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☆ Vladimir Putin once made Italy's prime minister throw up by shooting a deer, carving out its heart, and offering it to the man raw: report
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Berlusconi, Cicchitto said, was accompanying Putin on a hunting trip in the Russian countryside when Putin spotted a pair of deer. After shooting the deers, Putin told Berlusconi he would prepare an extraordinary meal with it, per Cicchitto's recount. According to Cicchitto, Putin proceeded to cut open one of the deer's body with a hunting knife. Berlusconi might have balked at Putin's culinary offering, but the former Italian prime minister shared a close relationship with Putin. In fact, eating a deer's heart is probably not that strange once you consider what else Putin has done with animals, per prior accounts.

Persons: —, Vladimir Putin, Silvio Berlusconi, Fabrizio Cicchitto, della Sera, Berlusconi, Cicchitto, Putin, Silvio, Putin's machismo, he's, didn't Organizations: Service, Forza Italia, della, Business, BI Locations: Italian, Russia, Russian, Cicchitto, Ukraine

☆ Milan said it would ban ice cream on the streets after midnight. After a fierce backlash, it backed down.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Milan has reversed a proposal to ban late-night sales of ice cream after a fierce public backlash. Late-night ice cream is a traditional treat for many Milanese. AdvertisementThe Italian city of Milan has U-turned on a controversial proposal to ban the sale of ice cream after midnight, according to multiple reports. It's not the first time Milan has tried to bring an ice cream ban into law. AdvertisementIn 2013, city officials tried and failed to ban late-night ice cream, local paper Corriere della Sera reported at the time.

Persons: Milan, —, Marco Granelli, Marco Barbieri, Sera, Alessia Cappello Organizations: Milanese, Service, Sky, Sky News, Guardian Locations: Milan, Porta Venezia, Venice

☆ In Maria Callas’s Career, La Scala Played a Major Role
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-20 | by ( Farah Nayeri | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

Following is an overview of some of Callas’s career highlights at La Scala. “Aida” (Verdi): April 12, 1950Callas’s very first performance onstage at La Scala was as a substitute for the much-adored Renata Tebaldi, who was unwell. “I Vespri Siciliani” (Verdi):Dec. 7, 1951This was the first time that Callas was headlining a La Scala production — kicking off the opera house’s season, in fact — and it was a triumph. It also “encapsulated so much” of the Maria Callas that audiences have come to know and revere. Musically, she gave it her all, triggering 24 minutes of applause (according to the Edwards biography), a La Scala record.

Persons: Aida ”, Renata Tebaldi, “ Maria Callas, Anne Edwards, Franco Zeffirelli, Callas, ”, Maria Meneghini Callas, Franco Abbiati, David Bret, Abbiati, ” “ Lucia di Lammermoor ”, Donizetti, Herbert von Karajan, —, Lucia, — Callas, barehanded, Cynthia Jolly, “, Bret, Violetta, Donizetti’s “ Lucia di Lammermoor ”, Bellini’s “ Norma, Luchino Visconti, Fisher, Maria Callas, Carlo Maria Giulini, Giuseppe Di Stefano, “ Anna Bolena ”, Visconti, Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII, Edwards Organizations: La Scala, Scala, della, Opera, The Times Locations: “ La, Belle

☆ A bride and groom spent their wedding night in hospital after the venue floor collapsed, sending them plummeting 13 feet
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-15 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Newlyweds spent their first night in hospital after the floor of their wedding venue collapsed. AdvertisementA bride and groom spent their wedding day in the hospital after a section of a historic venue in Tuscany collapsed on Saturday night. AdvertisementAccording to the local health authority, they were discharged a few hours later. According to a news release by Tuscany's local health authority, 39 people needed medical treatment. AdvertisementThe owners of the venue told local publication Report Pistoia that they don't understand how the collapse happened, describing it as a "tragic and unpredictable event."

