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☆ Italy's competition watchdog stops Intesa moving clients to mobile bank
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Intesa Sanpaolo bank logo and stock graph are seen displayed in this illustration taken, May 3, 2022. Italy's AGCM antitrust authority opened a probe earlier this month into the way Intesa was transferring clients to Isybank after a raft of complaints which the watchdog said had now reached 5,000. It wants Intesa to only move clients who explicitly give their consent. Isybank targets 4 million Intesa customers under 65 who only access their banking services remotely. The group migrated the first 300,000 Intesa account holders in October and plans to shift another 2 million in March.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Intesa, AGCM, Carlo Messina, Antonio Valitutti, Isybank, Valentina Za, Giulia Segreti, Christina Fincher, Jane Merriman, Susan Fenton Organizations: REUTERS, Bank of Italy, European Central Bank, Thomson Locations: Italy

☆ Intesa CEO says bank profits at peak
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Carlo Messina, Chief Executive Officer of Intesa Sanpaolo bank, looks on during a meeting in Rome, Italy April 18, 2023. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMILAN, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Bank profits are close to peaking, and net fees will again play a prominent role from next year, giving an edge to banks such as Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI) which has a diversified business model, Chief Executive Carlo Messina said on Thursday. "There is no doubt that we are currently in a peak phase for bank profits," Messina said. Italian banks have posted record profits this year thanks to higher interest rates, which lifted lending costs while deposit returns remained very low. Reporting by Valentina Za, editing by Gianluca SemeraroOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Carlo Messina, Remo Casilli, Messina, Valentina Za, Gianluca Semeraro Organizations: REUTERS, Bank, Thomson Locations: Sanpaolo, Rome, Italy

☆ An Italian ski resort shut down by climate change plans to reopen with artificial snow. Not everyone is happy
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-18 | by ( Barbie Latza Nadeau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Now, plans to build a multi-million-dollar ski facility on a snowless northern Italian mountain may prove equally challenging. The Lake Como town of Bellagio is among communities backing the reopening of ski facilities. Old turnstiles, ski lift pillars, and even a map of now-vanished pistes can still be found on the mountain. Snow could become even more scarce in the future as the impacts of the climate crisis accelerate. The first plans for the Monte San Primo ski area were passed and the money pledged in early 2022.

Persons: Matteo Colombo, ”, Roberto Fumagalli, Fumagalli, doesn’t, Monte, George Clooney “ We’ve, George Clooney, “, hasn’t, ” Fumagalli, Snow, Roberto Fumagalli ‘, Angelo Barindelli, Alessandro Fermo, It’s, won’t Organizations: CNN, Getty, World Wildlife Fund, Italian Alpine, Alamy, Hollywood, Protesters, Lombardy Regional Council, Facebook, Monte Locations: Messina, Venice, San, Lake Como, Bellagio, Monte San, Mauritius, Cardiff, Bristol, Italy, Ethiopia, of Africa, Lombardy, Monte San Primo

But few outsiders are confident that the off-year wins will necessarily lead to Biden’s reelection or broader Democratic success next year. And Ohio Democrats don't expect Biden to compete in the state next year. To Biden aides, the results validated the strategy of sharpening the contrast with “MAGA Republicans” that helped Democrats outperform expectations in 2022. At the Chicago fundraiser, Biden noted that Beshear won reelection while “running on all the programs that were Biden initiatives.”Beshear kept some distance from Biden the day after he won. Jim Messina, who managed Barack Obama’s successful reelection against Republican Mitt Romney in 2012, said the Biden campaign does not need to change its tactics.

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden, romped, Donald Trump, Republican overreach, ”, Nina Turner, Sen, Bernie Sanders, Turner, John Yarmuth, he's, “, ” Yarmuth, Yarmuth, Biden’s, “ We’ve, ” Julie Chavez Rodriguez, they’re, “ MAGA, “ MAGA Republicans ”, Tuesday's, Andy Beshear, Daniel Cameron, Cameron, Cameron's, Beshear, ” Beshear, it’s, Dan McCaffery, Glenn Youngkin, Jim Messina, Barack Obama’s, Republican Mitt Romney, Obama, ” Messina, Nikki Haley, Romney, Messina, “ you’re, Ro Khanna, Bernie Sanders ’, ” Khanna, Ed Rendell, Rendell, ” Rendell, Zeke Miller, Emily Swanson, Bruce Schreiner Organizations: WASHINGTON, Associated Press, Democratic, Republican, Biden, Trump, “ MAGA Republicans, White, Chicago, Virginia, statehouse, Republican Gov, ” Locations: Chicago, Kentucky , Virginia , Ohio, Pennsylvania, Ohio, an Ohio, Ky, Kentucky, Kentucky’s, ”, Washington, Frankfort , Kentucky

