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☆ Iceland scientists want to drill a hole straight into a reservoir of molten magma about a mile underground. It could generate limitless energy.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-15 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Scientists in Iceland want to drill straight into an underground magma chamber. AdvertisementScientists in Iceland want to drill a hole into a magma chamber about a mile underground in an attempt to generate limitless energy. KMTIngólfsson expects one well on a magma chamber could be as productive as 10 other wells elsewhere. I'm not sure how much more efficient systems would be if drilled into a magma chamber," he said. AdvertisementA short time to get a lot of moneyKMT hopes to break ground on the first hole into the magma chamber in 2026.

Persons: —, Ingólfsson, Mika Mika, Paolo Papale, Jon Gluyas, Iceland Layne Kennedy, Gluyas, Hafsteinn Karlsson, it's Organizations: Service, Scientists, Italy's National, of Geophysics, Volcanology, New, KMT, Durham University, Global Geothermal Energy Advancement Association, KMT Ingólfsson, Gluyas Locations: Iceland, Namafjall, Pisa, Northern Iceland, Landmannalaugar, Krafla, Mexico, Kenya, Ethiopia, Italy

☆ Juve's Pogba provisionally suspended after testing positive for testosterone
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Sept 11 (Reuters) - Juventus's France midfielder Paul Pogba has been provisionally suspended after testing positive for a banned substance, Italy's national anti-doping (NADO Italia) tribunal said on Monday. The test, performed after Juve's 3-0 Serie A season-opening victory at Udinese on Aug. 20, detected testosterone, a hormone that increases athletes' endurance. The tribunal said Pogba had violated anti-doping rules when they found the prohibited substance "non-endogenous testosterone metabolites", adding that the results were "consistent with the exogenous origin of the target compounds". The 30-year-old Pogba was an unused substitute in the win at Udinese. If found guilty of doping, Pogba could be suspended for between two and four years.

Persons: Paul Pogba, Paul Labile Pogba, Italia, Pogba, Mathias, Paul, Al Jazeera, Tommy Lund, Rohith Nair, Ken Ferris Organizations: Juventus's, Udinese, National, Juventus, Juve, Manchester United, France, Empoli, Thomson Locations: Juventus's France, Italia, Turin, Qatar, Paris

☆ EU-funded hybrid car prototype explodes in Italy, killing two people
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ROME, June 29 (Reuters) - Two people have died after a hybrid car prototype that was being developed and tested with European Union funds blew up last week in the southern Italian city of Naples. The Life-Save project aimed to turn cars with conventional combustion engines into hybrid vehicles, running at least partly on solar energy. One vehicle equipped with the experimental technology caught fire last Friday, seriously injuring the two people who were on board. Maria Vittoria Prati, a researcher at Italy's National Council of Research (CNR), died of complications from third-degree burns on Monday. The other occupant, research apprentice Fulvio Filace, died overnight, a spokesperson for the Cardarelli hospital in Naples told Reuters on Thursday.

Persons: Maria Vittoria Prati, Fulvio Filace, Filace, Pietro Rinaldi, Prati, Alvise Armellini, David Evans Organizations: European Union, National Council of Research, Reuters, CNR, University of Salerno, Thomson Locations: Italian, Naples, Italy

[1/4] Military officers assist a person on a dinghy after heavy rains hit Italy's Emilia Romagna region, in Faenza, Italy, May 18. "Climate change is here and we are living the consequences. Last July, an ice avalanche in the Italian Alps killed 11 people following a heatwave that exacerbated the worst drought that Italy has suffered for at least 70 years. "A climate change adaptation policy that goes beyond how to handle emergencies and considers the effects of ordinary planning is increasingly urgent," it said in a statement. Italy's national civil protection agency estimates that 94% of the country's municipalities are prone to natural disasters - making it inconceivable to protect everyone from the dangers of climate change.

