Strike in Dnipro Region Last Friday Marks Deadliest Attack Involving Children
Russian Federation airstrikes in Ukraine continue to kill and maim civilians — including children at a playground last week — the United Nations top humanitarian official told the Security Council today. In what he called an “era of savage cuts”, he also appealed to Council members to provide at least the security and resources needed to save as many survivors of this war as possible.
“A massive strike in the densely populated city of Kryvyi Rih in the Dnipro region last Friday resulted in multiple civilian casualties,” said Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator addressing the 15-member Council.
According to local authorities, 18 civilians were killed — including nine children — and 75 others injured when a children’s playground and nearby residential area were struck. The Office for the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) in Ukraine, which verified many of the casualties, confirmed it was the single deadliest attack involving children since the start of the war in February 2022.
Fighting has also continued unabated in the frontline regions of Kherson, Kharkiv, Donetsk and in the border areas of Sumy, where more than 90 civilian casualties were recorded last week alone. From 24 February 2022 to 31 March 2025, OHCHR has verified at least 12,910 civilian deaths, including 682 children, and nearly 30,700 injuries across Ukraine, he said. Meanwhile, 3.7 million people remain internally displaced, with new waves of displacement in the country’s north-east, and nearly 7 million Ukrainian refugees recorded worldwide. The UN remains unable to access an estimated 1.5 million civilians in Russian-occupied areas of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia.
Underscoring the plight of women in this war, he said that since February 2022, pre-term births have accounted for nearly half of all deliveries, putting both mothers and newborns at high risk. Gender-based violence, including intimate partner violence, has surged by 36 per cent, with displaced and refugee women suffering the most severe mental health challenges and facing critical gaps in protection and care, he warned.
Despite Scale of Crisis, $2.6 Billion Ukraine Humanitarian Response Plan for 2025 Only 17 Per Cent Funded
Despite the scale of this crisis, only 17 per cent of the $2.6 billion required for the 2025 Ukraine Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan has been secured. As a result, the UN is prioritizing limited resources for frontline support, emergency response, evacuations, and aid for the displaced — but more funding is urgently needed.
“We welcome the announcement of a ceasefire focused on energy infrastructure, as well as negotiations to ensure safe navigation in the Black Sea,” Fletcher said. But as talks continue, so do the bombardments. Indiscriminate attacks are strictly prohibited under international law, he recalled. “Even wars have rules,” he also stressed, urging the Council to ensure that “this era of increasingly belligerent, transactional, self-defeating, nationalism is not also remembered as one of callous impunity and brutal indifference, in which the rights of civilians are discarded again and again with a shrug”.
Russian Federation’s Representative: Strike on Kryvyi Rih was Precision Missile strike on Military Meeting of Unit Commanders and Western Instructors
In the ensuing discussion, the Russian Federation’s delegate said the strike on Kryvyi Rih was a precision missile strike on a military meeting of unit commanders and Western instructors. The strike succeeded in damaging the command of the Ukrainian forces, he said, adding that a gathering of service members and Western officers is a legitimate target for his country’s army. The fact that a military meeting was happening in a civilian area shows that the Ukrainian army is using civilians as human shields, he said, adding that Ukrainian eyewitnesses have confirmed that a cluster munition was not used. Dismissing the efforts of the “Ukrainian propaganda machine” regarding this and other strikes, he said video clips by ordinary citizens refute their claims.
Civilians must stay far away from gatherings of military officers, he said, adding that Ukrainians are not being told the truth — Kyiv is milking the tragedy that it is responsible for. Nor will the Ukrainians be told of the continuous shelling of Russian border towns, he said. The goal of Ukraine and Western countries is to undermine the Russian Federation-United States dialogue, he said, adding: “What you are doing is far too obvious.” The ceasefire cannot be misused so “Ukraine can lick its wounds and resume its war”, he said, adding that it is essential to do away with the root causes. No one will be allowed to use the negotiation process to strengthen Ukraine’s military — the demilitarization of that country is essential, he stressed.
United States Representative: Russian President Vladimir Putin Does Not Want to End War
The United States representative said that in its bilateral engagements between both Russian Federation and Ukraine, the United States had tabled a proposal in March. While Ukraine was ready to accept, she recalled, Russian Federation representatives insisted on a more limited agreement which would cover only strikes on energy infrastructure and the elimination of the use of force in the Black Sea. She called on both the Russian Federation and Ukraine to exercise restraint and demonstrate their commitment to peace. The Russian Federation must bear in mind that strikes like the one on Kryvyi Rih and executions of prisoners of war have the potential to damage peace efforts. “We will ultimately judge President Putin’s commitment to peace by Russia’s actions,” she stated.
“We can see that Putin does not want to end the war; he is looking for ways to preserve the option of reigniting it in any moment with even greater force,” Ukraine’s delegate said. Moscow has “not moved one inch away from its genocidal and maximalist war aims”. On the other hand, Ukraine has taken concrete steps towards peace, while the Russian Federation “continues to drag its feet and commit atrocities”. “Every missile, every strike killing people every day proves that Russia only wants war,” she went on to say. Moscow has not only failed to cease its attacks on Ukrainian civilians, but it has also significantly escalated the scale of its assaults.
On 4 April, a missile landed near a playground, tearing through homes, schools and restaurants, killing 20 people, including nine children. She rejected Moscow’s falsehoods about alleged military targets in the area. “All witnesses and footages from cameras inside and outside the local restaurant debunk Russian representatives’ lies and disinformation,” she said. It confirms that there was no military presence in the restaurant or in the surrounding area at the time of the strike. Staying silent about the fact that the Russian Federation is killing children with ballistic missiles is wrong and dangerous. “It only emboldens the scum in Moscow to continue the war and keep ignoring diplomacy,” she said.
Several European Speakers Criticize Russian Federation
Several speakers from Europe strongly criticized the Russian Federation, with Denmark’s delegate stating that Moscow’s deliberate delays and new preconditions raised for even a partial ceasefire seem particularly cynical given reports that the missile that struck Kryvyi Rih was fired from the Black Sea. “Russia has said it only attacks military targets”, but the missile strike on Kryvyi Rih on 4 April hit residential buildings and a playground. “We heard claims that a high precision strike has been launched to target a military group that was meeting at a restaurant at the time — trying to justify it as a military target,” Slovenia’s delegate said. But these claims have been disproved.
“Russia is not negotiating in good faith; it’s procrastinating, and its goal continues to be the capitulation of Ukraine,” echoed France’s delegate, Council President for April. But France and other Europeans “are not sitting on our hands” and continue to work to secure a just and lasting peace. “It is time for the Kremlin to end its aggression against Ukraine and to uphold its obligations under the UN Charter and it is time for President Putin to agree to a full and immediate ceasefire,” added the United Kingdom’s representative.
The representative of the European Union, speaking in its capacity as observer, stressed that “there can be no negotiations on Ukraine without Ukraine, and no negotiations that affect European security without Europe”. He reaffirmed the bloc’s unwavering support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders. There is no doubt “who truly seeks peace and who instead is determined to prolong a ruthless war of territorial conquest”, Czechia’s delegate added. “Moscow is trying to falsely present itself as a victim” and expecting the world to provide security assurances, “preferably at the expense of legitimate security interests of its neighbours”, Poland’s representative also stated.
Focus on Plight of Children
Estonia’s delegate, speaking also for Latvia and Lithuania, said that Moscow has killed over 600 Ukrainian children since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022, while the real numbers might be higher. That country deserves to be listed in the annexes of the annual Children and Armed Conflicts report for carrying out grave violations against children in Ukraine. Other Council members, including the delegates of Pakistan, Guyana and Panama, echoed concerns for children living under conflict in Ukraine, with the latter underscoring that “children must never be targets in a war”.
Global Impact of War in Ukraine: Food Insecurity, Energy Crises
Some speakers shared ways the war in Ukraine was affecting them with Algeria’s delegate stating that the food insecurity and energy crises resulting from this conflict also hits the civilian population in other regions around the world. Greece’s delegate pointed out that freedom of navigation in the Black Sea will be a crucial contribution to global food security and supply chains. The representative of the Republic of Korea expressed concern that the military cooperation between the Russian Federation and Democratic People’s Republic of Korea “is intensifying rather than waning”, as exemplified by last month’s high-level reaffirmation in Pyongyang to implement their Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
Momentum for Peace Talks
Other Council members, including the delegate from China, said that although the situation on the battlefield remains complicated, the momentum for peace talks has emerged. “The window of peace is opening,” he stated, adding that talks must address the root causes of the crisis. The Ukraine conflict is complex and restoring peace will require persistent efforts.
“The path forward requires sustained commitment to diplomatic solutions and unwavering adherence to intentional humanitarian law,” echoed Somalia’s delegate. His counterpart from Sierra Leone urged negotiators and intermediators to approach ceasefire discussions objectively, mindful of the contextual underpinnings of this conflict. “We call on all parties to negotiate in good faith in the US-led talks, taking into consideration the legitimate concerns involving both parties,” she said.
Question for written answer E-001359/2025 to the Commission Rule 144 Sakis Arnaoutoglou (S&D)
According to recent data, Greece is lagging behind terms of its development of tourist ports, despite its extensive coastal and island network and high potential for maritime tourism. In particular, it is estimated that Greece will only have 49 marinas in operation by 2030, while France and Italy already have 1 403 and 961 respectively. The fact that Greece is trailing behind in this area means that maritime tourism is not being fully harnessed as a source of sustainable development, especially in island and remote regions.
Although the establishment of tourist ports is a national competence, the European Union has strategic and financial tools (the Cohesion Fund, the ERDF, InvestEU, the Recovery and Resilience Facility) that can boost such investments, in the context of regional cohesion and a sustainable blue economy.
In view of the above, can the Commission answer the following:
1.How does it assess the unequal distribution of investment in tourism infrastructure – in particular tourist ports – among the Member States?
2.Are there plans for targeted European support programmes for Member States that are lagging behind structurally in terms of maritime tourism, such as Greece?
3.How does the Commission intend to strengthen the EU’s maritime tourism strategy in order to support the transition to a sustainable development model that boosts island and coastal economies?
Source: Africa Press Organisation – English (2) – Report:
PARIS, France, April 8, 2025/APO Group/ —
Michael Kelly, Chief Advocacy Officer, World Liquid Gas Association (WLGA) will speak at the Invest in African Energy (IAE) 2025 Forum in Paris next month. As a key leader in global energy advocacy, Kelly’s participation will provide valuable insights into the growing role of liquid gas in the global energy transition, particularly within the African context.
The WLGA is dedicated to promoting the use of liquid gas as a cleaner alternative to conventional fuels, advocating for policy reforms that support the global expansion of this energy source. In Africa, the association’s efforts focus on helping governments and businesses explore liquid gas solutions as part of the broader energy mix, driving both energy access and economic development across the continent. In December 2024, the WLGA launched a new roadmap aimed at expanding access to clean cooking solutions across Africa, specifically through increased availability and uptake of LPG. This comprehensive roadmap not only emphasizes the establishment of a clear regulatory framework to scale the LPG market, but also calls for the implementation of consumer financing and payment plans to address economic barriers and highlights the need for investment in infrastructure and roads.
IAE 2025 (Invest-Africa-Energy.com)is an exclusive forum designed to facilitate investment between African energy markets and global investors. Taking place May 13-14, 2025 in Paris, the event offers delegates two days of intensive engagement with industry experts, project developers, investors and policymakers. For more information, please visitwww.Invest-Africa-Energy.com.To sponsor or participate as a delegate, please contactsales@energycapitalpower.com.
Africa’s LPG sector is experiencing significant growth, with several large-scale projects focused on expanding production, storage and distribution capabilities. Last month, Nigeria commissioned its first modular LPG extraction plant and a 20 MW gas-to-power project, both of which are set to boost domestic gas utilization and enhance energy access. Sahara Group is developing a 12,000-ton LPG storage facility in Ivory Coast, which will increase the country’s LPG storage capacity by 60% and significantly improve imports and distribution for neighboring countries in the region. The company is also in talks with Kenya to construct a 30,000-ton facility for handling and storing LPG.
Meanwhile, Petredec and South Africa’s state-owned Transnet announced a rail freight project in September 2024, featuring a dedicated train system and a modern LPG intermodal hub and storage facility. This hub will receive bulk LPG via rail, introducing the country’s first scheduled LPG train system. Other high-profile projects include the Dangote Refinery in Nigeria, a $20 billion initiative designed to meet the country’s fuel demands while reducing dependency on imports and introducing LPG into the Nigerian market. These projects reflect Africa’s growing commitment to leveraging its natural gas resources to enhance energy infrastructure, drive economic development and improve access to cleaner, more affordable energy across the continent.
Source: United States Senator for Idaho Mike Crapo
Washington, D.C.–U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) delivered the following remarks at a hearing entitled, “The President’s 2025 Trade Policy Agenda.”
As prepared for delivery:
“Members and the public have questions and concerns about the recent tariff actions. That’s ok. We should think about tariff impacts and ask questions. Thoughtful and respectful debate on the issues is good and why we call hearings, like this one, with the United States Trade Representative, Ambassador Jamieson Greer.
“We need to think strategically about tariff policy, including how to minimize unnecessary costs on American families. I also recognize that although it is easy to see the costs arising from tariffs, it is far more difficult to assess the cost of denied market access opportunities.
“Tariffs can advance American interests in market access. In the first Trump Administration, we used tariff threats to stop France from imposing discriminatory digital services taxes.
“Tariffs also forced China to discuss the systemic challenges between our two nations. Frankly, every enforcement action—whether it is a WTO dispute, a Section 301 investigation or a preference program review—ultimately relies on the threat of tariffs to secure objectives.
“Accordingly, it is important to contextualize the tariffs in the design of the larger policy. The real headline then becomes the fundamental shift in trade policy since President Trump’s inauguration—where the United States actually plans to do trade again.
“My colleagues and I in Congress want to pursue a real trade policy. That was put on hold during the Biden years. We now have a President who will partner with us in that effort. Together, we will enforce our rights; we will negotiate again; and we will expand opportunities for Americans.
“This Administration is not deliberating endlessly over whether ‘trade can be a force for good,’ like the past Administration. Trade today is the centerpiece of our international economic engagement and we have plenty of substantive trade ideas to discuss.
“Businesses want certainty from good policies that will continue so they can invest confidently in prospects that create jobs and wealth.
“That is one of the primary reasons that I am working so hard to make the Trump Tax Cuts permanent—to provide businesses with the certainty they need to make long-term investments, to drive growth and to increase prosperity across all segments of the economy.
“Contrast this kind of certainty and forward thinking on trade with that of the last four years, where the only ‘certainty’ was that you were going to lose ground because your government fundamentally rejected free markets, free enterprise and free trade.
“The last Administration turned to industrial policy because it was certain that the free market failed in delivering what government planners believed necessary for climate and social agendas.
“Indeed, China’s central planners saw their own strategic thinking in the Inflation Reduction Act’s approach of bestowing massive subsidies to stimulate investments that the market would not.
“We can restore faith in free markets by making it easier than ever to do business in America. The President’s Executive Order last week to assist major investors to navigate our regulatory system efficiently is a good start. We plan to do more.
“The Biden Administration provided us with only the “certainty” that in the face of a foreign government’s discriminatory policies, like digital services taxes, data localization or other non-tariff barriers, it would not stand up for its citizens because it believed that the so-called ‘right to regulate’ trumped the principle of free enterprise.
“Respectfully, democratic governments do not have rights—they exist to secure them for their citizens.
“One immediately welcome change, under the Trump Administration, appeared last week in USTR’s National Trade Estimate.
“Last year, the Biden Administration deliberately cut from the Estimate a number of discriminatory measures imposed by foreign governments on American businesses because it sided with those governments over our citizens. This year’s Estimate is exhaustive because the Administration carefully identified all of the ways Americans lose out in the global marketplace.
“Finally, the validity of free trade will be seen again. The last Administration did not pursue market access in its negotiations. Instead, it demanded governments to undertake a number of social and environmental commitments, even ones Congress did not approve domestically. Not surprisingly, our partners did not put their trust in such negotiations.
“While tariffs inherently may be seen at odds with free trade, we must also acknowledge that many of our trading partners deploy barriers that have gone unchallenged for too long. Free trade, by definition, must be reciprocal. We do not have it if others can impose barriers on us unchallenged.
“Our failure to enforce our rights over the last four years lost a lot of ground for us. This cannot continue because what I am certain about is American goods and services are innovative, high quality and globally competitive.
“Senior Administration officials say that a number of countries are ‘coming to the table’ to engage with USTR. We look forward to hearing about this engagement and the steps toward better opportunities for Americans.”
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
A study published in PLOS Medicine looks at food additives type 2 diabetes incidence.
