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☆ Italy's Leonardo to focus on 'bytes and data', new CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Alvise Armellini | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ROME, July 28 (Reuters) - Italy's state-controlled defence and aerospace group Leonardo (LDOF.MI) needs to focus on the fast-growing cybersecurity and space sectors to keep up with industry trends, its new CEO said on Friday. "Defence is increasingly made with bytes and data, instead of bullets," Cingolani said during a call with analysts, announcing a new industrial plan that will be unveiled in early 2024. In the first half of 2023, Leonardo's new orders rose to almost 8.7 billion euros ($9.60 billion), up 18.9% year-on-year, while group net debt fell to 3.6 billion euros from 4.8 billion euros in the first half of last year. H1 revenues were up 4.8% to just under 6.9 billion euros, while earnings before interest, taxes depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 3.5% to 703 million euros. Leonardo's confirmed guidance for 2023 includes a forecast for new orders at around 17 billion euros, revenues in the 15-15.6 billion euro range, EBITA at 1.26-1.31 billion euros and group net debt of about 2.6 billion euros.

Persons: Leonardo, Roberto Cingolani, Cingolani, Leonardo's, Alvise Armellini, Gavin Jones, Deepa Babington Organizations: Defence, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Italy, Britain, Japan, Leonardo's Milan

☆ Italy wins EU nod to clinch 18.5 bln euros in post-COVID funds
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ROME, July 28 (Reuters) - The European Commission said on Friday it had provisionally approved the payment to Italy of a third tranche of 18.5 billion euros ($20.43 billion) in post-COVID recovery funds. The approval of the money had been blocked in March due to Rome's failure to meet previously agreed policy conditions. "The European Commission strongly encourages all member states, including Italy, to proceed with the timely implementation of their respective recovery and resilience plans," it added. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni welcomed the announcement and reiterated Rome's commitment to securing all 35 billion euros in post-COVID funds scheduled for this year. Italy is due to receive some 191.5 billion euros in EU cheap loans and grants through 2026.

Persons: Giorgia Meloni, Giuseppe Fonte, Gavin Jones Organizations: European, European Commission, Thomson Locations: Italy, Brussels

☆ Intesa lifts profit outlook after record first-half
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Valentina Za | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Intesa posted a 2.27 billion euro net profit for April-June, above a Reuters analyst consensus of 1.82 billion euros ($2 billion), with lower than expected loan loss provision also helping to offset rising costs. Intesa now sees its full year profit "well above" a previous forecast of 7 billion euros, with further growth projected in 2024 and 2025. Under the strategy unveiled in February last year Intesa had originally aimed for a 6.5 billion euro 2025 net profit. Intesa expects to reap more than 13.5 billion euros in 2023 from its net interest margin, and grow it further in 2024 and 2025. "(Intesa's) '24/'25 profit guide is supported by growing net interest income, recovery in commissions, cost reduction and low cost of risk," Jefferies said.

Persons: Intesa, Carlo Messina, Messina, Jefferies, Valentina Za, Keith Weir, Gavin Jones Organizations: MILAN, TECH, Thomson Locations: Italy's, Italy, Europe

ROME, July 26 (Reuters) - Italy announced measures on Wednesday to help families and businesses hit by extreme climate events, as the country reels from a heatwave in the south and fierce storms in the north. A draft seen by Reuters showed that the decree had a cost of 10 million euros ($11.09 million) for state coffers. The government is ready to earmark some 10 million euros to refund airline tickets and hotel reservations to tourists without insurance coverage, Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci said. The Lombardy region around Milan has already asked the government to declare a state of emergency and has estimated damage of over 40 million euros, Musumeci said. The state of emergency, one approved by the government, removes bureaucratic obstacles and speeds up procedures to provide financial help.

Persons: Giorgia, Marina Calderone, Nello Musumeci, Musumeci Organizations: heatwave, Labour, Reuters, Civil, Thomson Locations: Italy, Sicily, Catania, Etna, Milan, Lombardy

CATANIA, Italy, July 26 (Reuters) - A fire early last week at Sicily's main airport is still causing massive disruption for visitors to the island, laying bare the disorganisation and poor infrastructure that challenge Italy's tourism ambitions. The fire broke out on July 17 at Catania airport, below Mount Etna, which acts as a hub for the east of Sicily and attracts more arrivals than the capital Palermo. Some disruption was inevitable, but visitors describe scenes of utter chaos that jar with the government's jaunty "Welcome to Wonder" advertising campaign, which aims to attract tourists using a computerised "influencer" version of Venus. "We are now told our flight won't leave before 6 p.m. (1600 GMT). "Airport people were shouting the names of the flights to be boarded, but what happens if you don't hear them?," she said.