☆ The campaign manager for Obama's 2012 reelection bid has some advice for Democrats worried about Biden's polling woes
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Messina wrote that Obama faced similar political headwinds in 2011, a year before he was reelected. For much of the year, both Biden and Trump have either been tied, or one candidate has had a nominal lead. But Jim Messina — who in 2012 managed then-President Barack Obama's successful reelection bid — has a message for Democrats worried about Biden's current standing: "Don't panic." "A year before a presidential election, it is just too early to get an accurate read on how the people will actually vote," Messina wrote. AdvertisementAdvertisement"The Biden campaign knows that there are just seven battleground states this time, with a few paths to victory," he wrote.

Persons: Jim Messina, Obama's, it's, Messina, Obama, —, Joe Biden's, Donald Trump, Trump, Biden, Jim Messina —, Barack Obama's, Republican Mitt Romney Organizations: Democratic, Service, Biden, Trump, New York Times, Politico, White House, GOP House, Democratic Senate, Party, Republican, North Carolina Locations: Arizona , Nevada, Georgia, Siena, Washington, Messina, Michigan , Pennsylvania, Wisconsin

☆ Intesa Sanpaolo gives clients more time to opt out of digital shift
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Intesa Sanpaolo bank logo is seen displayed in this illustration taken, May 3, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsROME, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Italy's biggest bank Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI) reopened the deadline for thousands of its customers to opt out of switching to its digital lender Isybank, a document showed, following protests from consumer associations and ruling lawmakers. The complaints prompted Italy's central bank as well as the antitrust authority to look into the way the lender was shifting the clients to the app-based unit. In a note sent to customers on Monday and seen by Reuters, the bank wrote that anyone wanting to remain with Intesa Sanpaolo had until the end of February to say so. The competition watchdog took aim at how Intesa informed account holders of the move, adding it had received more than 2,000 complaints.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Intesa Sanpaolo, Intesa, Paolo, Letizia, Giorgia Meloni, Carlo Messina's, Giuseppe Fonte, Keith Weir Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Brothers, Thomson Locations: Italy

☆ The night train revolution has been hailed as an alternative to airplanes. Here’s how that’s going
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-12 | by ( Ben Jones | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

Wherever they run, night trains are complicated, labor intensive and expensive to operate – one of the major reasons they went into decline in the first place. The $770 million contract could eventually see up to 370 new overnight carriages introduced to update Italy’s entire overnight train fleet. “Politicians must be clear: the night train market will be effectively closed for a very long time,” he says. So, what does all this mean for the much-vaunted night train revolution? With the honorable exception of government-subsidized Nightjet, which plans to expand rapidly over the next five years, European night train services have yet to match the hype.

Persons: Love, James Brown, David Bowie, Ray Charles, –, they’ve, Charisius, Agatha Christie, James Bond, Mark Smith, ”, “, ÖBB, “ Superliner, Kuleshova, Smith, it’s, Alex Halada, Nick Brooks Organizations: CNN, Orient Express, Austrian Federal Railways, Swiss Federal Railways, Deutsche Bahn, Italian State Railways, Amtrak, California Zephyr, European, Bloomberg, Getty, Regiojet, Compagnie Internationale des, VIA Rail, European Union, Frankfurt, Eurostar, EU Rail, EU Locations: Europe, Russia, Scandinavia, Vienna, Hamburg, Germany, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, France, Sweden, Milan, Sicily, Messina, Europe’s, United States, Berlin, Stockholm, Denmark, Czech, Prague, Croatia’s, London, Dresden, Copenhagen, Barcelona, Spain, Venice, Florence, Rome, Madrid, Porto, Portugal, Edinburgh, Zurich, AFP, EU