☆ Southern Europe braces for climate change-fuelled summer of drought
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Kate Abnett | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

As climate change makes the region hotter and drier, years of consecutive drought have depleted groundwater reserves. CLIMATE CHANGE TRENDSouthern Europe is not alone in suffering severe water shortages this year. The Horn of Africa is enduring its worst drought in decades, while a historic drought in Argentina has hammered soy and corn crops. "In terms of the climate change signal, it very much fits with what we're expecting," said Hayley Fowler, Professor of Climate Change Impacts at Newcastle University. Some 90% of the mainland is suffering from drought, with severe drought affecting one-fifth of the country - nearly five times the area reported a year earlier.

☆ Italy narrows asylum rights in new clampdown on immigration
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Crispian Balmer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The bill, which still needs the approval of the lower house to become law, was drawn up after a shipwreck off southern Italy in February that killed more than 90 migrants. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said the legislation, which includes tougher jail terms for human smugglers, is intended to dissuade people from putting their trust in traffickers and trying to reach Italy illegally. Among the most contested measures is a decision to eliminate "special protection" residency permits that authorities can offer migrants who don't qualify for asylum, but who face humanitarian risks back home, or have family ties in Italy. The government said the system was being abused, noting that in 2022 authorities had handed out 10,506 special protection permits against 7,494 permits offering refugee status and 7,039 that granted a separate form of international protection. The bill also halts state-funded Italian language courses and eliminates legal advice services for migrants hosted in official reception centres.

☆ Italy's ski industry fires cannon against climate change
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Stefano Bernabei | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

[1/7] Skiers pass on an artificial snow slope as end of the ski season nears, in Monte Cimone, Italy, March 31, 2023. "The ski-lifts were closed, the ski instructors and seasonal workers had nothing to do and we lost 40% of our revenue for the whole season," said Luciano Magnani, head of the local consortium of ski tourism operators. Some 90% of Italy's pistes rely on artificial snow, compared with 70% in Austria, 50% in Switzerland and 39% in France, according to data from Italian Green lobby Legambiente. Italy's ski sector directly or indirectly employs 400,000 people and generates turnover of 11 billion euros ($11.92 billion), according to Anef data, equal to about 0.5% of national output. Some economists and climatologists argue that trying to keep low-altitude ski resorts in business is destined to fail, and snow-making merely delays the inevitable.

☆ Sam Altman compared the scale of OpenAI with the Manhattan Project and quoted Oppenheimer in 2019, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Sam Altman compared OpenAI's ambitions with the scale of the Manhattan Project in 2019, per the NYT. According to Metz, Altman also paraphrased the Manhattan Project's leader, Robert Oppenheimer, in a 1945 speech in which he justified creating the bombs that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki as a necessary expansion of human knowledge. "Technology happens because it is possible," Altman reportedly said, adding that he and Oppenheimer shared the same April 22 birthday, per The Times. Altman cautioned that AGI would come with a "serious risk of misuse, drastic accidents, and societal disruption" in the February blog post. Last Friday, Italy's national data protection agency announced that it was blocking access to ChatGPT and investigating OpenAI.

☆ Humanity has decided it can say 'no' to AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Hallam Bullock | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The latest development in AI: humanity has decided it can say "no." Elon Musk was one of more than 1,000 people to sign an open letter calling for a six-month pause on advanced AI development. The letter cited several potential risks to humanity and society, including the spread of misinformation and automation of jobs. Bosses have forgotten how to say "good job" — and it's driving employees to quit. Big Tech's big downgrade.

☆ ChatGPT banned by regulator in Italy, which says there's no legal basis for using personal data to train the chatbot following data breach
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Italy's data protection regulator announced a ban on ChatGPT, and investigation into OpenAI. It cited a March 20 data breach, and no "legal basis" for using people's data to train the chatbot. Italy's national data protection agency (DPA) said it would block access to ChatGPT immediately, and is starting an investigation into its creator, OpenAI. It added that the restriction was temporary, until the company can abide by the European Union's data protection laws, known as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The Italian authority also cited a data breach on March 20, where a bug allowed some ChatGPT users to see the titles of other users' conversations.

