Latest news with #Asterix
France 24
15-05-2025
- Business
- France 24
Germany's Commerzbank staff protest UniCredit takeover threat
About 200 staff staged the demonstration outside the annual shareholders' meeting of Commerzbank in the German city of Wiesbaden, as the lender fights back against advances from its Italian peer. UniCredit has built up a hefty stake in Commerzbank since last year, sparking speculation it could seek to swallow up Germany's second-biggest lender, in a move that shocked Berlin's corporate and political elite. "We want to stay independent because we think it's better for us," said Christine Pfeiffenberger, 52, a bank employee who held a banner with the slogan "my heart beats in yellow" written in Italian. Another demonstrator, Denis Krutikov, 50, said shareholders "need to ask themselves if it is a good idea to merge with UniCredit whilst workers are against the idea". One protester, inspired by the Asterix comic series, was dressed as a Gallic warrior and held a sign showing someone being flattened by a menhir, the giant sculpted rocks that Asterix's companion Obelix carries around. Commerzbank has fought back fiercely against UniCredit's moves, and chief executive Bettina Orlopp told shareholders at Thursday's meeting that the group aimed to become a "key" European bank. Job cuts, share buybacks The bank last week reported its best quarterly profit since 2011 and has also announced thousands of job cuts and share buybacks in a bid to make itself more attractive to shareholders. The saga began in September when Italy's second-biggest lender revealed its had built up a stake in its German rival, triggering talk that CEO Andrea Orcel wanted to push for an ambitious pan-European banking merger. UniCredit has since boosted its holding via shares and derivatives to around 28 percent. It has also received the green light from regulators to buy up to 29.99 percent of Commerzbank, just below the level at which it would be required by law to make an offer for all of the bank. Financial news agency Bloomberg reported Wednesday that Orcel had written to new German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in a bid to start talks. But Merz has previously spoken out against UniCredit's moves. And Orcel has played down the prospect of mounting a takeover bid for Commerzbank soon, saying in March that he could wait until 2027 to determine whether it made sense. Commerzbank's shares have risen 60 percent since the start of the year, making any takeover more expensive, and might soon exceed the price the German government paid for its stake in 2008 during the financial crisis.
Int'l Business Times
15-05-2025
- Business
- Int'l Business Times
Germany's Commerzbank Staff Protest UniCredit Takeover Threat
Dressed as a Gallic warrior fighting Roman invaders or wearing the yellow of the Commerzbank logo, employees from the German lender protested Thursday against any takeover attempt by Italy's UniCredit. About 200 staff staged the demonstration outside the annual shareholders' meeting of Commerzbank in the German city of Wiesbaden, as the lender fights back against advances from its Italian peer. UniCredit has built up a hefty stake in Commerzbank since last year, sparking speculation it could seek to swallow up Germany's second-biggest lender, in a move that shocked Berlin's corporate and political elite. "We want to stay independent because we think it's better for us," said Christine Pfeiffenberger, 52, a bank employee who held a banner with the slogan "my heart beats in yellow" written in Italian. Another demonstrator, Denis Krutikov, 50, said shareholders "need to ask themselves if it is a good idea to merge with UniCredit whilst workers are against the idea". One protester, inspired by the Asterix comic series, was dressed as a Gallic warrior and held a sign showing someone being flattened by a menhir, the giant sculpted rocks that Asterix's companion Obelix carries around. Commerzbank has fought back fiercely against UniCredit's moves, and chief executive Bettina Orlopp told shareholders at Thursday's meeting that the group aimed to become a "key" European bank. The bank last week reported its best quarterly profit since 2011 and has also announced thousands of job cuts and share buybacks in a bid to make itself more attractive to shareholders. The saga began in September when Italy's second-biggest lender revealed its had built up a stake in its German rival, triggering talk that CEO Andrea Orcel wanted to push for an ambitious pan-European banking merger. UniCredit has since boosted its holding via shares and derivatives to around 28 percent. It has also received the green light from regulators to buy up to 29.99 percent of Commerzbank, just below the level at which it would be required by law to make an offer for all of the bank. Financial news agency Bloomberg reported Wednesday that Orcel had written to new German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in a bid to start talks. But Merz has previously spoken out against UniCredit's moves. And Orcel has played down the prospect of mounting a takeover bid for Commerzbank soon, saying in March that he could wait until 2027 to determine whether it made sense. Commerzbank's shares have risen 60 percent since the start of the year, making any takeover more expensive, and might soon exceed the price the German government paid for its stake in 2008 during the financial crisis. About 200 people protested outside the bank's annual general meeting in Wiesbaden, western Germany AFP Commerzbank has come under pressure as UniCredit under CEO Andrea Orcel has steadily built up a stake in the Frankfurt-based firm AFP
New Statesman
14-05-2025
- Politics
- New Statesman
Starmer can rewrite the history of Brexit
