France will increase the ​size of its nuclear arsenal and strengthen its deterrent, ‌with an increasing risk of conflicts globally crossing the nuclear threshold, President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday. "We are currently experiencing a ​period of geopolitical upheaval fraught with risk," Macron said ​in a speech delivered from a submarine base ⁠in Brittany, adding that a "hardening" of the French deterrence ​model was needed. Unveiling the update to France's nuclear doctrine at a ​nuclear base on the Atlantic coast, Macron also said a "major" change would see more cooperation with European allies that have expressed interest, ​including Germany.

« C’est la pire période des 50 dernières années pour lancer une démarche référendaire, avec toute l’incertitude qu’il y a », a déclaré dimanche soir l’aspirante à la chefferie de la CAQ, Christine Fréchette, à l'émission Tout le monde en parle. Christine Fréchette, qui a pourtant déjà été directrice adjointe du cabinet de l'ancien ministre péquiste Jean-François Lisée, a martelé dimanche qu’elle ferait tout pour empêcher la tenue d’un troisième référendum sur la souveraineté du Québec. Mais, contrairement au chef libéral Charles Milliard, la candidate au poste de première ministre du Québec n'aspire pas nécessairement à conduire l’autobus du camp du non. Je dis qu’il faut empêcher la tenue d’une démarche référendaire au Québec.

En coulisses, certains libéraux à Ottawa se demandent pourquoi Mark Carney a offert un appui sans nuances à l’opération américaine en Iran et craignent les conséquences qui pourraient en découler. Une chose est certaine : il est difficile d’accuser Mark Carney d’entretenir l’ambivalence en ce qui concerne les frappes contre l'Iran. Au Canada, certains libéraux ont avalé leur café de travers en prenant connaissance de la déclaration, samedi matin. Je me serais gardé une petite gêne, lance l’un d’entre eux. J’aurais réagi comme la France ou la Grande-Bretagne. La France, l’Allemagne et le Royaume-Uni ont exhorté l’Iran à rechercher une solution négociée, appelant l’État iranien à permettre à son peuple de déterminer son propre avenir. Ils ont aussi précisé qu'ils n’avaient pas participé à ces frappes.

Blackstone chief executive Stephen Schwarzman took home more than $1.2bn last year amid record profits at the world’s largest alternative investment group, the company’s annual report on Friday said. Schwarzman’s income marked a 20 per cent increase from the prior year, fuelled by rising dividend payments from his enormous Blackstone shareholding. The Blackstone co-founder owns nearly 20 per cent of the New York-based investment group and has for years received hundreds of millions of dollars annually in dividends paid out from its profits.

Les voyages d’affaires des dirigeants de la Monnaie royale canadienne ont coûté des centaines de milliers de dollars aux contribuables l’an dernier, a constaté Le Journal.vLes grands patrons de la société d’État ont assisté en avril dernier à la Conférence des directeurs de Monnaies (CDM) qui se tenait au Cap en Afrique du Sud. Bien que l’événement n’ait duré que trois jours, Marie Lemay, l’ancienne directrice générale de cette société de la Couronne qui a depuis pris sa retraite, et Tom Frogatt, le directeur des ventes principal, ont prolongé leur séjour d’une semaine ou plus, selon les divulgations du gouvernement fédéral.

A consortium led by BlackRock owned Global Infrastructure Partners and equity firm EQT AB on Monday agreed to acquire AES Corp. AES-N for US$33.4-billion, including debt. The consortium will acquire AES for US$15.00 per share in cash, representing a total equity value of US$10.7-billion, the companies said. The deal underscores how utilities have become prime takeover targets as the artificial intelligence boom reshapes electricity markets. The transaction expected to close in late 2026 or early 2027.

Over the last three years, retailer Target  has weathered intense criticism from consumers who have questioned its merchandise choices and policy decisions. Now it has another unhappy group to deal with: shareholders who are questioning management's decisions on everything from executive leadership to its plans to rebuild its reputation with the broader public. While big-box retailers like Walmart and Costco have taken advantage of Americans' cost-conscious shopping, Target has struggled. Profit has dropped 14% over the last five years. Its shift away from diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the wake of Donald Trump's return to the White House angered part of its consumer base and many long-time merchants.

