📱 Swipe for Truth

The Treasury dances while counting the beans and the lies.

5 mai 2026

The latest western government to discover TikTok is the French finance ministry, which on April 8 launched an account dedicated to fact-checking « economic disinformation ». It is called Bercy décode, a name redolent of a regional daytime quiz show, which is roughly the level of irony one should bring to it. The account targets « fake news » and, more ambitiously, « semi-truths », a category broad enough to cover anything that strays from official messaging without being demonstrably false. The launch lands roughly a year before a presidential election. The format, slotted between cat clips and deepfakes of Giorgia Meloni, is presumably coincidence.

Paris is hardly alone. The Biden administration set up a Disinformation Governance Board in 2022 inside the Department of Homeland Security, then scrapped it three weeks later when the word « Orwellian » became unavoidable. The British government’s Counter Disinformation Unit, a Whitehall outfit liaising with social platforms over politically inconvenient content, was quietly renamed the National Security Online Information Team once journalists started asking questions. Brussels enacted the Digital Services Act. Brazil’s Supreme Court spent much of 2024 ordering X to delete accounts. The instinct is universal: when a topic gets messy, the executive wants a desk near the gatekeeper’s.

Some facts admit no debate. The Earth is round. Astronauts walked on the Moon. A minister did or did not sign a decree. Public administrations are welcome to defend such matters with the full force of their communications budgets. The contested terrain lies elsewhere. Macroeconomic statistics depend on perimeter, methodology and political season; the IMF, Eurostat and national statistical offices regularly produce different figures for the same quantity. Treasuries that have missed every fiscal forecast in recent memory now propose to adjudicate accuracy in vertical video. Across the Atlantic, Donald Trump has spent his second term suing newspapers, stripping White House credentials and labelling the press an enemy of the people. The French case is not Trumpian, and pretending otherwise would be lazy. The underlying logic, that the executive has business stamping claims as true or false on the most contested ground, has nonetheless crossed an unusual number of borders in recent years.

In countries where trust in the press has been crumbling for a decade and trust in the state has fared no better, hiring the executive to restore confidence in public discourse has the elegance of asking an arsonist to staff the fire brigade. Democracies erode through the slow normalisation of small administrative habits, each defensible in isolation, until the day a future government inherits the apparatus and finds it remarkably useful.

📱 Swipe for Truth

🗞️ Top Story

  • 🇩🇪 Monday Mourning. In Leipzig’s old town, a driver sped through a pedestrian zone, killing two people and injuring several others before being arrested. (Die Zeit)
  • 🇷🇺 Bunker Mentality. A European intelligence report says Vladimir Putin is tightening his inner circle and movement amid coup rumors and assassination scares, with staff and family facing strict new restrictions. (Spiegel)
  • 🇺🇸 Capital Offense. A gunman opened fire near the White House, wounding a bystander and triggering a lockdown while Secret Service agents returned fire and detained the suspect. (Spiegel)
  • 🇺🇸 Wall of Shame. Swastikas and hateful slogans were spray-painted on a synagogue and nearby buildings in Queens, prompting New York’s Mayor Mamdani to condemn the attack as a targeted act of hate. (Spiegel)
  • 🇺🇸 Award of the Deal The 2026 Pulitzers rewarded journalists for exposing Trump’s allies’ enrichment, chaotic reforms, and attacks on the press. Sometimes, the art of the deal lands you in the headlines, not just the boardroom. (Le Monde)
  • 🇺🇸 Checks Optional. Trump declares the war with Iran over on his own terms, sidestepping Congress and highlighting America’s executive power drift just before midterms. (Le Monde)
  • 🇺🇸 Fleet Street. The will send destroyers, over 100 aircraft, and 15,000 troops to escort neutral merchant ships trapped in the Strait of Hormuz by Iran’s blockade, all under the banner of “Project Freedom.” (El Pais)
  • 🇹🇼 World Wide Lai. Taiwan’s president Lai Ching-te says the island has the right to forge global ties, fresh off his visit to Eswatini, its only African ally. (Le Figaro)
  • 🇦🇺 Mirror, Mirror. Australia launches a federal royal commission to probe its response to antisemitism after the Bondi Beach attack killed 15 during Hanukkah celebrations. (Le Temps)
  • 🇮🇷 Strait Outta Order. Iranian attacks on the UAE and a US strike on Iranian boats in the Strait of Hormuz push the US-Iran ceasefire to the brink. (Cnbc)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
  • 🇬🇧 Chain Reaction. The UK’s anti-slavery commissioner reports record-high modern slavery cases, with 23,411 referrals in 2025 and warnings the crisis will only grow. (The Guardian)
  • 🇬🇧 House Call. Starmer brings top figures from business, culture, and policing to Downing Street, declaring antisemitism a crisis demanding action from every corner of society. (BBC)
  • 🇬🇧 Red Alert. Labour faces heavy losses across England, Wales, and Scotland as voter fragmentation and anti-incumbency threaten its century-old dominance in key regions. (Financial Times)
  • 🇬🇧 Pay and Display. The Isle of Sheppey’s deserted pay-to-park lot shows how local councils’ debt fixes are colliding with residents’ empty wallets and rising frustration. (BBC)
🇺🇸 United States
  • 🇮🇹 Holy See Saw. Marco Rubio heads to Rome for talks with Pope Leo XIV, following Trump’s attacks on the pope and Meloni over their criticism of US policy on Iran. (New York Times)
  • 🇺🇸 Mood Swing. Health Secretary Xavier Becerra launches a campaign to reduce antidepressant use in the, arguing Americans are overmedicated and need new policies to change course. (New York Times)

