Ex-Lebanon central bank chief arrested over alleged financial crimes • FRANCE 24 English

and I'm joined in Studio by Yuka Royer good to have you with us this evening UK you are starting in Lebanon uh tonight where the former Governor of the country's Central Bank has been arrested take us through it yeah rad salame he headed lebanon's Central Bank for three decades and was once lorded for Reviving the country's economy but his later years were marked by allegations of financial crimes both at home and abroad on Tuesday he was arrested after a lengthy interrogation the first time he face lebanon's Judiciary since he left his position last year without a successor VI Bal has the details it's here at the Justice Palace in Beirut that Riyad salame former governor of lebanon's Central Bank was arrested over several alleged corruption cases according to reports the country's caretaker Justice Minister has said he respects the judiciary's decision to arrest the former Governor there is no doubt that the public prosecutor did what was required of him and interrogated former Governor Riyad Salma if there was no need for detention salmer wouldn't have been detained but his decision was to detain him and I respect every decision issued by the Judiciary the arrest comes after years of accusations before leaving 30 years in his post July last year 73-year-old salam's final years were marred by allegations of financial crimes including illicit enrichment through public funds both at home and abroad he's wanted by author authorities in France with a red notice issued against him by interpole salame was widely celebrated for his role in lebanon's economic recovery after a 15year civil war but he's also considered by many to be behind policies that led to the country's financial crisis since late 2019 which decimated the value of the Lebanese pound and sparked triple digit inflation a lot of people are now happy to see him imprisoned even if this is Prov provisional and not final uh since it might also lead to a final judgment in few months or uh years salame has vehemently denied any wrongdoing arguing his wealth comes from inheritance Investments and his previous career as an investment banker you can nine years after Volkswagen admitted to cheating emissions test the former boss of the German Auto giant is finally on trial over his alleged role in what was at the time called the dieselgate Scandal this criminal trial of Martin vinon had been delayed several times mainly due to his health conditions the 77y old STS accused of fraud Market manipulation and perjury in relation to the alleged role he played in the dieselgate scandal in 2015 the car maker admitted that it had installed software to rig emissions test results which affected 11 million cars worldwide and cost the company 30 billion EUR in fines legal costs and compensation winon denies any wrongdoing here's his lawyer speaking earlier on behalf of our client I would like to declare that he rejects the charges against him we are firmly convinced that all the allegations against him can be refuted in this respect we are actually looking forward to the proceedings with composure you know while here in France Uka uh the country starting up its long delayed at flamville 3 nuclear reactor finally got the green light after numerous delays and cost overruns numerous delays indeed the operator electricity def France says that the first nuclear ficient Chain Reaction has indeed taken place at the new reactor a key step in starting up the reactor now this Milestone comes after Francis nuclear Watchdog gave its green light after 12 years uh gave its green light and after 12 years behind schedule the third generation European pressurized water reactor or E is part of France's plan to renew its nuclear Fleet and is the most powerful in the world EDF says it aims for the reactor to reach 25% capacity by the autumn in order for it to be connected to the nation's power grid when construction began in 2007 the utility expected it would only Take 5 years to complete since then the project has been plagued by repeated delays due to technical issues such as cracks in the concrete structure increased safety requirements following the Fukushima disaster in Japan and parts suppliers missing deadlines among other reasons its cost meanwhile has qu quadrupled to 13.2 billion EOS though the French national audit office put its estimate at1 19 billion EUR Sharon moving on then you could take us through the markets how do they react today stocks tumbled this Tuesday especially in the US all of wall Street's Main in indices ended trading in the red the Dow Jones slid 1 and a half% the S&P 500 down 2% and the tech heavy NASDAQ sank 3 and a/ qu% as Nvidia shares dropped more than 8% other semiconductor stocks also declined on Tuesday amid fresh worries about the state of the US economy and finally it's a staple of French cafes and restaurants jlex it's an iconic brand to people here in France it's tempered glass dish wear it has a reputation as being unbreakable but it has been struggling financially the company yeah the company has repeatedly fallen into Administration amid dodgy buyouts pandemic and the Russian energy crisis one month ago though the business was taken over by its employees as a Cooperative on Monday they held a grand reopening with ambitious targets for the future Brian quein with the story this is the DX Factory outside the French city of Orlons these are the company's employees and as of now its owners famous for its tempered glass repeatedly heated to over 1300° to boost its strength in July the iconic French dish maker officially became an employee run Cooperative every vested employee who believed in this project from the start gets to have their say the profits are gathered and distributed among employees instead of getting siphoned off by shareholders and we reinvest in the business like its products the company itself has been through the fire starting in 1997 a series of buyouts eventually saw durx stripped down to near bankruptcy by an unscrupulous Turkish owner it barely survived then recovered but the co pandemic and the explosion of energy prices amid Russia's war on Ukraine once again brought it near collapse saved only by 15 million EUR in government Aid durx once had some 1500 employees by the time their Co-op bid was approved in Late July the number was just 230 the company faces a difficult road ahead sales fell from 31 million e in 2022 to just 24.6 Million last year our goal is 40 million in revenues at 12% gross profits within 5 years for that we need to hire and train Personnel it's not machines that make glass it's people it's an ambitious goal for these employee owners whose determination is as unbreakable as the glasswar they produce and that's it for business for now Yuka thank you so much that's Yuka Royer joining us there from our business desk