Friday Morning Papers Summary
LA REPUBBLICA
-La Repubblica takes aim at the new Italian government for having failed to spend money for infrastructure in the wake of the flooding that has left 13 people dead so far in north-central Italy (the Emilia Romagna region). Repubblica claims that there are EUR 8.4B in the state coffers already dedicated to the mitigation of hydrogeological risks which could be used immediately to build or improve for embankments, reservoirs, lamination tanks, canalizations and anything else needed for the country's water basins, which have not been spent since 2018.
-Next Monday, Ireland will charge META Platforms for having failed to protect Facebook users, given that American privacy protection rules do not match those enforced in the EU. The fine could reach up to 4% of the turnover – and it’s expected to exceed the EUR 746M fine that the EU imposed on Amazon in 2011. The difficult negotiations between Washington and Brussels to find a new agreement over data continue, after the Court of Justice canceled the previous one. More specifically, the EU is concerned that the personal data of European Facebook users was transferred to the United States where the NSA, and possibly other intelligence services, had the possibility of accessing them. This is the motivation with which the Irish privacy authority, the country where the Facebook has its EU headquarters, will impose a record fine on Meta on Monday, which according to rumors collected by Bloomberg could exceed the 746 million euro imposed in 2011 from Luxembourg to Amazon.
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG
-Germany’s Economy Minister Habeck had announced the resignation of his State Secretary for Energy Patrick Graichen on Wednesday after he had not sufficiently separated private and professional matters in two verifiable cases. This also shakes the timetable for the controversial law on the replacement of oil and gas heating systems. The FDP is stepping on the brakes - on the grounds that Parliament has lost the central contact person for the topic in Economics Secretary Patrick Graichen. The SPD and the Greens, on the other hand, see no connection between the two issues. Federal Minister of Social Affairs Hubertus Heil (SPD) has spoken out against postponing the controversial law to replace oil and gas heating systems. "It is necessary to create clarity quickly….I am confident that we can find a good solution." He is in favor of solutions that are technically feasible and socially feasible. "Climate protection needs broad social acceptance and must not become a project only for the well-off." The SPD parliamentary group will make sure in the parliamentary process "that no one is overwhelmed".
-The generals in Myanmar are ostracized worldwide. But three states in particular supply them with weapons. The UN is particularly appalled by Singapore's role. Since taking power in February 2021, the junta has been accused of committing crimes against humanity in what was once the richest country in Southeast Asia. In many countries, the generals and many of their relatives' companies are ostracized, and most Western investors have withdrawn from the dictatorship. China, Russia, but also the rich city-state of Singapore , continue to sell the junta weapons and preliminary products for weapons production, each worth hundreds of millions. Singapore's role in particular is a wake-up call - because the federation of ten Southeast Asian countries (ASEAN), in which Singapore plays a leading role, is trying to find a peaceful solution to the Myanmar conflict under pressure from the democracies of Indonesia and Malaysia. Singapore, with its bargaining power, could play an active role in this. According to the UN report, however, companies and banks in the city-state are making good money from the rogue regime's rearmament.
IL SOLE 24 ORE
-Almost all manufacturing companies in the Emilia Romagna region (and note this is the region of Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Ducati, Prosciutto di Parma, Parmigiano Reggiano among others) affected by flooding have been shut down, and many will continue to remain closed today, pending new provisions. Even those who have been spared still have to deal with serious logistics problems, adds Bozzi, which not only prevent employees from reaching their workplaces, but also affect supplies and deliveries. «Everything is still – says the president -. In the next few days we will understand the damage, in the meantime we try to help each other: the first thing to do is to make people safe".
-What happens if the United States fails to reach an agreement on the debt ceiling and therefore, technically, the largest economy in the world defaults? In this eventuality, described by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen as "an economic catastrophe," which asset classes should you include in your portfolio? To this question - the subject of a survey conducted by Bloomberg on both a panel of professional and retail investors - the majority put gold in first place.