Persons: —, Paolo Mugnaini, Valeria Ybarra, Corriere, Mugnaini, obstetricians, Il Messaggero Organizations: Service, della Locations: Tuscany, American, Pistoia, Italy

ROME (AP) — Italian communications company TIM said Sunday that its board of directors has approved the binding acquisition offer by the KKR investment company, following months of negotiations. In a statement, TIM said the approval took the form of a majority vote. The board rejected a non-binding offer for Sparkle, TIM’s undersea cable unit. Italian state TV said the government, under the deal with KKR, would be a significant shareholder. Political Cartoons View All 1234 ImagesThe binding offer values NetCo — TIM’s fixed network assets but excluding Sparkle — at 18.8 billion euros (some $20 billion), said a statement from TIM.

Persons: della Sera Organizations: ROME, TIM, KKR, European Union, TV Locations: Italian, Milan

☆ IMF's chief economist urges Italy to toughen budget plans -media
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Susana Vera/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsROME, Oct 12 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund wants Italy to make its 2024 budget framework more stringent, as tax cut plans made the Fund "a bit worried", its chief economist, Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, said in a newspaper interview on Thursday. Gourinchas told the Corriere della Sera daily that Italy's structural deficit, net of interest spending, was not seen as falling fast enough. The IMF was "a bit worried" by planned tax cuts that "don't necessarily seem to go in the right direction", he added. It would be "desirable" if Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government revised its fiscal plans to make them more stringent before they are approved by parliament, he said. Over the next month Italy's budget faces scrutiny from credit ratings agencies, with S&P Global, DBRS, Fitch and Moody's all reviewing their assessment of the euro zone's third largest economy.

Persons: Pierre, Olivier Gourinchas, Susana Vera, Gourinchas, Giorgia, DBRS, Fitch, Moody's, Gavin Jones, Clarence Fernandez Organizations: Research Department IMF, Reuters, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, REUTERS, Rights, Monetary Fund, della Sera, IMF, P, Thomson Locations: Marrakech, Morocco, Italy, Rome

☆ Italy and Britain Pledge Joint Action Against 'Illegal Migration'
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-06 | by ( Oct. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

ROME (Reuters) - Italy and Britain want to lead the way in Europe in the fight against "illegal migration", the right-wing prime ministers of the two countries said in a joint op-ed published on Friday. The article is another show of unity between two governments whose tough approach on immigration has come under fire from charities and human rights advocates. French President Emmanuel Macron, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also took part in the talks, held on the sidelines of a wider summit in Granada, Spain. At this meeting, "leaders committed to take action to support one another to tackle the challenges of illegal migration," Meloni and Sunak said, adding: "We're proud that Italy and the UK are leading on this together." (Reporting by Alvise Armellini; Editing by Stephen Coates)

Persons: Sunak, Emmanuel Macron, Mark Rutte, Ursula von der Leyen, Alvise Armellini, Stephen Coates Organizations: The Times, Albanian, Edi Rama Locations: ROME, Italy, Britain, Europe, Ukraine, Dutch, Granada, Spain

Italy is even going outside the EU to establish links with the United Kingdom to crack down on unwanted arrivals. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was blunt about how far Europe's leaders still are from reaching a consensus before they met in Granada, Spain. Orbán, who has pushed back against EU policy repeatedly and taken a hard-line approach against migration, said that he won't sign off on any deal at any point in the foreseeable future. He went as far as to compare the situation to being “legally raped” by Hungary's fellow EU members. “The agreement on migration, politically, it’s impossible — not today (or) generally speaking for the next years," Orbán said.