The board of directors of Swiss banking giant UBS plans to keep Chief Executive Sergio Ermotti on for longer than originally planned, Swiss newspaper Neue Zuercher Zeitung reported on Saturday. Ermotti, who oversaw the Swiss bank's 2023 emergency takeover of Credit Suisse, is set to step down by the middle of 2027, although that timeline is not finalised, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters last month. However, the board led by Chairman Colm Kelleher, wants to keep Ermotti beyond that date to guide UBS's pushback against the Swiss government’s plans for tighter regulation, the NZZ reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Toyota bumped its offer price for supplier Toyota Industries, opens new tab on Monday, valuing the bid at $30 billion and ending a months-long battle with activist fund Elliott Investment Management, which had pushed for a higher price. Elliott said it had agreed to tender its shares in the forklift maker, known as TICO, and called the raised offer of 20,600 yen ($132) a share an "improved outcome" for minority shareholders. The price is nearly 10% above Toyota's previous bid of 18,800 yen. The automaker originally offered 16,300 yen a share in June before raising it in January. Elliott had rejected both offers as too low. The fund, and other minority shareholders said those bids undervalued TICO.
The stand-off between Paul Singer's fund - one of the world's most prominent shareholder activists - and Toyota, the world's top-selling automaker, has been closely watched as a test case for Japan's push to improve corporate governance.

Poland is sceptical of France's role in a potential European nuclear-deterrence plan and sees only the United States as a credible nuclear partner for now, the president's top security adviser said. Earlier this month, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Berlin had opened discussions with France, the EU's only nuclear power since Britain left the bloc, on a possible continent-wide deterrent. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said Poland has begun talks with France too but stressed he needs specifics before discussing any membership of any European programme. Slawomir Cenckiewicz, head of Warsaw's National Security Bureau, said that Poland should monitor the Berlin-Paris talks, but prioritise NATO's existing nuclear-sharing programme - allowing non-nuclear allies to host and deliver U.S. warheads - to counter potential Russian threats.

Après le grand ménage de Desjardins, c’est au tour de la Banque Nationale de fermer ses succursales dans les régions du Québec.  Les clients de Marieville, en Montérégie, ont reçu une lettre au début du mois pour leur annoncer la fermeture de leur succursale le 27 mars. Leurs comptes, coffrets de sûreté et paiements préautorisés seront transférés à Chambly, à une vingtaine de kilomètres. Ce n’est pas un cas isolé.  À Acton Vale, en Montérégie, et à Lac-Etchemin, dans Chaudière-Appalaches, les portes vont se fermer en août. Dans les deux cas, la banque renvoie ses clients vers des succursales situées à plusieurs dizaines de kilomètres.

Paramount Skydance emerged as the winner in a months-long battle to acquire Warner Bros Discovery after streaming giant Netflix on Thursday refused to raise its bid for the storied Hollywood studio. "We've always been disciplined, and at the price required to match Paramount Skydance's latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive, so we are declining to match the Paramount Skydance bid," Netflix said in a statement. Netflix confirmed to Reuters that it was walking away from bidding for Warner Bros Discovery. The Warner Bros board still has to terminate the Netflix deal and adopt Paramount Skydance's offer.

Greenland's vote in Denmark's parliamentary election on March 24 will serve as a barometer of Greenlanders' appetite for independence, as competing visions for the Arctic island's future relationship with Copenhagen expose political divisions that could create openings for U.S. President Donald Trump to exploit.
While Greenland's governing coalition, led by Demokraatit, advocates a pragmatic, long-term path toward independence with Denmark as a key partner, the opposition Naleraq party is pushing for a swift separation, sharpening a divide that analysts say Washington could seek to make use of. Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called the election in a bid to capitalize on rising domestic support for her firm rejection of U.S. pressure over Greenland, a stance that has drawn broad backing across the Danish political spectrum.

Treize municipalités régionales de comté (MRC) demandent au ministère de l’Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs (MELCCFP) de revoir les modalités de l’entente de délégation pour la production des nouvelles cartes de zones inondables depuis 2024, selon des documents obtenus par Radio-Canada. Ces MRC craignent des poursuites judiciaires et affirment qu’elles ne peuvent pas s'acquitter d’une telle responsabilité sans financement adéquat. Depuis 2021, les municipalités doivent demander au gouvernement de leur déléguer, par entente, la responsabilité d’établir les limites des zones inondables sur leur territoire.

Lundi noir sur les marchés de l’énergie : les prix du gaz et du pétrole s’envolent, portés par la guerre au Moyen-Orient et des premières frappes contre des infrastructures au Qatar et en Arabie saoudite, tandis que la paralysie du détroit d’Ormuz menace l’approvisionnement mondial. Le gaz européen a bondi de plus de 50 % dans la journée, restant cependant encore très loin des niveaux atteints au début de la guerre en Ukraine. Le Brent, la référence internationale pour le baril de pétrole, s’est envolé de plus de 13 %, dépassant les 82 dollars, bien plus haut que les 60 dollars du début d’année.