🏛️ Economy

  • 🇫🇷 Hero Complex. Half of French SME leaders report serious mental or physical health struggles but most still claim to be in good shape, thanks to the « superhero » myth. (Le Monde)
  • 🇩🇪 Tax Appeal. Germans from east to west. Rich and not-so-rich. Overwhelmingly back increased taxation on annual incomes above €300K, says Forsa. (Die Zeit)
  • 🇩🇰 Current Affairs. Denmark has paused all new data center grid connections after a surge in electricity demand overwhelmed its power infrastructure, leaving $B investments on hold. (Cnbc)
  • 🇪🇺 Auto Correct. With Trump threatening fresh car tariffs, the EU’s Maros Sefcovic and the US’s Jamieson Greer plan a Paris sit-down to see if they can fix the trade glitch. (Wall Street Journal)
  • 🇨🇭 Fare and Square. Swiss group actif-trafiC launches an initiative to tax plane tickets and fund public transport, promising « mobility vouchers » for all, while the right stays unconvinced. (Le Temps)
  • 🇺🇸 Fed Up Next. Bond traders expect a bumpy ride as the Treasury refunding, a parade of Fed speakers, and jobs data come barreling in. (Bloomberg)
  • 🇺🇸 Patriot Games. Washington greenlights $8.6B in military deals for Middle Eastern allies without congressional review, all under the banner of urgent security. (Boursier)
  • 🇺🇸 Policy Fog. Warsh, Trump’s pick for Fed chair, unsettles markets and veterans alike with cryptic talk of a new Fed-Treasury accord and blurry independence lines. (Cnbc)
  • 🇰🇪 Rich Pickings. Kenya’s new AI-powered healthcare system, launched under President Ruto, is making care pricier for the poorest while favoring the wealthy. (The Guardian)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
  • 🇬🇧 High Steaks. UK food prices are on course for a 50% increase since 2021, driven by climate and energy chaos. Beef lovers may want to look away. (The Guardian)
  • 🇬🇧 Power Play. Greg Jackson of Octopus Energy suggests that UK households could swap reliable electricity for lower costs, proving the grid is now a negotiation. (The Guardian)
  • 🇬🇧 Paid Leave. Ben Agnew, CEO of The Payments Association, is stepping down after four years of growth, just as the group secures new investment. (Uktech)
  • 🏴 Pound for Pound. Economists warn Scotland’s next government must slash spending and tackle public sector pay, a reality glossed over by every party manifesto. (The Guardian)

🏢 Real Estate

  • 🇧🇪 Triple Check. Belgium’s top court now lets landlords demand proof that tenants earn at least three times the rent, declaring the practice both legal and non-discriminatory. (Le Figaro)
  • 🇭🇰 Warning Signs. Lee Chun Ho lost his mother, brother, niece, and maid in Hong Kong’s worst fire in decades, after repeated safety complaints went unheeded by authorities and contractors. (New York Times)
  • 🇦🇪 Peace of Mind. Emaar’s Mohamed Alabbar declares Dubai property immune to regional turmoil, inviting buyers to invest in tranquility while the neighborhood burns. (Bloomberg)
  • 🇲🇦 High Society Morocco unveils the 55-story Mohammed VI Tower in Rabat, a $604M project combining luxury apartments, offices, and a Waldorf Astoria hotel. (Le Figaro)