Dr Nerys Astbury, Associate Professor of Diet & Obesity, Nuffield Department of Primary Health Care Sciences, University of Oxford, said:
“This prospective study conducted in France explores the association between the amount of common mixtures of food additives and the risk of future development of type 2 diabetes.
“The study reports that there was no association between the consumption of three of the mixtures studies and type 2 diabetes. There were positive associations between the consumption of two of the mixtures investigated including a mixture including emulsifiers/gelling agents including modified starches, pectin, guar gum, carrageenan and xantham gum which the authors show were linked with the consumption of dairy desserts and fats and sauces; as well as a mixture including artificial sweeteners and acidity regulators which were linked with consumption of low-energy/diet soft drink consumption.
“Previous studies have reported associations between some of these individual food additives and risk of type 2 diabetes, but additives are commonly included in foods in mixtures where they may have interactive effects. Indeed the authors showed in their exploratory analysis that there were both synergistic and antagonist interactions between several food additives.
“One limitation of this study is that the mixtures of additives investigated include a range of different additives with different functional properties, with some additives included in more than one mixture group, meaning it is not possible to ascertain whether the effects observed can be attributed to groups of additives with similar functional properties.
“The authors controlled for typical type 2 diabetes risk factors including age, sex, body mass index, physical activity level, smoking status, educational level and profession. But it is possible that other factors that were not controlled for may have influenced the relationship.
“Some of the findings may subject to reverse causality, where the outcome (in this case type 2 diabetes diagnosis) precedes, and therefore influences the presumed cause (in this case the consumption of the food additive mixtures). For example, if a person knew they were at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, because they either had a family history of the condition, or that a doctor conducted tests to show they had pre-diabetes, they may decide to make lifestyle choices to reduce their risk of developing the condition. One thing they might decide to do is replace sugar sweetened beverages for low-energy or diet versions.
“It is important to note that by design this study can only demonstrate association, it cannot say whether the consumption of these additives (or the foods that contain then) caused or contributed to the development of type 2 diabetes. To determine causality large scale complex clinical trials are required.
“The growing interest in the effects of consuming ultra-processed foods, which contain additives to enhance taste, flavour, texture and improve shelf life of food products, means this study is important and timely and adds to the growing body of evidence of association between increased consumption of common food additives and adverse health outcomes. Further research is needed to ascertain a causal link and establish the mechanisms.”
Prof Nita Forouhi, Professor of Population Health and Nutrition, and Programme Leader of the Nutritional Epidemiology programme, MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, said:
“The researchers in France once again tapped into the only existing research study that has the relevant data to investigate links between different types of food additives and risk of chronic diseases. They have extended their previous findings on the links of individual additive emulsifiers and artificial sweeteners with risk of type 2 diabetes to now identifying food additive mixtures that are frequently consumed together, reporting that the associations were not strongly driven by a unique additive alone and suggesting that interactions between types of food additives may play a role.
“The authors identified 269 food additives consumed by over 100,000 study participants, quantifying additive intakes from repeated 24h recalls over a long time using multiple sources and they hence provide probably the most comprehensive additives database to-date. Using 75 of these additives that were consumed by at least 5%of the study participants, they statistically derived five food additive mixture groups, of which two were associated modestly with the development of type 2 diabetes. It is important to note that these associations are present at population level intake doses of additives in their usual diets. However, it is unknown if additives consumed by a smaller proportion of the study population but in higher doses would have been related with the risk of type 2 diabetes. A sensitivity analysis testing this would have been informative.
“This research helps to an extent with understanding mechanisms through which ultra-processed foods (UPFs), that typically contain mixtures of additives, may be related with disease risk. This is an important research gap to fill because a lack of evidence on mechanisms by which UPFs may be related with health harms, over and above the links already established for foods high in (saturated) fat, sugar and salt, is part of the reason for withholding a specific government policy on UPF reduction in the UK.
“It is important to distinguish between additive mixtures by their food sources as we know from other research that not all UPFs are the same, with some being potentially harmful and others not. Moreover, their analysis has not accounted for the proportion of UPF in the diet. Also, the five food additive mixture groups the researchers identified were related with a limited set of food groups, largely cakes, biscuits, savoury snacks, broth, dairy desserts, fats and sauces and sugar sweetened or artificially sweetened drinks. Thus, it is unclear if additives from other food groups not identified in this study population may be relevant in other populations.
“Several of the current analyses were appropriate, such as adjusting for a comprehensive range of factors (including accounting for saturated fat, salt and added sugar), doing sensitivity analyses, checking the stability of food additive mixture intakes over time, and testing whether the additive mixtures found associated with type 2 diabetes contributed to mediating the associations between the food groups most associated with these mixtures and incidence of type 2 diabetes. But, there were also important limitations the authors did not or could not address.
“Exposure to food additives could not be validated against blood or urine biomarkers due to a lack of specific biomarkers. Many tests for interaction were performed but it is unclear if there was adequate statistical power. The data variables used in analysis, such as dietary intakes or health behaviours like physical activity or smoking and alcohol intake, are likely to vary over time but only baseline data, not time-varying data were used. The authors showed several participant characteristics in the cohort at the study baseline but did not show these characteristics by total food additive or food additive mixture types, which is relevant to understanding the appropriateness of their analytical strategy. This research included mostly women (80% of participants), so the findings in men remain under-studied. The authors acknowledge that they could not collect data on ethnicity so the generalisability of findings to different population sub-groups is unclear but there seems no strong reason to expect that findings would vary in different ethnic groups. Nonetheless, future studies in diverse populations should apply the current study methods to test the reported findings. The authors appropriately acknowledged the limitations of observational research, but such research remains an important part of the evidence base.
“More investment in research is needed to replicate the findings of this currently sole resource of the NutriNet-Sante’ study that has generated relevant data for the study of food additives. In the meantime, we should take these current findings seriously and build further upon them to help understand the mechanistic links between UPF-related additive mixtures and human health.”
Prof Tom Sanders, Professor emeritus of Nutrition and Dietetics, King’s College London, said:
“This new report from a French prospective study (NutriNet-Santé) is an analysis of food additive intake based on estimates of dietary intake based on recall, and subsequent risk of developing type 2 diabetes. 79% of the participants were female and the average age was 42. After 7.7 years of follow up, they found 2 out of 5 mixtures of additives were associated with very small increases in risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The first mixture was associated with an 8% increase in risk – this consisted mainly of food additives used to thicken foods and drinks (guar gum, carrageenan xanthan gum), polyphosphates (that help retain water), curcumin (a naturally occurring yellow food colour used mainly in margarine) and potassium sorbate (a preservative). The second mixture was associated with a 13% increase in risk, this consisted of a diverse mixture of additives but included several that are used in soft drinks – citric acid, sodium citrates, phosphoric acid, sulphite ammonia caramel (used in cola drinks), acesulfame-K, aspartame, sucralose, arabic gum, malic acid, carnauba wax (a glazing agent), paprika extract, anthocyanins (purple natural colours), guar gum, and pectin.
Limitations
“This was an observational study and not a controlled trial and can only suggest associations. A major limitation of this study is that the incidence of type 2 diabetes was low over the follow up period. Over the follow-period only 1% of the 108,643 participants developed type 2 diabetes. This may well be because the average body mass index (23 kg/m2) was close to the ideal level (22.5). A potential strength claimed is that multiple estimates of dietary intake were made over the follow-up period (on average 5 occasions). However, these estimates were based on what the participants remembered eating the previous day. A daily recall only provides data for one day and is not a good measure of usual dietary intake which needs a longer period of recording (preferable taking into seasonal variations in account). Dietary recalls also lack the granularity in terms of detail regarding portion size and brand which are important for estimating the intake of food additives.
“Dietary recalls are subject to reporting bias (over-reporting fruit and vegetable intake and under-reporting food and drink that regarded being less healthy, e.g. alcohol and confectionery). The reported dietary intake of sugar is extremely high (198g, equivalent about 50 cubes of sugar per day). This raises questions regarding the reliability of intake data.
“The statistical analyses involved creating mixtures of food additives by a form of statistical analysis by computer not by a prior hypothesis. Associations of mixtures of food additives are likely to be reflective of overall dietary patterns or components (e.g. fizzy drinks). While this type of exploratory statistical analyses can be used to create new hypotheses, the results should never be used as evidence of causality.
“There seems to be no scientific basis for relating the components of these mixtures of food additives to risk of type 2 diabetes. For example, citric acid probably accounts for the bulk of food additives consumed. The body makes enormous amounts in the citric acid cycle (the Krebs cycle) to generate metabolic energy. It is also present in quite high amounts in fruit and vegetables. Gums are used as thickeners in some foods like yogurt. There is no reason to suspect that gums would have an adverse effect on risk of diabetes especially as studies have shown that gums slow glucose absorption and can improve blood glucose control in patients with type 2 diabetes. The association of artificial sweetener intake with risk of diabetes is well known but not thought to be causal, as recently discussed by SACN (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sacn-statement-on-the-who-guideline-on-non-sugar-sweeteners/sacn-statement-on-the-who-guideline-on-non-sugar-sweeteners-summary).
Conclusion
“My concern is that a “toxic cocktail of food additives” narrative may detract from sensible dietary advice to maintain a healthy weight.”
Dr George Savva, Senior Research Scientist, Quadram Institute, said:
“This study adds to the evidence that people who consume more food additives associated with sugary and sweetened drinks have a higher risk of diabetes, after controlling for overall calories, sugar intake, saturated fats and other aspects of diet. A smaller association was seen for a second group associated with dairy desserts, broths, fats and sauces. Other major groups of additives, including those associated with cakes and biscuits, showed no association with incident diabetes.
“The study was large with a very detailed dietary assessment, but is limited by being non-randomised and being conducted in a volunteer cohort. The authors did try to control for demographic and lifestyle factors like exercise and smoking but this is difficult to do well. So, although the control for other aspects of diet was good, it is possible that other factors led to higher risk of diabetes in this group. Showing no association between diabetes and additives linked to cakes, biscuits and snacks may suggest that residual confounding isn’t a huge problem in this study (because if other aspects of diet and lifestyle were really causing this association we might also expect to see a positive association between diabetes and the group of additives associated with cakes and biscuits).
“Considering mixtures of additives is interesting because they are rarely consumed in isolation; as the study shows many difficult additives are often used together. The evidence was strong that consuming additives associated with sugary and sweetened drinks was particularly associated with getting diabetes later in life, but there was little evidence for any particular additive or combination of additives being the main driver of that risk.
“It is difficult to study the impact of food additives using randomised controlled trials, because they are highly prevalent in our diets and the effects are likely to take many years to manifest. So it is important to attempt to study their effects in studies like this, and to combine with evidence from other kinds of studies to understand whether and how additives might harm metabolic health.”
Prof Alan Boobis, Emeritus Professor of Toxicology, Imperial College London, said:
“My takeaway from this is that it is an observational study and as acknowledged by the authors, association does not necessarily mean causation. The findings are important in generating hypotheses, but further investigation would be necessary to inform advice to consumers. It is unclear whether the mixtures themselves or key components are involved, or whether, despite adjustments for other components of the diet, the mixtures are indicative of some other characteristics of the subjects.”
Prof Oliver Jones, Professor of Chemistry, RMIT University, said:
“I can see this paper leading to more scary headlines about food additives, but although the work is based on a large dataset, we need to be careful about what conclusions are drawn from it.
“As the authors themselves clearly state, the study does not prove that food additives cause diabetes. All that is reported are slight associations between certain mixtures of some additives and the likelihood of type 2 diabetes, and there are some large caveats to this.
“Firstly, an association between two factors does not mean one caused the other; it just means there appears to be an association between them.
“Secondly, the authors didn’t measure food additive intake directly. They relied on self-reporting of food intake from study participants and then estimated the additive intake from this. This is a reasonable approach, but self-reported data is often inaccurate. This means great care must be taken in interpreting the results.
“It is also not clear from the main paper how the authors classified someone as having diabetes. Diagnosis does not seem to have been done by a medical professional but rather estimated by self-reported health data and medication use from a linked database. This is far from conclusive.
“So, whilst this is an interesting theoretical study, people should not worry. In the end, all that can really be said is that, based on self-reported data and estimations of possible food additive consumption and health conditions, there is a possible, small association between two specific mixtures of additives and the likelihood of type 2 diabetes, and the error bars are pretty big on even this conclusion.”
Prof Kevin McConway, Emeritus Professor of Applied Statistics, Open University, said:
“This is a complicated study in terms of the statistical and computational methods it uses. I think its results are pretty hard to interpret. The meaning of the word ‘mixtures’ in the findings is, I’d say, so different from the everyday meaning of the word as to be potentially pretty confusing. The researchers, rightly, warn that their study cannot establish whether consuming particular mixtures of food additives causes the associations with type 2 diabetes that they observed. The associations that they observed are, as the press release indicates, not very strong anyway. Also, there are questions, that might well be important, that just can’t be answered from this research.
“I take away two things from this study. First, there are some more indications that it may be important to consider potential associations between food additives and health by looking at several additives at once, rather than investigating them separately. Second, looking for such associations isn’t easy, and to do it convincingly would require other types of research than those used in this study.
“I’ll try to clarify what the researchers meant by a ‘food additive mixture’. You might expect that to mean that a participant in the study consumes a certain amount of a given set of additives, maybe two or three of them, and researchers would look at how their health is associated with consumption of this specific mixture.
“But what’s meant in this research is something wider and more complicated. The researchers collected data on how much each of the nearly 110,000 participants consumed of well over 200 different food additives. They then used a statistical method (called nonnegative matrix factorization) to summarize all this data into a score, for each participant, on five different scales that they called ‘mixtures’. And they then measured the statistical association between each of these five scores and the participants’ chance of being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes over time. They found associations between two of the scores and the risk of type 2 diabetes – the other three scores were not found to be associated with diabetes.
“The associations with diabetes risk were not particularly strong for either of these scores, though it’s difficult to explain in simple terms exactly how large they were, because of the difficulty of explaining what the actual scores are measuring.
“What makes this hard to link to an everyday idea of a ‘mixture’ is that each of the scores depends on the amounts of consumption of, potentially, a large number of different additives. Of the two ‘mixture’ scores that were found to be associated with diabetes risk, one mainly depends on the consumption of eight different additives, and the other on 14 additives, and in fact other additives than these 8 and 14 do come into the calculation as well.
“Also, two participants could get similar scores for one of these ‘mixtures’ by actually consuming different patterns of additives. So one participant could get a moderately high score on the first of these ‘mixtures’ by consuming food and drink containing a lot of modified starches but little or none of the other additives, while another participant could get the same score by consuming quite a lot of food containing other additives that contribute to this mixture, but very little or no modified starch. Others could also get the same score by a different pattern of consumption of additives that contribute to this ‘mixture’, possibly not overlapping much with the consumptions of the other two participants I’ve mentioned. In technical terms, this is an acceptable use of the term ‘mixture’, but it’s probably not what a non-scientist would think of.
“The researchers do emphasise that this study cannot establish causality. That is, although they found associations, that is, correlations, between the scores for two of their additive ‘mixtures’ and the risk of type 2 diabetes, they can’t say that it is the additive consumption that caused the differences in diabetes risk.
“That’s for several reasons. Mainly, it’s because the study is observational. The participants weren’t made to consume different patterns of additives by the researchers – they just ate what they would have eaten anyway, and the researchers recorded that as best they could (and there are always potential limitations on the accuracy of such recordings). So the observed associations could really be caused by some other factors that happen to be associated with food additive consumption, and also independently associated with diabetes risk. There’s just no way of telling what causes what, with any level of certainty, in this kind of study.
“In some circumstances, if a lot of different observational studies are all pointing in the same direction, one might be a little more confident about what’s causing what. But this is effectively the first study looking at data in this way on a major scale. As the researchers themselves say, in order to get good evidence on whether particular groups of food additives, when consumed alongside one another, do actually cause ill health, one would need to carry out studies of different kinds – so-called mechanistic studies, to learn more about what might actually be happening inside the body. This study might help a little in pointing to what further studies might be most useful, but it’s an observational study that did not itself measure anything going on inside the participants’ bodies or cells. I’m not a nutritional scientist so am not in a position to comment on how these mechanistic studies would best be done.
“The researchers did make statistical adjustments for several possibly factors that might have accounted for what they observed, and might be getting in the way of interpretations of cause and effect. But you can never adjust for everything potentially relevant, and data on some factors will simply not be available.
“In this study there’s an obvious question of whether the differences in diabetes risk could be due to the additives in people’s food and drink, or due to the non-additive parts of the food and drink that they consumed, or indeed due to other things entirely. After all, consuming a food additive generally involves consuming the food or drink that it’s been added to, and so will go along with consuming fats, sugars, proteins, fibre, and whatever else is in that food or drink.
“The researchers did investigate some aspects of this question, and did find limited evidence that the associations with diabetes risk depend on additives as well as other aspects of what’s in the food and drink, though I don’t feel that they really sorted this out very far. Anyway it would be very difficult to take account of all the possible food and drink components that are not classed as additives, as well as those that are, in a single statistical set of statistical analyses.