Photo by Benjamin Cremel/AFP It is time, at long last, to cancel that sly political elision 'Europe' instead of 'European Union'. It's time to forget the shorthand, so lazy, which takes the name of a varied land mass of our neighbours and applies it unthinkingly to the political project run from Brussels. Why? Because the confusion has driven us dotty. We have never left real Europe and can't, any more than we can arrange a political exit from the planet. On Monday 19 May, Keir Starmer can begin to bring this nonsense to an end. We are making a historic turn, a proper handshake, with Europe; yet not with the EU, its grey and ponderous political blender. I'm a child of the postwar period, for whom Europe was a vision of a better future, tantalising long before I ever first made it to the continent as a tousled 18-year-old. America was big cars, burgers, westerns, rock. But Europe was smouldering cinema, sexy songs and mouthwatering food. Europe was people like we Scots but eating better, living in better-looking towns and with better weather. Yes, America was Marvel. But Europe was Asterix. There were always other Europes available, of course – football Europe, warmongering Europe, impoverished Europe. My idea of it, I fully admit, was limited – uproariously bourgeois; trivial; sensual. Yet I think it was not uncommon. It helps anatomise the pain of many so-called 'Remoaners', the defeated Cavaliers, after the Brexit referendum. There had been always those who went the whole hog and lived the life of snobby expatriates in the Dordogne, Andalusia or Tuscany – the clay-coloured, linen-wrapped Peter Mayle people. But far beyond those, for many normal middle-class British people , Europe was just a thoroughly nice place to be next to. We shared their values. So we memorised their verbs. From this perspective, 'leaving' was simply insane. Giving up the free and easy travel? Giving up the friendly German, Dutch or Belgian students and au pairs? The trade? Why? Because some dreary Brussels officials were making rules we barely notice? Because we're supposed to love Westminster so much? You're having us on, you… you… working-class people – aren't you? And personally, I have always suspected one of the reasons so many unheard working-class people voted for Brexit was precisely that they intuited how much their heedless oppressors loved all things European – they voted to steal the treat-shop from those who barely acknowledged their existence. Now, one day, surely, history will judge the EU, the project of trying to obliterate national differences and create a centralised American-style superpower by twisting the screws of regulatory adjustments and commercial decrees, as noble – but politically insane. For us, there is no going back to that. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe Meanwhile, this warm spring, three things mean we must think afresh about the living continent of Europe: Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and our stuttering economy. In my youth, we were pulled towards Europe by shared values and appetites. Today, it's by shared fear. The job of the coming week is to ensure solidarity without merger – to get us back into a strong security and social relationship with our neighbours, without becoming entangled in the disruptive and disheartening mechanisms of the union itself. A year or two ago, informed people thought that impossible. But the invasion of Ukraine and the behaviour of President Trump in office has changed everything. So the summit in Whitehall ought, unless something goes wrong, to give British industry access to a €150bn defence procurement fund; to strike an agreement on food and animal products that will allow much easier trade in both directions; to introduce a capped youth mobility scheme; and to roll forward the previous deal on fishing rights that would, in any case, have had to be renegotiated next year. It opens the way to a deal on energy that would integrate British and European power systems – so that, for instance, a floating offshore windfarm could be used by continental grids and British ones depending on the fluctuations of demand. The deal is not quite done yet. Things could go wrong. The French defence industry would like to keep British manufacturers at arm's length if possible. And when the wind is in a certain direction, France can be just as mulishly protectionist as Trump's America, if not more so. There is plenty, too, to annoy the ideological right. Fresh from opposing an Indian trade deal that will bring some growth and a US one that should save the British car and steel industries, Conservative and Reform-backing politicians and papers will home in on the youth mobility scheme and the (very limited) role of the European Court in overseeing agricultural standards to cry 'betrayal'. We will have to wait to judge the political impact. The British public understands the Putin threat and the unreliability of the US as a long-term partner. They are aware of our profound growth problem: which is why agreements over oil within a market worth £800bn a year, as compared to trade with the US worth £300bn – first rule of trade, proximity matters – should be easy to sell by a self-confident government. But here lies the most important part of the politics. Month after dispiriting month, this Labour government has seemed essentially reactive, whacked by the markets, the Trump revolution, angry voters and growing internal dissent. Too often, it can come across as dazed. Here, at long last, it can own a big move, act rather than react. 'This is the moment for the front foot, to really push what the national interest is,' says an insider. Or, in other words, to pick a fight. The Prime Minister needs to be up for that. If he is prepared to aggressively sell this turn towards Europe – the preferred phrase is 'New Partnership' – as something essential for our security, an act of statecraft both strategic and timely, voters will listen. If he comes out swinging, he can change the weather. This could be the most important moment of his premiership yet. If details have been worked on by the relevant cabinet minister, Nick Thomas-Symonds, for many months. Government insiders are clear that, as the cross-channel relationship broadens and deepens, there is much more to achieve in helping trade in goods and mutual recognition of professional qualifications. In terms of domestic politics, this may help Labour defend its other flank against the Liberal Democrats. From now on there will be annual summits. A more effective European-wide defence industry, a more integrated energy supply system and a friendlier approach to trade with the UK gives the real Europe, extending outside the EU, more resilience and more security. It doesn't put everybody under one roof. But it helps turn geographical neighbours into good neighbours. And that, faced with the military menace from the east, and the unpredictable trade belligerence from across the Atlantic, is a new deal not just worthwhile, but essential. Europe is us. Labour can't avoid a fight, but if it's going to fight, it might as well be something worth fighting for. Whether you voted for or against Brexit, it's obvious that this period has to end with a more supportive and friendlier mood than during the previous frantic, hysterical, pointlessly brittle nine years. Enough of the exhaustion. Enough of the doublespeak. The Brexiteers always told us we'd have a good, grown-up relationship with the EU after it was all over. Well, in part thanks to the White House and in part thanks to the Kremlin, those two ugly stepsisters of today's European folk tale, that moment has finally arrived. [See also: The dangerous relationship] Related