🔗 On-chain

  • 🇺🇸 Sun Blocked Justin Sun faces a defamation lawsuit from World Liberty Financial, the Trump family’s crypto project, after taking their spat from X to the courts. (Financial Times)

💱 Listed Markets

  • 🇺🇸 Peak Performance. Paramount’s revenue climbs on streaming and studio gains, with the company doubling down on a Q3 closing for Warner Discovery. (Wall Street Journal)
  • 🇺🇸 Karp Diem. Palantir seized the quarter with 85% revenue growth, its sharpest rise since 2020, and upgraded its outlook for the rest of the year. (Cnbc)
  • 🇺🇸 Cloud Nine Figures. Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet all reported strong quarterly results while sharply raising capex for AI and cloud, with a combined $650B spend now on the table. (Siliconrepublic)
  • 🇺🇸 Fuel’s Gold. Reddit CEO Steve Huffman claims the platform is “the fuel” for artificial intelligence, touting its archive of user conversations as a core input for AI giants. The market seems to agree, with Reddit shares jumping 9% on the news. (Cnbc)
🇺🇸 United States
  • 🇺🇸 Saks Appeal. Geoffroy van Raemdonck, CEO of Saks Global, says the luxury retailer is ready for a comeback after this year’s bankruptcy filing. (Wall Street Journal)

🛎️ Big Deals (M&A)

  • Air Liquide 🇫🇷 sells its biogas production activities in the U.S., France, Norway, and Sweden to Mobius Renewables 🇺🇸.
  • Thyssenkrupp 🇩🇪 pauses talks with Jindal Steel International 🇮🇳 regarding a stake in its steel unit.
  • SAP 🇩🇪 agrees to acquire Prior Labs 🇩🇪, a startup focused on tabular foundation models, for an undisclosed sum.
  • Amadeus IT Group 🇪🇸 acquires IDEMIA Public Security 🇫🇷 for €1.2B.
  • UCB 🇧🇪 acquires Candid Therapeutics 🇺🇸 for up to $2.2B, marking its second investment in T-cell engagers for autoimmune diseases.
  • Henko 🇵🇹 is considering a stake sale in engineering firm Quadrante 🇵🇹.
  • Version 1 🇮🇪 acquires CreateFuture 🇬🇧 for an undisclosed amount, aiming to create a combined organization with over €500M in annual revenues.
  • Visma 🇳🇴 acquires a stake in Bilky 🇪🇸, a Málaga-based tech company founded in 2017.
  • Hubbell 🇺🇸 acquires NSI Industries 🇺🇸 for $3B.
  • American Express Global Business Travel 🇺🇸 enters a $6.3B take-private deal with Long Lake Management 🇺🇸.
  • Recharge 🇺🇸 acquires Skio 🇺🇸 for $105M cash, with Skio having previously raised only $8M.
  • TSMC 🇹🇼 fully exits its stake in Arm 🇬🇧 through a $231M share sale.
  • Regis Resources 🇦🇺 to acquire Vault Minerals 🇦🇺 for $7.67B, creating Australia’s third-largest listed gold company.
  • Cyera 🇮🇱 acquires Ryft 🇮🇱 for an estimated €92-120M.

🧳 Private Markets & VC

  • 🇺🇸 Musk Do Tell. The S.E.C. closed its case accusing Elon Musk of concealing Twitter stock buys, with Musk agreeing to pay $1.5M and avoid further admissions. (New York Times)
  • 🇺🇸 Size Wise. Shorecliff’s Grant Nachman claims the secret is being large enough for influence but not so large that agility vanishes. (Bloomberg)
  • 🇺🇸 Open Sourced. Elon Musk admitted in court that his company xAI used output from OpenAI models to train Grok, igniting a legal and ethical firestorm over AI originality. (Mamstartup)
  • 🇨🇳 Palm Springs. Linkerbot dominates 80% of the robot-hand market and is reaching for a $6B valuation, proving the real action is in the grip. (Thenextweb)
  • 🇭🇰 Inside Job Hong Kong prosecutors have launched an insider trading trial against Segantii Capital after a $1.14M trade raised red flags with regulators. (Bloomberg)