“Interestingly, among all the detailed results, the study found a limited amount of evidence that points to why it may be important to look at additives together rather than separately. In some cases, it appeared that consuming two additives, linked to diabetes risk, had a stronger association with the diabetes risk than you’d expect from looking at the additives separately; in other cases, it went the other way, with a lower risk from the combination of additives than you might expect from looking at them separately.”
Comments from our colleagues at the Australian SMC:
Professor Ian Rae is an expert on chemicals in the environment at the School of Chemistry at the University of Melbourne. He was also an advisor to the United Nations Environment Programme on chemicals in the environment and is former President of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute
“Type 2 diabetes arises when various parts of the body becoming resistant to the normal action of insulin, which is to pack sugar away in cells.
The result is elevated blood sugar levels that can cause damage to the eyes and to organs like the liver. The chance of developing type 2 diabetes increases with age, and it is associated with increased body weight, obesity and lack of physical activity, all of which track with age, too.
Exposure to chemical substances is not believed to be a cause of type 2 diabetes. The French researchers whose work is reported in this paper were testing not a single substance but instead they surveyed the effects of mixtures of additives that are commonly included in processed food, such as starch, pectin, vegetable gums, and citric acid which is also naturally present in some foods).
They identified two mixtures – of 8 and 15 constituents, respectively – that did correlate with slight effects. Only one of the mixtures included the kind of ‘chemical suspects’ that one expects to find in such studies, the two synthetic sweeteners, aspartame and sucralose. The associations between the mixtures and the condition were very weak, and similar mixtures that included many of the same constituents showed no association. Of course, association does not equal causation.
Testing a single substance for toxicity or the ability to damage our bodies in other ways is difficult enough. Only in a very few cases have pairs of substances or small groups of substances that are chemically closely related ever been tested. The results have been ambiguous, to say the least. Testing mixtures of 8 or 15 substances is just not good science. The authors themselves suggest that ‘the potential synergies and antagonisms may be of interest in future mechanistic investigations’ but that’s really just an admission that their own approach was overly optimistic in its search for a definite cause of type 2 diabetes.
Although it has involved a lot of work – not just by the 23 authors of this paper, but by the 100,000 people who were surveyed – the results are weak. I wondered why this was ever published.”
Ian has not declared any conflicts of interest.
Dr Alan Barclay is an Honorary Associate at the University of Sydney
“This French prospective cohort study identified small associations between certain mixtures of food additives and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
The mixtures of additives were identified using computer algorithms. Study participants were predominantly female (79.2%), relatively young (average age 41 years), well-educated, and within the healthy weight range (average BMI 23.6 kg/m2). Ethnic background was not reported (ethical reasons cited).
Australia’s food supply is different from France’s, and it is not known how common the additive mixtures identified would be consumed in this country, and by whom.
In Australia, type 2 diabetes occurs most commonly after the age of 45 years, in overweight or obese (BMI > 25 kg/m2) people (more frequently men than women), from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and incidence (new cases) has been decreasing over the past decade.
The observed associations are both less than 20%, so residual confounding is likely a significant problem within this study.
While novel, the generalisability of this French observational study to people at risk of type 2 diabetes living in Australia is unknown.
Our food supply is regulated by Food Standards Australia New Zealand and the types and amounts of additives permitted to be added to foods and drinks is carefully assessed and reviewed on a regular basis.”
Potential conflict of interest: I consult to the National Retail Association.
Emeritus Professor Jennie Brand-Miller AM is from the School of Life and Environmental Sciences and Charles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney, and Director of both the Sydney University Glycemic Index Research Service and Glycemic Index Foundation
“I find these results surprising because both mixtures contain substances that occur naturally in food and are recognised forms of dietary fibre (xanthan gums, guar gums and carrageenan). This means they provide fuel for our large bowel microbiome. Guar gum is a highly viscous fibre known to slow down the rate of digestion and absorption of carbohydrates, more so than any other fibre. Citric acid is found in citrus fruits, and also slows down digestion and reduces glycaemia.
Both mechanisms would therefore be expected to REDUCE the risk of type 2 diabetes, not increase it. I suspect these findings are simply chance findings because the researchers looked at so many food additives.
At present, there is a bias towards finding fault with food additives and processed foods. In Australia, all food additives other than flavours are highly regulated with substantial data to back up their safety in the amounts used in food.”
Jennie’s conflict of interest declaration: I have no direct conflicts of interest. I receive royalties from popular books about nutrition, diabetes and health. I oversee a glycemic index testing company at the USYD. I consult to the China National Research Institute of Food and Fermentation Industries, the Novo Foundation and Zoe Global.
Dr Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz is an epidemiologist and Senior Research Fellow from the University of Wollongong
“The authors here looked at whether diabetes risks were impacted by different mixtures of food additives. They found a very small increased risk of diabetes associated with two mixtures of additives, and no increase for the other three mixtures that they tested – these mixtures included a wide range of additives such as aspartame, guar gum, curcumin, and more.
The study is reasonably strong, but suffers from weaknesses in the underlying cohort. These results are entirely based on self-report, which is to say that the only information that the authors had on how many food additives people ate was how much they said they were eating. This form of self-report is notoriously unreliable and impossible to correct for in large epidemiological studies of this nature.
It’s also unclear what meaning these results have. The biggest risk increase in the study was seen for Mixture 5, which contained 14 different food additives including citric acid and paprika extract. But due to the complex methodology the authors used to create these mixtures, it’s not clear how you could implement these findings in your daily life. The closest the authors come is saying that it might be a good idea to reduce your soft drink intake, but we didn’t really need this study to know that. It’s an interesting piece of research, but it’s hard to see how the results could be used outside of a strictly research setting.”
Gideon has not declared any conflicts of interest.
Dr Evangeline Mantzioris is an Accredited Practicing Dietitian and the Program Director of Nutrition and Food Sciences at the University of South Australia
“This study has looked at the impact of commonly used additives in ultra-processed foods in our food system and their association with Type 2 diabetes. This study was conducted on a large group of over 108,000 adults in France over a 7 ½ year time period. Dietary data was collected from dietary records every 6 months, and from this the intake of additives was calculated.
The researchers found that there were two groups of food additives that were linked with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. In the statistical analyses the researchers took into account the participants’ weight, sociodemographic factors, lifestyle practice and their diet.
The first group of food additives included modified starches, pectin, guar gum, carrageenan, polyphosphates, potassium sorbates, curcumin, and xanthan gum. The other group included citric acid, sodium citrates, phosphoric acid, sulphite ammonia caramel, acesulfame-K, aspartame, sucralose, arabic gum, malic acid, carnauba wax, paprika extract, anthocyanins, guar gum, and pectin.
However, it must be remembered that this is an observational study and not an experimental study, and hence a cause-and-effect relationship cannot be drawn from it. Additionally, the intake of food additives in the diet of the participants could not be verified by any blood or urine tests.
There is a growing evidence base of the impact of UPF [ultra-processed foods] on both physical, cognitive and mental health. As well as containing low levels of nutrients, high levels of saturated and trans fats, sugar and salt, UPF also contain food additives to improve taste and shelf life of foods. This study adds to this evidence base of the health risks associated with a high intake of UPFs.”
Evangeline has not declared any conflicts of interest.
‘Food additive mixtures and type 2 diabetes incidence: Results from the NutriNet-Santé prospective cohort’ by Marie Payen de la Garanderie et al. was published in PLOS Medicine at 19:00 UK time on Tuesday 8 April 2025.
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1004570
Declared interests
Dr Nerys Astbury: “No conflicts.”
Prof Nita Forouhi: “None.”
Prof Tom Sanders: “I have been retired for 10 years but during my career at King’s College London, I formerly acted as consultant for companies that made artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes.
I am a member of the Programme Advisory Committee of the Malaysia Palm Oil Board which involves the review of research projects proposed by the Malaysia government.
I also used to be a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Global Dairy Platform up until 2015.
I did do some consultancy work on GRAS affirmation of high oleic palm oil for Archer Daniel Midland more than ten years ago.
My research group received oils and fats free of charge from Unilever and Archer Daniel Midland for our Food Standards Agency Research.
Tom was a member of the FAO/WHO Joint Expert Committee that recommended that trans fatty acids be removed from the human food chain.
Member of the Science Committee British Nutrition Foundation. Honorary Nutritional Director HEART UK.
Before my retirement from King’s College London in 2014, I acted as a consultant to many companies and organisations involved in the manufacture of what are now designated ultraprocessed foods.
I used to be a consultant to the Breakfast Cereals Advisory Board of the Food and Drink Federation.
I used to be a consultant for aspartame more than a decade ago.
When I was doing research at King’ College London, the following applied: Tom does not hold any grants or have any consultancies with companies involved in the production or marketing of sugar-sweetened drinks. In reference to previous funding to Tom’s institution: £4.5 million was donated to King’s College London by Tate & Lyle in 2006; this funding finished in 2011. This money was given to the College and was in recognition of the discovery of the artificial sweetener sucralose by Prof Hough at the Queen Elizabeth College (QEC), which merged with King’s College London. The Tate & Lyle grant paid for the Clinical Research Centre at St Thomas’ that is run by the Guy’s & St Thomas’ Trust, it was not used to fund research on sugar. Tate & Lyle sold their sugar interests to American Sugar so the brand Tate & Lyle still exists but it is no longer linked to the company Tate & Lyle PLC, which gave the money to King’s College London in 2006.”
Dr George Savva: “I have no conflict of interest.”
Prof Alan Boobis: “My interests are: until recently, chair of the UK Committee on Toxicity (COT); member of the joint Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN)/COT working group on plant-based drinks; member of the External Advisory Committee, Michigan State University MSU Center for Research on Ingredient Safety (CRIS); member of the Board of Directors of ILSI (International Life Sciences Institute) Europe.”
Prof Oliver Jones: “I am a Professor of Chemistry at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. I don’t have any conflicts of interest to declare. However, many years ago, I worked on a project funded by the UK Food Standards Agency on the toxicity of pesticide mixtures.”
Prof Kevin McConway: “Previously a Trustee of the SMC and a member of its Advisory Committee.”
As a Kanienʼkehá꞉ka educator concerned with Indigenous language education, civic education and reconciliation, I believe it’s important to explore how Canadians should think about Indigenous nationhood with Canada’s sovereignty under threat. I also believe a U.S. annexation of Canada would be devastating for Indigenous Peoples.
Although Trump’s threats against Canada seem ludicrous, many Canadians are taking them seriously and regard the ongoing imperialist rhetoric as a threat to Canadian sovereignty.
However, that sense of unity that many may be feeling in Canada — and could affect how Canadians cast their votes in the forthcoming federal election — conceals the realities of nationhood in Canada. There are several aspects of nationhood in Canada that may merit conversation in terms of unity and the current American threats. But I’m particularly concerned that the nationhood that exists among First Nations, Inuit and Métis may be particularly threatened by an American annexation.
Many of the Canadian government’s colonial and post-colonial activities, abetted by their partners (for example, churches of various denominations), were genocidal in nature.
The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) people share many stories, traditions and language that inform their concept of nationhood and their treaty arrangements (such as the Kaswentha). But the Haudenosaunee also consist of different Indigenous nations — including my own, the Kanienʼkehá꞉ka — with each having their own unique manifestations of Indigenous knowledge, heritage and consciousness.
These different nations functioned in tandem with one another by forming allyships and sharing land.
Canada not a single, homogenous nation
Colonialist incursions by French, British and, later, Canadian authorities have disrupted how Indigenous notions of nationhood may be understood by Canadians.
Instead, the prevailing notion is that Canada is a single and somewhat homogenous nation. This might sound desirable to some and even idyllic, but it’s a myth.
Legal implications, reconciliation journey
Why does Indigenous nationhood have to do with an American president’s threats to Canadian sovereignty?
These principles are now, after generations of oversight and subjugation, finally allowing Indigenous nations to explore and enact approaches to self-determination and self-governance.
Trump’s threats imply that existing Canadian legal and constitutional frames would be abolished. They also suggest that the cultural and linguistic mores of Indigenous nations would be endangered even more than they have already been. The reconciliation journey — one that has been informed by the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada — would almost certainly be abandoned.
These treaties codify the relationship that these First Nations have with the government of Canada. There is a lot of work being done to better understand treaties in modern times. Treaty arrangements and ongoing efforts to better understand them would be terminated should Canada become the 51st American state.
Much has been achieved by Indigenous Peoples — sometimes in partnership with non-Indigenous people — to enhance their well-being and their place in the world to determine their way forward.
SOCIETE GENERALE ANNOUNCES RESULTS OF THE OFFER TO PURCHASE CERTAIN OF ITS DEBT SECURITIES
Press release
Paris, April 8, 2025
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO OR TO ANY PERSON LOCATED OR RESIDENT IN ANY JURISDICTION WHERE OR TO WHOM IT IS UNLAWFUL TO RELEASE, PUBLISH OR DISTRIBUTE THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.
Further to the announcement on April 1, 2025 of the launch of an offer to purchase for cash (the “Offer”) any and all of its outstanding Undated Deeply Subordinated Resettable Interest Rate Notes referred to below (the “Notes”), Societe Generale today announces the results of the Offer.
The expiration time for the Offer was 5:00 p.m. (New York City time) on April 7, 2025.
According to information provided by the Tender and Information Agent for the Offer, $710,342,000 aggregate principal amount of the Notes were validly tendered at or prior to the expiration time and not withdrawn.
The following table sets forth the aggregate principal amount of Notes validly tendered and not withdrawn in the Offer at or prior to the expiration time:
CUSIP No.
ISIN
Title of Security
Tender Offer Consideration
Aggregate Principal Amount Tendered
Aggregate principal amount accepted
Aggregate principal amount reflected in Notices of Guaranteed Delivery
(1) The amount to be paid for each $1,000 principal amount of Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn and accepted for purchase, excluding accrued and unpaid interest.
In total, $710,342,000 aggregate principal amount of Notes have been accepted for purchase (no Notes were delivered using the guaranteed delivery procedures).
Societe Generale expects to pay on the settlement date the Tender Offer Consideration plus accrued and unpaid interest from the last interest payment date up to, but not including, the settlement date, for Notes validly tendered prior to the expiration time and accepted purchase pursuant to the Offer. The settlement date is expected to be on or about April 10, 2025.
Societe Generale intends to cancel the repurchased Notes. Notes that have not been validly tendered and accepted for purchase pursuant to the Offer will remain outstanding. Following the settlement date, Notes in a principal amount of $539,658,000 will remain outstanding.
Capitalized terms used but not otherwise defined in this announcement have the meaning given to them in the offer to purchase dated April 1, 2025 (the “Offer to Purchase”) and the related notice of guaranteed delivery (the “Notice of Guaranteed Delivery” and, together with the Offer to Purchase, the “Offer Documents”).
Questions regarding the Offer may be directed to the Dealer Managers and the Tender and Information Agent at the contact details set forth below.
Societe Generale is a top tier European Bank with around 119,000 employees serving more than 26 million clients in 62 countries across the world. We have been supporting the development of our economies for 160 years, providing our corporate, institutional, and individual clients with a wide array of value-added advisory and financial solutions. Our long-lasting and trusted relationships with the clients, our cutting-edge expertise, our unique innovation, our ESG capabilities and leading franchises are part of our DNA and serve our most essential objective – to deliver sustainable value creation for all our stakeholders.
The Group runs three complementary sets of businesses, embedding ESG offerings for all its clients:
French Retail, Private Banking and Insurance, with leading retail bank SG and insurance franchise, premium private banking services, and the leading digital bank BoursoBank.
Global Banking and Investor Solutions, a top tier wholesale bank offering tailored-made solutions with distinctive global leadership in equity derivatives, structured finance and ESG.
Mobility, International Retail Banking and Financial Services, comprising well-established universal banks (in Czech Republic, Romania and several African countries), Ayvens (the new ALD I LeasePlan brand), a global player in sustainable mobility, as well as specialized financing activities.
Committed to building together with its clients a better and sustainable future, Societe Generale aims to be a leading partner in the environmental transition and sustainability overall. The Group is included in the principal socially responsible investment indices: DJSI (Europe), FTSE4Good (Global and Europe), Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index, Refinitiv Diversity and Inclusion Index, Euronext Vigeo (Europe and Eurozone), STOXX Global ESG Leaders indexes, and the MSCI Low Carbon Leaders Index (World and Europe).
In case of doubt regarding the authenticity of this press release, please go to the end of the Group News page on societegenerale.com website where official Press Releases sent by Societe Generale can be certified using blockchain technology. A link will allow you to check the document’s legitimacy directly on the web page.