Persons: Viktor Orbán, Orbán, “, Mateusz Morawiecki, Ursula von der Leyen, ”, Roberta Metsola, ” Metsolas, Giorgia, Rishi Sunak, ___ Wilson, Raf Casert, Ciarán Giles, Colleen Barry, Vanessa Gera, Danica Kirka Organizations: European Union, EU, International Organization for Migration, Giorgia Meloni, della, The Times Locations: GRANADA, Spain, Brussels, Hungary, Poland, Italy, United Kingdom, Granada, Syria, Turkey, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, Malta, Greece, Cyprus, Ukraine, Lampedusa, London, Africa, El Hierro, Senegal, Barcelona, Madrid, Milan, Warsaw

☆ Italy and Britain pledge joint action against 'illegal migration'
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ROME, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Italy and Britain want to lead the way in Europe in the fight against "illegal migration", the right-wing prime ministers of the two countries said in a joint op-ed published on Friday. The article is another show of unity between two governments whose tough approach on immigration has come under fire from charities and human rights advocates. French President Emmanuel Macron, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also took part in the talks, held on the sidelines of a wider summit in Granada, Spain. At this meeting, "leaders committed to take action to support one another to tackle the challenges of illegal migration," Meloni and Sunak said, adding: "We're proud that Italy and the UK are leading on this together." Reporting by Alvise Armellini; Editing by Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Sunak, Emmanuel Macron, Mark Rutte, Ursula von der Leyen, Alvise Armellini, Stephen Coates Organizations: The Times, Albanian, Edi Rama, Thomson Locations: Italy, Britain, Europe, Ukraine, Dutch, Granada, Spain

CNN —Italian authorities were on Wednesday investigating the cause of a horrific bus crash near Venice that killed at least 21 people including two children. Claudia Greco/ReutersLocal police work at the site of the bus crash on Wednesday. A representative for the prosecutor’s office told CNN the head prosecutor for the Venice municipality, Bruno Cherchi, is leading the investigation into the incident in Mestre. The bus was traveling from Venice to nearby Marghera and was “full of people returning home from work,” Venice mayor Luigi Brugnaro told state media RAI. Emergency crew members work at the scene after a bus accident near Venice.

Persons: ”, Alberto Rizzotto, Claudia Greco, Mauro Lungo, Bruno Cherchi, Luigi Brugnaro, Stefano Mazzola, sevices, Brugnaro, Massimo Fiorese, Italy’s, “, Giorgia Meloni, Emmanuel Macron, I’m, Charles Michel Organizations: CNN, ” RAI, Reuters Local, Sky TG24, RAI, Emergency, Facebook, della Sera, Reuters, Italian Senate, European Council Locations: Venice, Mestre, Italy, Marghera, ” Venice, Italian

☆ Driver may have fallen ill before fatal Venice bus crash
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-04 | by ( Claudia Greco | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/6] Flowers are seen at the site where a coach crashed off an overpass in Mestre, Italy, October 4, 2023. Five Ukrainians, a German and the Italian bus driver were among those killed, Venice's prefect Michele Di Bari, the local representative of the interior ministry, said on Wednesday. "We presume the driver may have fallen ill," Veneto regional president Luca Zaia told Rtl 102.5 radio. The bus had been ferrying the tourists back to a campsite in nearby Marghera after a day out in Venice. "I think the driver had an illness, because otherwise I can't explain it," Fiorese said, adding that the driver had started his shift less than two hours before the crash.

Persons: Claudia Greco, Michele Di Bari, Luca Zaia, Di Bari, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Corriere, Massimo Fiorese, Corriere della Sera, Fiorese, Alvise Armellini, Keith Weir, Bernadette Baum, Gavin Jones, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Rtl, Corriere della Sera, Thomson Locations: Mestre, Italy, Venice Italian, VENICE, Venice, Veneto, Croatian, Marghera, Nigeria

☆ Earthquakes hit Italy super volcano, raising spectre of evacuations
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Crispian Balmer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ROME, Sept 27 (Reuters) - A leading volcanologist has warned that mass evacuations might be needed in a town close to Naples, which sits on a so-called Super Volcano that has been hit by hundreds of small earthquakes in recent weeks. Campi Flegrei sits across the bay of Naples from Pompeii, where thousands were incinerated by Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. However, it is a much bigger volcano than Vesuvius and if it ever exploded at full force could kill millions. Speaking in a personal capacity, De Natale said the last time Campi Flegrei suffered a similar burst of earthquakes in the 1980s, some 40,000 people were temporarily evacuated from nearby Pozzuoli. The Campi Flegrei caldera has a diameter of about 12-15 km (7.5-9.3 miles) and last erupted in 1538.