Persons: Julie, Maria Grazia Salamone, Ugo Zinna, Guglielmino, Alberto Chiumento, Gavin Jones, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Reuters, Thomson Locations: CATANIA, Italy, Sicily's, Catania, Mount Etna, Sicily, Palermo, California, Taormina, Syracuse, Rome, Genoa, Catania's, Belpasso

☆ Italy readies special furlough scheme to save workers from heatwave
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] People cool themselves at the Trevi Fountain during a heatwave across Italy as temperatures are expected to cool off in Rome, Italy, July 20, 2023. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File PhotoROME, July 25 (Reuters) - Italy is preparing special measures to help construction and agricultural firms keep staff at home during an intense summer heatwave, government officials and trade unionists said on Tuesday. Giorgia Meloni's cabinet will probably discuss the furlough scheme at a meeting on Wednesday, Labour Minister Marina Calderone told the unions at a gathering about the weather emergency. "Nothing is provided to help people working for delivery firms or seasonal workers, or other categories of employees," it said in a statement. Italian hospitals in the regions worst hit by soaring temperatures are seeing a jump in heat-related emergencies, medics have said.

Persons: Trevi, Remo Casilli, Giorgia Meloni's, Marina Calderone, Giuseppe Fonte, Gavin Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Labour, Italy's, heatwave, heatwaves, Thomson Locations: Italy, Rome

☆ Italian asset manager Azimut targeted by BlackCat hackers
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, July 24 (Reuters) - Italian asset manager Azimut (AZMT.MI) said on Monday it had suffered a cyberattack that did not harm its customers' sensitive data, and had received a ransom request which it rebuffed. Israeli hacking monitoring start-up DarkFeedsaid the attack was carried out by BlackCat, the same ransomware group which in September stole large amounts of data from state-owned Italian energy services firm GSE. Tel Aviv-based DarkFeed said on its website that Azimut had been hit on July 21, listing it as one of BlackCat's 477 victims. BlackCat, also known as ALPHV, emerged in late 2021 and is known for having launched sophisticated attacks on scores of companies across the U.S. and Europe. Reporting by Elvira Pollina and Valentina Za, editing by Gavin JonesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Azimut, BlackCat, DarkFeed, Elvira Pollina, Valentina Za, Gavin Jones Organizations: MILAN, Thomson Locations: Italian, Tel Aviv, Europe, Italy

☆ Mediobanca teams up with UK's Founders Factory in fintech push
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Elvira Pollina | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, July 24 (Reuters) - Mediobanca (MDBI.MI) will partner with London-based Founders Factory, an early-stage investor in new businesses, to promote fintech start-ups, the two companies said, as the Italian bank works to grow its international and tech footprint. Mediobanca will invest 12 million euros ($13 million) in a joint venture with Founders Factory with a view to building up 35 fintech ventures over the next five years. Founders Factory has invested so far in more than 300 tech companies, including nearly 50 financial technology ventures. "The (Mediobanca-Founders Factory) venture studio will build, finance and launch new fintech ventures that utilise advanced technologies, such as blockchain and artificial intelligence, to innovate the financial services market", the companies said. ($1 = 0.9029 euros)Reporting by Elvira Pollina; editing by Valentina Za and Gavin JonesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Alberto Nagel, Mediobanca, Nagel, Elvira Pollina, Valentina Za, Gavin Jones Organizations: MILAN, Factory, fintech, Founders Factory, Arma Partners, Thomson Locations: London, Acre

☆ Italy foreign minister Tajani succeeds Berlusconi as Forza Italia chief
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ROME, July 15 (Reuters) - Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani was elected on Saturday as leader of Forza Italia, the conservative party founded 29 years ago by billionaire media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi who died last month. "I am receiving an almost impossible inheritance," he told the Rome gathering of Forza Italia's national, European and local representatives. Forza Italia is the junior partner among the three main parties in Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government, behind the premier's own Brothers of Italy and Matteo Salvini's League. Recent polls put Forza Italia's support at about 7%, behind the League on around 10% and Brothers of Italy close to 30%. After beginning his political activity in a tiny monarchist movement in the 1980s, Tajani joined Forza Italia when it was founded in 1994 and was Berlusconi's spokesman in his first government that year.