☆ Elections Are a Respite for Biden, but Show the Disparity Between Him and Party
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Peter Baker | More About Peter Baker | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Several aides said privately that the mood in the West Wing was upbeat and they expressed a sense of validation that their theory of the case was still valid. Coming after the survey by The New York Times and Siena College, which found Mr. Biden losing to former President Donald J. Trump in five swing states that Mr. Biden won in 2020, the off-year elections were well timed. The results, Biden advisers stressed, reaffirmed that Democrats have outperformed in every election since the Supreme Court’s decision overturning a constitutional right to abortion. It is also true that Mr. Beshear spent much of the campaign distancing himself from Mr. Biden. But Biden advisers noted that two-thirds of the 23 Democratic candidates for the state legislature in Virginia endorsed by the president and Vice President Kamala Harris won.

Persons: Biden, Donald J, Trump, Mr, ”, Beshear’s, Daniel Cameron, Beshear, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, ” Jim Messina, Barack Obama’s Organizations: The New York Times, Siena College, Republican, Democratic Locations: Virginia

☆ In Italy, banks and the government have a 'common target,' says Intesa Sanpaolo CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailIn Italy, banks and the government have a 'common target,' says Intesa Sanpaolo CEOCarlo Messina, CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo, discusses his macro outlook after third-quarter earnings.

Persons: Intesa, Carlo Messina, Intesa Sanpaolo Locations: Italy

☆ Europe needs bigger banks but mergers hard without banking union -Intesa CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, Nov 6 (Reuters) - European banks need to join forces if the region is to withstand competition from the United States and China but without a banking union, cross-border mergers do not make sense, the head of Italy's biggest bank Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI) said on Monday. "You need synergies and the area where investors are looking for synergies is cost," he said, adding it was not easy "to deliver real cross-border synergies on the cost side". "I think we'll need to wait for a banking union to see real, significant cross-border consolidation. Orcel last month said Europe was destined to "irrelevance" if it did not work to unify its capital markets and create a banking union that allowed lenders to compete with U.S. rivals and adequately finance the region's economy. Intesa has a 30% market share of deposits and mutual funds, and 20% of insurance products, the CEO said.

Persons: Carlo Messina, Andrea Orcel, Messina, Intesa, Andrea Enria, Valentina Za, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: MILAN, CNBC, U.S, Central Bank's, Thomson Locations: United States, China, Europe, Orcel, Messina, Italy

☆ Italy's antitrust probes Intesa's customer shift to mobile service Isybank
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Giulia Segreti | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Intesa Sanpaolo bank logo is seen displayed in this illustration taken, May 3, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies Intesa Sanpaolo SpA FollowROME, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Italy's antitrust authority said on Thursday it had opened a probe into the transfer of thousands of Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI) customers to the bank's mobile-only service Isybank. After launching Isybank in June, Intesa at the beginning of October started moving about 300,000 customers from its traditional network. The antitrust also said that the shift to Isybank carried with it "important changes" to the terms and conditions of the accounts. Intesa told a presentation in June that it would over time increase the number of services Isybank users can access on their accounts.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Intesa, Giorgia Meloni, Carlo Messina's, Giulia Segreti, Valentina Za Organizations: REUTERS, Intesa, ROME, Treasury, Thomson Locations: Italy's

☆ Intesa CEO hopes to keep reins with Catholic philosophy for 'many years'
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"We can do that because we already spend 300 million euros a year for social causes," Messina said. Intesa has among core shareholders charitable banking foundations inspired by Catholic values, commonly referred to in Italy as "Catholic finance". "I hope to have the honour to continue to lead our company for many years with this philosophy," Messina said. At the helm since 2013, Messina has made the digital switch a key plank of his long-term strategy for Intesa, with a view to cutting costs and focusing resources on wealth management and insurance operations. Intesa this year launched both Isybank, a cloud-based, low-cost mobile bank to serve younger, mass-market clients, and Fideuram Direct, a digital wealth management service targeting younger private banking clients.