Persons: Flegrei, Vesuvius, Giuseppe De Natale, De Natale, Campi Flegrei, Della Sera, Alvise Armellini, Crispian Balmer, Bernadette Baum, William Maclean Organizations: National Institute for Geophysics, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Naples, Pompeii, Pozzuoli, U.S ., Wyoming, Greenland, U.S

☆ Letter shows Pope Pius XII probably knew about Holocaust early on
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-17 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] A man opens a door leading to the shelves where folders containing documents on Pope Pius XII, who reigned from 1939-1958, are stored inside the Vatican archives ahead of the full opening of the secret archives to scholars on March 2, at the Vatican, February 27,2020. "The newness and importance of this document derives from a fact: now we have the certainty that the Catholic Church in Germany sent Pius XII exact and detailed news about the crimes that were being perpetrated against the Jews," Coco told the newspaper, whose article was headlined: "Pius XII Knew". Asked by the Corriere interviewer if the letter showed that Pius knew, Coco said: "Yes, and not only from then." The letter was among documents Coco said were kept in haphazard ways in the Vatican's Secretariat of State and only recently handed over to the central archives where he works. Reporting by Philip Pullella, Additional reporting by Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt; Editing by Alex RichardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Pope Pius XII, Guglielmo, Holy, Father Lother Koenig, Robert Leiber, Giovanni Coco, Koenig, Leiber, Pius XII, Coco, Pius, Corriere, Suzanne Brown, Fleming, Pope Francis, David Kertzer, Brown, Kertzer, Philip Pullella, Ludwig Burger, Alex Richardson Organizations: Vatican, REUTERS, Holy, Jesuit, Corriere, Catholic Church, of State, U.S . Holocaust, Museum, Washington DC, Reuters, Pontifical, Catholic, U.S . State Department, Thomson Locations: Germany, Vatican, Rava, Poland, Ukraine, Auschwitz, Dachau, Nazi, Europe, Vatican's, U.S, Washington, Frankfurt

☆ New Vatican letter suggests Pope Pius XII knew about the Holocaust as early as 1942
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-17 | by ( Marta Biino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A newly-uncovered Vatican 1942 letter suggests that then-Pope Pius XII likely knew about Nazi genocide. Pope Pius XII had already been scrutinized for his negotiations with Nazi Germany. Pope Pius XII was afraid Hitler would winGalerie Bilderwelt/Getty ImagesThe relationship between Pope Pius XII and Nazi leadership, especially Adolf Hitler, has long been uncovered and brought Pius under scrutiny, suggesting the pontiff was probably aware of Leiber's correspondence with König. "Pius XII was afraid of, certainly in the first years of the war, that the Nazis were going to win. The beatification process for Pius XII, which started in 1967, has been delayed because of his controversial choices during World War II.

Persons: Pope Pius XII, Sera, Pope, Pius, David Kertzer's, Giovanni Coco, Corriere, Robert Leiber, Lothar König, Hitler, Adolf Hitler, Pius XII, Mussolini, David Kertzer Organizations: Nazi, Service, The Guardian, Nazi Jesuit, Galerie, PBS Locations: Nazi Germany, Wall, Silicon, Germany, German, Polish, Rava, Ukraine, Belzec, Nazi, Poland, Auschwitz, Dachau, There's, Europe

☆ Wartime Pope Pius XII probably knew about Holocaust early on, letters show
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-17 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Wartime Pope Pius XII knew details about the Nazi attempt to exterminate Jews in the Holocaust as early as 1942, according to a letter found in the Vatican archives that conflicts with the Holy See’s official position at the time that the information it had was vague and unverified. “The newness and importance of this document derives from a fact: now we have the certainty that the Catholic Church in Germany sent Pius XII exact and detailed news about the crimes that were being perpetrated against the Jews,” Coco told the newspaper, whose article was headlined: “Pius XII Knew”. His detractors say he lacked the courage to speak out on information he had despite pleas from Allied powers fighting Germany. The letter was among documents Coco said were kept in haphazard ways in the Vatican’s Secretariat of State and only recently handed over to the central archives where he works. Folders containing documents on Pope Pius XII, who reigned from 1939-1958, are seen inside the Vatican archives ahead of the full opening of the secret archives to scholars on March 2, at the Vatican, February 27, 2020.