Persons: Antonio Tajani, Silvio Berlusconi, Tajani, Berlusconi, Matteo Salvini's, Gavin Jones, David Holmes Organizations: Forza Italia, Forza Italia's, League, Thomson Locations: Italy, Brussels, Rome, Giorgia

The European Space Agency (ESA), whose satellites monitor land and sea temperatures, has warned that Italy, Spain, France, Germany and Poland are all facing extreme conditions. Temperatures next week could break Europe's current record - 48.8 Celsius recorded in Sicily in August 2021. [1/5]A woman cools off near a fan at a caf?, during a heatwave across Italy, in Rome, Italy, July 14, 2023. ACROPOLIS NOT NOWIn Athens, with temperatures peaking above 40 Celsius, authorities closed the Acropolis Hill, home to the Parthenon temple that is visited by millions of tourists every year, from noon to 5 p.m. (0900 GMT-1400 GMT). Others were brought down from the Acropolis Hill in golf carts and transferred to wheelchairs.

Persons: BURNS, Joan Ballester, Guglielmo Mangiapane, Angel Abad, Abad, Deborah Kyvrikosaios, Angeliki, Stamos Prousalis, Antonio Bronic, Malgorzata, Horaci Garcia, Guillermo Martinez Catherine Macdonald, Rachel Norstrant, Rich McKay, Keith Weir, Gavin Jones, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: Phoenix, European Space Agency, ESA, Barcelona Institute, Global Health, caf, REUTERS, Reuters, Madrid's La, Thomson Locations: ATHENS, PHOENIX, Greece, Acropolis, Europe, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Poland, Sicily, El, United States, Phoenix, Arizona, Portugal, Rome, ACROPOLIS, Athens, Croatia, Madrid's La Paz

☆ Italy's Meloni draws fire over food aid aimed at families with children
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Federica Urso | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"The government is there and is ready to do its part to help Italians in the best possible way", Meloni said in a message that presented the 500,000-euro scheme as relief against high inflation. However, the card is reserved for households with at least three members, preferably with children, in a move seen as favouring traditional families. Noting that the allowance amounts to about one euro per day for a year, she described it as a "zero impact" policy. "Being in need is no longer enough, now you need to be in need and also be a certain type of person considered deserving of help," he said. ($1 = 0.8946 euros)Reporting by Federica Urso Additional reporting by Alvise Armellini and Gavin Jones Editing by Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Giorgia, Meloni, Elly Schlein, Confcommercio, Marco Impagliazzo, Filippo Barbera, Federica Urso, Alvise Armellini, Gavin Jones, Mark Potter Organizations: Democratic Party, Catholic, Turin University, Thomson Locations: Italian, Rome

In mid-2020 Rome secured the lion's share of a 724-billion-euro kitty aimed at helping EU members emerge from COVID greener and more tech-friendly. Italy's 191.5 billion euros ($210 billion) of cheap loans and grants, to be received in tranches through 2026, was intended for productive investments in the bloc's most chronically stagnant economy. MICRO-PROJECTSMore than half the EU money is meant to go on digitalisation and ecological transition, with the rest devoted to sustainable transport, education, social cohesion and health. The government is still awaiting a 19-billion-euro tranche of the EU funds blocked in March over missed policy targets stemming from 2022. It brings Italy's byzantine rules closer to EU standards, but Gobbato said people will initially find it hard to adapt.

Persons: Flavio Lo Scalzo, Rome, Roberto Perotti, Giorgia Meloni, Mario Draghi, Giuseppe Conte, Carlo Messina, Intesa, Vittorio Soldavini, Davide Carlucci, It's, Gustavo Piga, Rome's, Ilaria, Dentons, Gobbato, Catherine Evans Organizations: REUTERS, Milan's Bocconi University, Treasury, European Central Bank, Technology, Tor Vergata University, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Milan, Italy, ROME, MILAN, tranches, Brussels, Italy's, Italian, Parma

☆ Italian banks see deposits plunge, credit to firms at 8-year low
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, July 11 (Reuters) - Italian savers shifted 20 billion euros ($22.02 billion) out of deposits with domestic banks in May, while lenders continued to shrink credit to businesses and stepped up bond sales, Bank of Italy data showed on Tuesday. Italian lenders increased their bond issuance by 13.2% in May from a year earlier after a 9.4% rise in April while residents' deposits with domestic banks fell 4.3% after a 3.4% decline in April. On a monthly basis, deposits in euros fell by 20 billion euros to 2,614.3 billion euros in May from April, touching the lowest level in nearly two-and-a-half years. Domestic lenders' credit to businesses fell 3.2% year-on-year in May, the lowest level since February 2015, from a 2.3% drop in April. The central bank data also showed gross unpaid loans were broadly flat at 30.24 billion euros in May, from 30.12 billion euros a month earlier.

