The organizers of the Hanover Fair (Lower Saxony), the world’s largest industry fair, which ends on Friday April 24, had undoubtedly hoped for a better context. Because confidence in the German economy continues to deteriorate. The Minister of the Economy and Energy, Katherina Reiche, confirmed on Wednesday what the economic institutes had announced at the beginning of April: the clear recovery expected for 2026 will ultimately not take place.

Berlin now expects growth of only 0.5% for the current year, half as much as anticipated in January. The war in Iran, which has raised energy prices, has swept away the hopes of an end to the crisis which had accompanied the formation of Friedrich Merz’s government in the spring of 2025, particularly in business circles.

In 2026, the only real support for growth will come from public spending, in addition to a positive calendar effect, warned the Ministry of the Economy when presenting the new forecasts. In the spring of 2025, Berlin initiated a paradigm shift in public spending, by widely opening the credit floodgates to finance defense spending and infrastructure renovation. This recovery effort of 1,000 billion euros over ten years, the largest ever made since reunification in 1990, is starting to bear fruit, but timidly.

You have 74.76% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.

At the origin of this complaint against Deliveroo and Uber Eats: the Maison des livreurs de Bordeaux, the Maison des couriers in Paris, as well as the AMAL and Ciel associations. They accuse the platforms of exploiting the situation of very vulnerable workers, the vast majority of whom are immigrants.

According to the data provided, the situation is particularly difficult: delivery workers work on average 63 hours per week for an income of around 1,000 euros net monthly, or 1,480 euros gross, or around 300 euros less than the minimum wage. A Médecins du monde report published at the end of March also mentions a strong dependence on the platforms’ algorithms.

Also readFrance: “It’s getting worse and worse”, meal delivery drivers victims of a big drop in their income

Working conditions denounced

The associations rely on testimonies collected throughout France and on data from surveys carried out for more than two years. More than 200 delivery people were questioned as part of the complaint.

According to these organizations, the system imposed on couriers is opaque, forcing them to accept “any working conditions” while being considered “totally independent”. Out of a thousand delivery drivers questioned, 98% were born abroad and 64% did not have residence permits.

Circé Liénart, coordinator of the Maison des couriers de Paris, underlines the effects of this situation: “We see that this has consequences on the health and lives of workers,” she explains, adding that these conditions can lead to extreme precariousness and sometimes serious accidents.

A recourse to justice for lack of alternative

The associations’ lawyer, Thibault Laforcade, affirms that the legal route was chosen after the failure of other approaches. “Several channels were used, political, journalistic, scientific. They don’t work,” he believes, denouncing “a form of acceptance of the economic system” and its consequences.

“​​​​​We have therefore decided to activate another, perhaps the last, that of justice,” he continues, hoping thus “​​​​​to stop an inexorable progression for several years”. He specifies that the associations have collected documents on the living conditions, health and remuneration of delivery people in order to “document as much as possible” the file and call for the opening of an investigation.

With this complaint, the associations also hope to create a legal framework, currently non-existent according to them, and encourage similar initiatives abroad. For their part, the platforms strongly contest the accusations. Uber Eats claims that this “complaint […] is not based on any basis”, while Deliveroo says it “vigorously contests the intentions attributed to it” and “firmly rejects any assimilation of its model to a situation of exploitation or trafficking in human beings”.

Also readBicycle delivery workers in France: workers enslaved by platforms, denounces Médecins du monde

Warning, this article contains spoilers for the end of season 2 of Flashback. If you haven’t seen it yet, move on!

Last Thursday, April 9, TF1 launched the broadcast of the new season 2 of Flashback, a detective series hosted by Michaël Youn and Constance Gay, which this time transported viewers back to 1996.

By returning to the present, Elsa discovered that, although she managed to save her father, her intervention had dramatic consequences, since this time it was her mother who was murdered in 1996.

The young woman has no choice but to return to the past to try to discover who owns this mysterious figure wearing a Chirac mask who shot her mother.

How Flashback season 2 ends

In the last episode, Elsa and Josselin finally manage to lift the veil on the person responsible for Anouk’s death. And the murderer is none other than Garnier (Lionel Erdogan).

After managing to stop him before he harmed her mother, Elsa is finally ready to return to the present. She then wakes up in the present, at the time of her accident.

Elsa is more than happy to discover that she has succeeded in her mission and is now back in her own time. But his happiness is short-lived. She discovers with amazement that her father, who held her hand at the time of the time travel, was also transported to 2024.

