dow lags tech rally
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about 3.8% in the first six months of the year, lagging way behind the Nasdaq, up 18.1%, and the S&P 500, which jumped 14.5% — as investors plowed into artificial intelligence-related stocks. On Friday, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit record highs before pulling back. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose as investors digested the latest inflation data. U.S. oil prices rose for the third straight week amid fears of a war between Israel and the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah.
Boeing ‘guilty plea’
U.S. prosecutors plan to seek a guilty plea from Boeing over a charge related to two fatal 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019, attorneys for the victims’ family members said. The Justice Department is reviewing whether Boeing violated a 2021 settlement that shielded the company from federal charges. Boeing agreed then to pay a $2.5 billion penalty for a conspiracy charge tied to the crashes. The DOJ revisited the agreement after a door panel blew out of a new 737 Max 9 in January, sparking a new safety crisis.
Under fire
Nike CEO John Donahoe faces growing discontent as the company’s stock plummeted 20% on Friday, its worst day since 1980, after forecasting a significant decline in sales. As Wall Street digested the dismal outlook from the world’s largest sportswear company, at least six investment banks downgraded Nike’s stock. Analysts at Morgan Stanley and Stifel took it a step further, specifically calling the company’s management into question.
Bitcoin windfall
Mt. Gox, a bankrupt Japanese bitcoin exchange, is set to repay creditors nearly $9 billion worth of Bitcoin following a 2011 hack. The court-appointed trustee overseeing the exchange’s bankruptcy proceedings said distributions to the firm’s roughly 20,000 creditors would begin this month. The payout is likely to be a windfall for those who waited a decade, with Bitcoin’s value surging from around $600 in 2014 to over $60,000 today. One claimant, Gregory Greene, could potentially receive $2.5 million for his $25,000 investment.
Inflation cooling
A key inflation measure, watched closely by the Federal Reserve, slowed to its lowest annual rate in over three years in May, with the core personal consumption expenditures price index rising 2.6% from a year ago. “This is just additional news that monetary policy is working, inflation is gradually cooling,” San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly told CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin during a “Squawk Box” interview. “That’s a relief for businesses and households who have been struggling with persistently high inflation. It’s good news for how policy is working.”
[PRO] Rally will broaden
The tech sector has driven market performance in 2024, with the S&P 500 tech group up 28% and Nvidia soaring 149%, while small-caps have lagged. Oppenheimer’s chief market strategist John Stoltzfus believes the rally will broaden. CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han looks at the reasons behind his call.
The New York Times editorial board has lost faith in President Joe Biden, calling for him to step aside. Iranians will need another go at electing a new president, French voters cast their votes in the first round of snap elections that saw big gains for Marie Le Pen's far-right party and Brits will go to the polls on Thursday.
It's a busy political environment for markets to navigate. Wall Street has shown remarkable resilience thanks to the AI-powered rally in the first half of the year, which has seen the Nasdaq soar 18% so far. Nvidia is up almost 150%. There could be more to come; Bank of America believes Nvidia and Apple could still deliver "superior returns."
While one of the biggest bulls on the Street expects the rally to broaden away from the megacaps, Wall Street wasn't feeling any love for Nike's CEO. The company had its worst day of trading since its IPO in December 1980, losing $28 billion in market cap on Friday after slashing its sales forecasts.
John Donahoe was brought in from eBay to transform the athletic apparel giant's digital channels. The company ditched its retail partners, became too dependent on its aging sneaker ranges and lost ground to new contenders Hoka and On. It'll certainly make an interesting case study for MBA programs for all the wrong reasons. As Wall Street questioned Donahoe's position, he still had the approval of its founder.
Friday also saw the Fed's favored inflation measure come in line with expectations, raising the prospect of interest rate cuts later this year.
"I really think the Fed should tee up a cut at the July 31 meeting, confirm it at Jackson Hole in August and do it in September," Wharton finance professor Jeremy Siegel told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street." He added that one or maybe one-and-a-half rate cuts have already been priced in.
"I actually think there will be more because there might be a little bit more softness in the economy and better inflation numbers, both of those feeding better rates," he continued. Siegel also said it is "hard to say" where the bull market's trajectory currently stands.
In a four-day trading week — markets are closed for the July 4 Independence Day holiday — the big economic number to watch is the June jobless data on Friday. CNBC's Sarah Min has more on what to expect.
— CNBC's Lisa Kailai Han, Yun Li, Jeff Cox, Leslie Josephs, Gabrielle Fonrouge, Hakyung Kim, Brian Evans, Spencer Kimball, Ryan Browne and MacKenzie Sigalos contributed to this report.
[ad_1]
The worst bond rout since the sovereign debt crisis. Companies rushing to lock in funding before a potential capital drought. An almost $200 billion hit to stocks.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision earlier this month to meet the far-right’s gains across Europe with a snap poll at home has upended markets across the region, triggering a sharp repricing that’s put billions of euros in flux.
On Sunday, investors will find out if the selloff has room to run.
The stakes are high. France’s fiscal probity is in doubt with investors shorting the nation’s bonds even before Macron’s surprise decision, and the region’s allure as a stable and relatively volatility-free alternative to US markets has taken a blow.