Persons: Sara Rossi, Gavin Jones Organizations: MILAN, Italian savers, Bank of Italy, European Central, Thomson Locations: Italian

If Mayor Sadiq Khan's plan goes ahead, London's Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) will become one of the world's largest to tackle air pollution, encompassing 5 million extra people in the capital's leafier and less-connected outer boroughs. London's transport authority says only one in 10 cars in outer London are not ULEZ-compliant. But Khan, who was diagnosed with asthma and wrote a book this year on air pollution and climate change, says he is determined to face down his critics. "But the further away from the city centre you go, the less you can improve air quality," Verbeek added. "It's absolutely critical that even in a cost-of-living crisis we do not kick the can of air pollution down the road and let more children grow up unhealthy and unwell," she said.

Persons: Toby Melville, Sadiq Khan's, Carl Cristina, Cristina, Khan, Thomas Verbeek, Verbeek, Jemima Hartshorn, Teresa O'Neill, I've, Gavin Jones, William James, Andrew Heavens Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Delft University of Technology, Thomson Locations: Marble, London, Britain, Europe, Rome, Netherlands

☆ Ancient Greek altar unearthed at archaeological site in Sicily
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] An ancient Greek altar for family worship dating back at least 2,000 years is pictured after it was found in the Sicilian archaeological site of Segesta, Italy, June 29, 2023. Flavio Leone Sisilab CoopCulture Sicilia/Handout via REUTERSROME, June 30 (Reuters) - An ancient Greek altar for family worship dating back more than 2,000 years has been found in the archaeological site of Segesta on the Italian island of Sicily, local authorities said on Friday. It had been buried for centuries by a few centimetres of earth and vegetation in the area of the Southern Acropolis at the Segesta site, which is in the western part of the island. "The Segesta site never ceases to amaze us," said Sicily's regional culture minister Francesco Paolo Scarpinato. Segesta, renowned for its 5th-century-BC temple, was an ancient Greek city nestled between mountains.

Persons: Flavio Leone Sisilab CoopCulture, Francesco Paolo Scarpinato, Segesta, Federica Urso, Gavin Jones, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Southern Acropolis, Thomson Locations: Segesta, Italy, Flavio Leone Sisilab CoopCulture Sicilia, Handout, REUTERS ROME, Sicily, , Southern

☆ Stellantis signs deal with Kuniko for supply of battery materials
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, June 30 (Reuters) - Stellantis (STLAM.MI) has signed an offtake and equity investment agreement with Australia-listed Kuniko (KNI.AX), the latest of a string of deals aiming to give the carmaker stable supply of key materials for vehicle batteries. The funds provided by Stellantis will help support Kuniko's brownfield and greenfield battery metals exploration projects in Norway, which include nickel, cobalt and copper. Stellantis' Chief Purchasing and Supply Chain Officer Maxime Picat said the world's third largest carmaker by sales was on an "aggressive path" to securing raw materials needed to meet its electrification targets. "With Kuniko, we are adding another lever to support our European battery needs with a local and environmentally conscious solution from its Norwegian projects," he said. The completion of the offtake agreement and of the share subscription with Kuniko are subject to conditions, including regulatory approvals, the two companies said.

Persons: Stellantis, Maxime Picat, McEwen, Giulio Piovaccari, Gavin Jones Organizations: MILAN, Purchasing, Fiat Chrysler, Peugeot, PSA, Vulcan Energy, Resources, Thomson Locations: Australia, Franco, Italian, Norway

☆ How mercenary revolt has gathered pace in Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

- In a series of subsequent audio recordings posted on Telegram, Prigozhin says the "evil" of Russia's military leadership "must be stopped" and his Wagner mercenary force will lead a "march for justice" against the Russian military. SATURDAY- Prigozhin says his men have crossed the border from Ukraine into Russia and are ready to go "all the way" against the Russian military. - Wagner fighters have entered the southern Russian city of Rostov, Prigozhin says in an audio recording posted on Telegram. - Russian's Defence Ministry issues a statement appealing to Wagner fighters to abandon Prigozhin, saying they have been "deceived and dragged into a criminal adventure". - Russian military helicopters open fire on a convoy of rebel mercenaries already more than half way towards Moscow in a lightning advance after seizing Rostov overnight.

