NEWSLETTER
Thursday / September 29Sep 29
Thursday / April 21
French elections
French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday accused his right-wing rival Marine Le Pen of being in thrall to Russian President Vladimir Putin over a years-old Russian bank loan to her party during a TV debate ahead of Sunday's election.
He also charged Le Pen with harbouring an undiminished desire to pull France out of the European Union (EU), she struck back with a pledge to put money back in the pockets of millions of French made poorer during Macron's five-year presidency.
The debate - their only one - was full with appeals of "don't interrupt me" and accusations the other was not up to the job of leading France, a veto-wielding U.N. Security Council member and Europe's second-largest economy.
For Le Pen, who lags Macron in voter surveys by as much as 56-44, the debate was a chance to persuade voters she has the stature to be president and that they should not fear seeing the far-right in power.
Macron's strongest lines of attack were on a loan to her party for its 2017 campaign contracted through a Russian bank.
"You depend on the Russian power, you depend on Mr. Putin. A lot of your choices can be explained by this dependence," he said in an attack on Le Pen's policy positions which he said still included a "project which dare not speak its name," to withdraw France from the 27-member EU.
Le Pen, who has toned down her once staunchly anti-EU rhetoric as part of a bid to broaden her electoral appeal, dismissed both the charge of wanting to leave the EU and of being compromised politically by the Russian bank loan.
"I am a completely free and independent woman," she said.
Russia's missile test
Russia said on Wednesday it had conducted a first test launch of its Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, a new and long-awaited addition to its nuclear arsenal which President Vladimir Putin said would make Moscow's enemies stop and think.
Putin was shown on television being told by the military that the missile had been launched from Plesetsk in the country's northwest and hit targets in the Kamchatka peninsula in the far east.
The Sarmat has been under development for years and so its test-launch is not a surprise for the West. Pentagon said Russia informed the US ahead of the launch.
"This truly unique weapon will strengthen the combat potential of our armed forces, reliably ensure Russia's security from external threats and provide food for thought for those who, in the heat of frenzied aggressive rhetoric, try to threaten our country," Putin said.
Russia's nuclear forces will start taking delivery of the new missile "in the autumn of this year" once testing is complete, Tass quoted Dmitry Rogozin, head of the Roscosmos space agency, as saying on Wednesday.
Germany's energy question
Germany will stop importing oil from Russia by the end of this year, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said after a meeting with her Baltic counterparts Wednesday.
Germany, along with the rest of the European Union, has faced mounting pressure to reduce its dependence on Russian oil and gas amid Russia's war in Ukraine.
"I say here clearly and unequivocally yes, Germany is also completely phasing out Russian energy imports," Baerbock said.
"We will halve oil by the summer and will be at 0 by the end of the year, and then gas will follow, in a joint European roadmap, because our joint exit, the complete exit of the European Union, is our common strength," she added.
Tesla earnings
Tesla just reported first-quarter earnings for 2022 and beat analysts’ expectations on the top and bottom lines.
Earnings per share: $3.22 vs $2.26 expected
Revenue: $18.76 billion vs $17.80 billion expected
Automotive revenue reached $16.86 billion, up 87% from the same period last year. Automotive gross margins jumped to a record 32.9% with Tesla reporting gross profit of $5.54 billion in its main segment.
US stocks
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.71% closed with a gain of 249.49 points, up 0.7%, at 35,160.79, after rising 404 points at its session high.
The S&P 500 SPX, -0.06% fell 2.76 points, or 0.1%, to end at 4,459.45.
The Nasdaq Composite, -1.22% dropped 166.59 points, or 1.2%, finishing at 13,453.07.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday accused his right-wing rival Marine Le Pen of being in thrall to Russian President Vladimir Putin over a years-old Russian bank loan to her party during a TV debate ahead of Sunday's election.
He also charged Le Pen with harbouring an undiminished desire to pull France out of the European Union (EU), she struck back with a pledge to put money back in the pockets of millions of French made poorer during Macron's five-year presidency.
The debate - their only one - was full with appeals of "don't interrupt me" and accusations the other was not up to the job of leading France, a veto-wielding U.N. Security Council member and Europe's second-largest economy.
For Le Pen, who lags Macron in voter surveys by as much as 56-44, the debate was a chance to persuade voters she has the stature to be president and that they should not fear seeing the far-right in power.
Macron's strongest lines of attack were on a loan to her party for its 2017 campaign contracted through a Russian bank.
"You depend on the Russian power, you depend on Mr. Putin. A lot of your choices can be explained by this dependence," he said in an attack on Le Pen's policy positions which he said still included a "project which dare not speak its name," to withdraw France from the 27-member EU.
Le Pen, who has toned down her once staunchly anti-EU rhetoric as part of a bid to broaden her electoral appeal, dismissed both the charge of wanting to leave the EU and of being compromised politically by the Russian bank loan.
"I am a completely free and independent woman," she said.
Russia's missile test
Russia said on Wednesday it had conducted a first test launch of its Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, a new and long-awaited addition to its nuclear arsenal which President Vladimir Putin said would make Moscow's enemies stop and think.
Putin was shown on television being told by the military that the missile had been launched from Plesetsk in the country's northwest and hit targets in the Kamchatka peninsula in the far east.
The Sarmat has been under development for years and so its test-launch is not a surprise for the West. Pentagon said Russia informed the US ahead of the launch.
"This truly unique weapon will strengthen the combat potential of our armed forces, reliably ensure Russia's security from external threats and provide food for thought for those who, in the heat of frenzied aggressive rhetoric, try to threaten our country," Putin said.
Russia's nuclear forces will start taking delivery of the new missile "in the autumn of this year" once testing is complete, Tass quoted Dmitry Rogozin, head of the Roscosmos space agency, as saying on Wednesday.
Germany's energy question
Germany will stop importing oil from Russia by the end of this year, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said after a meeting with her Baltic counterparts Wednesday.
Germany, along with the rest of the European Union, has faced mounting pressure to reduce its dependence on Russian oil and gas amid Russia's war in Ukraine.
"I say here clearly and unequivocally yes, Germany is also completely phasing out Russian energy imports," Baerbock said.
"We will halve oil by the summer and will be at 0 by the end of the year, and then gas will follow, in a joint European roadmap, because our joint exit, the complete exit of the European Union, is our common strength," she added.
Tesla earnings
Tesla just reported first-quarter earnings for 2022 and beat analysts’ expectations on the top and bottom lines.
Earnings per share: $3.22 vs $2.26 expected
Revenue: $18.76 billion vs $17.80 billion expected
Automotive revenue reached $16.86 billion, up 87% from the same period last year. Automotive gross margins jumped to a record 32.9% with Tesla reporting gross profit of $5.54 billion in its main segment.
US stocks
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.71% closed with a gain of 249.49 points, up 0.7%, at 35,160.79, after rising 404 points at its session high.
The S&P 500 SPX, -0.06% fell 2.76 points, or 0.1%, to end at 4,459.45.
The Nasdaq Composite, -1.22% dropped 166.59 points, or 1.2%, finishing at 13,453.07.