This announcement must be read in conjunction with the Offer to Purchase. This announcement and the Offer to Purchase contain important information which should be read carefully before any decision is made with respect to the Offer. If any qualifying holder is in any doubt as to the contents of this announcement, the Offer to Purchase or the action it should take, it is recommended to seek its own financial, legal, regulatory and tax advice, including in respect of any tax consequences, immediately from its broker, bank manager, solicitor, accountant or other independent financial, tax or legal adviser.
Cegedim:Release of its 2024 Universal Registration Document
Boulogne-Billancourt, April 8, 2025
Cegedim, an innovative technology and services company,announcesthat its2024UniversalRegistration Document(in French) has been published in compliance withAutoritédesMarchésFinanciers (AMF) regulations onApril7, 2025, under the number:D.25-0233. The reportis availablefree of charge:
At the company headquarters
Cegedim, Financial Department, 137 rue d’Aguesseau, 92100 Boulogne Billancourt
– The 2024 consolidated financial statements of the Group;
‐ The 2024 statutory financial statements of Cegedim S.A.;
‐ The related auditors’ reports on the consolidated and the statutory financial statements;
‐ The 2024 management report including notably the Sustainability statement;
– The certification report on the Sustainability statement;
‐ The Board of Directors’ report on corporate governance;
‐ Information regarding internal control and risk management;
‐ The draft resolutions submitted to the Shareholders’ Meeting of 13 June 2025;
‐ Information regarding fees paid to the Statutory Auditors.
Shareholders’ agenda: Q1 2025 revenue – Thursday 24 April 2025
About Cegedim: Founded in 1969, Cegedim is an innovative technology and services group in the field of digital data flow management for healthcare ecosystems and B2B, and a business software publisher for healthcare and insurance professionals. Cegedim employs nearly 6,700 people in more than 10 countries and generated revenue of over €654 million in 2024. Cegedim SA is listed in Paris (EURONEXT: CGM). To learn more please visit: www.cegedim.fr And follow Cegedim on X: @Cegedimgroup, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
Aude Balleydier Cegedim Media Relations and Communications Manager
April 7, 2025 – Montreal – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)
April 16 is National Canadian Film Day. Of course, nfb.ca is all about Canadian films all the time, streaming free of charge. Throughout the month of April, viewers can explore three new documentaries on hard-hitting subjects, all made by women directors.
Seguridad, by Tamara Segura, sees the director explore her father’s troubled past and its connection to the Cuban Revolution.
A Losing Game, from Jenny Cartwright, examines the ways in which the Quebec electoral system is dysfunctional—a topical film as an election campaign is in full swing.
The themed channel Our Planet in Focus will mark Earth Day, April 22, featuring over 60 films about the environment.
Remember, nfb.ca is home to more than 7,000 streaming films and a collection of over 100 interactive works.
Starting April 7
Am I the skinniest person you’ve ever seen? by Eisha Marjara (Compass Productions/9466-7565 Québec/NFB) Documentary (24 min 6 s) / Press kit
In this deeply personal short doc by Quebec director Eisha Marjara, dieting together seems like fun for two sisters—until their project takes a dark turn and Eisha, consumed by anorexia, is pushed to the very brink of death. The film sheds new light on the complex subject of eating disorders.
Once dubbed “Cuba’s youngest soldier” in a militia publicity stunt, Newfoundland-based filmmaker Tamara Segura uncovers family secrets and portrays her troubled relationship with her father. A rare glimpse into the inner lives of Cubans in the post-revolutionary era.
The film was selected to screen at Hot Docs and won an award at the Atlantic International Film Festival.
English Collection Curator Camilo Martín-Flórez is publishing a new blog poston April15. “The Latina-Canadian Gaze” shines a spotlight on the new wave of Latina-Canadian filmmakers who’ve directed NFB-produced films over the past decade, including Segura.
Starting April 24
A Losing Game by Jenny Cartwright (2025, NFB) Documentary (98 min) / Press kit
A Losing Game follows three people who ran for office in the 2022 Quebec provincial election, casting a critical eye on this system. For most, the race is over before it even begins. But, thanks to the way the electoral system is set up, the big losers are the rest of us.
The doc had its world premiere as the opening film of the 2025 Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma.
Marking Earth Day, April 22
Channel:Our Planet in Focus – NFB This channel presents documentaries and animated films on environmental topics, selected from the many fascinating productions about these subjects in the NFB’s collection. Watch recent films like Kevin McMahon’s Borealis or classics like Bill Mason’s Cry of the Wild.
French Collection Curator Marc St-Pierre’s latest blog post, available soon, takes a look at climate change as depicted in three compelling films. He examines perspectives drawn from Nova Ami and Velcrow Ripper’s Metamorphosis (2018), Jennifer Abbott’s The Magnitude of All Things (2020) and Leanne Allison’s Losing Blue (2023).
A simulated exercise reveals much about the proliferation and circulation of AI-generated content.(Shutterstock)
On March 8, the Conservative campaign team released a video of Pierre Poilievre on social media that drew unusual questions from some viewers. To many, Poilievre’s French sounded a little too smooth, and his complexion looked a little too perfect. The video had what’s known as an “uncanny valley” effect, causing some to wonder if the Poilievre they were seeing was even real.
Before long, the comments section filled with speculation: was this video AI-generated? Even a Liberal Party video mocking Poilievre’s comments led followers to ask why the Conservatives’ video sounded “so dubbed” and whether it was made with AI.
The ability to discern real from fake is seriously in jeopardy.
Poilievre’s smooth video offers an early answer to an open question: How might generative AI affect our election cycle? Our research team at Concordia University created a simulation to experiment with this question.
From a deepfake Mark Carney to AI-assisted fact-checkers, our preliminary results suggest that generative AI is not quite going to break elections, but it is likely to make them weirder.
Red teaming is a type of exercise that allows organizations to simulate attacks on their critical digital infrastructures and processes. It involves two teams — the attacking red team and the defending blue team. These exercises can help uncover vulnerability points within systems or defences and practice ways of correcting them.
Red-teaming has become a major part of cybersecurity and AI development. Here, developers and organizations stress-test their software and digital systems to understand how hackers or other “bad actors” might try to manipulate or crash them.
Fraudulent Futures
Our simulation, called Fraudulent Futures, attempted to evaluate AI’s impact on Canada’s political information cycle.
Four days into the ongoing federal election campaign, we ran the first test. A group of ex-journalists, cybersecurity experts and graduate students were pitted against each other to see who could leverage free AI tools best to push their agenda in a simulated social media environment based on our past research.
Hosted on a private Mastodon server securely shielded from public eyes, our two-hour long simulation quickly descended into silence as players played out their different roles on our simulated servers. Some played far-right influencers, others monarchists to make noise or journalists to cover events online. Players and organizers alike learned about generative AI’s capacity to create disinformation, and the difficulties faced by stakeholders trying to combat it.
Players connected to the server through their laptops and familiarized themselves with the dozens of free AI tools at their disposal. Shortly after, we shared an incriminating voice clone of Carney, created with an easily accessible online AI tool.
The Red Team was instructed to amplify the disinformation, while the Blue Team was directed to verify its authenticity and, if they determined it to be fake, mitigate the harm.
The Blue Team began testing the audio through AI detection tools and tried to publicize it was a fake. But for the Red Team, this hardly mattered. Fact-checking posts were quickly drowned out by a constant slew of new memes and fake images of angry Canadian voters denouncing Carney.
Whether the Carney clip was a deepfake or not didn’t really matter. The fact that we couldn’t tell for sure was enough to fuel endless online attacks.
Easily available and free AI tools can be used to generate and promote misinformation at an overwhelming rate. (Shutterstock)
Learning from an exercise
Our simulation purposefully exaggerated the information cycle. Yet the experience of trying to disrupt regular electoral processes was highly informative as a research method. Our research team found three major takeaways from the exercise:
1. Generative AI is easy to use for disruption
Many online AI tools claim to safeguard against generating content on elections and public figures. Despite those safeguards, players noted these tools would still generate political content.
The overall quality of the content produced was easy to distinguish as AI-generated. Yet, one of our players noted how simple it was “to generate and spam as much content as possible in order to muddy the waters on the digital landscape.”
2. AI detection tools won’t save us
AI detection tools can only go so far. They are rarely conclusive, and they may even take precedence over common sense. Players noted that even when they knew content was fake, they still felt they “needed to find the tool that would give the answer [they] want” to lend credibility to their interventions.
Most telling was how journalists on the Blue Team turned toward faulty detection tools over their own investigative work, a sign that users may be letting AI detection usurp journalistic skill.
With higher-quality content available in real-world situations, there might be a role for specialized AI detection tools in journalistic and election security processes — despite complex challenges — but these tools should not replace other investigative methods.
However, detection tools will likely only contribute to spreading uncertainty because of the lack of standards and confidence in their assessments.
It is unlikely that the mass availability of generative AI will cause an overwhelming influx of high-quality deceptive content. These types of deepfakes will likely come from more organized, funded and specialized groups engaged in election interference.
Democracy in the age of AI
A major takeaway from our simulation was that the proliferation of AI slop and the stoking of uncertainty and distrust are easy to accomplish at a spam-like scale with freely accessible online tools and little to no prior knowledge or preparation.
Our red-teaming experiment was a first attempt to see how participants might use generative AI in elections. We’ll be working to improve and re-run the simulation to include the broader information cycle, with a particular eye towards better simulating Blue Team co-operation in the hopes of reflecting real-world efforts by journalists, election officials, political parties and others to uphold election integrity.
We anticipate that the Poilievre debate is just the beginning of a long string of incidents to come, where AI distorts our ability to discern the real from the fake. While everyone can play a role in combatting disinformation, hands-on experience and game-based media literacy have proven to be valuable tools. Our simulation proposes a new and engaging way to explore the impacts of AI on our media ecosystem.
Robert Marinov received funding from the Center for the Study of Democratic Citizenship and Concordia University’s Applied AI Institute for this research.
Colleen McCool received funding from the Center for the Study of Democratic Citizenship and Concordia University’s Applied AI Institute for this research.
Fenwick McKelvey receives funding from the Center for the Study of Democratic Citizenship. Research has been supported Concordia University’s Applied AI Institute and the Technoculture, Art and Games (TAG) centre at the Milieux Institute.
Roxanne Bisson receives funding from the Center for the Study of Democratic Citizenship and Concordia University’s Applied AI Institute for this research.
No candidate has talked about a tax issue that is essential for life in free and democratic societies: tax literacy. If Canada is to maintain an informed, financially responsible and democratic society, tax literacy must become part of the national conversation.
A longstanding idea with modern relevance
The notion of tax literacy has been gaining traction in recent years, but it’s far from a new idea.
One of the earliest advocates for tax literacy and education was Charles Montesquieu, a French judge and political philosopher of the Enlightenment.
Portrait of Charles Montesquieu by an anonymous artist. (Wikimedia Commons)
First, he was convinced that knowledge about taxation was necessary to defend oneself against the corruption and abuse that characterized private tax collectors, known at the time as tax farmers.
Second, he believed education in democratic societies could enhance people’s sense of responsibility for public affairs and help hold authorities accountable for their actions. In his view, tax literacy and education were instrumental in how societies organized themselves for the common good.
More than 275 years later, Montesquieu’s argument remains just as relevant.
There are important reasons to treat tax literacy as a national priority. It helps people understand and navigate federal, provincial and municipal taxes, recognize the social importance of taxation and responsibly exercise their rights. It also allows people to manage their financial affairs according to the law.
Tax literacy is also instrumental in contesting economic populism, a political approach that claims to represent the interests of “ordinary people” against perceived elites, often by oversimplifying complex issues like taxation.
While Canada has done considerable work to further financial literacy since 2001, tax literacy has received far less attention from both authorities and scholars.
In fact, only two peer-reviewed studies have examined tax literacy in Canada. Published in 2016 and 2020, these studies analyze tax literacy within the context of financial literacy and mostly in relation to the income tax.
Similar to financial literacy, the authors of these studies define tax literacy as “having the knowledge, skills and confidence to make responsible tax decisions.”
Taxes are far more than mandatory payments to government. Recognizing this enables citizens to actively participate in decision-making processes and hold governments accountable.
The fiscal dimension also broadens public understanding beyond the income tax. On one hand, it helps people interact with tax authorities beyond the CRA, including those administered by provinces, municipalities and First Nations.
On the other hand, it helps citizens better understand public budgets and recognize that while income tax is an important source of revenue, it is not the only one.
Tax literacy must become a national priority in Canada, and public institutions must lead this process. To move in this direction, Canada’s public institutions should:
1) Adopt a holistic approach to tax literacy that includes both the fiscal and financial dimensions.
4) Lead the production of education resources to ensure a holistic approach. Education resources produced or sponsored by the private sector tend to focus on individual responsibility and frame financial choices in moral terms without considering broader social contexts.
Now is the time for Canada to write a different chapter. By advancing tax literacy, both authorities and society as a whole can strengthen democracy and build a more informed public.
Esteban Vallejo Toledo receives funding from the Law Commission of Canada Emerging Scholars Program. He has previously received funding from SSHRC, LFBC, and UVic.
Samsung Electronics today announced an update to its global connected living platform, SmartThings — further enhancing the AI Home experience. SmartThings introduces new features and improvements each quarter to deliver a more convenient and seamlessly connected lifestyle for users.
The highlight of this update is the integration of SmartThings with Samsung Health, designed to improve users’ sleep environments while enabling more personalized automation experiences. The update also expands Calm Onboarding to support a wider range of devices and adds compatibility with the Matter 1.4 standard.
“SmartThings’ latest update represents our ongoing efforts to make the smart home more intuitive, connected and personalized,” said Jaeyeon Jung, Executive Vice President and Head of SmartThings at Samsung Electronics. “We’re excited to continue pushing the boundaries of smart home innovation by empowering users though enhanced personalization and automation, including sleep wellness.”
Samsung Newsroom outlines some of the key changes below.
▲ (Left) A sleep environment summary card displayed in Galaxy Now Briefing, (Right) a detailed sleep environment report
▲ (Left) The automation routine setup screen with Samsung TV Plus actions, (Right) a broadcasting feature using SmartThings linked speakers
* The UI in the above image may differ from the actual app screen or may be subject to change.
Smarter Sleep Environments With Samsung Health Integration
Sleep environment reports1 from Samsung Health on Galaxy devices help users create optimal conditions for rest by providing detailed insights into key factors — such as temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide levels and light intensity — through connected devices and sensors. These reports summarize the previous night’s sleep conditions and offer personalized suggestions for improvement.
When paired with a Galaxy Watch or Galaxy Ring, the latest update enables SmartThings to automatically adjust the environment based on the user’s actual sleep and wake times.2 For example, routines can be set to turn off lights and the TV at bedtime or to open curtains and play music in the morning.
Greater Flexibility With SmartThings Routines
With the latest update, SmartThings now supports automation routines based on recurring schedules — weekly, monthly or annual — offering added flexibility for a variety of scenarios. For instance, users can automatically change the color of smart lights to celebrate special occasions like family birthdays.
In addition, SmartThings routines now integrate with Samsung TV Plus on 2025 Samsung TV models. This allows users to include entertainment preferences in their smart home routines — whether it’s setting the TV to turn on the news in the morning or switching to a favorite channel at a preset time to ensure they don’t miss a show.
Broadcasting via SmartThings-Connected Speakers
A new broadcasting feature allows users to send voice messages across SmartThings-connected speakers, making in-home communication more convenient. For example, if a parent is away and sends a voice message through the SmartThings app — “I’ll be home soon, but have a snack from the fridge if you’re hungry” — it will automatically play on the designated home speaker. With real-time message delivery, families can stay connected no matter where they are.
Expanding Calm Onboarding to More Devices
Samsung has offered the Calm Onboarding3 feature since late 2023, streamlining setup for Samsung home appliances purchased through Samsung.com or official Samsung stores by linking the entire product journey — from order and delivery to connection with the SmartThings app.
In the latest SmartThings update, Samsung is expanding Calm Onboarding beyond its own products to include compatible third-party smart home devices for a more seamless and intuitive connectivity experience. Users who purchase SmartThings-compatible smart home devices directly from Samsung.com will now receive purchase and delivery updates within the SmartThings app. Additionally, users will receive step-by-step onboarding instructions to simplify product setup. The rollout will begin in Korea, with plans to expand to other countries.4
Matter 1.4 Support
SmartThings continues to advance the IoT landscape by expanding its support for Matter 1.4. The latest version of the standard includes a wide range of energy management devices — such as water heater, heat pump, solar power device, battery storage device, mounted on/off control switch and mounted dimmable load control device. These newly supported device categories build on existing popular device types like lights, thermostats, switches, air conditioners, air purifiers, fans, door locks and more.
By integrating AI-powered routines, broadening device compatibility and adopting the latest Matter standard, SmartThings reinforces its ongoing commitment to innovation — making the connected home more intelligent, energy-efficient and seamless for users and their families.