David Zahn, head of European fixed income at Franklin Templeton, summed it up: The French spread over German bonds could “easily” blow through 100 basis points from around 80 now — unthinkable less than a month ago.
“There is nothing to win in this market,” said Stephane Deo, a senior portfolio manager at Eleva Capital SAS, who has cut all his fund’s exposure to France.
Traders are going into the parliamentary election at the weekend holding the most futures contracts on French bonds in at least a year, a sign they’re betting yields will go higher. Stock pickers are hedging losses with the most put options tied to Europe’s main blue-chip benchmark in two years. And currency traders are piling into derivatives that shield them from a drop in the euro at the fastest pace in 15 months.
The main fear for markets of all stripes is that the new French government drives the country deeper into debt. France’s deficit already exceeds what’s allowed under European Union rules and a strong showing by either the right or the left would be viewed as increasing the chances that the government loosens the purse strings further.
S&P Global Ratings downgraded the country’s credit score at the end of May and the International Monetary Fund predicts its deficit will remain well above the EU’s 3% limit for years to come.
Pain for bonds can translate into pain for banks if they’re eventually forced to swoop in and buy up the notes should foreigners head for the exits. With French lenders already leading losses among euro-area banks in June, at that point the contagion could spiral beyond France’s borders, driving up borrowing costs in the EU’s weaker members.
Memories of the region’s debt crisis are on investors’ minds, an Allianz Global Investors portfolio manager said recently, and ripples from France could once more bring the entire euro project into question.
The last time Le Pen’s far-right party came close to clinching power was in the 2017 presidential election, promising voters a referendum on whether the country should leave the euro. While she’s tempered her stance since, her party’s policies have investors on edge.
A gauge based on credit default swaps that indicates the likelihood of France leaving the EU has almost doubled since the European elections to near the highest since 2017.
The issue is “whether people want to go down the path of ruminating about redenomination,” said Erik Weisman, portfolio manager and chief economist at MFS Investment Management. “I think that would be unwarranted almost regardless of the outcome. But the market may have other ideas.”
Political ructions in France are already casting a shadow over the broader region.
Weakness in French sovereign bonds has spilled over to Italy — Europe’s original poster child for fiscal profligacy. There, the spread to Germany has widened to the highest since February.
In credit markets, the risk premium French companies pay to borrow compared to their euro-area peers has jumped to the highest since the run-up to the 2017 election. Before the snap vote was called, that cost had been consistently lower.
And trades in derivative markets that pay out if euro-area bank stocks decline have hit the highest since 2016.
Banks are seen as vulnerable to concern about a nation’s political future through their holdings of government debt and their exposure to weak economic decisions. While sovereign bonds accounted for just 2.4% of French banks’ total assets as of the first quarter, that number could creep up if lenders step in to buy as foreign investors flee.
“Market access is an existential issue for banks,” said Gordon Shannon, portfolio manager at TwentyFour Asset Management. “Periods of market stress curtail the ability to raise fresh capital.”
To be sure, volatility triggered by elections can dissipate fast, and investors predict Le Pen’s party — if it does win the most seats — will tread carefully to boost her chances for the 2027 presidential vote. France’s CAC 40 stock benchmark has done well after most legislative elections in the past 30 years.
Surveys indicate it’s unlikely any one party will have an absolute majority after the voting, and Former French President Francois Hollande indicated this week that he’d be ready to build a new coalition to govern if elections deliver a hung parliament.
Karen Ward, chief market strategist for EMEA at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, sees the weakness in French banks as a buying opportunity. The next French government will be mindful of the chaos triggered by unfunded tax cuts proposed by UK prime minister Liz Truss in 2022.
“In a couple of months’ time we will not be talking about French politics at all,” she said. “This is not 2011-2012, none of these more populous parties are advocating leaving the euro. This is about migration, which is a thread we are seeing in politics across the west.”
Yet the sense of angst is palpable. The spike in political risk has prompted several portfolio managers to abandon the practice of buying European bonds in anticipation of a catch-up with valuations in US debt.
That chimes with the shift in equity-market sentiment, where uncertainty before Sunday’s vote has derailed the bull case for Europe, pushing investors to trim exposure and rebalance their positioning toward US assets.
And rates traders are expecting the nation’s borrowing costs to remain high for the foreseeable future.
“The French spread won’t go back to its pre-election level anytime soon,” said Sonia Renoult, a rates strategist at ABN Amro. “The question is how quickly it pulls back and whether the bond market or institutions need to force it to do so.”
[ad_2]
Alice Gledhill, Michael Msika, Tasos Vossos, Bloomberg
Source link
[ad_1]
There is a reason, at the very moment Gareth Southgate and his players were having obscenities and plastic cups hurled at them in Cologne on Tuesday, every leading UK bookmaker was slashing the odds on England winning Euro 2024.
It had nothing to do with a sudden surge of optimism or a flurry of betting activity. After all, who would lump any money on an England triumph after that?
It was because of the way the tournament has begun to take shape: the odds for England were cut along with Italy, Austria and Switzerland. The odds on French, Spanish, German or Portuguese glory drifted accordingly.
If it was a free draw after the group stage, as what happens in European club competition, it would be hard to look beyond Spain, Germany, Portugal and — as poorly as they have played so far — pre-tournament favourites France.
