Le nouveau PDG d’Atos, Philippe Salle, présentera son plan stratégique le 14 mai

Le nouveau PDG d’Atos, Philippe Salle, présentera son plan stratégique le 14 mai afin de relancer le groupe informatique dont le chiffre d’affaires a chuté de 10% en 2024 en raison de pertes de contrats, selon ses résultats annuels dévoilés mercredi.Le chiffre d’affaires s’est établi à 9,57 milliards d’euros en 2024, soit un recul de 10,4% par rapport à 2023, ce qui est plus faible que les prévisions de l’entreprise, a-t-il indiqué dans un communiqué.Le groupe tablait en octobre sur un chiffre d’affaires de 9,7 milliards d’euros sur la période.Cette baisse de l’activité “reflète des résiliations de contrats ou des réductions de périmètres contractuels ainsi que le ralentissement du marché dans certaines de nos principales zones géographiques”, a précisé Jacques-François de Prest, directeur financier du groupe, lors d’un échange avec la presse.Dans le détail, le pôle Eviden, qui regroupe la cybersécurité, le numérique et le “big data”, a vu ses revenus reculer de 9,5% à 4,6 milliards d’euros en 2024 tandis que ceux de Tech Foundations (la branche infogérance) se sont repliés de 11,3% à près de 5 milliards d’euros. Les prises de commandes ont chuté de 21,7% à 7,9 milliards d’euros en 2024, contre 10,1 milliards d’euros l’année précédente. Atos a notamment perdu l’énorme contrat des JO, dont il a été le pilier technologique cet été à Paris, le Comité international olympique (CIO) lui ayant préféré l’Américain Deloitte, dès les Jeux olympiques d’hiver de 2026 en Italie.”L’année 2024 est dernière nous”, a toutefois affirmé Philippe Salle qui est entré en fonction en février après que le groupe a bouclé un plan de restructuration ayant permis d’alléger sa dette de 2,1 milliards d’euros.Le dirigeant veut impulser “un nouvel élan” et présentera le 14 mai son plan 2025-2028 pour qu’Atos renoue avec “un état d’esprit de conquérant”, a-t-il déclaré. 

Situation internationale: Macron s’adressera aux Français à 20h

Emmanuel Macron s’adressera aux Français à 20h dans une allocution en rapport avec l’Ukraine et la situation internationale, a annoncé le président mercredi matin sur X.”Mes chers compatriotes, dans ce moment de grande incertitude où le monde est confronté à ses plus grands défis, je m’adresserai à vous ce soir à 20h”, écrit-il.Mardi soir, le chef de l’Etat avait salué la volonté de son homologue ukrainien Volodymyr Zelensky “de réengager le dialogue avec les États-Unis” et redit “la détermination de la France à travailler avec toutes les parties prenantes à la mise en œuvre d’une paix solide et durable en Ukraine”.Après l’annonce dans la nuit de Donald Trump indiquant avoir reçu une lettre de Volodymyr Zelensky, la porte-parole du gouvernement Sophie Primas, a salué mercredi sur LCI “une reprise du dialogue”. “C’est heureux car personne n’a intérêt à couper les liens avec les États-Unis. Dans ce cadre-là, et dans le cadre de l’accord sur les minerais qui semble arriver, nous aurons peut-être des conditions qui nous permettront d’avoir une paix durable et robuste. C’est ce que veulent les Européens”, a-t-elle ajouté. 

Situation internationale: Macron s’adressera aux Français à 20h

Emmanuel Macron s’adressera aux Français à 20h dans une allocution en rapport avec l’Ukraine et la situation internationale, a annoncé le président mercredi matin sur X.”Mes chers compatriotes, dans ce moment de grande incertitude où le monde est confronté à ses plus grands défis, je m’adresserai à vous ce soir à 20h”, écrit-il.Mardi soir, le chef de l’Etat avait salué la volonté de son homologue ukrainien Volodymyr Zelensky “de réengager le dialogue avec les États-Unis” et redit “la détermination de la France à travailler avec toutes les parties prenantes à la mise en œuvre d’une paix solide et durable en Ukraine”.Après l’annonce dans la nuit de Donald Trump indiquant avoir reçu une lettre de Volodymyr Zelensky, la porte-parole du gouvernement Sophie Primas, a salué mercredi sur LCI “une reprise du dialogue”. “C’est heureux car personne n’a intérêt à couper les liens avec les États-Unis. Dans ce cadre-là, et dans le cadre de l’accord sur les minerais qui semble arriver, nous aurons peut-être des conditions qui nous permettront d’avoir une paix durable et robuste. C’est ce que veulent les Européens”, a-t-elle ajouté. 

