EU says Apple Store violates competition rules

Wars in Gaza and Ukraine, business life, the stock market… All the news from this Monday, June 24 can be followed here.

Legislative

Candidatures, declarations… final stretch before the first round of the next legislative elections for the elected deputies.

> The main information for this Monday

10:01 a.m. – New Caledonia: the CCAT demands “the release and immediate return” of independence activists transferred to mainland France

The Field Action Coordination Unit (CCAT), accused by the authorities of being at the origin of the uprising against electoral reform in New Caledonia, demands “the release and immediate return” of its activists sent to mainland France on Sunday to be incarcerated there. “We demand the release and immediate return of the brothers and sisters to be judged on their land,” the CCAT said in a statement. She denounces France’s “colonial tactics” after the arrest and transfer of these separatists, including CCAT spokesperson Christian Tein.

09:51 – The EU considers that Apple’s application store violates its competition rules

The European Commission has opened the way for heavy financial sanctions against Apple. It believes that its App Store did not comply with EU competition rules. “The App Store rules violate the Digital Markets Regulation (DMA) because they prevent application developers from directing consumers to alternative distribution channels for offers and content,” said Brussels, in a “preliminary opinion” sent to the American giant.

09:36 – Eurofins Scientific falls by more than 15% on the Paris Stock Exchange

After a press release from the fund specializing in short selling Muddy Waters criticizing Eurofins Scientific, the shares of the pharmaceutical product analysis company fell 15.05% to 44.80 euros at the opening of the Paris Stock Exchange . Its trading was suspended around 9:30 a.m.

“The confusion” and “the contradictions inherent in its finances and its operations” make the company “optimized for embezzlement,” wrote Muddy Waters in a press release made public just after the opening of the Paris Stock Exchange.

9:10 a.m. – European stock exchanges dispersed at the opening

In a week where the news will heat up until the publication of inflation data on Friday, then the French legislative elections on Sunday, the European stock markets opened slightly higher, with the exception of London. Paris advanced by 0.07%, Milan by 0.17%, Frankfurt by 0.23%, but London fell by 0.23%. All these indices had progressed last week, but without making up for their losses from mid-June.

8:58 a.m. – India: Parliament opens after an electoral setback for Modi

Indian MPs began taking oaths today at the opening session of the newly elected Parliament after an electoral setback that forced Prime Minister Narendra Modi to form a coalition government for the first time in a decade. The first session, scheduled until July 3, is expected to provide an overview of Modi’s plans for his third term and see the likely appointment of Rahul Gandhi as opposition leader, a position vacant since 2014.

8:49 a.m. – Safran in discussions to acquire AI solutions specialist Preligens

Aeronautical equipment manufacturer Safran has announced that it is in exclusive discussions with a view to acquiring Preligens, a specialist in artificial intelligence solutions for aerospace and defense, for an enterprise value estimated at 220 million euros. “With multiple applications, this contribution would represent a major step for the development of our activities in defense and space, and would also allow us to deploy digital inspection methods to strengthen the quality and safety of flights,” said Olivier Andriès, CEO of Safran, in a press release. The transaction is expected to be finalized in the third quarter of 2024.

8:41 a.m. – Malaysia: more than half of the coral reef affected by an episode of bleaching

More than half of Malaysia’s coral reef is experiencing bleaching due to global warming, local authorities have announced. The data is the result of a study conducted between April and June, the Malaysian Ministry of Fisheries said in a statement yesterday. “If bleaching is greater than 80%, further response measures may include temporary access restrictions to protect affected reefs,” he warned.

8:26 a.m. – ByteDance and Broadcom in talks to develop chip for AI

American chip designer Broadcom and TiKTok’s parent company, ByteDance, have discussed creating a specialized 5-nanometer chip, reports Bloomberg. No agreement has yet been reached between the two companies, and Broadcom is already supplying an AI processor (7nm, previous generation) for ByteDance’s data centers, the agency says. This chip would comply with US trade restrictions towards China.

7:52 a.m. – AI: Meta launches a program for European start-ups in France

Meta announced the launch in France of a new program dedicated to open source artificial intelligence for European start-ups, which are struggling to remain competitive. “We have a real problem in Europe, we are being overtaken at full speed by the United States and China,” Nick Clegg, former British deputy prime minister and responsible for affairs, told AFP. international Meta. Launched in partnership with Scaleway, Iliad’s cloud subsidiary and the French gem Hugging Face, a collaborative platform for artificial intelligence models, this new program will support five European start-ups from September 2024 to February 2025.