Fundraising

  • Sierra 🇺🇸 (AI): $950M (Tiger Global, GV)
  • Aidoc 🇮🇱 (Healthcare): $150M (Goldman Sachs, General Catalyst, SoftBank Investment Advisers, NVIDIA NVentures)
  • Panthalassa 🇺🇸 (Renewable Energy): $140M (Peter Thiel, John Doerr, Marc Benioff’s TIME Ventures, Max Levchin’s SciFi Ventures, Susquehanna Sustainable Investments, Hanwha Group, Anthony Pratt, Fortescue Ventures, Future Positive, WTI, Nimble Partners, Super Micro Computer, Sozo Ventures, Dylan Field, Planetary VC, Leblon Capital, Resilience Reserve, Portland Seed Fund, Intrepid Oregon Fund, Founders Fund, Gigascale Capital, Lowercarbon Capital, Unless, WovenEarth)
  • SPRIND 🇩🇪 (AI): €125M
  • Reserv 🇺🇸 (Travel): $125M
  • Netomi 🇺🇸 (AI): $110M (Accenture Ventures, Adobe Ventures, WndrCo, Silver Lake Waterman, NAVER Ventures, Metis Strategy, Fin Capital)
  • DeepInfra 🇺🇸 (AI): $107M (500 Global, Georges Harik, A.Capital Ventures, Crescent Cove, Felicis, NVIDIA, Peak6, Samsung Next, Supermicro, Upper90)
  • Parallel 🇺🇸 (AI): $100M (Sequoia Capital, Perkins, Index Ventures, Khosla Ventures, First Round Capital, Spark Capital, Terrain Capital)
  • Latus Bio 🇺🇸 (Biotech): $97M (8VC, DCVC Bio, BioAdvance, Benjamin Franklin Technology Partners, Modi Ventures, Gaingels, Hatch BioFund, Korea Development Bank, Helen’s Pink Sky Foundation)
  • Fun 🇺🇸 (Fintech): $72M (Multicoin Capital, SignalFire)
  • Smartness 🇮🇹 (TravelTech): €47M (United Ventures, CDP Venture Capital, Partech)
  • Forest 🇬🇧 (Mobility): £40M
  • EVA 🇩🇪 (Gaming): €35M
  • SPREAD AI 🇩🇪 (AI): $30M (DTCP Growth, IQT, OTB Ventures, Salesforce, HV Capital, NAP)
  • mbiomics 🇩🇪 (Biotech): €30M (MIG Fonds, Bayern Kapital)
  • ANELLO Photonics 🇺🇸 (Navigation): $25M (MESH, Washington Harbour Partners, Lockheed Martin Ventures, Catapult Ventures, New Legacy Ventures, One Madison Group, IronGate Capital, Mana Ventures)
  • Lithosquare 🇫🇷 (Mining): $25M (World Fund, Kindred Capital, Daphni, Omnes Capital, Ovni Capital)
  • All3 🇬🇧 (Construction): $25M
  • Enzo Health 🇺🇸 (Healthcare): $20M (N47, Gradient, Tandem Ventures, Rigby Watts)
  • EnteroBiotix 🇬🇧 (Life Sciences): £19M (Thairm Bio, Scottish National Investment Bank)
  • Groove Quantum 🇳🇱 (Quantum Computing): €16M (Innovation Industries, 55 North)
  • Audion 🇫🇷 (Advertising): €13M (Elevation Capital Partners, Founders Future, Bpifrance)
  • Kigen 🇬🇧 (Cybersecurity): €11.5M
  • Rocsys 🇳🇱 (Mobility): €11.1M (Capricorn Partners, Scania Invest, Forward.One)
  • BioOrbit 🇬🇧 (Healthcare): £9.8M (LocalGlobe, Breega, Auxxo, Seedcamp, Type One, 7 percent, angels)
  • Udora 🇪🇺 (E-commerce): €9.2M
  • Third Space Learning 🇬🇧 (Education): £4.4M (British Business Bank, Maven Capital Partners, Blackfinch Ventures, Foresight, Nesta)
  • Primogene 🇩🇪 (Biotech): €4.1M (High-Tech Gründerfonds, Technologiegründerfonds Sachsen, better ventures, Sächsische Beteiligungsgesellschaft, Golzern Holding, FS Life Science Investment, Marc Struhalla)
  • Online Oceans 🇬🇧 (Maritime): £4M
  • A-Cube 🇮🇹 (Fintech): €4M (P101 SGR, Sella Direct Ventures)
  • Spaceflux 🇬🇧 (Space): £3.5M
  • OneFlash 🇫🇷 (Mobility): €3.5M (Blast Club, historical investors)
  • Mosaic SoC 🇨🇭 (Semiconductors): €3.2M (Founderful, Kick Foundation)
  • Synaps 🇦🇹 (AI): €3.06M (Plug and Play, Fil Rouge)
  • TietAI 🇪🇸 (Healthcare): €2.5M
  • Impetux Optics 🇪🇸 (Healthcare): €2.5M
  • auryx 🇬🇧 (Healthcare): $2M (Celero Ventures, EWOR, Cambridge Enterprise Ventures, Vento, PurposeTech)
  • ALP Bio 🇨🇭 (Biotech): €1.9M (42CAP, Venture Kick)
  • Ekiden 🇵🇹 (Blockchain): €1.7M (GSR, Pyth, Aptos, LayerZero, Cube Exchange, Avail, Chorus One, Unicorn Factory Ventures, P2 Ventures)
  • CLEO LABS 🇫🇷 (Compliance): €1.5M
  • Highway Data Systems 🇬🇧 (Mobility): £1.25M (Investment Fund for Scotland, Maven Capital Partners)
  • ManaMind 🇬🇧 (Gaming): €1.2M (SVV, EWOR, Ascension, Syndicate Room, Heartfelt)
  • VNYX 🇳🇱 (FashionTech): €1M
  • Brasserie Parallèle 🇫🇷 (Food & Beverage): €500K
  • Diga 🇪🇸 (AI): €300,000