Persons: Carlo Messina, Messina, Intesa, " Messina, Pope Francis, Valentina Za, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: MILAN, Thomson Locations: Italy, Messina

☆ Intesa to add 2 bln to reserves from bank tax
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The logo of bank Intesa Sanpaolo is seen in Milan, Italy, January 18, 2016. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMILAN, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Italy's biggest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI), on Wednesday said it would increase non-distributable reserves by 2.07 billion euros ($2.19 billion) instead of paying a one-off windfall tax, making use of an opt-out clause in the law. A similar decision was announced on Tuesday by rival UniCredit (CRDI.MI), which is boosting reserves by 1.1 billion euros. Reserves must increase by 2.5 times the amount that would be paid as tax, which in Intesa's case would have been 828 million euros. In announcing it was increasing reserves, Intesa said it had decided to spend around 1.5 billion euros over the 2023-2027 period to help people in need.

Persons: Stefano Rellandini, Intesa, UniCredit, Carlo Messina, Valentina Za, Leslie Adler Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Milan, Italy

There’s little concern that the independent or third-party candidates would actually win the presidency, but they could siphon support from the ultimate Democratic and Republican nominees. In Arizona, alone, minor party candidates must collect more than 34,000 signatures to qualify for the general election ballot. An independent candidate must collect more than 43,000 signatures. Michigan requires a minor party candidate to collect 44,619 signatures and independents to collect 12,000. And in Nevada, a minor party or independent candidate must collect 10,095 signatures to qualify for the ballot.

Persons: Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Cornel West, Joe Biden, Republican Donald Trump, Jill Stein, “, ” Stein, It’s, — Biden, Trump, Kennedy, Stein, Jim Messina, Barack Obama's, Biden, Biden's, ” Messina, —, Gallup, Hillary Clinton's, Louis Farrakhan, Stefanie Spear, Mr, “ Mr, Chris LaCivita, ” LaCivita, Brendan McPhillips, McPhillips, Matt Bennett, ” Bennett, “ Kennedy, It's, they're, ’, Peter Daou, Connecticut Sen, Joe Lieberman, ” Lieberman, Jonathan J, Cooper Organizations: Democratic, Cornel, Republican, Green Party, Gallup, Trump, Associated Press, Biden, Capitol, Democratic Party, Republican Party Locations: Washington, Philadelphia, U.S, West, United States, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Dallas, Phoenix

☆ Top Sicilian mafia boss buried but the criminal enterprise lives on
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Barbie Latza Nadeau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Rome CNN —Sicilian mob boss Matteo Messina Denaro, widely thought to be the last godfather of his kind, was buried Wednesday in a private funeral in Castelvetrano, Sicily. A police handout photo shows Matteo Messina Denaro after he was arrested in Palermo, Italy, on January 16, 2023. “With the death of Matteo Messina Denaro, a life full of violence, plots and mysteries ends,” Grasso told CNN. Messina Denaro, even with his rap sheet of murders, was highly critical of the Catholic church over the clerical sex abuse scandal. Matteo Messina Denaro was arrested at a private health clinic in Palermo after 30 years on the run.

Persons: Rome, Matteo Messina Denaro, Nicola Consales, Messina Denaro, Antonella Bonomo, Giuseppe Di Matteo, Paolo Borsellino, Giovanni Falcone, Messina Denaro –, –, Giovanni Motisi, “, ” Toto Riina –, He’s, Stefano Fidanzati, Pietro Grasso, Giuseppe Auteri, ” Grasso, Salvatore “ Toto ” Riina, Messina, Italy’s, ”, Don Ciccio Messina Organizations: Rome CNN, Reuters, CNN, Cosa Nostra, Catholic, Police Locations: Castelvetrano, Sicily, Palermo, Italy, Cosa, Messina, Campobello, Abruzzo, Calabria

CNN —A Mafia boss who spent nearly three decades evading law enforcement before he was arrested in January has died while receiving medical treatment, according to Italian media reports. Crime was a family affair for Messina Denaro, born to a known Mafia boss in Sicily on April 26, 1962. Among those arrested in the 2009-2010 crackdown was his brother, Salvatore Messina Denaro, who refused to testify about his whereabouts. In 2013, his sister, Patrizia Messina Denaro, was sentenced to 14 years in prison, a term she is still serving, for being a member of the Mafia. Felia Allum, professor of comparative organized crime and corruption at the UK’s University of Bath, said in January that Messina Denaro was the last of an old generation of Mafia bosses.