1 The Sleep environment report feature is available on Samsung Galaxy smartphones running One UI 7.0 or later and Samsung Health version 6.29 or later. Availability may expand in the future. For more information on compatible devices that can measure sleep environments, refer to the Sleep condition report under the “How to Use” section in the SmartThings app.2 Setting routines based on sleep conditions may not be supported in certain countries. This feature is available on Samsung Galaxy smartphones with One UI 7.0 or Samsung Health version 6.29 or later, with plans for future expansion. A connected device capable of detecting sleep and wakefulness — such as Galaxy Watch4/5/6/7, Galaxy Watch Ultra, Galaxy Fit3 and Galaxy Ring — is required. For more information, refer to the “Accessories” section in the sleep tab of the Samsung Health app.3 As of April 2025, the Calm Onboarding feature for Samsung products is available in 14 countries including Korea, the United States, Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom. Further expansion is planned throughout the year.4 This support is planned for countries where the IoT Marketplace, which sells SmartThings compatible smart home devices on Samsung.com, is available. It will be first applied in Korea and gradually expanded to other countries.
US President Donald Trump’s April 2 announcement of sweeping new tariffs against numerous countries isn’t just driven by (already questionable) economic reasoning. It reflects the deeply adversarial worldview embraced by the current occupant of the White House.
Since returning to the presidency, Trump has unleashed a new wave of tariffs unprecedented in scope. Traditional allies and strategic rivals are now under the same banner, marking a radical shift in Washington’s trade policy that hardens positions taken in Trump’s first term, amplifying them with an unbridled display of power.
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Tariffs thus become the weapons of a nationalist crusade, where every import is an attack on sovereignty, and every export a symbolic act of reconquest.
An authoritarian vision of international trade
Trump’s trade doctrine is part of a broader strategy defined by confrontation, centralised executive power and a neo-imperial view of the global economy. His tariff measures go far beyond protecting domestic industry: they aim to reshape the global order according to his own interpretation of national interest. This second act of the Trumpist revolution is not a rerun, but an escalation – one based on authoritarian ambitions, the rejection of multilateralism (as seen in the administration’s utter disdain for the World Trade Organization, and the glorification of raw sovereignty.
The supposed economic logic behind these policies is as flimsy as it is revealing. The chosen calculation method – dividing the bilateral trade deficit by import volumes – is little more than a blunt instrument to go after countries the US runs a deficit with. Officially, it’s about cutting trade deficits, bringing jobs back and raising revenue. But the real agenda runs deeper: consolidating presidential power and replacing global cooperation with a doctrine of economic domination.
Tariffs as tools of power and messaging
Trump’s first term has shown the limits of this strategy. The trade war with China, in particular, triggered price hikes for consumers, disrupted supply chains and severely hurt US agricultural exporters. One study found that US consumers bore the brunt of these costs, with an average 1% increase in the prices of manufactured goods.
Trump doesn’t behave like a traditional head of state operating within a multilateral framework. He acts more like a lone ruler, dispensing rewards and punishments to serve his political – or even personal – agenda. Tariffs, in this context, function as much as media stunts as they do economic instruments. Branded as “reciprocal tariffs”, they construct a simplified and powerful narrative: that of a crusader who corrects the wrongs inflicted on citizens betrayed by free trade.
This message hits home with workers in industries like auto manufacturing. It offers up convenient villains – China, Europe, and the domestic elite who support free trade. Trade policy is no longer about negotiation; it’s about retribution. In this worldview, the spike in tariffs isn’t just an economic manoeuvre – it’s a statement of sovereignty, even of symbolic power.
From personal obsession to state doctrine
Trump’s protectionism is not an overnight development, but part of a long-standing obsession. As early as 1987, he railed against Japan’s trade surpluses with the US and called for steep tariffs on Tokyo. He spoke of the US being “ripped off” and showed a near-paranoid fear of national humiliation or betrayal. At its core, this reflects a deep-seated drive to reassert dominance – to “win” in a world he views as inherently hostile and conflictual. It’s one of the few constants in Trump’s worldview, given his lack of ideological consistency and frequent U-turns on other issues.
Today, everything is reframed as a question of sovereignty: rare earths, strategic minerals, data flows, shipping lanes. This worldview echoes the imperialist pivot of the late 19th century, especially under US president William McKinley (1897–1901) – a figure Trump pointedly invoked in his second inaugural address.
This logic also helps explain some of his most provocative gestures: stating he wants to buy Greenland, putting pressure on Canada in hopes of access to its natural resources, and eyeing Ukraine’s mining potential. The underlying idea is blunt and unmistakeable: resources are finite, and you’d better grab your share before someone else does. In this zero-sum game, where one country’s gain is another’s loss, cooperation gives way to conquest.
The rise of techno-nationalist mercantilism?
In this worldview, competition isn’t seen as a source of innovation – it’s a threat to be eliminated. The aim isn’t to make America more competitive, but to sabotage the competitiveness of others. The US no longer presents itself – even rhetorically – as a democratic nation playing by the rules of global markets. Instead, it acts like a corporation determined to secure monopoly power.
This authoritarian shift resonates with key Trumpist thinkers. Peter Thiel, a mentor to US Vice President JD Vance, famously declared that “capitalism and competition are opposites”, championing monopoly as the ultimate goal. Cuts to the federal government and sweeping deregulation aren’t about unleashing free markets – they’re about consolidating control and asserting dominance.
The aim now is to sidestep global systems, not to integrate them – to build an imperial-style autarky where the US controls a closed sphere of influence, shielded from outside competition. This is mercantilism reimagined for the digital age: instead of gold and silver, the currency is data, infrastructure, dollars and crypto currency. Cooperation gives way to coercion.
Toward an authoritarian international order – or a political disaster?
The April 2 announcement is far more than an economic decision. It’s a bold political statement – a deliberate move toward a new world order rooted in strength and loyalty, rather than law and cooperation.
There’s undeniable continuity with Trump’s first term. But this time, the scale, radicalism and concentration of power represent a decisive escalation. Trump increasingly treats the state as his personal property – or a private business – what some have aptly called “patrimonialism”. He is shaping an authoritarian model in which trade becomes a weapon in a new kind of global cold war, driven by fear of decline and an obsession with control. In this logic, prosperity is no longer a shared national goal – it’s a privilege reserved for those in power.
This trajectory could become politically explosive, especially as Trump faces falling markets and looming inflation – both threatening a weakening of his presidency. If he doubles down despite sinking approval ratings, Republican lawmakers may be forced – under pressure from their voters and donors – to finally push back and reassert their constitutional role. Early signs of dissent within the Republican Party are already surfacing, alongside public anger that remains scattered – but is growing harder to ignore.
Jérôme Viala-Gaudefroy ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d’une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n’a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.
PARIS, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Paris Blockchain Week (PBW) 2025 officially opened today at the Carrousel du Louvre, drawing global attention as Europe’s most influential gathering for blockchain and Web3 innovation. As an official sponsor, BYDFi marked its fifth anniversary with a major reveal—debuting its brand-new on-chain trading platform, MoonX, for the first time on an international stage.
With more than 10,000 attendees on site—including industry leaders, developers, and innovators—PBW’s opening day buzzed with energy. BYDFi’s booth (#44) quickly became one of the hottest spots, with a steady stream of visitors exploring the future of Web3 trading. The timing couldn’t have been more fitting: MoonX’s unveiling aligned perfectly with BYDFi’s five-year milestone, adding an extra layer of significance to the launch.
“Our fifth anniversary marks a new beginning,” said Michael, CMO of BYDFi. “MoonX isn’t just a trading platform—it’s our statement of intent for the future of Web3. We’re excited to unveil it here in Paris and connect with pioneers from around the world shaping the crypto economy.”
“Crypto Travel Challenge” Sparks Global Excitement
To celebrate its anniversary and kick off PBW with energy, BYDFi launched its “Crypto Travel Challenge”—a hybrid online-offline campaign inspired by the brand’s five-year journey. On site, attendees scanned QR codes at the booth to complete missions and claim exclusive “Crypto Voyager Backpacks” and limited-edition BYDFi merch. The prize line stretched long, as excitement spread throughout the venue.
Meanwhile, online participants joined from around the world by following BYDFi’s official X account (@BYDFi_Official), reposting the challenge, and tagging #BYDFiPBW2025 to enter giveaways. The global crypto community responded with enthusiasm.
One lucky winner from France said, “I got the Crypto Voyager backpack and tested out MoonX—this trip to Paris was more than worth it!”
The campaign brought the BYDFi community closer together and turned the booth into a vibrant hub where innovation and interaction met.
PBW 2025: A Strong Start for BYDFi
Throughout the day, BYDFi’s booth welcomed a steady stream of crypto professionals, investors, and curious newcomers. Visitors demoed MoonX, engaged in real-time conversations about the MemeCoin market, and explored the next phase of on-chain trading. Nearby, a crypto-themed coffee bar added a relaxed touch, reinforcing BYDFi’s mission to bring warmth and personality to the digital finance space.
The Paris Blockchain Week journey has only just begun. With more surprises and sessions scheduled from April 9–10, BYDFi promises even more to come.
About BYDFi
Founded in 2020, BYDFi is one of Forbes’ Top 10 Global Crypto Exchanges, serving over 1,000,000 users worldwide. The platform holds multi-national MSB licenses, is a member of Korea’s CODE VASP Alliance, and leads the industry in compliance and transparency with a 1:1 asset reserve policy and regular Proof of Reserve reports.
The election’s first debate, on Sky News on Tuesday night, was disappointingly dull. Viewers who’d been following the campaign would have learned little. There was minimal spontaneity.
Among the 100 undecided voters in the room, 44 said Anthony Albanese won, 35 thought Peter Dutton came out ahead and 21 were undecided.
Both camps will be satisfied, because each leader’s main aim was to avoid disaster. A bad mistake, an undisciplined moment, can sour the following day.
The Liberals will be especially relieved. After difficult days for Dutton, with Trump wading into the campaign and the fiasco over the work-from-home policy, the opposition leader needed to perform creditably. He did that, with commentators scoring the result variously (in some cases in line with the scorer’s political leaning).
Dutton was under added pressure – just before the two men faced off he learned his father Bruce had been taken to hospital.
Both leaders were well prepared, and carefully polite. Questions canvassed the “Trump pandemic”, education, health, cost of living, immigration, Albanese’s tax cuts, Dutton’s fuel excise promise, and Gaza.
When moderator Kieran Gilbert asked audience members to raise their hands if they were “doing it pretty tough” about half did so.
Albanese seemed to have more material to work with, and made sure he homed in on Dutton’s nuclear policy and his time as health minister.
Naturally, we saw Albanese’s well-worn Medicare card again.
The PM dodged an awkward reference to NSW premier Chris Minns’ returning public servants to the office, pivoting to Dutton’s dumping his working from home policy. “Peter hasn’t been able to stand up for his own policy, so I don’t know how he can stand up for Australia.”
Albanese had a good zinger countering Dutton’s spiel on gas: “The only gas policy that the Coalition have is the gaslighting of the Australia public.”
Dutton had a cut-through point on the PM’s promise to subsidise solar batteries. “He’s asking you to provide a subsidy or to support a subsidy for people on higher incomes like me to buy a battery at a subsidised price and I don’t believe that’s fair.”
Rather bizarrely, the Coalition used the cover of the debate to release its delayed modelling for its gas reservation policy, sending it out just as the debate started, embargoed until its finish.
“Modelling conducted by Frontier Economics has concluded that the Coalition’s National Gas Plan will see a 23% reduction in wholesale gas prices,” the statement said. This would “progressively mean
15% reduction in retail gas bills for industrial customers
7% reduction in retail gas bills for residential customers
8% reduction in wholesale electricity prices
3% reduction in residential electricity prices.”
And do the debates matter anyway?
Australian election debates are punctuation points in the campaign. They don’t necessarily carry much weight, although they can affect a candidate’s immediate momentum.
Ian McAllister, director of the ANU’s Australian Election Study, says fewer and fewer people are watching these debates. In 1993, about seven in ten voters watched; in 2022 only a third did.
McAllister also says our debates are low grade compared to some overseas. For example, in France, the two candidates sit across from each other, with two moderators and “go for it”. In Australia, debates are “stylised” and the candidates rely heavily on prepared answers.
Winning or losing the debates is not necessarily a guide to the election result. As the table shows John Howard performed better in elections than in debates.
NSW Premier Minns defends a back-to-the-office policy
Peter Dutton took a serious fall over his now-abandoned plan to force Canberra public servants back to the office. But Chris Minns already has many state bureaucrats back at their desks, and on Tuesday declared firmly he won’t be for turning.
The Minns policy, announced last year, admittedly has had a bumpy start, including problems with the unions. But Minns’ “sell” is very different from the Coalition’s unsuccessful attempt.
The federal opposition, which often seems obsessed with Canberra public servants, left the impression these bureaucrats working from home were ripping off the system and needed to be brought into line.
Contrast the positive spin from Minns on Tuesday. After noting most NSW public servants can’t work from home – they’re on the front line – for the rest: “We believe it’s the only way of mentoring the next generation of people, to come through offices and ensure that they’ve got good modelled behaviour, a sense of shared mission and an idea of where they’re going collectively together.
“In order for us to fulfil the mission of government and public service, it means that you’ve got to build a team culture. And that can really only be done in the workplace.
“I think our policy is different to Peter Dutton’s, but I just don’t want to mince words. We’ve got to be clear and consistent and we’re not changing our policy.
“I don’t want any ambiguity about our position. We made that call last year. It was the right decision. And in terms of the mentoring role that a senior person plays in a workplace, whether they’re a manager or not, if they’ve got years under their belt and they’ve got experience, it’s amazing the positive impact they will have on a junior recruit that we’ve just got into the public service and that doesn’t happen on zoom and it doesn’t happen on YouTube and it doesn’t happen over the phone.”
Minns has consistently proved himself a strong communicator. He often ran rings around Anthony Albanese in responding to the antisemitism crisis.
Jim Chalmers does the rounds on the tariff crisis
Treasurer Jim Chalmers is making the most of incumbency in the wake of the Trump tariff upheaval, undertaking an intense round of official activity.
Chalmers will convene a meeting on Wednesday of the Council of Financial Regulators to discuss the impact globally and locally. Those attending will include the heads of the Reserve Bank, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, Treasury and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
He will also meet the heads of the Future Fund and the ASX. On Thursday, he will have talks with major employers.
Chalmers has already convened and attended a Treasury briefing for the prime minister. He has talked with Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock, and been in touch with the CEOs of the major banks and superannuation funds representatives.
Chalmers is due to debate shadow treasurer Angus Taylor on Wednesday evening.
Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Sarah Feldstein Ewing, Vice Chair for Research in UConn School of Medicine’s psychiatry department, is fascinated by teen psychology. Why do teens make the choices they make? What factors influence their decision-making? And how can caregivers and counselors help support them in making healthy decisions?
Her research into these questions has spanned animpressive early careeracross multiple institutions. Now, Feldstein Ewing is the enthusiastic recipient of two major federal grants.
Pain and Teen Substance Use
Feldstein Ewing leads one of two sites receiving a combined $3,355,184 over five years from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) for a project exploring young adult use of cannabis and opioids. As an expert in adolescent substance use, Feldstein Ewing is partnering withAnna C. Wilson, a pediatric pain specialist. Wilson is a colleague at Feldstein Ewing’s former institution, Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU).
The study follows young people in Oregon, where underage cannabis use saw a significant uptick following state legalization of recreational adult cannabis use in 2015.
“Kids in Oregon were starting to make choices not to drink, but instead to use cannabis, because they were under the impression that it would not have been legalized if cannabis wasn’t safe,” says Feldstein Ewing.
Sarah Feldstein Ewing is the Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Psychiatry at UConn Health. (Courtesy photo)
At the same time, many teens and young adults are prescribed opioids at some point, whether due to a major injury or a routine procedure like wisdom teeth extraction. This means that co-use of cannabis and opioids is likely occurring for this age group.
But little is understood about the potential harms of using these two types of substances simultaneously, especially for young people. It is also unclear how effective and safe cannabis is for relieving pain in this age group, even though many young people reportself-medicating pain with cannabis.
The research team will be alerted to new opioid prescriptions for emerging adults via local medical record updates. From there, they can follow up with the patients to assess their pain and substance use history, as well as personal risk factors for substance use and related problems.
Patients will be monitored closely for two weeks after their initial opioid prescription, and will receive follow-up check-ins at regular intervals over the next two years. Throughout this time, the researchers will track their outcomes in terms of pain, mental health, andsubstance use. The central hypothesis is that pain experiences, as well as patterns of opioid and cannabis use in the acute pain period (immediately after the inciting medical event), will influence opioid use, cannabis use, and related problems over time.
“Often, for people who have opioidaddictionlater on, they talk about how they started when they got a prescription after a broken bone or some other medical event during their teen years,” Feldstein Ewing says.