But the path was pre-determined. The knockout bracket looked unbalanced before a ball was kicked. It has been unbalanced further by France’s failure to win their group, meaning they join Spain, Germany, Portugal and Denmark in the top half of the bracket. Belgium, should they finish second or third in Group E, could end up there too.
GO DEEPER
What is England’s route to Euro 2024 final?
On paper, the bottom quarter of the bracket looks reasonably strong: Switzerland facing Italy in Berlin on Saturday; England facing a third-placed team (quite feasibly the Netherlands) on Sunday. But Switzerland, Italy and England won one game each in the group stage. Add the Netherlands (or whoever finishes third in Group E — Romania, Belgium, Slovakia or Ukraine) and it becomes four wins from a possible 12.
To spell this out, in the bottom quarter of the draw, a team that has won just once in the group stage will reach the semi-final — where the worst-case scenario would mean facing Austria, Belgium or the Netherlands. The most likely semi-final permutations in the other half of the draw might be Spain or Germany vs Portugal or France.
It was put to Southgate on Tuesday, after a dire 0-0 draw with Slovenia, that England might have got lucky with how the knockout stage is shaping up. “We shouldn’t be seduced by which half of the draw,” the manager told ITV Sport. “We have to take a step at a time. Tonight was an improvement. We’ve got to improve to win the next round.”
In his post-match news conference, it was spelt out to him that England had ended up on the opposite side of the bracket to Germany, France, Spain and Portugal. “We have huge respect for all of the teams you’ve mentioned but equally, there are some very good teams on our side of the draw,” he said.
Not equally, though. As at the 2018 World Cup, fortune has smiled on England and on all the other teams who have ended up on that side of the bracket — not least Austria, who are entitled to claim that, by finishing ahead of France and the Netherlands, they have made their own luck.
In 2018, five of the six top-ranked teams in the knockout stage (Brazil, Belgium, Portugal, Argentina and France) ended up on one side of the draw, while the other half consisted of Spain (who had won only one of their three group games), Russia, Croatia, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Colombia and England.
That World Cup was widely regarded as Belgium’s best chance of winning a major tournament, with so many of their ‘golden generation’ of players at or around the peak of their powers. But they paid a heavy price for winning Group G, beating Japan and Brazil but then falling to France in the semi-final. England’s prize for finishing second to Belgium in their group was a place in the gentler side of the draw, which led to them beating Colombia and Sweden before defeat by Croatia in the semi-final.
Euro 2016 brought a similar imbalance. Italy, under Antonio Conte, excelled in the group stage, but their prize for winning Group E was to be placed on the tougher side of the draw. They beat Spain 2-0 but lost to Germany on penalties in the quarter-final. Germany in turn lost to hosts France in the semi-final. On the other side, Portugal — who had scraped third place in Group F by drawing with Iceland, Austria and Hungary — reached the final by beating Croatia in the round of 16, Poland in the quarter-final and Wales in the semi-final.
Some competitions are based on a free draw, such as the FA Cup. Others, such as the NFL or NBA, see teams ranked on their regular-season record, which should theoretically ensure the two strongest teams in either conference end up on opposite sides of the draw.
International football competitions — including the World Cup, European Championship, Copa America, Africa Cup of Nations and Asian Cup — do not work like that. It is pre-determined from the moment the draw is made: the winner of Group A will play the runner-up of Group B, the winner of Group C will play the runner-up of Group D and so on.
The group-stage draw is seeded, but teams are allocated to each group by a random draw, which raises the possibility of the knockout bracket ending up lop-sided. Because the tournaments are condensed into a four-week or five-week period, with matches played in a host nation, it is felt beneficial to have a pre-determined structure for planning, travel and ensuring each team has enough rest between matches.
There are still inconsistencies. Austria will have a seven-day break between the end of their group matches on Tuesday and their first knockout round next Tuesday, whereas Spain’s opponents in the round of 16 (still to be determined) will have had just four days’ rest.
Everything about knockout football lends itself to variance. But it can be predicted with some confidence that a team that has performed miserably at Euro 2024 will reach the semi-final or feasibly the final. After a difficult group stage, England, Switzerland, Italy and others have had a soft landing. For one of them, it might even prove a springboard.
(Top photo: Andreas Gora/Picture Alliance via Getty Images))
[ad_2]
The New York Times
Source link
[ad_1]
Paris — Water in the Seine River had unsafe elevated levels of E. coli less than two months before swimming competitions are scheduled to take place in it during the Paris Olympics, according to test results published Friday.
Contamination levels in the first eight days of June, after persistent heavy rain in Paris, showed bacteria such as E. coli and enterococci beyond limits judged safe for athletes.
The report was published by monitoring group Eau de Paris one day after a senior International Olympic Committee executive said there were “no reasons to doubt” races will go ahead as scheduled in in a historic downtown stretch of the Seine near the Eiffel Tower.
The first Olympic event in the cleaned-up Seine is men’s triathlon, including a 1.5-kilometer (under 1 mile) swim, on the morning of July 30. The women’s triathlon is the next day and a mixed relay event is on Aug. 5.
Marathon swimming races over 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) for women and men are scheduled on Aug. 8 and 9, respectively, in waters that were historically polluted before a $1.5 billion investment ahead of the Olympics
“We are confident that we will swim in the Seine this summer,” IOC official Christophe Dubi said Thursday at an online briefing after hearing an update Paris from city officials and Olympic organizers.