Fund Watch

  • Deviation Capital 🇺🇸: $2B (early-stage VC firm, spun out from Two Sigma)
  • Katie Haun 🇺🇸: $1B (new venture funds, crypto and blockchain focus)
  • Ademe 🇫🇷: €837M (green transition fund, reopening applications in Nouvelle-Aquitaine)
  • 137 Ventures 🇺🇸: $700M (two growth-stage funds, backing impactful startups)
  • Earlybird VC 🇩🇪: £312M (8th early-stage tech fund, largest raise in history)
  • KOMPAS VC 🇩🇪: $160M (2nd fund for industrial technologies)
  • DFF Ventures 🇳🇱: $70M (3rd fund for pre-seed and early-stage startups in AI/software)
  • Max Samuel 🇵🇱: €25M (Off Piste Capital, early-stage tech fund)

🔔IPO

  • Fervo Energy 🇺🇸 (Geothermal): aiming to raise up to $1.3B in its IPO, with a potential valuation of $6.5B.
  • Blackstone Data Center REIT 🇺🇸 (Real Estate): seeking to raise $1.75B in its IPO.
  • Cerebras 🇺🇸 (Semiconductors): seeking to raise $3.5B in a IPO to compete with Nvidia.
  • Fervo Energy 🇺🇸 (Energy): seeking $1.33B in its IPO to fund geothermal development.
  • Immune System Biotech Odyssey 🇺🇸 (Biotech): aims to raise $238.3M in its IPO.
  • EagleRock 🇺🇸 (Energy): seeking to raise $346M in its upcoming IPO.
  • Yotta Data 🇮🇳 (Data): reportedly hiring advisors for a $900M IPO India.

🧳 Debt

  • Winamp Group 🇫🇷: reached a debt restructuring agreement involving €9M in bonds.
  • Meridian Capital Group 🇺🇸: secured $50M refinancing for Langston Views, a 671-unit apartment complex in Washington, D.C.

❌ Failures

  • Rakuten 🇫🇷: facing a decline for a decade, the e-commerce platform may close in France, affecting 180 employees.
  • Oracle 🇮🇪: up to 150 jobs are at risk, representing a 16% reduction of its Irish workforce amid global cost-cutting efforts.

🎯 For a Few More Minutes…

  • 🇫🇷 Classified Ads. Six suspects, including an ex-Elysée military aide, are charged with leaking secret defense documents for private profit, turning state secrets into a business plan. (Le Monde)
  • 🇺🇸 Fame Algorithm. The Florida State shooter messaged ChatGPT for notoriety advice, receiving a body count suggestion instead of a deterrent. OpenAI faces scrutiny for its chatbot’s unfiltered replies. (Italian)

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