Persons: Wagner, Stringer, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin's, Prigozhin, Sergei Surovikin, Reuters Wagner, Putin, Ramzan Kadyrov, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Sergei Naryshkin, Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, Antony Blinken, Pavel Krasheninnikov, Gavin Jones, Giles Elgood, Helen Popper Our Organizations: REUTERS, Moscow, Russian's Defence Ministry, Reuters, TASS, Kremlin, European Union, Ministry, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia's, Voronezh, Russia, Russian, Ukraine, Rostov, Russia's Rostov, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Belarus

☆ Pope Francis leaves hospital 'in better shape than before'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] Pope Francis greets people on the day of his discharge from Gemelli hospital in Rome, Italy, June 16, 2023. REUTERS/Remo CasilliROME, June 16 (Reuters) - Pope Francis was discharged from hospital on Friday morning, nine days after surgery to repair an abdominal hernia, and his doctor said he was stronger than before. The 86-year-old pontiff left Rome's Gemelli hospital in a wheelchair, waving to reporters and well-wishers at the main entrance as he was taken to a waiting car. He is in better shape than before," Sergio Alfieri, who operated on Francis on June 7, told reporters. He will be a stronger pope," Alfieri said.

Persons: Pope Francis, Remo Casilli ROME, Rome's, Sergio Alfieri, Francis, Alfieri, Philip Pullella, Gavin Jones, Kevin Liffey Organizations: REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Rome, Italy, Portugal, Mongolia

☆ Telecom Italia CEO confident grid sale will go well
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ROME, June 15 (Reuters) - Telecom Italia's (TLIT.MI) (TIM) plan to sell its prized landline grid asset to reduce debt "should and can go well", CEO Pietro Labriola said on Thursday, as sources said bids have not met top shareholder Vivendi's (VIV.PA) expectations. U.S. fund KKR (KKR.N) and a rival consortium comprising state lender CDP and Australian fund Macquarie (MQG.AX) presented revised bids for the grid last week. Two sources with knowledge of the matter have told Reuters that KKR's offer is the most generous at around 23 billion euros ($24.93 billion) overall, still short of the more than 30 billion euros sources close to Vivendi have said it wants. Labriola said there was also a back-up plan to improve TIM's prospects, should the asset sale not be possible. TIM's financial debt stood at almost 26 billion euros at the end of the first quarter of 2023.

Persons: Pietro Labriola, Labriola, Alvise Armellini, Gavin Jones, Elaine Hardcastle Organizations: Telecom, KKR, Macquarie, Reuters, Vivendi, Thomson Locations: Rome

The funeral homily by Milan's Archbishop Mario Delpini appeared to acknowledge his excesses as well as his qualities. "What can we say about Silvio Berlusconi? [1/9] People wait for the funeral of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, in Milan, Italy June 14, 2023. These included Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. "Final farewell to Silvio Berlusconi.

Persons: Silvio Berlusconi, Berlusconi, Silvio, Marta Fascina, Marina, Donald Trump, Milan's, Mario Delpini, Lucia Adiele, Sergio Mattarella, Giorgia Meloni, Brothers, Matteo Salvini's, Giuseppe Conte, Rosy Bindi, Tomaso Montanari, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad, Mohammed Shia, Viktor Orban, Orban, Vladimir Putin, Putin, there's, Cristiano Corvino, Angelo Amante, Alvise Armellini, Gavin Jones, Federico Maccioni, Alexandra Hudson, Nick Macfie Organizations: MILAN, Wednesday, AC Milan soccer, Reuters, Forza Italia, Police, Italian, REUTERS, Matteo Salvini's League, European Commission, Siena's University for Foreigners, Thomson Locations: Milan, Italian, Altamura, Italy, Thani, Iraqi, Hungarian, Ukraine, Kyiv

Italian premiers have been given state funerals in the past, but this is the first time a national day of mourning has been called for one. Italy is ruled by a right-wing coalition of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's party Brothers of Italy, Matteo Salvini's League and Berlusconi's former party Forza Italia. Bindi, a woman often targeted by Berlusconi's sexist jibes, said the national day of mourning was "disrespectful towards the majority" of Italians who opposed the late leader. WREATHS AND SOCCER BANNERS[1/9] People wait for the funeral of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, in Milan, Italy June 14, 2023. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was also confirmed, but few other senior European politicians were expected.