Despite the IOC’s publicly expressed confidence, the final decision on approving the events safe for athletes should rest with the governing bodies of individual sports, World Aquatics and World Triathlon.
The safety of the Seine water for the Olympics has been in doubt since some test events scheduled last August were cancelled, also after unseasonal heavy rains.
According to European standards, the safe limit for E. coli is 900 colony-forming units per 100 milliliters. The World Triathlon Federation uses the same criteria to determine sufficient water quality for competitions.
During the first eight days of June, test results showed that E. coli levels frequently exceeded these thresholds. Enterococci levels were better, mostly staying within safe limits. The tests indicated an improvement, from high contamination levels on June 1 to more acceptable levels by June 9, mainly due to improved weather.
Rainwater infiltrates the sewer system, and to prevent street flooding, the excess water, carrying fecal bacteria, is diverted into the Seine. To address this, a massive reservoir capable of storing 50,000 cubic meters of water during heavy rainfall was inaugurated in May.
Water quality of rivers in major cities can be impacted by many things, from runoff to dumping of chemicals, sometimes illegally, and boat traffic.
Earlier this week, Paris’ mayor Anne Hidalgo doubled down on her promise to take a dip in the river before the start of the competition. On Tuesday, she confirmed that her swim was postponed until after the snap elections in France, which end on July 7.
[ad_2]
TOM NOUVIAN / AP
Source link
[ad_1]
French President Emmanuel Macron attends a trilateral meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (not seen) at the Elysee Palace in Paris as part of the Chinese president’s two-day state visit in France, May 6, 2024.
Gonzalo Fuentes | Reuters
French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to call a snap election after the far-right National Rally party won more than double the votes of his centrist alliance has been greeted with surprise, dismay and more than a little bewilderment.
It has also resurfaced long-standing criticism of Macron, particularly from political commentators and opponents, who see the president as arrogant, ego-driven and, perhaps more worryingly in their eyes, a leader willing to put France’s stability on the line in what’s being seen as a “huge political gamble.”
For his part, Macron said that holding a snap election would provide clarity after the European Parliament elections, in which the NR party won around 31% of the vote, more than double the 14.6% for the centrist, pro-European alliance that included Macron’s Renaissance Party.
In a national address Sunday evening as he announced his decision to dissolve parliament, Macron told the electorate that he had “heard” their concerns and would “not leave them unanswered … France needs a clear majority to act in serenity and harmony,” he added. The first round of voting will take place on June 30, with a second to be held on July 7.
Analysts said Macron’s decision was likely a tactical gamble, with the president hopeful that 1) the European parliamentary election drubbing was the result of a protest vote rather than deeper dissatisfaction with his leadership and 2) that the prospect of a far-right power grab will mobilize the centrist electorate to vote for his party to prevent NR from obtaining an absolute majority in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament.
He is also believed to be hoping that, even if NR performs well and he has to appoint a member of the party as prime minister (with NR leader Jordan Bardella the likely candidate for such an eventuality, known as “cohabitation” in France), the party will fail to impress voters when it has a prominent role in French politics, and will fail in the presidential election in 2027.
Some of Macron’s critics and political commentators have been less than impressed by Macron’s decision and strategy, however, with some saying it makes Macron look arrogant — an accusation leveled at him by his critics in previous years — and like a man willing to roll the dice with the country’s future.
Left-leaning newspaper Liberation described the snap election call as an “extreme gamble,” while the center-right Le Figaro ran a brief headline Monday: “Le choc” (“shock”). It continued with an editorial in which the paper’s editor-in-chief Alexis Brézet said “the earthquake was expected, the aftershock seemed unthinkable.”
Brézet warned that Macron was “taking the risk of entrusting the reins of power … to the party whose progress he had promised to stem! This unprecedented decision is, for the country, a leap into the unknown, the consequences of which are incalculable.” He suggested that Macron had decided to call a snap election because he had been personally humiliated by the EU election result, saying that as a result “Macron has decided to go all in!”
Jérôme Fenoglio, the editorial director of the popular Le Monde newspaper, was also critical of the move, describing French citizens as “the stakes” in “the risky gamble of a desperate president.”
“The problem, above all, is that the player [Macron] has lost his lead. That happened well before the humiliation of the European election results, in which Macron’s Renaissance party got less than half as many votes as the far-right Rassemblement National … The campaign merely concentrated this mixture of arrogance and clumsiness, which disgusts many voters ready to turn to a protest vote,” Fenoglio wrote Monday.
He described the Élysée Palace’s “initial explanations … to justify this dissolution, a mixture of bluff and self-persuasion.” In the meantime, other commentators and newspapers, such as Les Echos, have characterized Macron’s move as a game of poker.
CNBC has contacted the Élysée Palace for a response to the comments and is awaiting a reply.
The adage goes that it takes years to build a good reputation and minutes to shatter it. Macron has been accused of elitism, obnoxiousness and arrogance during his presidency.
In 2017, an expensively suited Macron courted controversy by describing opponents of his labor reforms as “slackers” (it became a rallying cry for protestors) and being seen to be out of touch with voters’ concerns over immigration, housing and the cost of living. He has been accused frequently of being a defender of the wealthy and a “president of the rich,” an accusation that fueled the “yellow-vest” protests of 2018 and 2019. Macron’s supporters defend the president as a self-made and ambitious man who has a direct way of speaking to voters.