-Amazon will invest $13B to expand its cloud business in India by 2030. Jeff Bezos's giant, who had already invested $3.7B in infrastructure in India in recent months for AWS, this new allocation will support 131,700 full-time jobs in roles such as engineering, telecommunications, and construction. India, it should be remembered, is the second largest online market in the world, and has been dealing with a veritable explosion of the cloud market in recent years. This is why Amazon, the global leader in the sector, cannot fall behind its competitors (Microsoft and Google among others) who have already invested in the Asian country.
LES ECHOS
-This is a sign that says a lot about the change in budgetary times for the French state. As at the time of the sovereign debt crisis a little over ten years ago, the government once again has its eyes riveted on the timetable for the publication of the ratings of the rating agencies. The ministry of finance is anxiously awaiting June 2 when Standard and Poor's (S & P's) will issue its judgment on the French debt. Fitch issued the first verdict at the end of April, downgrading the rating. But it will be difficult to hide if S & P's - with a higher weight in the hierarchy of rating agencies, like Moody's - raises its voice in turn.
-By raising its key rates seven times since last July to curb soaring inflation in the euro zone, the European Central Bank (ECB) has put an end to a long cycle of easy money. However, so far, the consequences for the French economy have been quite limited. “It takes between one and two years for the monetary tightening to produce its effects. Some not always negative effects are already visible: “The ECB's policy has led to an appreciation of the euro against the dollar. This lowers the price of imports,” observes Marc Brütsch, chief economist at Swiss Life Asset Managers.
-If Germany made an impression by returning, after the fact, to the compromise reached in Brussels concerning the end of the sale of combustion engines, France is now taking the same path, blocking the directive providing for the development of renewable energies. This text is one of the pillars of the famous European Green Deal. Its flagship measure significantly raises the target for the deployment of renewable energies to bring it to 42.5% of total energy consumption in Europe by 2030, i.e. almost double the current level (22%). At the heart of the debates is nuclear power, which France promotes, and in particular the methods of producing carbon-free hydrogen for industry.
HANDELSBLATT
-Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wants to personally attend the G7 summit in Hiroshima, the Ukrainian government confirmed on Friday. He is expected at the meeting on Sunday, an EU insider confirmed to the Reuters news agency on Friday. Other media had previously reported that Zelensky not only wanted to participate with a video message, but also wanted to travel there himself. Actually, the heads of state and government wanted to deal with the Ukraine war on Friday afternoon and promise the country further help in the defense against Russia. Even before his visit to Berlin last Sunday, there had been speculation for a long time as to whether Zelensky would come or not. In the end he had visited Rome, Berlin, Aachen, Paris and London. Because there have been repeated death threats against Zelensky, very high security precautions apply when the Ukrainian president travels abroad.
-According to EU Council President Charles Michel, the possible delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine will be an issue at the G7 summit of the leading western industrial nations in Japan this Friday. They are closely coordinated to pursue a common approach to military support, the Belgian said in a press conference in the morning (local time). This Friday there will be an opportunity to discuss the issue with US President Joe Biden and the other summit participants and to jointly examine what additional support is needed. "It is very clear that Ukraine needs more military equipment," he said.
ABC
-Research on organoids has advanced to the point that brains are being ‘grown’ in the lab. Actually, mini-brains, a controversial term that, while making surprising headlines, creates a stir among scientists, who are still debating what to call them. Simply explained: these are groups of cells that grow in a petri dish; they clump together, and end up functioning in a similar way to processes that occur inside our heads. At the moment, they are not complete brains; but they serve as simplified and miniature models (they measure just a few millimeters, looking similar to a grain of rice) with which to experiment, and with which achievements ranging from mini-brains to which they have grown 'eyes' have already been achieved.
-Digi Mobil arrived in Spain in 2008 and according to its latest data, at the end of 2022 it had 4.9M customers. The Romanian telecom operator has expanded in the last two years and has increased by thousands of mobile users every month. The company, which boasts 5.3M at the end of the first quarter, has already placed itself in second place among telephone companies, followed by Orange-MásMóvil with 3.9 million. It belongs to the multinational RCS & RDS, offers telephone and internet services on mobile phones, as well as fixed and fiber telephony services.