‘China is strong’: lawmakers bullish despite ‘turbulent’ world

Chinese lawmakers told AFP Wednesday they were confident in the country’s prospects despite a host of gnarly challenges, after a morning of meticulously choreographed fanfare at an annual political gathering in Beijing.Following the opening session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) in Beijing’s opulent Great Hall of the People, representatives emerged into Tiananmen Square, brightly lit by the mid-morning sun.”The international situation is very turbulent now, especially the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israeli-Palestinian war,” Liu Hui, an NPC delegate from the central province of Jiangxi, told journalists.”But China is very stable internally, and we also have strong confidence, such as in improving our economy,” he hastened to add.Wednesday’s proceedings — part of the country’s biggest annual political gathering known as the “Two Sessions” — saw the government disclose highly anticipated spending plans for the year ahead.An official “work report” presented in a speech to delegates by Premier Li Qiang showed that Beijing is eyeing national growth this year of “around five percent” — the same as 2024.The world’s second-largest economy has charted an uneven course since the pandemic, bogged down by lacklustre domestic consumption and a prolonged debt crisis in the vast property sector.Many economists view the newest goal as ambitious.And just a few weeks in, US President Donald Trump’s second term threatens to significantly exacerbate trade headwinds facing the export powerhouse this year.But Liu said after the session that he “warmly welcomed” Trump’s second term.”No matter who is (US) president, as long as they are beneficial to global development and help global stability, unity and economic development, I will welcome them with open arms,” he said.Earlier, nearly 3,000 representatives rose to their feet and fervently applauded as President Xi Jinping and other top leaders entered the cavernous auditorium.- ‘Bright road ahead’ -Attendees then sang along as a military band played China’s national anthem ahead of Li’s speech.Yin Jianmin, an NPC representative from the poor, arid northwestern province of Gansu, told AFP outside the hall that Li’s words showed her that “China is strong and will develop better and better”.”At the same time, the report pointed out a very bright road for our Chinese private entrepreneurs,” she added.Yin, 64, currently serves as head of a natural gas company and was in Beijing to attend her third annual “Two Sessions”.”I also hope that entrepreneurs from all over the country will come to Gansu to invest and develop,” she said.