The team will also explore psychosocial risk factors forsubstanceuseand related problems, like loneliness and depression.
“We just don’t know what goes into the choice around who uses what[substances],”Feldstein Ewing explains. “We do know that if you’re struggling with sadness and loneliness, you’re more likely to use cannabis and other substances, so we want to know, is that also true for prescription pain medication?”
Into the Hyperscanner
From the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), Feldstein Ewing has received a five-year grant totaling $2,737,888 to help determine the efficacy of group therapy for adolescents who are in counseling for alcohol use.
“Most kids get group therapy,” Feldstein Ewing says, “but even though group therapy is widely used, the data on how well it works and why are ambiguous at best.”
Part of the problem is that teens are uniquely influenced by what others think and say about them. Socially, this is a gift, Feldstein Ewing points out – it allows them to adapt to a variety of social environments, with greater ease than most adults – but it can be a hindrance in the context of group healing.
The research team is looking for iatrogenic effects, meaning effects that occur in the context of treatment.
Like an infection picked up at a hospital, harmful statements from peers in group therapy may lead to poorer therapeutic outcomes for teens. On the flip side, though, hearing positive encouragement from peers may provide a healing boost for this age group that is even greater than what adults would experience in the same type of behavioral treatment.
To test this hypothesis, the researchers are using a technique called hyperscanning, where MRI units are connected side by side so that two patients can interact with each other and be scanned simultaneously. The equipment is located at the University of Texas at Dallas, where Feldstein Ewing’s longtime neuroimaging collaborator and co-PI,Francesca Filbey, is a neuroscience professor.
In the scanner, each patient will hear negative and positive statements about their capacity to reduce or stop their drinking, in the voice of the other patient. These statements will come directly from their group therapy session, which will be recorded.
Then, the researchers can observe the real-time changes in the brain as the patients actively select each type of statement for their co-participating peer.
How does it feel to hear a disparaging remark about your perceived ability to stop drinking – even when it’s something you’ve heard countless times before? How does it feel to be encouraged by someone whose opinion you value? How much does that make you feel like you can change your drinking? Feldstein Ewing will be able to examine how these peer statements impact patients’ brains, as well as how these statements impact patients’ own perceived ability to change their behavior.
The researchers will also track the participants following their group therapy experiences to see how their drinking behavior changes or stays the same over the course of 12 months.
Toward Effective Interventions for Teens
Both these projects are geared toward designing better interventions for teens who are struggling with alcohol and substance use.
Currently, many young people receive the same therapy as adults. But Feldstein Ewing’s research has shown that this may be a “square peg, round hole” approach – what works for adults may be ineffective or even discouraging for adolescents.
With the insight gained from these projects, Feldstein Ewing will help pioneer new clinical strategies to revolutionize the field of teen substance use treatment.
The uveitis market in the seven major markets (7MM: the US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, and Japan) is set to grow from $522.5 billion in 2023 to $1.5 billion in 2033, driven by the entry of therapies with new mechanisms of action and route of administration into the market, as well as the growth of the uveitis population, forecasts GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
GlobalData’s latest report, “Uveitis: Opportunity Assessment and Forecast,” reveals that the growth will be supported by the anticipated launch of six novel pipeline agents, two of which are projected to launch across the 7MM, coupled with the growing uveitis population throughout the forecast period.
Sara Reci, MSc, Managing Pharma Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “While the use of corticosteroids are well-established in the uveitis space, their side effects profile makes them fall short. The key opinion leaders (KOLs) interviewed by GlobalData emphasized that the most pressing unmet needs in the management of uveitis included improving the safety and side-effect profile, longer acting therapies, drugs with other mechanisms of action, and greater awareness and education of physicians.”
Looking ahead, the late-stage pipeline products that are anticipated to reach the uveitis market during the forecast period will introduce new mechanisms of action.
These include Tarsier Pharma’s TRS-01, an angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 activator, neuropilin-1 antagonist, and toll like receptor family inhibitor administered as eye drops; Priovant Therapeutics’ PF-06700841-15 (brepocitinib tosylate), a non receptor tyrosine protein kinase TYK2 inhibitor and tyrosine protein kinase JAK1 inhibitor administered orally; Eli Lilly’s Olumiant (baricitinib), a tyrosine protein kinase JAK1 inhibitor, tyrosine protein kinase JAK2 inhibitor, administered orally; Kiora Pharmaceuticals’ KIO-104, a dihydroorotate dehydrogenase quinone mitochondrial inhibitor, administered intravitreally; and Roche’s EBI-031 (vamikibart), an IL-6 inhibitor administered intravitreally.
Furthermore, Oculis Holding’s OCS-02 (licaminlimab), a TNF inhibitor in late-stage pipeline development, introduces the first monoclonal antibody with an ophthalmic route of administration into the uveitis space.
Reci continues: “All in all, these late-stage pipeline candidates are of great benefit within the uveitis space, especially in the cases of patients who do not respond well to existing treatment options.”
While the uveitis market is projected to grow in the forecast period across the 7MM, it may face some challenges. KOLs have noted that despite the side effects associated with corticosteroids, they have a proven track record in being effective and quick-acting.
Reci concludes: “Pipeline agents will face difficulty in proving that their efficacy matches that of corticosteroids. Furthermore, an anticipated high cost of therapy associated with pipeline agents may impact the drugs’ shares of the market once they reach the uveitis market. Nonetheless, the launch of late-stage pipeline therapies with new mechanisms of action, routes of administration, and longer treatment intervals will undoubtedly be a driving force for market growth in the uveitis space.”
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Press release
West Yorkshire manufacturer opens factory and expands global reach with UKEF support
Rosehill Polymers Group has opened a new factory in Sowerby Bridge following a previous financing agreement with UK Export Finance (UKEF) and Virgin Money.
The company now exports directly to over 60 countries, through an established network of distributors and end customers.
The financing is also supporting apprenticeship schemes and university placements in West Yorkshire, helping to develop the region’s future manufacturing workforce.
Founded in 1988, Rosehill Polymers Group is a UK manufacturer of high-performance polymer systems using recycled rubber. Its solutions are widely used across sectors such as highways, rail, energy, sport, and security infrastructure.
In 2023, UKEF, the UK government’s export credit agency, issued a credit guarantee for Rosehill under its General Export Facility. This unlocked new financing from Virgin Money, enabling Rosehill to scale its operations and invest in global growth.
Thanks in part to this financing, the company has now expanded its direct export markets from 52 to over 60 countries and opened a second factory in Sowerby Bridge. This reflects strong international demand and the versatility of its solutions across diverse applications.
In 2024–25 alone, Rosehill used the new financing to break into nine new export markets, including Chile, Colombia, the Cayman Islands, South Africa, Angola, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iraq, and Romania.
Further growth is anticipated in 2025, with market entries planned in Argentina, Bolivia, Panama, Suriname, French Guiana, Namibia, Malaysia, Croatia, Latvia, and Singapore.
With around 100 staff based at its West Yorkshire site, including in-house chemists and technical specialists, Rosehill continues to invest in skills through apprenticeships and university placements, ensuring a strong foundation for the future.
UKEF’s support has been instrumental in helping Rosehill drive sustainable manufacturing growth, expand its international footprint, and contribute to the UK’s global trade ambitions under the government’s Plan for Change.
Alexander Celik, CEO at Rosehill Polymers Group, said:
“Rosehill has an established history of exporting our products to several developed key markets. However, as competition within the sector increases, it is more important than ever to mirror this success elsewhere. Working with UKEF has not only enabled us to tap into the potential held within Latin America, Southeast Asia and Europe, but also expand our innovative product offering to even more customers worldwide.
“As we enter this next exciting phase of growth, our attention turns to meeting global demand, all while providing opportunities for people across Yorkshire. Our apprenticeship and placement schemes lay at the heart of what we do, and as we expand our overseas footprint, we hope to see this result in increased opportunities to attract the best talent to the industry.”
Alissia Deane, West Yorkshire Export Finance Manager at UKEF, said:
“The support provided to Rosehill Polymers highlights UKEF’s commitment to helping British SMEs achieve growth in overseas markets – something which in turn supports economic growth across the UK.
“It’s fantastic to see how our support ended up helping Rosehill to reach new export markets and develop jobs and talent in the local manufacturing industry.”
Craig Wilson, Head of FX Sales & Trade Finance at Virgin Money, said:
“Rosehill are a fabulous example of a successful and innovative UK manufacturing business growing their customer base through the world, and in the process growing their workforce locally.
“We are proud to be a key partner of Rosehill and provide some of the international tools and expertise to help them to continue to grow their already impressive international success. The current deal in conjunction with UK Export Finance is another great example of collaboration between Virgin Money and UKEF to support customers trading internationally.”
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
LCSD’s “Hong Kong Artists” Series to present cross-genre arts performance “Soundscape Impressions” in May The first half of the programme opens with Debussy’s “Sonata in G minor, L. 140” and Saint-Saëns’s “Suite for Cello and Piano, Op.16”, paired with the paintings of small animals and natural scenery of the four seasons respectively to highlight the resonance between music and painting. It is followed by Ravel’s piano four-hand work “‘Ma Mère l’Oye’ (The Mother Goose) Suite”, inviting audiences into a whimsical fairytale world through the interplay of melodies and painting images. The second half features Ravel’s “Piano Trio in A minor” accompanied by paintings depicting the Hong Kong cityscape, which further explores the boundless possibilities of cross-genre artistic inspiration. This fusion also allows audiences to appreciate and interpret classical music and paintings from multiple perspectives.
Lee is currently the Honorary Artist-in-Residence of the Education University of Hong Kong and a tutor at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) and the Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU). Lee has performed worldwide in solo recitals and with numerous renowned orchestras, such as Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, China Philharmonic Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. She has appeared in major festivals, including the Duszniki Festival Poland, Musicus Fest in Espoo, Finland and Shanghai New Music Week.
Fu currently engages in painting and art education. He is a tutor in watercolour painting courses at the School of Continuing and Professional Studies of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. His works centre on everyday scenes of life and people and have been exhibited in more than 20 countries in Europe, America and Asia. He has also received numerous awards, including the Honorable Mention Award in the 2nd International Watercolor Society India Biennale in 2017, the Special Prize in the Poland International Watercolor Competition in 2019 and the Silver Award at the third Asia Pacific Art Biennial Exhibition the following year.
Chan is a violinist sought after as a soloist and chamber player around the globe. He is a two-time Sylva Gelber Music Foundation Award recipient in Canada. In 2023, Chan won the Musicus Society’s Young Artist Audition and was selected to join the roster of Musicus Soloists Hong Kong.
Poon now serves as the Artistic Director of the Hong Kong International Cello Association and teaches at the HKAPA and the HKBU. Poon’s performance engagements with various organisations have taken her to China, Thailand, Japan, Italy, France, Spain, and more, in addition to her regular concert appearances in Hong Kong.
Young pianist Wong has given solo recitals in the United States, Europe and Asia and has performed at venues, such as the National Concert Hall in Dublin and Carnegie Hall in New York. She is a prize winner in the 2022 Steinway Förderpreis Münster and gained first prizes in the Karlovac International Piano Competition, the Valletta International Piano Competition, and more.
Esker has been recognized in not one, but two Gartner® Magic Quadrants™ for 2025 in a short period of time!
Leader in the very first Gartner Magic Quadrant for Accounts Payable Applications
Challenger in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Source-to-Pay
The only company recognized as a leader for end-to-end invoice processing for both customer and supplier invoices.
Press release
Esker Named a Leader in First-Ever Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Accounts Payable Applications
LYON, France, and MIDDLETON, Wis. — March 24, 2025 — Esker, the global authority in AI-powered business solutions for the Office of the CFO, today announced that it has been named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Accounts Payable Applications.
The Gartner report evaluated 14 vendors based on their Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision, positioning Esker as a Leader, which it believes is because of its strong performance, cutting-edge technology and customer-centric approach.
Esker Accounts Payable streamlines invoice processing by eliminating manual inefficiencies with AI-driven data capture, automated processing and electronic workflows. Ensuring e-invoicing compliance, it simplifies cashflow management and unlocks new revenue opportunities, delivering a smarter, more efficient AP experience. It is Esker’s view that this recognition reflects its dedication to robust AI integration, advanced dashboards and reporting capabilities, and commitment to global compliance and support.
“We are honored to be recognized as a Leader in the inaugural Accounts Payable Application Magic Quadrant,” said Catherine Dupuy-Holdich, S2P Product Manager at Esker. “In our opinion, Esker’s AI-driven capabilities have revolutionized the way businesses manage their accounts payable processes. For our customers, we feel we offer greater efficiency, improved accuracy and the ability to focus on strategic initiatives rather than manual tasks.”
Esker is the only company recognized in three Magic Quadrant reports: Gartner Magic Quadrant for Source-to-Pay Suites, Gartner Magic Quadrant for Invoice-to-Cash Applications and this first-ever Gartner Magic Quadrant for Accounts Payable Applications. From Esker’s perspective, it is a trusted partner for businesses seeking to automate and optimize their end-to-end finance and procurement processes.
To access a complimentary copy of the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Accounts Payable Applications, please click here.
Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Accounts Payable Application, by Mike Helsel, Miles Onafowora and Nick Duffy, published March, 2025.
GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and MAGIC QUADRANT is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved.
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
About Esker
Esker is the global authority in AI-powered business solutions for the Office of the CFO. Leveraging the latest in automation technologies, Esker’s Source-to-Pay and Order-to-Cash solutions optimize working capital and cashflow, enhance decision-making, and drive better collaboration and human-to-human relationships with customers, suppliers and employees. Esker operates in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific with global headquarters in Lyon, France, and U.S. headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin. For more information on Esker and its solutions, visit www.esker.be. Follow Esker on LinkedIn and join the conversation.
Press release
Esker Named a Challenger in 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Source-to-Pay Suites
LYON, France, and MIDDLETON, Wis. — March 26, 2025 — Esker, the global authority in AI-powered business solutions for the Office of the CFO, today announced that it has been named a Challenger in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Source-to-Pay Suites.
The Gartner report evaluated 12 vendors across a broad set of evaluation criteria, placing Esker in the Challengers Quadrant based on its Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision. Notably, Esker received this position within just a year, which it believes is because of its remarkable progress and adaptability.
“We are thrilled to be recognized as a Challenger in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Source-to-Pay Suites,” said Jean-Michel Bérard, CEO at Esker. “From our perspective, this acknowledgment represents our substantial progress in both market presence and execution capabilities, as well as our commitment to driving innovation and delivering tangible value to our customers.”
It is Esker’s view that this recognition was received based on a strong sales strategy and foundation in finance, as well as the end-to-end AI automation suite for the Office of the CFO.
Esker Synergy AI, the meticulously designed and specially trained set of technologies powering Esker’s Source-to-Pay suite, improves speed and accuracy throughout the S2P cycle, takes on redundant tasks, analyzes data to make predictions and informed improvements, and helps suppliers get paid faster.
AI-driven automation is helping businesses enhance profitability and efficiency in ways that were previously out of reach. It has the potential to drive significant improvements not only within the Finance department but across the entire organization.
“Source-to-pay automation unites the offices of the CFO and CPO, creating a powerhouse partnership that drives great efficiency,” said Catherine Dupuy-Holdich, S2P Product Manager at Esker. “Esker’s AI-driven suite helps businesses streamline procurement processes, gain better spend insights, enforce policy compliance and enhance supplier relationships.”
To access a complimentary copy of the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Source-to-Pay Suites, please click here.
Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Source-to-Pay Suites, by Micky Keck, Kaitlynn Sommers, Balaji Abbabatulla, Cian Curtin, Lynne Phelan, Chaithanya Paradarami, Martin Shreffleri, published March 24, 2025.
GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and MAGIC QUADRANT is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved.
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
About Esker
Esker is the global authority in AI-powered business solutions for the Office of the CFO. Leveraging the latest in automation technologies, Esker’s Source-to-Pay and Order-to-Cash solutions optimize working capital and cashflow, enhance decision-making, and drive better collaboration and human-to-human relationships with customers, suppliers and employees. Esker operates in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific with global headquarters in Lyon, France, and U.S. headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin. For more information on Esker and its solutions, visit www.esker.be. Follow Esker on LinkedIn and join the conversation.
It also set out to improve its national brand through sports sponsorships of some of the biggest football clubs in the world. These include Arsenal (England), PSG (France) and Bayern Munich (Germany).
Since the end of the 1994 genocide, countries such as the UK, the US and France were willing to give Rwanda a less than critical pass when it was accused of destabilising its bigger neighbour, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). They averted their gaze from its domestic heavy handedness, particularly its constraining of democratic space and human rights.
But there has been a sharp turn in sentiment. For the first time, the western powers, as well as China, have begun to call out Rwanda on its behaviour.