Local France
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Local France
French Phrase of the Day: Quarante-neuf trois
Why do I need to know quarante-neuf trois? Because you might hear this string of numbers shouted about when walking through a French protest. What does it mean? Quarante-neuf trois - roughly pronounced kah-rahnt nuff twah - may seem like three random numbers put together, but this phrase has a specific meaning in France. When written, le quarante-neuf trois looks like '49.3', but when spoken people tend to omit the 'point' part. It is a reference to an article in the French constitution which gives the French prime minister the power to pass a bill without parliamentary support. Article 49.3 states that 'the French Prime Minister can, upon discussing with the conseil des ministres (the cabinet) unilaterally pass any bill relating to financial or social security issues without consulting parliament". If a bill is pushed through in this manner, then only a motion de censure (motion of no confidence) signed by at least 10 percent of members (58 MPs) filed within 24 hours can prevent it from being adopted. As such, the use of Article 49.3 is often controversial, as it implies that the piece of legislation lacks broad enough support to be voted on in the traditional way. For example, it was used to push through the first part of pension reform in 2019, much to the chagrin of the political opposition. If you go to protests against the ruling party or president in France, you'll see signs decrying 49.3 as a denial of democracy. However, as a tool, it has been used by people from both sides of the political spectrum when attempting to push forward their agenda. Most French people can't recite chapter and verse of the constitution, but '49.3' is so well known and commonly referenced that it's even used as a joke in the new Asterix cartoon series. Advertisement Use it like this Le quarante-neuf trois fait toujours débat en France. Je pense que le gouvernement devrait l'utiliser avec modération. - Article 49.3 always causes a debate in France. I think the government should use it sparingly. S'il utilise le quarante-neuf trois, je suis sûr que cela déclenchera une motion de censure. - If he uses Article 49.3 [to pass the bill], I'm sure it will trigger a vote of no confidence. Not to be confused with Le neuf trois - if you hear people talking about 'the nine three', that is a geographical or sometimes cultural reference, referring to the Seine-Saint-Denis département on the outskirts of Paris. All French départements have two-digit numerical designations, but Seine-Saint-Denis is an exception to how they are spoken .
Muscat Daily
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Muscat Daily
So many books, so little time
Muscat – Reading maketh a full man, but reading habits are fast fading with time and distractions from technology. Though Muscat International Book Fair is rekindling an interest in reading, how can we further encourage young minds to embrace books over screens? Here is what Muscat Daily readers said – Aisha al Balushi, Homemaker Muscat International Book Fair has reignited an interest in books, but to encourage young minds further, we must create vibrant reading corners in schools, host storytelling sessions and introduce reading challenges that reward participation. Making books fun and accessible can help divert attention away from screens. Khalfan al Amri, Private sector employee The book fair reminds us that knowledge comes best through reading. To engage young minds, schools could invite authors, organise interactive reading workshops and promote creative writing competitions. Mariam al Farsi, Bank employee Muscat International Book Fair brings stories alive, but to sustain it, we should integrate reading into everyday life. Family reading time, a culture of gifting books and community reading events can make books more appealing than screens. It's about creating emotional connections with stories from a young age. Saif al Amri, Businessman Children need to see reading as a source of excitement, not obligation. The book fair helps, but parents and teachers must continue the effort. Regular library visits, book clubs and even author meet-ups can inspire them to explore new worlds through books instead of spending hours on devices and TV games. Priya Verma, Painter and homemaker The book fair is a celebration of imagination. To further its impact, we can encourage children with fun book review activities and family reading challenges. We can start with comics like Tintin and Asterix. When children find books they connect with, they'll prefer the joy of reading over the temporary thrill of a screen. Arjun Kapoor, Private sector employee Muscat International Book Fair rekindles curiosity. It is difficult to disregard and abandon devices totally in the present era. To keep alive the habit of reading, combining technology with books – like interactive e-books and reading apps – could help bridge the gap. Alnisa Vikinga, Private sector employee Parents need to sit down with their children and read for them or let children read for their parents from a book. When you engage kids in reading, kids do more than just absorb information; you offer a rich tapestry of ideas, narratives and perspectives to sift through. Every word or sentence acts as a key, unlocking doors to new thoughts, solutions and inspirations. The more they read, the more they will know.
