Clout

Political confrontation, especially when it is taking place in Parliament, is not hand-to-hand combat.

The "I'm not going anywhere" we heard on Wednesday in reaction to the ejection of two lawmakers from the special parliamentary committee investigating the handling of the Novartis case cannot be allowed to express a party that claims to be democratic.

Vangelis Marinakis is building a media empire to compare with his shipping business. His political clout is growing too.

The mini-summit of European Union leaders at Versailles on Monday had all the hallmarks of a French initiative: an imposing setting and grandiose rhetoric aimed at confirming France's role as a leader, when the fact is that Berlin's has complete dominance over "united" Europe.

By Maria Petrakis

Josef Ackermann used his clout as head of Deutsche Bank AG to help save the euro by negotiating the biggest debt restructuring in history. Now, he's been tapped to resuscitate a victim of that deal.

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