A surprising ending to say the least which obviously leaves the door open to a season 3, which has not yet been ordered by TF1. “We have to shoot the sequel, because it’s going to be even stupider,” Michaël Youn confided during a press briefing. “The rest will be so funny.”

During an interview, the actor also revealed that the potential season 3 should see Josselin evolve in the present. “It may be happening in a current era. I can’t tell you more but if we can travel to the past, we can also travel to the future,” he explained. What will the new challenges be? Answer soon on TF1.

Every day, AlloCiné contains more than 40 articles covering cinema and series news, interviews, streaming recommendations, unusual anecdotes and cinephile anecdotes on your favorite films and series. Subscribe to AlloCiné on Google Discoverit is the assurance of exploring on a daily basis the riches of a site designed by enthusiasts for enthusiasts.

The outcome of the vote was in little doubt since the withdrawal, at the end of February, of Netflix, long in the race but which did not want to outbid after a last offer from Paramount Skydance.

Shareholders of Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) voted by a majority in favor of the takeover of the American media group by its competitor Paramount Skydance during an extraordinary online general meeting this Thursday, according to a press release from WBD.

The outcome of the vote was in little doubt since the withdrawal, at the end of February, of Netflix, long in the race but which did not want to outbid after a last offer from Paramount Skydance (PSKY) valuing WBD at 110 billion dollars, debt included.

The two groups plan to finalize the transaction in the third quarter. Paramount Skydance has committed to paying penalties from the beginning of October in the event of delays. It remains to convince the regulators, in particular that of telecommunications in the United States, the FCC, and the European competition authorities.

The absorption of WBD by PSKY marks a new stage in the consolidation taking place in Hollywood, accelerated by the decline of traditional television and the weakening of the theatrical cinema model.

Concerns

No one better embodies this forced concentration than WBD boss David Zaslav, who had already led, at the head of Discovery, the takeover of WarnerMedia, in 2022, to create Warner Bros Discovery.

As the extraordinary general meeting approached, voices were raised to oppose this marriage. In mid-April, hundreds of personalities from the film industry published an open letter to this effect, expressing concern about a shrinking of the Hollywood landscape.

On Thursday, Zorhan Mamdani, the mayor of New York, where the headquarters of Warner Bros. Discovery is located, denounced this union, warning that “thousands of jobs (were) at risk” in the cultural capital of the United States. Like him, many observers fear a drain in the workforce because the two groups have similar profiles, with emerging streaming platforms but still uncertain profitability. Paramount Skydance has already indicated that its video-on-demand service, Paramount+, will be combined with that of WBD, HBO Max.

On the New York Stock Exchange, Paramount Skydance shares fell 4.87% shortly after the announcement of the results of the vote.

The Commission approved the recapitalization of the company in 2020 but the courts deemed it non-compliant in 2023. Lufthansa then appealed.

The Court of Justice of the European Union on Thursday rejected the airline group Lufthansa’s attempt to obtain the legality of public aid of 6 billion euros granted during the Covid-19 pandemic. “By today’s judgment, the Court rejects Lufthansa’s appeal and thus confirms the annulment, pronounced by the Court, of the decision by which the Commission approved the recapitalization of Lufthansa” during the year 2020, specifies the press release from the highest court of the European Union.

This is a new legal defeat for the group which had appealed a first decision of the EU General Court in 2023. The Brussels Commission had approved the recapitalization granted by Berlin to Lufthansa to support the group, whose planes were grounded due to the health crisis. The support plan for Lufthansa included an increase in capital of 300 million euros and the subscription of bonds, partly convertible into shares, for 5.7 billion euros.

“Rules poorly applied”

In its 2023 decision, the Court of First Instance canceled Germany’s state aid following appeals brought by the European companies Ryanair and Condor in the name of respecting fair competition. The Court ruled that the Court of First Instance was right to consider that the European Commission misapplied the temporary rules on state aid, in force during the pandemic.

The German airline group has since repaid its subsidies, which limits the practical impact of these legal setbacks.

In a reaction sent to AFP, Lufthansa indicated that it “takes note” of this judgment and “refers to the investigation carried out since 2024 by the European Commission, which must lead to a new decision and can now take into account the judgment of the CJEU”.

A spokesperson for the European Commission also told AFP to “take note” of the decision, and confirmed that it was continuing its “thorough investigation” without being able to “prejudge” its outcome for the moment.