Persons: Pope Pius XII, Holy, Father Lother Koenig, Robert Leiber, Giovanni Coco, Koenig, Leiber, Pius XII, ” Coco, Corriere, Pius, Coco, Dachau –, Guglielmo Mangiapane, Suzanne Brown, Fleming, Pope Francis ’, ”, David Kertzer, “, Brown, Kertzer Organizations: CNN, Holy, Vatican, Jesuit, Catholic Church, of State, US Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington DC, Reuters, Pontifical, Catholic, US State Department Locations: Germany, Vatican, “ SS, Rava, Poland, Ukraine, Auschwitz, Dachau, Nazi, Europe, Vatican’s, Washington

☆ Letter Found in Vatican Archives Confirms Church Was Told About Death Camps
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-16 | by ( Elisabetta Povoledo | More About Elisabetta Povoledo | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A letter found among the private papers of Pope Pius XII suggests that the Holy See was told in 1942 that up to 6,000 people, “above all Poles and Jews,” were being killed in furnaces every day at Belzec, a Nazi death camp in Poland. Though news of the atrocities being perpetrated by Hitler was already reaching Pope Pius XII’s ears, this information was especially important because it came from a trusted church source based in Germany, said Giovanni Coco, a Vatican archivist who discovered the letter. The source was “in the heart of the enemy territory,” Mr. Coco said on Saturday. The document, which was made public this weekend by the Milan newspaper Corriere della Sera, adds to the evidence that some scholars say shows Pius knew about the Holocaust as it happened. Some scholars say Pius did not want to confront or offend Hitler because he feared Communism, believed that the Axis powers would win the war and wanted to avoid alienating millions of German and Nazi-sympathizing Catholics.

Persons: Pope Pius XII, Hitler, Pope Pius XII’s, Giovanni Coco, Mr, Coco, Pius, Pius XII Organizations: Milan, Corriere della, Nazi Locations: Belzec, Nazi, Poland, Germany

☆ Italy struggles with spike in migrant arrivals
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Newly arrived migrants wait to embark on a ferry to the mainland, in the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, Italy, August 27, 2023. On Lampedusa island, Italy's southernmost outpost, more than 4,200 people landed over the weekend, local police chief Emanuele Ricifari told Reuters. Italy has recorded more than 107,500 sea arrivals in the year to date, compared with around 53,000 in the same period last year. The spike has partly been driven by an increase in the ranks of unaccompanied minors making the perilous sea journey to Italy. The Italian Red Cross (CRI) took over the running of the facility on June 1, replacing a cooperative that had been criticised for failing to provide adequate care.

Persons: Tony Colapinto, Emanuele Ricifari, Roberto Dipiazza, Rosario Valastro, Alvise Armellini, Gavin Jones, Alex Richardson Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, della Sera, CRI, Facebook, Thomson Locations: Sicilian, Lampedusa, Italy, North Africa, Balkans, Trieste, Slovenia, Sicily

☆ ECB to write to Italy raising objections over windfall tax on banks - press
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The building of the European Central Bank (ECB) is seen amid a fog before the monthly news conference following the ECB's monetary policy meeting in Frankfurt, Germany December 15, 2022. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay Acquire Licensing RightsROME, Aug 18 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank (ECB) is preparing to send a letter to Italy raising objections about the government's windfall tax on banks' profits, the Corriere della Sera daily wrote on Friday. The letter will criticize the fact Rome announced the tax last week without previously informing either the Bank of Italy or the ECB as it is supposed to do under EU rules, the newspaper wrote, without citing sources. The tax risks weakening Italy's banks and its economy in general, the ECB will say in the letter to be sent within "a couple of weeks" at the latest, the article said. Reporting by Stefano Bernabei, writing by Federica Urso, editing by Gavin JonesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Wolfgang Rattay, Rome, Stefano Bernabei, Federica Urso, Gavin Jones Organizations: European Central Bank, REUTERS, Rights, della Sera, Bank of Italy, ECB, EU, Thomson Locations: Frankfurt, Germany, Italy