Persons: Silvio Berlusconi, Berlusconi, Giuseppe Conte, Rosy Bindi, Giorgia, Matteo Salvini's, Donald Trump, Tomaso Montanari, Nardi, Lucia Adiele, Sergio Mattarella, Elly Schlein, Mario Draghi, Mario Monti, Paolo Gentiloni, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad, Mohammed Shia, Al Sudani, Viktor Orban, Cristiano Corvino, Angelo Amante, Alvise Armellini, Federico Maccioni, Alexandra Hudson, Gavin Jones Organizations: MILAN, Italian, Reuters, Matteo Salvini's League, Forza Italia, European Commission, Siena's University for Foreigners, REUTERS, Democratic Party, Thomson Locations: Milan's Cathedral, Milan, Italy, Altamura, Thani

☆ Italy welcomes baby to parliament for first time
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ROME, June 7 (Reuters) - A baby took a seat in the Italian parliament for the first time ever on Wednesday, when lawmaker Gilda Sportiello breastfed her son Federico in the Chamber of Deputies, triggering a round of applause from fellow members. The event would be more commonplace in many countries, but was underlined by the acting lower-house speaker in traditionally male-dominated Italy. Best wishes to Federico for a long, free, and peaceful life," said Giorgio Mule as he chaired the parliamentary session. Giorgia Meloni took office in October as Italy's first woman prime minister, but around two-thirds of the country's lawmakers are men. While the event on Wednesday was a first for Italy, 13 years ago Licia Ronzulli, now a senator in the centre-right Forza Italia party, breastfed her daughter in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Persons: Gilda Sportiello breastfed, Federico, Giorgio Mule, Giorgia Meloni, Italy's, Licia, breastfed, Federica Urso, Gavin Jones, Bill Berkrot Organizations: Star, Forza Italia, Thomson Locations: Italy, Strasbourg

☆ Ferrari does not need to buy other supercar makers, CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Ferrari NV FollowMILAN, June 5 (Reuters) - Ferrari (RACE.MI) has no plans to purchase other sports car makers, the company's Chief Executive Benedetto Vigna said on Monday. "I don't think it makes sense for us to buy other supercar makers," Vigna said during a conference organized by Bloomberg, replying to a question about possible M&A operations by the Italian company. Vigna said Ferrari would finish building a new assembly facility, its so called 'e-building', in its Maranello hometown in June next year. The CEO said that Ferrari would not only be making fully-electric cars on the new assembly-line. Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari, editing by Gavin JonesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Benedetto Vigna, Vigna, Ferrari, Giulio Piovaccari, Gavin Jones Organizations: MILAN, Bloomberg, Thomson Locations: Italian

☆ Italy bets on quietest of places to host world-leading telescope
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Federico Maccioni | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The Sos Enathos lead and zinc mine, extending 300 metres underground below lush vegetation, has been picked by the Rome government as its candidate to host the so-called Einstein Telescope (ET). Italy is betting that its 1.9-billion-euro ($2.09 billion)project can bring much-needed investment to the island of Sardinia, one of the country's poorest regions. Mirrors at the end of each tunnel will reflect laser beams whose lengths are affected by the passage of gravitational waves. "The mine has become the alternative to the mine," Mario Calia, the 63-year-old mayor of Lula, told Reuters. Calia, himself a former miner, said the project would leave Lula's unspoiled natural landscape untouched while bringing in investment.

☆ Meloni to leave G7 a day early to tackle Italy flood crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni attend a meeting during the G7 leaders' summit in Hiroshima, Japan May 20, 2023 Ukrainian Presidential Press... Read moreHIROSHIMA/ROME, May 20 (Reuters) - Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is set to leave the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima a day earlier than scheduled to lead the response to flooding which hit the north of her country this week, two sources said on Saturday. Torrential rains devastated the eastern side of the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, killing 14 people, causing billions of euros worth of damage and hitting agriculture particularly hard. Italy's government will hold a cabinet meeting on Tuesday to decide on measures to help people to cope with the emergency. Earlier in the day, Meloni thanked the G7 leaders and everyone from other countries who had expressed solidarity with Italy and those affected by the flooding. Reporting by Katya Golubkova and Angelo Amante, writing by Gianluca Semeraro, editing by Gavin Jones and Giles ElgoodOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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