Trump addresses a tense Congress on partisan night

There was dismay on the left and jubilation on the right as Donald Trump addressed the US Congress on Tuesday in a tense atmosphere and with Washington’s political divisions rarely more visible. Trump entered the chamber to cheers from Republicans and took a languid stroll down the center aisle to the podium, taking his time and pressing flesh along the way. As he passed Democrat Melanie Stansbury, the New Mexico congresswoman held up a sheet of paper reading “This is not normal.” A Republican politician snatched the sign out of her hands — a harbinger of the tensions to come. The ultra-Trumpist Marjorie Taylor Greene, always a politician to wear her support on her sleeve, sported a red “Trump was right about everything” cap — in violation of a ban on headwear introduced almost two centuries ago.When Trump arrived at the podium, the Republican half of the chamber chanted “USA! USA!” their jubilation evident in their broad grins. On the other side of the room, the Democratic members remain seated and stony-faced. The only (presumed) Republican who might have bested the president on the applause-o-meter: his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, who waved to acknowledge the raucous applause as she took her place, wearing a charcoal gray suit. “To my fellow citizens, America is back!” Trump enthused as he began his address, whose theme was “Renewal of the  American Dream.”- Yellow and blue -Minutes later, Democrat congressman Al Green stood up and yelled at the president: “You don’t have a mandate.” His protest was drowned out by the uproarious Republicans, who ordered him to take a seat as they dived into another stirring round of patriotic chants. Green refused to sit down, and was quickly escorted out of the chamber, as he was jeered by his political opponents on the Republican side. When Trump called predecessor Joe Biden the “worst president” in history, there were whistles from a few triggered Democrats, some of whom denounced the “lies.” Many were wearing scarves, striped ties, or lapel ribbons in the yellow and blue colors of the Ukrainian flag, as a sign of solidarity for a war-torn ally they consider the Trump administration to have betrayed.Indeed, the speech came just after Trump had ordered a pause in American military aid to Kyiv, and the atmosphere was markedly different from Biden’s March 2022 address to Congress, five days after the start of the Russian invasion.On that occasion marked a demonstration of unity from both sides of Congress, and both chambers, as Democrat and Republican alike rose at Biden’s beckoning to offer solidarity with the Ukrainian people. That unanimity is decidedly a thing of the past in the Washington of the “America First” movement which has Trump as its standard-bearer. In addition to Ukrainian yellow and blue, a number of Democrats came in pink outfits to protest against what they see as the Trump administration’s anti-women policies.Some of the House Democrats left the chamber before Trump had even got into his stride and Texas Democrat Jasmine Crockett removed her jacket to reveal a t-shirt with the word “Resist” emblazoned on the back. – Musk the spectator -Some traditions hold, even in the norm-breaking Trump era, and the usual bevy of Supreme Court justices could be found in the front row, enjoying the pomp and circumstance. With many of the Trump administration’s decisions already the subject of legal challenges, the judicial panel — with its strong conservative tilt —  is likely to have its hands full in the weeks and months ahead. But if Trump was expecting a sold-out speech, he will have been disappointed. A number of Democrats, such as left-winger Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, had previously announced that they would be giving the event a wide berth. Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and Trump’s point man on drastically downsizing the federal government, watched from the galleries, a spectator to the drama for once. Yet, even from the sidelines, he still managed to command the attention of the TV cameras as Trump invited applause for a man whose millions helped get the Republican elected.A few hours before Trump’s arrival, a dozen protesters outside the US Capitol waved signs reading “Stand up to tyranny” and “Musk must go.” Trump seemed to provide a direct retort during his speech, as he warned: “We’re just getting started.”

New Delhi vows to flatten monster garbage pile in Indian capital

India’s capital New Delhi has vowed to clear one of its largest trash piles by next year as part of a plan to eradicate unsightly landfills dotting the megacity’s skyline.Around 32 million people live in greater Delhi, where a slipshod approach to waste management has left numerous landfills with garbage piled up to 60 metres (200 feet) high and visible from miles away.Regular spot fires during the capital’s long and intense summer see the trash mounds turn into toxic conflagrations spilling dangerous chemical fumes into nearby neighbourhoods.Delhi environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa told reporters Tuesday that work was underway to process and dispose of waste at one of the city’s biggest trash piles.By the end of the year, waste at the Bhalswa dump on the city’s northern outskirts “will be reduced to a point where it will no longer be visible” from a distance, he said.”Our ultimate aim is to ensure that no new garbage mountains are formed,” he added.Local neighbourhoods around the Bhalswa landfill are home to thousands of Delhi’s poorest residents who have migrated from grinding rural poverty in search of work.Sirsa said the Bhalswa site would be cleared by March next year with similar remediation work to follow at Delhi’s other two main garbage dumps.According to last reported estimates from 2023, Delhi generates more than 11,000 tonnes of solid waste each day, according to official estimates in 2023.More than four million tonnes of waste sit at the Bhalswa dump according to official estimates.Untreated domestic waste burns in the landfills during the hot summer months, producing excess methane which further pollutes India’s already smog-choked urban centres.

US tax agency weighs firing half of its 90,000 employees

The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is considering letting go up to half of its approximately 90,000 employees, a source with knowledge of the situation told AFP on Tuesday.The bloodbath would be the latest drastic cut to a federal agency under President Donald Trump’s administration. When asked about US press reports of the plans to halve the IRS headcount, the source confirmed such a project was being discussed internally. Last month, the IRS laid off around 7,000 probationary employees, amid similar cuts at other federal agencies.Since his return to the White House in January, Trump has launched a vast offensive aimed at slashing public spending and reducing the federal bureaucracy, one of the goals he promised on the campaign trail. To that end, he has tapped billionaire Elon Musk, his top campaign donor turned close adviser, to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has cut thousands of government jobs and upended federal agencies. Among his first targets were members of the federal bureaucracy overseeing policies that promote diversity. Trump’s return also saw the dismantling of the US Agency on International Development (USAID), ending humanitarian and international development projects around the globe.