Persons: CNN —, Matteo Messina Denaro, San Salvatore, Rai, Maurizio de Lucia, Messina Denaro, Giovanni Falcone, Paolo Borsellino, Falcone, Borsellino, Giuseppe Di Matteo, Maddalena, Bernardo Provenzano, Salvatore Messina Denaro, Patrizia Messina Denaro, Felia Allum, ” Organizations: CNN, Cosa Nostra, San, Sicilian Mafia, Cosa, Mafia, UK’s University of Bath Locations: L’Aquila, Italy, Palermo, Europe, Milan, Florence, Rome, Messina, €, Corleone, Sicily, Cosa

☆ Jailed Italian Mafia boss Messina Denaro dies: ANSA
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] A screengrab taken from a video shows Matteo Messina Denaro the country's most wanted mafia boss being escorted out of a Carabinieri police station after he was arrested in Palermo, Italy, January 16, 2023. Carabinieri/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsROME, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Italian Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro, who was arrested in January after spending 30 years on the run, has died, ANSA news agency reported on Monday. Messina Denaro, 61, was suffering from cancer at the time of his arrest. The son of a mafioso, Messina Denaro was born in the southwestern Sicilian town of Castelvetrano in 1962. Despite his notoriety, prosecutors have always doubted that Messina Denaro became the Mafia "boss of bosses", saying it was more likely that he was simply the head of Cosa Nostra in western Sicily.

Persons: Matteo Messina Denaro, Messina Denaro, Denaro, ANSA, Giovanni Falcone, Paolo Borsellino, Giuseppe Di Matteo, Salvatore, Riina, turncoats, Crispian Balmer, Kanjyik Ghosh, Kim Coghill, Gerry Doyle Organizations: Carabinieri, REUTERS, Rights, Mafia, La Repubblica, Messina, Police, Cosa Nostra, Thomson Locations: Palermo, Italy, Rome, Florence, Milan, Messina, Sicilian, Castelvetrano, Sicily, Campobello

☆ Who Scored a Perfect 10 at Milan Fashion Week?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-24 | by ( Vanessa Friedman | More About Vanessa Friedman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“Judging is an instinct.” “You’re already giving a score to this look in your mind, just express it.” So droned the Voice of God at the Sunnei show over the weekend as Milan Fashion Week drew to a close. Well, who doesn’t know truth when they hear it? This season the subject was the court of public opinion that is the social media sphere, where everyone is free to weigh in on everything. And as usual, while the clothes illustrating the issue were good (Sunnei is essentially grunge for the thinking person), even better was the point. Sometimes that can be hard to find under the plethora of “real clothes,” razzle-dazzle showmanship and archive-diving that currently seems to be the default in fashion.

Persons: “, Simone Rizzo, Loris Messina, ” Organizations: Milan

☆ 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

☆ Palermo airport closed, two killed in north as fires and storms batter Italy
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Federico Maccioni | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Firefighters work to extinguish a wildfire burning near the Sicilian village of Curcuraci near Messina, Italy, July 25, 2023. Vigili del Fuoco/Handout via REUTERSMILAN, July 25 (Reuters) - Wildfires forced the closure of Palermo airport in Sicily on Tuesday as extreme weather continued to batter Italy, with severe storms causing damage and at least two deaths in the north of the country. The island's main airport of Catania, Italy's fifth-biggest, was closed last week due to a fire in a terminal building and has reopened only for a few flights. On Tuesday, Italy put 16 cities on red alert because of the high temperatures. Italy is one of the European countries most affected by climate change, and suffered deadly floods in May.

Persons: Italy's, Federico Maccioni, Alvise, Keith Weir Organizations: REUTERS, Twitter, Catania, Thomson Locations: Curcuraci, Messina, Italy, Handout, REUTERS MILAN, Palermo, Sicily, Catania, Europe, Milan, Monza, Brescia, New York, Milan's Malpensa, Rome

☆ Calabria hit by wildfires, heat in Italy to intensify
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ROME, July 23 (Reuters) - Firefighters battled blazes in the southern Italian region of Calabria on Sunday and forecasters warned that temperatures were set to soar again in parts of the country over the next day or two. Additional teams of firefighters were called in from the regions of Campania and Lazio, as well as the Sicilian city of Messina. A heat wave has hit southern Europe during the peak summer tourist season, breaking records - including in Rome - and bringing warnings about an increased risk of deaths. Italy is one of the European countries most affected by climate change and suffered deadly floods in May. Parts of northern Italy have also seen intense hail storms as the hot weather broke down there in the last few days.