Whether it’s deserved or not, Macron’s reputation for arrogance has been hard to shake. Robert Ladrech, emeritus professor of European politics at Keele University, told CNBC Monday that Macron’s latest election call “could be seen as arrogant for two reasons — [both] personal and institutional.”
“First, he has interpreted the vote for the European Parliament as a personal insult, as a rejection of his domestic policy direction. His immigration policy had already ‘hardened’ recently, and he mentioned last year that perhaps a ‘pause’ in EU climate policy would be good. Both of these nods to the RN electorate appear to have had no impact, if indeed the vote was a referendum on him,” he noted.
“Second, a French president has before dissolved parliament only a couple of years into its mandate to call fresh elections, conservative [former] President Chirac in 1997, hoping to enlarge his majority. He blew it big, forced to ‘co-habit’ with a left-wing prime minister, Jospin. So, either way, it is a gamble on Macron’s part — arrogance if he thinks he can ‘win’, and arrogance if he thinks a win for the RN may take the wind out of its sails by the 2027 presidential election.”
Macron’s political opponents are less than impressed — apart, of course, from NR itself, which has been buoyed by its boost in the parliamentary elections and has welcomed the chance to increase its share of the vote. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said she was “stunned” by Macron’s decision.
“Like a lot of people I was stunned to hear the president decide to do a dissolution (of parliament),” she said of Macron’s surprise announcement Sunday, calling the decision to do it just weeks ahead of the Paris Olympic Games as “extremely unsettling.”
[ad_2]
[ad_1]
Man treated by a fire brigade ‘when he suffered serious burns following an explosion’, the prosecutor’s office says.
The French domestic intelligence agency has arrested a 26-year-old Russian-Ukrainian man on suspicion of planning a violent act after he injured himself in an explosion, France’s Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office has said.
The man was treated by a fire brigade on Monday “when he suffered serious burns following an explosion”, the prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday.
“Products and materials intended to manufacture explosive devices” have been found at his hotel room, it said.
France is on maximum threat alert with less than two months to go until the start of the Paris Olympics. The Games take place against a complex geopolitical backdrop, with wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and pose a major security challenge.
Last month, French security services foiled the first planned attack on the Games, with the arrest of an 18-year-old Chechen man allegedly preparing a suicide mission at Saint-Etienne’s soccer stadium.
This week France is hosting high-profile commemorations of the 80th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy. US President Joe Biden, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other leaders are expected to attend the main event on Thursday.
[ad_2]
[ad_1]
At the start of April, l’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) in France ANJ noted a series of responsible gambling improvements while advising vigilance ahead of the upcoming UEFA Euro 2024.
Now, as the highly-anticipated soccer tournament is just around the corner, the French National Gaming Authority has announced a brand new prevention campaign to address the risks of addiction connected to sports betting.
The campaign has been designed by the Rosbeef! agency and puts the focus on the legal notices in gambling advertisements.
To better convey the consequences of gambling addiction, the campaign will use a yellow banner and real-life addiction stories, as opposed to just relying on brief legal disclaimers that are not enough in most cases.
The campaign will direct individuals to the Evalujeu platform which will provide them with the necessary tools to evaluate their gambling habits and get the support and advice they need.
A digital display campaign will also be included in the same media plan for the campaign. The online campaign will feature social ads on Snapchat, videos showing player testimonials, along with a digital audio radio spot, and an event publication in So Foot.
ANJ’s president, Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, spoke about the “excesses of the Euro in 2021,” when operators became more aware “of their responsibilities in the fight against excessive gambling” and decided to adjust their practices.
The president added that this “positive dynamic” should carry on during the Euro and the Olympic Games while emphasizing the ANJ “will be vigilant on the actual practices of each.”
According to data from a survey, more than 50% of the French population will be watching the Euro soccer matches while more than one-third plan on also wagering.
This further proves that soccer is still the most popular sport for bettors in the country, accounting for 52% of all bets placed online.
In 2023 alone, the French people wagered over €4 billion ($4.35 billion).
Euro 2020 triggered €700 million ($761 million) in stakes. The 2022 World Cup gathered €900 million ($978 million) in stakes.
Euro 2024 could reach the €1 billion ($1.08 billion) mark in terms of betting amounts, especially if the national team does well.
Similarly, at the end of May, the Thai Health Promotion Foundation announced the launch of a series of campaigns meant to raise awareness of the dangers of betting during Euro 2024 that will take place between June 14 and July 14.
[ad_2]
Melanie Porter
Source link
[ad_1]
NORMANDY, France — Twenty-eight years ago, history teacher Steve Werle received a lesson of his own.
“There was a sheave of papers on my desk, this very sheave of papers right here,” Werle said.
The school’s principal had left him the story of Virgil Tangborn.
“He’s not going to be on the test. He’s not going to be on the AP exam,” Werle said.
But in many ways, Virgil’s journal is more important than any exam because it’s a reminder of just how precious and precarious life can be.
“It was a journal of his thoughts and feelings, kind of before Pearl Harbor and after,” Werle said. “When he realizes he is going to be caught up in this event.”
Werle has his students read it as part of their World War II studies at the Academy of Holy Angels.