☆ Italy PM Meloni takes 'full responsibility' for bank tax
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File PhotoMILAN, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Monday took "full responsibility" for last week's shock decision to impose a one-off bank tax that has been blamed for causing lasting damage to her government's credibility with financial markets. In comments to Italian newspapers Corriere della Sera, la Repubblica and La Stampa, Meloni said the 40% levy had no punitive intent. The new tax targets a rise in profits banks have derived from higher rates. Sources told Reuters when the measure was announced the Treasury expected to draw less than 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) from the tax. With Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti noticeably absent from the press conference to announce the tax, Meloni said he had been informed about the decision.

Persons: Giorgia Meloni, Joe Biden, Jonathan Ernst, MILAN, Meloni, Giancarlo Giorgetti, France's Marie Le Pen, Claudia Cristoferi, Federico Maccioni, Valentina Za, Bernadette Baum Organizations: Italy's, U.S, White, REUTERS, Italian, della, Repubblica, la Repubblica, Reuters, Treasury, Forza Italian, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, La, la

☆ U.S. publishing executive killed in Italian boating accident
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ROME, Aug 5 (Reuters) - An American publishing executive died after being knocked overboard in a boating accident off the Amalfi Coast in southern Italy, the Association of American Publishers (AAP) said. Adrienne Vaughan headed the U.S. division of British publishing group Bloomsbury (BLPU.L), best known for the Harry Potter novels. "Adrienne Vaughan was a leader of dazzling talent and infectious passion and had a deep commitment to authors and readers. Prosecutors in the southern port city of Salerno are investigating how the accident happened. Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported the skipper of the motorboat was placed under investigation and initially tested positive for substance use.

Persons: Adrienne Vaughan, Harry Potter, Vaughan, Italy's, Ansa, della Sera, Giuseppe Borrelli, Corriere, Keith Weir, Angelo Amante, Andrew Cawthorne Organizations: Association of American Publishers, Bloomsbury, AAP, Prosecutors, della, Thomson Locations: American, Amalfi, Italy, U.S, Ravello, Salerno

☆ Italy just slammed China's trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, saying it was an 'atrocious' decision to join and that it's barely benefited from the deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Kai Xiang Teo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

He said the pact had multiplied China's exports to Italy, but made little difference to Italy's exports to China, according to a Reuters report Sunday. When Italy pledged to join China's BRI in 2019, it was the largest economy to do so. However, since then, Italy's imports from China have almost doubled, but the European nation's exports to China have barely increased. Italy's exports to China rose to 16.4 billion euros, or $18 billion, in 2022, from 13 billion euros in 2019. On the other hand, China's exports to Italy rose from 31.7 billion euros in 2019 to 57.5 billion euros in 2022, Reuters reported, citing data from Italy's economic observatory.

Persons: Guido Crosetto, Crosetto, —, della Sera, China's, Giorgia Meloni, Meloni Organizations: Initiative, Service, della, Strategic, International Studies, Reuters, Politico, Eurasia Group Locations: Italy, China's, Wall, Silicon, Italian, China, Europe, Asia, Indonesia, Poland, Egypt, Beijing, Washington

☆ Joining China's Belt and Road was an 'atrocious' decision, Italian minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Italy's biggest container port Gioia Tauro is seen from a helicopter in the southern Italian region of Calabria, November 8, 2012. REUTERS/Alessandro BianchiROME, July 30 (Reuters) - Italy made an "improvised and atrocious" decision when it joined China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) four years ago as it did little to boost exports, Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said in an interview published on Sunday. The BRI scheme envisions rebuilding the old Silk Road to connect China with Asia, Europe and beyond with large infrastructure spending. "The decision to join the (new) Silk Road was an improvised and atrocious act" that multiplied China's exports to Italy but did not have the same effect on Italian exports to China, Crosetto told the Corriere della Sera newspaper. Because it is true that China is a competitor, but it is also a partner," the defence minister added.