☆ Chip equipment maker MKS Instruments says it is investigating ransomware attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 6 (Reuters) - MKS Instruments Inc (MKSI.O) said on Monday it was investigating a ransomware attack that occurred last week and affected the semiconductor equipment maker's production-related systems. The company said it was in the early stages of investigating the attack that it identified on Feb. 3, adding that costs related to the incident have not been determined. Ransomware is a form of malicious software deployed by criminals which works by encrypting data, with hackers offering the victim a key in return for payments. MKS said it would temporarily suspend operations at some of its facilities, as part of its containment efforts. Italy's National Cybersecurity Agency warned on Sunday that thousands of computer servers had been targeted by a global ransomware hacking attack targeting VMware (VMW.N) ESXi servers.

☆ Italy sounds alarm on large-scale computer hacking attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ROME, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Thousands of computer servers around the world have been targeted by a ransomware hacking attack, Italy's National Cybersecurity Agency (ACN) said on Sunday, warning organisations to take action to protect their systems. The hacking attack sought to exploit a software vulnerability, ACN director general Roberto Baldoni told Reuters, adding it was on a massive scale. Italy's ANSA news agency, citing the ACN, reported that servers had been compromised in other European countries such as France and Finland as well as the United States and Canada. Telecom Italia customers reported internet problems earlier on Sunday, but the two issues were not believed to be related. Reporting by Elvira Pollina; Writing by Keith Weir; Editing by Jan HarveyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ As ice recedes, Italian ship makes record journey into Antarctic
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ROME, Jan 31 (Reuters) - An Italian ice-breaker carrying scientists researching in the Antarctic has sailed further south than any ship has done before, the organisers of the voyage said on Tuesday, a further sign of how ice is retreating around the poles. The Laura Bassi vessel reached a point with the coordinates of 78° 44.280 S in the Bay of Whales in the Ross Sea, according to Italy's National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics. The voyage was made possible by an unusual lack of ice in the area, it said. Satellite analysis last year showed that Antarctica's coastal glaciers are shedding icebergs more rapidly than nature can replenish. A previous voyage with a different vessel to the same area in 2017 came up against impenetrable ice, he said.

Rome has been working to renew the "GACS" scheme, which expired in June, while also tightening the terms under which the state provides guarantees to investors who buy bad bank loans repackaged as securities. Under the new terms agreed with the EU, the scheme would cover 80% instead of 100% of the least risky tranche in bad debt securitisation deals, the sources said. The Treasury had also considered hiking a credit rating threshold needed for the senior tranche to qualify for the GACS guarantees, but is instead leaving it unchanged, one of the sources said. Since its launch in 2016, the GACS scheme has rid Italian banks of 117 billion euros ($127 billion) in bad debts by softening the hit from disposals to their earnings. Italy had already tightened the GACS terms in 2019, raising the senior tranche's minimum rating and introducing mechanisms to prod debt collection companies to stick to business plans.

☆ Truffle hunters in Italy are poisoning their competitors' dogs with snail bait in a war for the 'black gold' that goes for up to $5,000 per pound
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Truffle foragers in Italy have long sought to get rid of competition in search of "black gold." "It's all about getting rid of the competition," The Wall Street Journal reported Saverio Dogliani, a 57-year-old truffle hunter whose dog, Floki, has been poisoned twice, said. PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP via Getty ImagesThe poisoned treats claim the lives of multiple dogs and wildlife such as deer and foxes, each year. A group of truffle hunters wearing camouflage searched the area where Brando was poisoned, hoping to rid the brush of leftover poison. "It's getting worse," Agent Emanuele Gallo told The Wall Street Journal.

☆ Italy's rhythmic gymnastics coach to keep job despite abuse claims
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, Jan 12 (Reuters) - The coach of Italy's female Olympic gymnastics team will keep her job in spite of ongoing investigations on the alleged psychological abuse and mistreatment of young athletes over their weight and eating habits. In a Thursday decision, sports authorities confirmed Emanuela Maccarani as coach, but stripped her of the added role of technical director of Italy's women national rhythmic gymnastics training centre in the northern city of Desio. Sports and civilian prosecutors are probing Maccarani and her assistant Olga Tishina on the back of former team athletes' allegations that they were bullied and mocked. "It's my own decision," Gherardo Tecchi, head of Italy's national gymnastic federation, said, adding it was made after consultation with the head of Italy's Olympic committee Giovanni Malago. Maccarani, who was indicted by the national gymnastics federation's judicial body this month, denied any wrongdoing in an interview on Tuesday with the Corriere della Sera newspaper.