“I might be back in a week. I might be back at the end of the decade. Nobody knows until I go to Fort Snelling,” Virgil wrote.
Virgil survived the Allied invasion, but just eight days after arriving in France, he was killed by Germans while trying to rescue a fellow soldier from a burning truck.
“It’s interesting. I get tears sometimes when I talk about this,” Werle said.
One of the last things Virgil wrote was that his dad believed he should go into educational work after the war. In a sense, Werle helped make that happen.
“And I always tell the kids that, in some ways, he did become a teacher. He taught me a lot about sacrifice, a lot about service and deferring your hopes and dreams for something much larger,” Werle said.
Like Werle, Wayne Hoff has a vested interest in Virgil’s legacy. Virgil was his mom’s brother — his uncle.
“She talked about him quite frequently,” Hoff said. “He was just very, very kind, tender-hearted. That’s the impression I got of him.”
It’s a big reason why Hoff has fought for decades to save the little school his uncle attended in Nary, Minnesota. He even secured grants to keep the building intact.
Had Virgil survived the war, Hoff believes he may have returned to Nary to teach at that very building.
“We should try and learn from history that war is never a good way to settle things. We should try to work for peace. I’m sure Virgil would want the same,” Hoff said.
WCCO
Nary isn’t the only small town that continues to honor Virgil. Across the Atlantic Ocean in Perrier, France, a monument was built with Virgil in mind.
Christian Levaufre’s father pushed for this memorial and it was finally built 20 years ago. Virgil is one of four soldiers highlighted for helping liberate Pierrer in 1944. It’s an act of bravery that’s still taught in nearby schools.
“We think that it — if not the most beautiful, it’s one of the most beautiful memorials dedicated to the soldiers,” Levaufre said.
And it’s not far from Virgil’s gravesite.
Virgil’s life was cut short by war, but his legacy lives on — in France, in Nary and in Werle’s classroom.
[ad_2]
John Lauritsen
Source link
[ad_1]
An environmental activist was arrested Saturday after she stuck a protest sign to a Monet painting at the famed Orsay Museum in Paris.
The activist with the group Food Riposte targeted Claude Monet’s “Poppy Field” painting, affixing a sticker that covered about half of the artwork with an apocalyptic, futuristic vision of the same scene, according to The Associated Press.
The group said it’s supposed to show what the field would look like in 2100, after it’s been “ravaged by flames and drought” if more action isn’t taken against climate change.
The museum, known in French as the Musée d’Orsay, is a top tourist destination and home to some of the world’s most-loved Impressionist work.
It was not immediately clear whether the incident damaged the 151-year-old painting. The museum did not respond to the Associated Press’ request for comment.
The woman was detained pending investigation, according to Paris police.
Food Riposte is one of several environmental activist groups that target famous artworks and stage protests across Europe in calls for action to the earth from further damage to the climate.
In January, two women with Food Riposte hurled soup at the glass protecting the “Mona Lisa” at the Louvre Museum in Paris and shouted slogans advocating for a sustainable food system.
Last month, at the British Library in London, an 82-year-old priest and an 85-year-old retired teacher were detained after they smashed the glass case containing an original copy of the Magna Carta. The pair of protesters from Just Stop Oil pounded on the case with a hammer and chisel.
Weeks later, six climate activists with the German-based group Last Generation, were arrested after they broke into the Munich airport and glued themselves to access routes leading to runways, officials said. It caused the airport to be temporarily closed and led to around 60 flight cancellations during a busy holiday weekend.
Last year, climate activists turned the water of Rome’s iconic Trevi Fountain black in protest of the fossil fuel industry. Activist group Ultima Generazione said that eight people poured “vegetable charcoal” in the water as demonstrators pushed for an “immediate stop” to fossil fuel subsidies.
[ad_2]
[ad_1]
BRITS have been warned of a plague of “Monster Ticks” invading holiday hotspots this summer.
The blood-sucking parasites which carry a deadly disease are feared to be making their way across Europe.
4
The large and aggressive ticks, known as Hyalomma lusitanicum, is originally found in tropical climates including Africa and southeast Asia.
In Europe, however, the species have kept a low profile for decades.
But in recent years, scientists say the dangerous mites have returned in force, carried by wild animals including rabbits.
According to studies, Hyalomma is particularly present across Spain, the Balearic Islands and southern Italy.
A 2022 investigation found that the ticks, which can transmit the deadly Crimean-Congo fever (CCHFV), were found in almost every part of Barcelona.
But this spring, they were found to have spread out to eight areas of the northeastern region of Catalonia.
However, it has also been found in the UK, Portugal, Sardinia, Malta and more recently spotted in Germany and Sweden as well as the northern parts of Italy.
This has concerned scientists as the tick species appears to be making a home out of colder climates.
This month, Polish health experts warned its citizens that the virus-carrying arachnids could soon reach its borders.
Warsaw scientists have now launched a special programme to try and map the approaching threat.
This parasite – unlike other typically known ticks – have been found to actively hunt for its prey.
Carlos Pradera, a specialist in pest control, said: “H. lusitanicum actively seek out their prey, running towards them once they detect their presence.”
He told La Vanguardia that its most distinguished characteristic is high mobility that allows it to wait for an animal or human to pass before leaping onto their skin.