Western actors have grown exasperated with Rwanda’s impunity and have been forced to change tack. Quiet shuttle diplomacy, notably by the Biden administration and the EU, has failed to achieve Rwandan restraint. And as a humanitarian crisis grew, they saw more forceful and overt actions as necessary.
Concerned about the rising level of violence and humanitarian catastrophe in the DRC, western powers through the UN general assembly and security council called for restraint, dialogue and de-escalation. France, Belgium, Germany, the US, Canada and the EU also condemned the escalating violence and Rwanda’s role. The growing consensus culminated in firmer and direct sanctions against individual Rwandan actors and entities and suspension of economic and trade cooperation.
I have been a long time scholar of and commentator on African regime types, political governance and conflict, with a focus on Rwanda. It’s my view that Rwanda’s escapades in eastern DRC have had a detrimental impact on the goodwill long extended to the Kigali regime. What happens next will depend on its response.
Rwanda’s role in the DRC
There is little doubt about Rwanda’s involvement in conflict and instability in the eastern DRC. The reports from the security council and UN bodies have provided sufficient evidence of this.
Since 2012, Rwanda has been accused of being the patron behind the Movement of March 23 (M23) rebel group. The M23 and its associated alliances have been fighting the DRC government, purportedly to protect the rights of Congolese Tutsis.
For its part, Rwanda has pointed to the danger posed by remnants of security forces involved in the 1994 genocide. The forces fled into the DRC and are still hell bent on causing instability in Rwanda, Kigali claims. The other grievance is that the forces are backed by the DRC regime and have been responsible for persecuting Congolese Tutsis.
Between 2012 and 2018, the M23 group had a limited level of military success. In 2012 it captured the eastern DRC city of Goma but was forced to relinquish it after just 10 days.
In the latest escalation of fighting the group has made significant gains, recapturing Goma and capturing the bigger Bukavu and other areas.
M23’s success has been attributed to the sustained and systematic support Rwanda has given the group, according to the UN report and security council resolution 2773.
Support has included sophisticated weaponry and boots on the ground, conservatively estimated at over 4,000 soldiers. Faced with demotivated, ill-trained and poorly coordinated DRC military capabilities, the M23 success was almost inevitable.
Germany then froze aid, Belgium’s rebuked the country and the EU called for stronger penalties, among them a ban on Rwanda’s mineral industry. This was to force Rwanda to rein in or rethink its activities in the DRC and be a constructive rather than disruptive partner.
Belgium has had historical relations with both Rwanda and the DRC, having been the last colonial authority. Rwanda took specific exception to Belgium’s action by cutting diplomatic relations. It also took a more belligerent posture in the UN security council.
While this is seen as a non-compromising stance, it is against a lesser western power than the US or the UK. This could be taken as Rwanda saving face while working out an exit strategy to avoid escalating tensions with western powers or provoking far reaching coordinated action.
It is notable that Qatar (and not a western or African power) has taken a lead in chaperoning talks between the conflict parties. This couldn’t have been without the blessing of the US, given the close relationship Qatar enjoys with the US as conflict resolution partners. Qatar is also an investor in Rwanda. This allows Rwanda to avoid being dragged to the negotiating table by critical western powers.
Next steps
The intensity of the conflict has slowed down somewhat, with the M23 rebel alliance having announced a ceasefire and unilateral action to “withdraw” from some of the areas they have recently captured.
Whether this is a strategic compromise in response to the now forceful demand for Rwanda to cease its active support and intervention is unclear. It is notable that Qatar has now directly invited the rebels to the table.
Once known as the darling of the west, most notable for clean and efficient government, a good business environment and unquestioned security and stability, Rwanda may have reached an inflection point with its flagrant DRC intervention. The change in western attitude may mark a more critical epoch in relations.
– Rwanda’s image abroad: how western countries are beginning to turn their backs – https://theconversation.com/rwandas-image-abroad-how-western-countries-are-beginning-to-turn-their-backs-253663
French sci-fi author Jules Verne predicted about 150 years ago that water would become the fuel of the future. Today, scientists are striving to turn this fantasy into reality. Chinese researchers recently achieved a breakthrough in “photocatalytic water splitting for hydrogen production.” By performing “structural reshaping” and “element substitution” on a semiconductor material, they significantly enhanced the efficiency of converting water into clean hydrogen energy by using sunlight. Current solar-driven hydrogen production primarily relies on two methods — one uses solar panels to generate electricity for water electrolysis, which requires complex and costly equipment, while the other employs semiconductor materials as catalysts to directly split water molecules under sunlight, according to Liu Gang, director of the Institute of Metal Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and leader of the research team. The key to directly splitting water with sunlight lies in a material called titanium dioxide. When exposed to sunlight, it functions like a microscopic power plant, generating energized electron-hole pairs that break down water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, Liu explained. However, traditional titanium dioxide has a critical flaw — its internal structure resembles a maze, causing the activated electrons and holes to collide randomly and recombine and annihilate within a millionth of a second. Additionally, the high-temperature fabrication process of the material often leads to oxygen atom loss, creating positively charged “trap zones” that capture electrons. Liu’s team addressed these issues by introducing scandium, a rare-earth element neighboring titanium on the periodic table, to restructure the material. Scandium ions, similar in size to titanium ions, fit perfectly into the titanium dioxide lattice without causing structural distortion. Their stable valence neutralizes the charge imbalance caused by oxygen vacancies, eliminating “trap zones.” Moreover, scandium atoms reconstruct the crystal surface, creating specific facets that act like “electronic highways and overpasses,” allowing electrons and holes to escape the maze efficiently. Through precise control, the research team successfully developed a specialized titanium dioxide material with significantly enhanced performance — its utilization of ultraviolet light exceeded 30 percent, and its hydrogen production efficiency under simulated sunlight was 15 times higher than previously reported titanium dioxide materials, setting a new record, Liu stated. “If used to create a one-square-meter photocatalytic material panel, around 10 liters of hydrogen can be produced in one day of sunlight,” Liu said. The achievement was published in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. “We aim to further improve the technology to enable efficient utilization of visible light in sunlight,” Liu revealed. He also noted that China currently accounts for over 50 percent of global titanium dioxide production, supported by a robust industrial chain. Additionally, China ranks among the world’s leaders in terms of scandium reserves. “With continued advancements in photocatalytic water-splitting efficiency, this technology holds promise for industrial application, and could drive the transformation of energy systems,” Liu added.
The President of the Council of Ministers, Giorgia Meloni, chaired a meeting at Palazzo Chigi today to discuss in-depth the tariffs imposed by the United States and the possible implications for the Italian economy.
The meeting was attended by the Vice-Presidents of the Council of Ministers, Antonio Tajani and Matteo Salvini, the Minister of Economy and Finance, Giancarlo Giorgetti, the Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, the Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry, Francesco Lollobrigida, the Minister for European Affairs, the NRRP and Cohesion Policy, Tommaso Foti, and Undersecretary of State to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers Alfredo Mantovano.
During the meeting, the Ministers outlined to President Meloni the various proposals under consideration to support production chains and boost the competitiveness of businesses. Said proposals will be the focus of the discussions with production sectors to be held at Palazzo Chigi tomorrow, Tuesday 8 April.
It was reaffirmed that a ‘trade war’ would not benefit anyone, neither the European Union nor the United States. The meeting highlighted the need to address this issue with determination and pragmatism, as any alarmism risks causing far more damage than that strictly linked to the tariffs.
The meeting also discussed the necessary business support tools, addressing the Green Deal’s ideological rules that are difficult to agree with, and the need to simplify the regulatory framework.
Revolutionary collaboration brings safety, compliance, and institutional-grade access to the digital asset space.
PARIS, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — In a landmark announcement made today at Paris Blockchain Week, DevvDigital and Banque Delubac & Cie have unveiled a strategic partnership set to reshape the future of finance. The collaboration marks a critical turning point for the digital asset ecosystem, unlocking new, compliant pathways for traditional financial institutions to participate in the world of decentralized finance (DeFi) with confidence and security.
The partnership combines DevvDigital’s breakthrough technology platform, DevvExchange, with Delubac’s regulated banking infrastructure to create a new model of “Crypto Without Chaos.” This integrated solution offers institutions the safety, regulatory compliance and control they require, while delivering the speed, innovation, and access to yield opportunities inherent in DeFi.
“For too long, DeFi has been out of reach for most of the financial world due to issues with volatility, security, and compliance,” said Ray Quintana – CEO DevvDigital. “Together with Delubac, we’ve created a pathway that allows banks, asset managers, and other institutions to safely engage with digital assets and DeFi products for the first time — with zero counterparty risk, private key protection, theft protection, and real-time settlement.”
A New Financial Infrastructure for the Digital Age
DevvExchange offers a non-custodial exchange platform with instant settlement, theft protection, private key loss protections, and privacy-preserving mechanisms that remain fully compliant with regulatory requirements. The platform’s Liquidity Caches — an evolution of traditional liquidity pools — allow institutional participants to deploy capital for exchange, lending, and yield-generating strategies without transferring assets into vulnerable smart contracts. This enables:
Legally compliant yield opportunities with known origin of funds
Tax-advantaged implementations that avoid unnecessary asset transfers
Unprecedented protection against the problems rife in the crypto space such as private key loss, theft from hacks, and even in protection against platform bankruptcies
True privacy aligned with global regulatory frameworks
“The future of finance goes beyond simply deciding between TradFi and DeFi — it’s a secure and seamless fusion of the two.” said Paul Bureau, Head of Cryptoassets at Delubac & Cie. “The DeFi space is filled with incredible innovations and opportunities, but it is not safe nor regulatory compliant. For the first time, with Delubac’s and DevvDigital’s efforts, we can combine the innovation of DeFi with the trust and security of TradFi. A world-changing concept.”
About DevvDigital DevvDigital is a technology leader in secure blockchain infrastructure, offering groundbreaking non-custodial solutions for digital asset exchange, lending, and ownership. Its flagship platform, DevvExchange, delivers instant settlement, institutional-grade security, and privacy-focused compliance.
About Banque Delubac & Cie Founded in 1924, Banque Delubac & Cie is one of the last 100% French family-owned institutions, recognized for its innovation and regulatory rigor. Delubac is the 1st French bank to have been registered as a Digital Assets Service Provider (DASP) and is at the forefront of integrating blockchain-based solutions with traditional banking infrastructure. Its tagline “Expert & Independent” reflects its DNA of freedom, uniqueness and pugnacity for a tailor-made service. Its tradition: daring for its customers.
Disclaimer:This press release is provided byDevvDigital. The statements, views, and opinions expressed in this content are solely those of the content provider and do not necessarily reflect the views of this media platform or its publisher. We do not endorse, verify, or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information presented. This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, or trading advice. Investing in crypto and mining related opportunities involves significant risks, including the potential loss of capital. Readers are strongly encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. However, due to the inherently speculative nature of the blockchain sector–including cryptocurrency, NFTs, and mining–complete accuracy cannot always be guaranteed. Neither the media platform nor the publisher shall be held responsible for any fraudulent activities, misrepresentations, or financial losses arising from the content of this press release.Speculate only with funds that you can afford to lose.Neither the media platform nor the publisher shall be held responsible for any fraudulent activities, misrepresentations, or financial losses arising from the content of this press release. In the event of any legal claims or charges against this article, we accept no liability or responsibility.
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Atos enhances the Selartag® cellar management application with generative artificial intelligence
Generative AI reduces the time required to create wine records for inventories by 90%
Paris, France – April 8, 2025 – Atos today announces the integration and deployment of a generative artificial intelligence (AI) feature to all users of the Selartag® cellar management solution, benefiting professionals and consumers, to streamline the creation of wine records for inventories. Designed in six months with Amazon Bedrock, this feature reduces the time required to create a listing by 90%. It also increases the average data completeness rate by 88%, compared to 53% before the introduction of AI. The new feature improves the quality of the Selartag® application database, available on PC or smartphone, by correcting spelling and writing variants that cause inventory errors and eliminating duplicate entries, allowing sommeliers to reduce administrative tasks in favor of their core business.
This project won the ‘GenAI Challenge’, which was organized by AWS and Atos for their joint customers to drive innovation and real-world integration of generative AI use cases. Selartag® wanted to simplify the process of searching for and entering wine inventory information to improve the accuracy of the cellar catalogues and save time for sommeliers.
Until now, manual intervention was required to cross-reference a bottle with a wine record in the Selartag® app database. If a wine had not yet been listed, it took users between three and five minutes to complete the mandatory fields of a form detailing the bottle’s characteristics. The optional fields, despite their interest, were almost always left blank.
Today, thanks to the newly deployed AI feature in Selartag®, the process is fast and easy. With AI image recognition, users can simply take a photo of the bottle label and click to pre-fill the card. It takes seven seconds to list a bottle in the Selartag® app, with all its characteristics, such as: appellation, estate, vintage, color, type of wine, country and region, description, food and wine pairing recommendation, peak date, serving temperature, alcohol content and grape varieties. When needed, users can update the form information, but this now takes an average of just 30 seconds per bottle.
The generative AI feature was implemented in just six months, from concept to deployment on the Selartag® app. Atos leveraged Amazon Bedrock, an AWS managed service, to build a secure and responsible generative AI solution based on a foundation model designed by leading AI innovators.
Hervé Lemaire, Founder and Chairman of Selartag®, said: “Generative AI joined Selartag® thanks to the expertise of our partners Atos and AWS. This feature improves the quality and reliability of the data in the wine records, which, enriched and better informed, provide valuable assistance to sommeliers on the exact knowledge of their stock and improves the accuracy of recommendations given to customers. Acting as an exoskeleton, the AI further enhances the user experience of our cellar management application”.
Sylvain Barthélemy, Chief Operating and Technology Officer France, Atos, said: “In 2024, we developed and implemented Selartag’s® cellar management application in partnership with AWS, which hosts the solution on its secure cloud. We continue to innovate by developing and integrating tailor-made AI solutions, adapted to the logistics and distribution needs of the wine industry and the specific requirements of Selartag®’s diverse customer base”.
Selartag® is a wine cellar management system that consists of tamper-proof RFID bottle tagging and an application accessed via computer or smartphone. It allows users to identify, authenticate and track each bottle when it leaves the stock, using a portable reader or a control terminal at the cellar entrance. The label data is automatically communicated to the Selartag® app, which enables precise and real-time monitoring of bottle movements, drastically reducing inventory time and improving data entry reliability. As a member of WineTech, Selartag® serves a range of customers including winegrowers, logisticians, restaurateurs and private consumers.
***
About Atos
Atos is a global leader in digital transformation with circa 78,000 employees and annual revenue of circa €10 billion. European number one in cybersecurity, cloud and high-performance computing, the Group provides tailored end-to-end solutions for all industries in 68 countries. A pioneer in decarbonization services and products, Atos is committed to a secure and decarbonized digital for its clients. Atos is a SE (Societas Europaea) and listed on Euronext Paris.
The purpose of Atos is to help design the future of the information space. Its expertise and services support the development of knowledge, education and research in a multicultural approach and contribute to the development of scientific and technological excellence. Across the world, the Group enables its customers and employees, and members of societies at large to live, work and develop sustainably, in a safe and secure information space.
It also set out to improve its national brand through sports sponsorships of some of the biggest football clubs in the world. These include Arsenal (England), PSG (France) and Bayern Munich (Germany).
Since the end of the 1994 genocide, countries such as the UK, the US and France were willing to give Rwanda a less than critical pass when it was accused of destabilising its bigger neighbour, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). They averted their gaze from its domestic heavy handedness, particularly its constraining of democratic space and human rights.
But there has been a sharp turn in sentiment. For the first time, the western powers, as well as China, have begun to call out Rwanda on its behaviour.
Western actors have grown exasperated with Rwanda’s impunity and have been forced to change tack. Quiet shuttle diplomacy, notably by the Biden administration and the EU, has failed to achieve Rwandan restraint. And as a humanitarian crisis grew, they saw more forceful and overt actions as necessary.
Concerned about the rising level of violence and humanitarian catastrophe in the DRC, western powers through the UN general assembly and security council called for restraint, dialogue and de-escalation. France, Belgium, Germany, the US, Canada and the EU also condemned the escalating violence and Rwanda’s role. The growing consensus culminated in firmer and direct sanctions against individual Rwandan actors and entities and suspension of economic and trade cooperation.
I have been a long time scholar of and commentator on African regime types, political governance and conflict, with a focus on Rwanda. It’s my view that Rwanda’s escapades in eastern DRC have had a detrimental impact on the goodwill long extended to the Kigali regime. What happens next will depend on its response.
Rwanda’s role in the DRC
There is little doubt about Rwanda’s involvement in conflict and instability in the eastern DRC. The reports from the security council and UN bodies have provided sufficient evidence of this.
Since 2012, Rwanda has been accused of being the patron behind the Movement of March 23 (M23) rebel group. The M23 and its associated alliances have been fighting the DRC government, purportedly to protect the rights of Congolese Tutsis.