Persons: Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, Keith Weir, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: Firefighters, Sunday, Energy, La Repubblica, Thomson Locations: Italian, Calabria, Campania, Lazio, Sicilian, Messina, Europe, Rome, Rhodes, Italy, Sicily, Sardinia

☆ Italy shuts main Sicily airport until Wednesday due to fire
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ROME, July 17 (Reuters) - The airport in the Sicilian city of Catania, close to some of the main tourist hot spots in eastern Sicily, has been shut down until Wednesday due to a fire, its management company wrote on Twitter. The fire broke out late on Sunday and there were no injuries, the airport said. Firefighters said they managed to contain the blaze about 90 minutes after it was called in, but provided no details on possible causes or any link to current high temperatures in the region. Flights at the Sicilian airport, which according to the Assoaeroporti sector group, ranked fifth for traffic in Italy last year and first on the island, have been suspended until 1200 GMT on Wednesday, the company said. The Catania airport is regularly used by tourists heading to places like Mount Etna and Taormina, which is about 70 kilometers (43.5 miles) away, and Siracusa, with its Greek Theatre and the historical centre on the Ortigia island.

Persons: Firefighters, Angelo Amante, Bernadette Baum Organizations: Twitter, Greek Theatre, Thomson Locations: Sicilian, Catania, Sicily, Palermo, Messina, Italy, Mount Etna, Taormina

☆ Slow pace of Biden’s reelection campaign feeds Democrats’ 2024 anxiety
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Edward-Isaac Dovere | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

It’s a persistent sense that the inner circle of advisers to the president and several of the very few aides who have been hired for his reelection campaign dismiss as absurd. “They are so underestimated, and they keep getting it right,” said Jim Messina, former president Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign manager, who has been one of the people privately advising Biden’s team to ramp up gradually. “We will grow and ramp up alongside the Biden campaign, probably in late fall or early next year,” Barnes said. “The most important power of incumbency is taking time to plan and build your campaign while your challenger is busy with a primary,” a Democratic campaign veteran said. “You can raise more now, but President Biden is raising less,” a veteran Democratic fundraiser on the West Coast said.

Persons: –, Joe Biden won’t, Biden, “, ”, Jim Messina, Barack Obama’s, Obama, aren’t, Donald Trump, ‘, “ I’m, Trump’s, David Axelrod, “ Trump, ” Axelrod, Biden’s, Kevin Munoz, Harris, Roe, Wade, Mitt Romney, Trump, Jen O’Malley Dillon, Messina, ” Messina, Roy Cooper, you’re, ” Cooper, Kamala Harris, Lavora Barnes, Julie Chávez Rodriguez, Barnes, ” Barnes, ’ ”, Axelrod, who’s, – “ it’s, Larry Cohen, Bernie Sanders, Obama’s –, Lis Smith Organizations: CNN, Democratic, Trump, GOP, Republicans, MAGA Republicans, Biden, Democratic National Committee, Republican, America, White, North Carolina Gov, ” Michigan Democratic Party, Communications Workers of America, Obama, Biden pessimists Locations: America, Wilmington, Capitol Hill, Washington, Chicago, stoke

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

☆ Intesa CEO: bank to expand in wealth management thanks to technology
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Valentina Za | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, July 11 (Reuters) - Thanks to cost-saving investments in technology, Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI) plans to grow its market share in wealth management without having to make any acquisitions, Chief Executive Carlo Messina said on Tuesday. Presenting a new digital financial advisory service for private banking customers, weeks after launching the group's new digital bank for mass-market clients, Messina said Intesa was increasingly acquiring fintech features. In a similar fashion, Intesa said it was lunching Fideuram Direct, using technology to serve younger and less demanding private banking clients. "We can imagine for example the son of one of our private banking customers as a Fideuram Direct customer," he said. Fideuram Direct, the new digital service, has already 60,000 clients and 2.5 billion euros in AUMs, Intesa said.

Persons: Intesa, Carlo Messina, Messina, Tommaso Corcos, Corcos, Valentina Za, Alvise Armellini, Keith Weir Organizations: MILAN, Thomson Locations: AUMs

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