If you do find a tick on yourself, experts recommend using tweezers to grab the tick by the head – never the body – and pull it out immediately.
It comes as Brits heading across the channel were warned of a deadly brain swelling bug that is spread to humans via tick bites.
Switzerland, a holiday hotspot favoured with the outdoorsy types, has reported 27 cases of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) this year.
Infection rates in the mountainous country increased over the past five years.
The ticks favour warmer weather, which also “encourages more people to spend time outdoors”, where they are more likely to get bitten, the experts said.
Most people who catch the virus will have no or only mild flu-like symptoms.
However, the disease can progress to affect the brain and central nervous system and can sometimes be fatal.
4
4
[ad_2]
Iona Cleave
Source link
[ad_1]
The French navy has seized 2.4 tons of cocaine from a Venezuelan fishing boat in the Atlantic, authorities said Monday.
Acting on a tip from the customs department, a helicopter from the surveillance frigate Ventose landed a team on the fishing boat about 1,500 kilometers northeast of the Caribbean island of Martinique, France’s Caribbean Armed Services department said.
The boat, the crew and the cocaine were handed over to Venezuelan authorities, the department said in a Facebook post.
The incident marked yet another large seizure of cocaine in the same waters this month. On May 2 and May 9, authorities said the Ventôse and the patrol vessel La Résolue seized 2,466 kilograms of cocaine in the Atlantic, off the coast of the Antilles. The French navy posted images of the seizure.
French Navy
The military department said it had now seized more than 12 tons of narcotics this year. The Caribbean is taking on growing importance in the trafficking of cocaine from South America to Europe and North America.
The 22.7 tons of cocaine intercepted in the region in 2022 was more than five times the figure of a decade earlier.
French Navy
International drug traffickers routinely use different kinds of boats to move narcotics. Earlier this month, Italian police announced the seizure of a remote-controlled submarine likely intended to transport drugs as part of an international drug trafficking network.
Much larger semi-submersibles, which cannot go fully underwater, are popular among international drug traffickers as they can often elude detection by authorities. The so-called “narco-subs” are sometimes seized in Colombian waters while heading to the United States, Central America and Europe.
Colombia produces about 60% of the cocaine found in the world.
[ad_2]
[ad_1]
It’s time for one of the most glamorous events of the year—the Cannes Film Festival. Every May, filmmakers, producers, directors, actors and other A-listers make their way to the French Riviera for 12 days of movie screenings, parties and, of course, plenty of glitzy red carpets and exciting fashion moments on La Croisette.
The Cannes Film Festival is surely one of the most exciting red carpets of the season; it’s a solid 12 days of fashionable celebrities bringing their sartorial best to the resort town in the South of France, and attendees never fail to go all out with their ensembles. The Cannes red carpet has already given the world some truly iconic fashion moments, from Princess Diana’s baby blue Catherine Walker gown and Jane Birkin’s sequins and wicker basket ensemble to Madonna’s Jean Paul Gaultier cone bra and Anne Hathaway’s white Armani Privé frock, and the 2024 iteration of the film festival is sure to add even more to the list.
The 77th annual Cannes Film Festival is already sure to be an especially star-filled extravaganza; Greta Gerwig is serving as the jury president for the main competition, and the three Honorary Palme d’Or awards will be given to Meryl Streep, Studio Ghibli and George Lucas. The star-studded film line-up of highly anticipated movies includes Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis (starring Adam Driver), Yorgos Lanthimos’ Kinds of Kindness (with Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons and Willem Dafoe), Paul Schrader’s Oh, Canada (with Richard Gere, Uma Thurman, Michael Imperioli and Jacob Elordi), Andrea Arnold’s Bird (with Barry Keoghan) and so many more.
The 2024 Cannes Film Festival runs from May 14 to May 25, and we’re keeping you updated on all the best red carpet moments throughout the entire spectacle. Below, see the best-dressed looks from the Cannes Film Festival red carpet.
in Dior
in Armani Privé
in Saint Laurent
in Louis Vuitton
in Saiid Kobeisy
in Gucci
in Elie Saab
[ad_2]
Morgan Halberg
Source link
[ad_1]
Taylor Swift fever struck Paris on Thursday as the highest-grossing tour in history finally arrived in Europe, with fans treated to the first-ever performance of songs from her latest album.
The Eras Tour began its European leg with four dates at the La Defense Arena in Paris.
“I wish I could have toured Europe more. This is a dream crowd,” the 34-year-old megastar told the ecstatic audience.
There were deafening shrieks as images of typewriter sheets indicated that songs off the new album “The Tortured Poets Department” were starting late in the show.
Emerging in a lyrics-covered dress, she ran through several of the darker new tracks starting with “But Daddy I Love Him” and “Fortnight”, a particularly furious rendition of “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” and an elaborate “I Can Do it with a Broken Heart,” with a golden-era Hollywood dance routine.
Other “The Tortured Poets Department” songs performed included “So High School,” “Down Bad” and “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,” according to ETonline.
Kevin Mazur/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management
“You were the first crowd to see songs from ‘The Tortured Poets Department’,” she said, before adding: “Or, as I like to call it, ‘Female Rage: the Musical.'”
That was a dream come true for many in the audience.
“I’ve been so excited for so long, I can’t believe it’s actually happening,” said 11-year-old Emma, who had flown in with her mother from New York.