Thomson Reuters on Monday named former Dell executive Gary E. Bischoping Jr. as its chief financial officer beginning May 8, succeeding Mike Eastwood, who will retire as part of a planned transition. Bischoping most recently served as partner at private equity firm Hellman & Friedman and will join Thomson Reuters on April 13. He spent more than 17 years at Dell Technologies in senior roles, including as CFO and treasurer of a division. As part of the changes, Eastwood will become chairman of Thomson Reuters Foundation's board, replacing Jim Smith, who previously led the Toronto-based information and technology company that owns Reuters News.

Matthew Boswell, the former competition commissioner who led the federal agency during an overhaul of Canada’s competition laws, is joining Norton Rose Fulbright as a partner in the firm’s antitrust practice. Mr. Boswell, who will remain based in Ottawa, led the Competition Bureau, an independent law enforcement agency, from 2018 until late 2025. In his new role, which begins immediately, Mr. Boswell will help clients understand recent changes to Canada’s Competition Act that he and his team helped to usher in.

Prime Minister Mark Carney secured a $2.6-billion deal to supply Canadian uranium to India Monday and launched talks on a comprehensive trade deal with New Delhi as he wrapped up a four-day visit to the subcontinent aimed at repairing years of ruptured ties. The uranium deal was one of 10 commercial agreements touted during the trip and valued at a combined $5.5-billion. Unlike the uranium contract, many had been made public months ago. The Prime Minister, who has set a goal of doubling non-U.S. trade over the next decade, said co-operation with India would make both countries more self reliant.

Warner Bros Discovery has agreed to be acquired by Paramount Skydance in a $110 billion deal, ending a high-stakes bidding war after Netflix walked away from its agreement with the HBO Max owner. The deal, with an equity value of $81 billion, is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, the companies said on Friday. Reuters first reported on Warner Bros Discovery and Paramount signing a deal earlier in the day, citing an audio clip of a global townhall held by the company. The merger would create a media powerhouse, combining major studios and networks such as CNN and CBS to compete more aggressively, as streaming has upended the industry by drawing audiences away from traditional linear TV.

How many workers does a world with Claude need? CEO Jack Dorsey upped the urgency of the debate over whether productive chatbots will reduce employment on Thursday, when he announced, opens new tab that the payments company would fire nearly half its workers. Whether artificial intelligence really can do the work of thousands of humans, or just provides impetus to slim down a bloated organization, is unclear. Nonetheless, investors added more than $6 billion to the company’s market value on Friday morning. Such gains will help prod other firms into finding AI savings, real or illusory. It’s hard for bosses, and more difficult for outsiders, to judge the optimal number of workers for a tech firm.

Berkshire Hathaway's new Chief Executive Greg Abel moved to put his stamp on the conglomerate with his first annual letter to shareholders on Saturday, pledging to maintain its "fortress-like" balance sheet and uphold the values of his predecessor and mentor, Warren Buffett. Abel, 63, said he wouldn't rush to deploy Berkshire's near-record $373.3 billion cash stake, though he said it gave the company plenty of "dry powder" and that he had no plans to begin paying dividends, which Buffett also opposed. Berkshire has not repurchased its own stock since the spring of 2024. "I recognize how you want us to succeed together, and to do so in the right way," Abel wrote in an 18-page, single-spaced letter. "My role is to ensure our liquidity levels and capital deployment remain intentional and deliberate."

A new federal approach giving U.S. companies more say over which proposals shareholders can vote on at their annual meetings is creating regulatory uncertainty and leading to litigation, activists said. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in November changed its traditional process of having staff sign off before a company rejected votes on shareholder proposals. Instead it gave executives more discretion to pick which resolutions would appear on their proxy statements, the mandated document issued before shareholder meetings. The change has prompted at least three investor lawsuits - against AT&T, Axon Enterprises and PepsiCo - and potentially more to follow. By stepping back, the SEC injected uncertainty into the engagement process, said Giovanna Eichner, shareholder advocate at Green Century Capital Management, a climate-focused Boston asset manager.

Antonio Filosa, who took over as head of Jeep-maker Stellantis in June 2025, received 5.4 million euros ($6.37 million) in total compensation last year, the company said on Thursday. The compensation topped the company's earlier projection that Filosa would earn at least $4 million annually in his first two years as CEO. His pay could rise to as much as $23 million a year from 2028, including bonuses. Former Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares, who resigned from the automaker in December 2024, had a pay package of 11.4 million euros ($14 million) in 2025, according to the company's annual filing. Tavares abruptly left the company after coming under scrutiny for slumping sales in the North American market.