☆ UK and France say no plans to follow Italy with Covid tests for China arrivals as EU plans response
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Carlos Barria | ReutersLONDON — The U.K. and France said Thursday morning they currently had no plans to reintroduce mandatory Covid-19 tests or additional requirements for travelers arriving into the country. It comes as several nations announced new measures in response to China's relaxation of Covid restrictions amid a suspected surge of infections but reduced domestic testing. On one Dec. 26 flight from China into Milan's Malpensa Airport, 52% of passengers tested positive for Covid, la Repubblica reported. But Italy's National Institute of Infectious Diseases reportedly called for an increase in testing for those arriving from China. The U.S. said from Jan. 5. all arrivals from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau must supply a negative Covid test taken within two days of departure.

Lufthansa declined to comment on Rome's decision to offer an initial minority stake. Some of Italy's politicians consider ITA as the heir to cultural icon Alitalia, which they want to preserve. Some also say that ITA does not have to worry so much about losing its national identity should Lufthansa take over. The Certares-led alliance was willing to pay 350 million euros for a 50% stake plus one share of the state-controlled airline, sources had said. ($1 = 0.9412 euros)Reporting by Angelo Amante in Rome and Joanna Plucinska in London; additional reporting by Giuseppe Fonte in Rome.

☆ Parties bidding for TIM's grid want more time for talks
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Italy's state lender CDP is readying a preliminary offer for TIM's landline grid as it pursues plans to create a single broadband company with smaller rival Open Fiber, in which it is the largest shareholder. Macquarie (MAQ.AX), which has a minority stake in Open Fiber, is also expected to join the bid. Valuation issues have also been a stumbling block in negotiations between TIM and CDP. TIM's top investor Vivendi (VIV.PA) is looking for a valuation of 31 billion euros ($30.06 billion) to back a sale of the grid with the prospect of a merger with Open Fiber, a source familiar with the French media group had said. CDP values Telecom Italia's landline grid in the region of 20 billion euros including debt, sources had previously said.

☆ Factbox: Companies potentially affected by Italy's election
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

A woman walks at a polling station during the snap election in Rome, Italy September 25, 2022. read moreHere is a list of companies that could be affected by the outcome of the election. The change of government and calls by Meloni to revisit Italy's national recovery plan could threaten Italy's ability to meet the commitments to which European Union post-pandemic funds are tied. Brothers of Italy welcomed CDP's decision to wait for the election before filing its non-binding bid for TIM's network. read moreBrothers of Italy has called for the new government to be allowed to make a final decision on ITA.

☆ The far-right is expected to win Italy's election in Rome's biggest political shift for decades
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

The Brothers of Italy party stands out from the crowd and is expected to gain the largest share of the vote for a single party. Giorgia Meloni, leader of the right-wing party Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy) holds a giant Italian national flag during a political rally on February 24, 2018 in Milan, Italy. The snap election follows the resignation of Prime Minister Mario Draghi in July, after he failed to unite a fractious political coalition behind his economic policies. An election win by Fratelli d'Italia could see the party's leader, Giorgia Meloni, become Italy's first female prime minister. Fratelli d'Italia has been pro-NATO and pro-Ukraine and supports sanctions against Russia, unlike Lega which is ambivalent about those measures.

☆ Nationalist Meloni set to smash Italy's glass ceiling, become premier
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-29 | by ( Crispian Balmer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Leader of Italy's nationalist Brothers of Italy (Fratelli d'Italia) party and frontrunner to become prime minister Giorgia Meloni, holds a closing rally in Naples, Italy, September 23, 2022. Fast forward three years, and the nationalist leader is also poised to become Italy's first female prime minister. It is from tomorrow that we must prove our worth," the 45-year-old Meloni told party faithful early Monday morning. All the tough talking inevitably draws comparisons in the Italian press between Meloni and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Just as Thatcher shattered Britain's glass ceiling to top office 43 years ago, so Meloni looks set to follow suit in Italy.

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