Adding songs from “The Tortured Poets Department” wasn’t the only change to the show and its 45-song setlist.
Perhaps the biggest change, according to ETonline, is the “Folklore” and “Evermore” setlists were combined, cutting four songs across the two albums: “‘Tis the Damn Season,” “Tolerate It,” “The 1” and “The Last Great American Dynasty.”
“On the Eras Tour, we have now reunited the sisters, combined them into one chapter,” Swift said, according to video posted to social media. “You can call it “Folklore, Evermore” or you can call it the Sister Albums! You can call it whatever you want as long as you promise to sing ‘Champagne Problems’ with me.”
“The Archer” was removed from the “Lovers” portion of the show and “Long Live” was cut from the “Speak Now” era setlist, according to ETonline.
One of the secret songs was, fittingly, the “Midnights” bonus track “Paris.”
Parts of the show were also rearranged to make room for the newest era. The “Red” era was moved from the fifth to the third slot, according to ETonline, and the newest album was introduced following the “1989” set.
Kevin Mazur/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management
The venue said a fifth of the crowd were from the United States — many attracted by Europe’s rules against charging huge mark-ups on resale tickets that can save Americans thousands of dollars compared with shows at home.
Georg’Ann Daly decided to celebrate her 23rd birthday with the Paris show. It meant flying from Nashville to Chicago to London and catching the Eurostar to Paris.
“I’ve always been obsessed with Taylor Swift,” she told AFP.
A handful of superfans camped out from Tuesday in Paris to ensure they got a prime spot.
“I didn’t plan to, but I came to check it out and I saw the first tents and I panicked a little,” said Chris, 30.
Noah, 20, is seeing all four Paris concerts — he used 22 email addresses to get through the lottery system and secure the tickets.
MAGALI COHEN/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images
After wrapping up her run in Paris, Swift will head for dates in Sweden, Portugal, Spain, Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Poland and Austria.
The Eras Tour has worked its way across North and South America and Asia since starting in March 2023.
By the end of the year, it had already become the first to sell more than $1 billion in tickets and is on track to more than double that by the time it concludes in Vancouver this December.
Swift’s popularity shows no sign of dimming — the new album sold 1.4 million copies on its first day and broke every streaming record, reaching a billion streams on Spotify within five days.
Swift’s tell-all dissections of her love stories have been the fuel powering her global domination, and fans have been poring over “The Tortured Poets Department” for cryptic clues about ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn, her short-but-dramatic fling with Matty Healy (lead singer of The 1975), and her current partner, American football star Travis Kelce.
“Taylor talks about toxic relationships, impossible love, politics, mental health, and so much more,” said Chris as she waited by her tent for the big moment. “I think we can all find a song that resonates with our experiences.”
[ad_2]
[ad_1]
The country’s ongoing measures to foster a safe and sustainable gambling industry seem to be paying off, as operators recorded impressive growth
In a significant uptick for the French gambling industry, data released by the French National Gaming Authority (ANJ) reveals a record-breaking 2023, with gross gambling revenue (GGR) reaching €13.4 billion ($14.34 billion). This figure marks a 3.5% increase from the previous year, which had also smashed records. The growth in GGR spanned various sectors, with notable surges in both casinos and online gaming.
While France’s gambling market growth slightly trails behind the European average of 5.5%, operators with exclusive rights like Française des Jeux (FDJ) and PMU still dominate the industry, accounting for over half of the total business in 2023. FDJ alone boasts 27 million players and maintains impressive momentum, as its Q1 results revealed substantial growth.
Casinos also experienced a significant surge in performance, with a record GGR of €2.7 billion ($2.89 billion), marking an 8.1% increase from the previous year. Online gaming followed this trend, recording substantial growth as total GGR reached €2.3 billion ($2.46 billion), driven primarily by sports betting, poker, and horse betting. Sports betting, in particular, accounted for 63.3% of online GGR, reflecting a 6.4% uptick.
Despite these impressive financials, registered unique players dropped by 7.3%, while active accounts also fell by 3.9%. These figures could signal that the sector has reached an equilibrium, limiting future growth opportunities. Such a well-developed industry might also make it difficult for new companies to enter the sector, limiting competition.
President of the ANJ, Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, emphasized the need for vigilance amidst this growth, particularly in addressing concerns about excessive gambling. She highlighted the ANJ’s commitment to prioritizing the reduction of problematic gambling behaviors in the coming years. The regulator frequently reviews its harm prevention strategies, ensuring they remain consistent with industry trends.
With major sporting events like Euro 2024 soccer and the Paris Olympic Games on the horizon, operators must exercise heightened caution in preventing underage gambling and monitoring risky behaviors. The ANJ has demonstrated its willingness to take action against operators that do not match its strict standards, as it recently removed 179 entries from its list of sanctioned sportsbooks.
The healthy state of the market demonstrates that demanding regulation is not an obstacle to development.
Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, ANJ president
The robust performance across various segments of the gambling industry underscores the evolving gaming landscape in France. As the sector enters a new stage of its evolution, authorities remain committed to ensuring responsible gambling practices. The ANJ’s recent action against anti-consumer terms highlights its proactive stance, another sign of a healthy market.
[ad_2]
Mike Johnson
Source link