For its part, Rwanda has pointed to the danger posed by remnants of security forces involved in the 1994 genocide. The forces fled into the DRC and are still hell bent on causing instability in Rwanda, Kigali claims. The other grievance is that the forces are backed by the DRC regime and have been responsible for persecuting Congolese Tutsis.
Between 2012 and 2018, the M23 group had a limited level of military success. In 2012 it captured the eastern DRC city of Goma but was forced to relinquish it after just 10 days.
In the latest escalation of fighting the group has made significant gains, recapturing Goma and capturing the bigger Bukavu and other areas.
M23’s success has been attributed to the sustained and systematic support Rwanda has given the group, according to the UN report and security council resolution 2773.
Support has included sophisticated weaponry and boots on the ground, conservatively estimated at over 4,000 soldiers. Faced with demotivated, ill-trained and poorly coordinated DRC military capabilities, the M23 success was almost inevitable.
Germany then froze aid, Belgium’s rebuked the country and the EU called for stronger penalties, among them a ban on Rwanda’s mineral industry. This was to force Rwanda to rein in or rethink its activities in the DRC and be a constructive rather than disruptive partner.
Belgium has had historical relations with both Rwanda and the DRC, having been the last colonial authority. Rwanda took specific exception to Belgium’s action by cutting diplomatic relations. It also took a more belligerent posture in the UN security council.
While this is seen as a non-compromising stance, it is against a lesser western power than the US or the UK. This could be taken as Rwanda saving face while working out an exit strategy to avoid escalating tensions with western powers or provoking far reaching coordinated action.
It is notable that Qatar (and not a western or African power) has taken a lead in chaperoning talks between the conflict parties. This couldn’t have been without the blessing of the US, given the close relationship Qatar enjoys with the US as conflict resolution partners. Qatar is also an investor in Rwanda. This allows Rwanda to avoid being dragged to the negotiating table by critical western powers.
Next steps
The intensity of the conflict has slowed down somewhat, with the M23 rebel alliance having announced a ceasefire and unilateral action to “withdraw” from some of the areas they have recently captured.
Whether this is a strategic compromise in response to the now forceful demand for Rwanda to cease its active support and intervention is unclear. It is notable that Qatar has now directly invited the rebels to the table.
Once known as the darling of the west, most notable for clean and efficient government, a good business environment and unquestioned security and stability, Rwanda may have reached an inflection point with its flagrant DRC intervention. The change in western attitude may mark a more critical epoch in relations.
David E Kiwuwa does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Press Release VELIZY-VILLACOUBLAY, France — April 8, 2025
Declaration of the number of outstanding shares and voting rights as of March 31, 2025
Dassault Systèmes (Euronext Paris: FR0014003TT8, DSY.PA) today announced below the total number of its outstanding shares and voting rights as of March 31, 2025, according to articles 223-16 and 221-3 of the General Regulation of the Autoritédesmarchésfinanciers.
Number of outstanding shares: 1,340,757,440
Number of voting rights*: 2,013,952,990
*The total number of voting rights is calculated on the basis of the total number of outstanding shares, even if the voting rights attached thereto are suspended, pursuant to Article 223-11 of the General Regulation of the Autorité des marchés financiers relating to the method for calculating the percentages of holdings in shares and in voting rights. We invite our shareholders to refer to this article should they need to declare crossing of thresholds.
Declarations related to crossing of threshold must be sent to: Dassault Systèmes, Investor Relations Service, 10, rue Marcel Dassault, CS 40501, 78946 Vélizy-Villacoublay Cedex (France). E-mail address: Investors@3ds.com
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ABOUT DASSAULT SYSTÈMES
Dassault Systèmes is a catalyst for human progress. Since 1981, the company has pioneered virtual worlds to improve real life for consumers, patients and citizens. With Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform, 370 000 customers of all sizes, in all industries, can collaborate, imagine and create sustainable innovations that drive meaningful impact. For more information, visit www.3ds.com
Viridien, through its subsidiary*, has been awarded a contract by Groupement Hassi Bir Rekaiz, a Sonatrach and PTTEP joint operatorship, to reimage two legacy 3D seismic data sets totaling 2,400 sq km in the Hassi Bir Rekaiz concession in the Berkine Basin, Eastern Algeria.
During the 13-month project, Viridien scientists are completely reimaging and merging the two legacy seismic datasets, originally acquired in 2011 and 2013. To meet the client’s challenging imaging objectives, Viridien is applying the latest technology to deliver more detailed seismic velocity modeling and improved reliability of seismic amplitude, phase and frequency attributes for quantitative interpretation and enhanced fault imaging.
Peter Whiting, EVP, Geoscience, Viridien, said: “We are happy to receive anotheraward from Algeria, showing client confidence in our experience and differentiation in this growing market. We continue to develop and refine our technology, allowing us to extract more and more useful information from seismic data. This generates value for our clients, allowing them to do much more with the survey data they already have. The ultimate value lies in improved reservoir insights, reduction of uncertainties and increased drilling success.”
*CGG Services SAS
About Viridien:
Viridien (www.viridiengroup.com) is an advanced technology, digital and Earth data company that pushes the boundaries of science for a more prosperous and sustainable future. With our ingenuity, drive and deep curiosity we discover new insights, innovations, and solutions that efficiently and responsibly resolve complex natural resource, digital, energy transition and infrastructure challenges. Viridien employs around 3,500 people worldwide and is listed as VIRI on the Euronext Paris SA (ISIN: FR001400PVN6).
In response to the “desperate bid”by Federated Farmers to curtail Greenpeace, the environmental heavyweight has issued a correction to the agri-industry lobby group’s “scurrilous complaint” made to the Charities Commission yesterday.
Greenpeace Aotearoa spokesperson Niamh O’Flynn says, “It’s just another attempt to shut down dissent by Federated Farmers. The Feds are a lobby group for New Zealand’s biggest polluters, and this crack at peaceful protest is part of a global trend that we must not stand for.
Greenpeace has faced polluters trying to shut us down for decades. Just like the French bombed the Rainbow Warrior 40 years ago to try to stop our opposition to nuclear testing in the Pacific, and the oil industry is currently trying to eliminate Greenpeace in the US, this is another, albeit impotent, attempt to curtail legitimate peaceful protest.”
Greenpeace says that the Federated Farmers list of Greenpeace protests is far from comprehensive and omits dozens of examples of direct action that have played a key role in bringing about positive change in Aotearoa and beyond.
O’Flynn says, “Greenpeace has along history of taking direct actionto highlight environmental injustices and stop polluting industries like Fonterra from harming the environment. Federated Farmers have curated a list of some of our most impactful actions – but they’ve left quite a few out and we want to set the record straight.”
“Since the 1970s, Greenpeace has campaigned in Aotearoa and the Pacific to ensure that the environment is protected from harm by industries like nuclear weapons, fossil fuels, intensive dairy and commercial fishing that cause significant harm to our collective home. That means that sometimes we will put our bodies on the line to stop corporations from harming the planet.”
“Importantly, many of our actions to highlight environmental injustice have led to changes that we pride ourselves on as a nation. The nuclear free campaigns of the 1970s and 80s led to New Zealand declaring itself nuclear free, and to the end of nuclear testing in the Pacific. The GE-free campaign led to New Zealand imposing a moratorium on GE crops. The campaign to end oil and gas exploration led to a ban on new offshore oil and gas exploration in Aotearoa. The campaign to stop the Ruataniwha Dam protected the rivers of the Hawke’s Bay from pollution from intensive dairy expansion, and prevented conservation land from being flooded to build a dam.
“New Zealanders care deeply about nature and history shows that Greenpeace protests have protected that.. Our actions sit alongside long-fought legal battles, petitions, and mass protests and marches in the streets of New Zealand’s biggest cities.
“We wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on our long history of actions that have succeeded in protecting nature from industries that seek to destroy it.”
An expanded (but not comprehensive), list of key Greenpeace Aotearoa actions dating back to the 1970s is below.
1970s:
In 1972, the Nuclear Campaign started with the first protest flotilla mobilisation to oppose and disrupt the French Government’s atmospheric nuclear weapons testing programme at Moruroa Atoll in Te Ao Maohi/French Polynesia. This was led by the boat (SV) Greenpeace III, previously named the Vega.
In 1973, a second, larger flotilla sailed to the Moruroa Atoll including the Vega. Sailing into the nuclear testing zone prevented the French from being able to detonate bombs.
1980s:
In July 1985, the Greenpeace boat Rainbow Warrior was bombed in the Auckland Harbour following direct actions in the Pacific to oppose nuclear testing – including the evacuation of the people of Rongelap.
In September 1985, Greenpeace sent MV Greenpeace to protest against the French Government’s nuclear testing programme at Moruroa Atoll alongside a flotilla of New Zealand protest boats including SV Vega, SV Alliance, SV Varangian, and SV Breeze.
1990s:
In 1995 Greenpeace once again sailed the Rainbow Warrior II into nuclear testing zones in Moruroa and Tahiti to protest the resumption of French nuclear testing.
In 1995, Greenpeace protested against CHOGM in Auckland over the impending execution of Ogoni environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa by the military regime that ruled Nigeria.
In 1997, Greenpeace activists blocked the Stratford gas-fired power station’s generators being unloaded in the Port of Taranaki
In 1998, during the SV Rainbow Warrior II tour, Greenpeace ‘unplugged’ Fletcher Challenge Energy’s seismic testing cabling in Taranaki.
During the 1990s, Greenpeace championed the creation of a 50 million square kilometre Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary around the Antarctic continent and launched a series of anti-whaling expeditions into the Southern Ocean to expose and confront the Japanese Government’s bogus ‘scientific’ whaling fleet operating there.
2000s:
In December 2000, Greenpeace activists stopped the production of genetically engineered feed at a Tegel plant in Takanini.
In 2002, activists in Auckland scaled a waste incineration facility chimney, capped it, and locked on to highlight dioxin pollution.
In August 2003, Greenpeace activists boarded a coal ship in Tauranga in opposition to coal mining.
In 2004, the SV Rainbow Warrior II‘s crew used inflatable boats to disrupt the NZ bottom trawler, Ocean Reward, to stop it destroying deep-sea life while fishing in international waters in the Tasman Sea. They delayed the fishing vessel from deploying its trawl net by attaching an inflatable life-raft to it, running the gauntlet of being shot at with compressed air guns and sprayed with high pressure fire hoses by the Ocean Reward’s crew.
In May 2004, Greenpeace activists locked on to the Auckland McDonalds distribution centre gates over McDonalds’ use of GE feed.
In February 2005, Greenpeace activists occupied the roof of the Marsden B power station.
In July 2006, Greenpeace activists locked on to a Chinese bottom trawling ship in the Port of Nelson to prevent the destruction caused by the bottom trawling industry to the seafloor.
In October 2008, Greenpeace activists in Tokoroa locked on to logging equipment to stop conversion to pasture for intensive agriculture.
In October 2009, Greenpeace activists locked on to a palm kernel shipment in Taranaki to protest links to rainforest destruction and climate change.
In November 2009, Greenpeace activists shut down a pit of a New Vale lignite coal mine, used by Fonterra to help fuel operations at its nearby Edendale dairy factory.
2010s
In May 2010, Greenpeace activists locked on to a Fonterra coal power plant in Clandeboye
In February 2011, Greenpeace activists locked on to a ship carrying palm kernel in New Plymouth to protest the links to rainforest destruction and climate change.
Also in 2011, a flotilla of boats from around the North Island, including the Te Whanau a Apanui fishing vessel San Pietro, began a landmark at-sea protest against offshore oil surveying by oil giant Petrobras that lasted 42 days.
In 2012, Greenpeace activists occupied the oil drilling ship The Noble Discoverer in Port Taranaki and camped on its tower for 77 hours, to protest the environmental destruction caused by oil drilling.
In 2013, as part of the Oil Free Seas Flotilla, Greenpeace activists broke the newly introduced Anadarko Amendment by sailing into the exclusion zone to confront oil giant Anadarko at sea.
In September 2016, Greenpeace ‘returned to sender’ the site office at the Ruataniwha Dam construction site. The activists removed the site office from its location near the Makaroro River, and returned it to the regional council who were promoting the dam’s construction. After a long campaign to prevent this dam from being built, the Council pulled its funding for the dam and the land exchange required to construct it was declared unlawful by the Supreme Court.
In 2016, Greenpeace and people from around the country blockaded Sky City which was hosting the annual oil industry conference.
In 2016 Greenpeace activists locked on board the NIWA taxpayer-funded climate and ocean research boat which had been chartered by petroleum giant Chevron to survey for oil in New Zealand waters
In August 2017, Greenpeace protestors spent 12 hours locked inside irrigation pipes in a bid to slow the construction of the Central Plains Water Scheme
In September 2017, Greenpeace activists staged a ‘lightning’ occupation of a dam construction site in Canterbury after facing legal threats from a big irrigation company.
The Amazon Warrior Sea Protest in 2017, where Greenpeace’s Executive Director Russel Norman and two others jumped into the ocean in front of the Amazon Warrior to prevent seismic drilling.
In July 2018, Greenpeace protestors occupied the site of a proposed dairy expansion in Mackenzie Country and refused to leave.
The occupation of oil drilling support vessel the Skandi Atlantic at the port of Timaru in 2019, to prevent it from supporting oil giant OMV to search for oil off the coast of Taranaki
In 2019, Greenpeace activists alongside youth climate movement School Strike 4 Climate occupied the headquarters of OMV in Taranaki for several days over the role of the fossil fuel industry in fuelling the climate crisis.
2020s:
In 2020, Greenpeace activists climbed the Fertiliser Association building and unfurled a giant banner calling for an end to the use of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser. Subsequently, the government introduced a cap on the amount of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser used on farms.
In 2021, Greenpeace activists took action against fishing company Talleys in Nelson, painting a message on the side of the ship to protest bottom trawling.
In 2022, Greenpeace activists deployed a 1500 square metre banner at the Kapuni Fertiliser factory, labelling synthetic nitrogen fertiliser ‘cancer fertiliser’.
In 2023, Greenpeace activists dropped banners inside the Parliament gallery to protest inaction on climate change.
In 2024, Greenpeace activists scaled Fonterra’s Te Rapa dairy factory in Hamilton and dropped a giant banner reading ‘Fonterra’s methane cooks the climate’, to protest the superheating methane gas produced by Fonterra’s oversized dairy herd.
Also in 2024, Greenpeace shut down the offices of Straterra – a mining lobbying firm who are working to advance seabed mining off the coast of Taranaki despite widespread community opposition. Two Greenpeace activists scaled the building while three others locked themselves inside the offices.
In November 2024, Greenpeace activists interrupted the AGM of Manuka Resources – the parent company of seabed mining company Trans-Tasman Resources who are attempting to mine the seabed off the coast of Taranaki.
In April 2025, Greenpeace activists shut down operations at a palm kernel storage facility in Port Taranaki for several hours, preventing a ship from offloading thirty thousand tonnes of palm kernel connected to the destruction of Indonesian rainforests.
Iran seeks to negotiate only if the United States stops being “dishonorable” and proves that it also wants to negotiate, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said recently.
Commenting on the possibility of indirect negotiations between Iran and the United States on the nuclear issue, Pezeshkian said Sunday night that Iran believes in negotiations, but not with one that is as “dishonorable” as the United States, which has placed Iran “under all-out pressure” and is threatening Iran every day, according to a statement published by Pezeshkian’s office on Monday.
“We will negotiate with the entire world and do not want to fight with anybody. However, we will not acquiesce to being dishonored and will not negotiate at any price,” he said. “They (the United States) should also prove they want to negotiate.”
Iran does not want to make “unpeaceful” uses of its nuclear capabilities, he noted.
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said here Monday that Iran is ready for any event to unfold and is militarily capable enough to stand against any “aggression or attack.”
Answering a question about Iran’s scenarios facing a potential U.S. attack, Baghaei said Iran will definitely give a “decisive, immediate, and all-out response” if threats against Iran were carried out.
He also called on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to fulfill its responsibilities regarding the constant threats uttered by the United States and Israel against Iran’s “peaceful” nuclear facilities.
The issue will be discussed during an upcoming visit by IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi to Tehran, he added.
U.S. President Donald Trump said in early March that he had sent a letter to Iranian leaders via the United Arab Emirates, proposing direct negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear activities.
Pezeshkian later confirmed that in response to the letter, Tehran rejected the proposed face-to-face talks but was open to possible indirect talks.
Trump, in an interview with NBC News late last month, threatened to launch “unprecedented military strikes” on Iran if it refused to negotiate over its nuclear program.
Iran signed a nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, with six major countries — Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States — in July 2015, accepting restrictions on its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.
However, the United States withdrew from the deal in May 2018 and reinstated sanctions, prompting Iran to scale back some of its nuclear commitments. Efforts to revive the nuclear deal have not achieved substantial progress.