Persons: Gioia Tauro, Alessandro Bianchi ROME, Guido Crosetto, Crosetto, Joe Biden, Giorgia Meloni, Meloni, Alvise Armellini, David Evans Organizations: Gioia, REUTERS, Initiative, Italian, della Sera, TG5, Thomson Locations: Italian, Calabria, Italy, China, Asia, Europe, Beijing, TG5 Italian

☆ Italy minister says decision to join flagship Chinese scheme ‘wicked’
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( Sophie Tanno | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Italy’s defense minister called his country’s decision to join a flagship Chinese infrastructure scheme “wicked,” as the government weighs up whether continue as part of the scheme. It was established to rebuild China’s Silk Road, connecting Asia with Africa and Europe with the aim of increasing trade and economic growth. “We have exported a load of oranges to China, they have tripled their exports to Italy in three years. He described Beijing as “a competitor, but also a partner.”Italy’s membership of the BRI expires in 2024. Earlier this year, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said that it was possible to have “good relations” with China outside the scheme.

Persons: CNN —, Guido Crosetto, –, China’s Xi, Critics, Crosetto, Sera, Giuseppe Conte, ”, Giorgia Meloni Organizations: CNN, della Sera, Initiative Locations: Chinese, –, Italy, Asia, Africa, Europe, Papua New Guinea, Kenya, Sri Lanka, West Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, China, Paris, Beijing

☆ Brazil's Lula discusses peace, poverty and inequality with pope
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Vatican Media/Handout via REUTERSVATICAN CITY, June 21 (Reuters) - Pope Francis met Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday and discussed a range of common concerns including peace, poverty, inequality and the environment, the Vatican said. Underscoring this sentiment, the pope gave Lula a bronze sculpture with the inscription: "Peace is a fragile flower." Pope Francis and Lula have both repeatedly called for a halt to the fighting and pitched their respective offices as potential peace brokers. I think too few people are talking of peace," Lula told Corriere della Sera newspaper in an interview published on Wednesday. Lula met a number of Italian leaders during his brief visit to Rome, including Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella.

Persons: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Edgar Pena Parra, Pope Francis, Lula, Corriere, Jair Bolsonaro, Giorgia Meloni, Sergio Mattarella, Crispian Balmer, Andrew Cawthorne Organizations: General Affairs, State, Vatican, Handout, REUTERS VATICAN CITY, Corriere della Sera, Thomson Locations: Vatican's, Ukraine, Russia, Rome, Paris

MILAN, June 14 (Reuters) - Merger and acquisition speculation has lifted shares in MFE (MFEB.MI), the late Silvio Berlusconi's TV business, following his death, but a number of obstacles stand in the way of any rapid deal. With a 19.8% MFE stake, Vivendi (VIV.PA) is widely seen as the natural buyer for MFE. This week's rally has lifted the market value of the whole of MFE to 1.8 billion euros. Any accord between Vivendi and Fininvest would require overcoming the deep distrust between the two groups after years of courtroom battles sparked by a failed 2016 TV deal. Like Fininvest, Vivendi faces a loss on any potential sale of its MFE stake given the gap between book and market prices.

Persons: Silvio Berlusconi's, Vincent Bollore, Urbano, Pier Silvio Berlusconi, Fininvest, MFE, Emilio Parodi, Valentina Za, Barbara Lewis Organizations: MILAN, Vivendi, Reuters, della Sera, U.S, Warner Bros ., VIVENDI, FININVEST, Fininvest, MFE, Thomson Locations: MFE, Urbano Cairo, Germany's ProSiebenSat, Italy, Spain, Rome, Netherlands

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