7:39 a.m. – New Caledonia facing renewed tensions

Several buildings, including a municipal police station and a town hall, were set on fire during the night, marked by numerous clashes between separatists and the police in Greater Nouméa, leaving one injured, in a resurgence of violence after six weeks of tensions . “The night was agitated and marked by unrest throughout the mainland, on the island of Pins and Maré, requiring the intervention of numerous reinforcements: attacks by the police, arson and dams”, indicates in a press release the High Commission, representative of the French State in New Caledonia.

In Dumbéa, north of Nouméa, the municipal police premises burned as well as a garage. Four armored vehicles, including one of the latest generation – a Centaur – intervened, noted an AFP journalist. This morning, many schools are closed due to renewed violence and the expressway leading to the hospital is blocked on both sides, at the Apogoti Scholars Bridge.

7:24 a.m. – Beijing “has no right to punish” the Taiwanese, says President Lai

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said today that China has “no right to punish” the Taiwanese, after Beijing included the death penalty in new criminal sanctions targeting suspected Taiwanese secessionists on Friday. . China considers this island, governed autonomously, to be part of its territory and says it is ready to reconquer it by force if necessary. On Friday, Beijing released new judicial guidelines providing for the death penalty for “particularly serious” cases targeting “die-hard” supporters of Taiwan independence, state media reported.

7:20 a.m. – The Indonesian economy towards “stable” growth

Indonesia’s economy is expected to grow at a steady rate over the next two years, supported by domestic consumption and investment despite weak exports, the World Bank said. GDP would grow overall by 5% this year and reach +5.1% in 2025 and 2026, according to the international institution.

7:15 a.m. – Bac: place for the Grand oral, against the backdrop of calls for a strike by SES teachers

After the written, it’s time for the Grand Oral starting this morning for general and technological baccalaureate graduates. The meeting is likely to be disrupted by a strike by economic and social sciences (SES) teachers, who believe they did not have the means to properly prepare their students.

After the philosophy and specialty tests last week, the more than 540,000 high school students in the general or technological finals are taking the oral test until July 3. The results of the baccalaureate, essential for access to higher education, will be published on July 8.

7:09 a.m. – Hundreds of Canadians evacuated due to forest fires

Hundreds of people, including 225 inmates from a high-security prison, have been evacuated due to forest fires in Canada, authorities announced yesterday. Fires hit the country hard in 2023 from east to west, burning more than 15 million hectares. They cost the lives of eight firefighters and led to the evacuation of more than 235,000 people.

7:04 a.m. – Moscow denounces Washington after deadly strike in Crimea

Russia accused the United States yesterday of having “responsibility” for a Ukrainian strike that killed four people and injured more than a hundred others in Crimea, an annexed peninsula, because it was allegedly carried out with missiles American ATACMS supplied to kyiv. “Responsibility for the deliberate missile strike against civilians in Sevastopol (city in Crimea, Editor’s note) lies primarily with Washington, which supplied these weapons to Ukraine” as well as with the Kiev authorities, says the Russian Ministry of Defense. Defense, quoted in a press release.

7:01 a.m. – Off the coast of Yemen, a merchant ship damaged by a drone

A merchant ship was damaged and its crew lightly injured by a drone attack off the coast of Yemen, where Yemeni Houthi rebels are increasing raids against merchant shipping, two maritime security agencies announced yesterday. The Houthis, members of the “Axis of Resistance”, a grouping of movements supported by Iran and which includes the Palestinian Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah, have for months been carrying out attacks off the coast of Yemen against ships serving, according to them, Israel, saying it was acting in support of the Gaza Strip being bombed by the Israeli army.

6:35 a.m. – Russia: around ten dead in attacks against Orthodox churches and at least one synagogue

Armed men attacked Orthodox churches and at least one synagogue in the Russian Caucasus yesterday, killing around ten people, including a priest and police officers, authorities announced, denouncing “terrorist” acts. The attacks took place in the capital of the Russian republic of Dagestan, Makhachkala, and the coastal city of Derbent.

Dagestan is a Muslim-majority Russian region neighboring Chechnya, also close to Georgia and Azerbaijan. Anti-terrorist operations are regularly announced there by the Russian authorities. At least 15 police officers were killed in the attacks, according to regional leader Sergei Melikov.