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☆ 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

☆ Stream These 8 Movies Before They Leave Netflix in July
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Jason Bailey | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

‘Julie & Julia’ (July 31)Julia Child was an easy figure to impersonate but perhaps not so simple to inhabit. The film focuses on Gardner’s period of homelessness and the sacrifices he made while completing an unpaid internship at a prestigious firm. It’s a formulaic piece of work but a nevertheless affecting one. ‘Stepmom’ (July 31)The “Home Alone” director Chris Columbus continued the softening of his touch that began with “Mrs. Julia Roberts plays the title character, a fashion photographer who is dating, and then marries, a much older, divorced father (Ed Harris).

Persons: ‘ Julie, Julia ’, Julia Child, Meryl Streep, Julie Powell, Amy Adams, Nora Ephron, Stanley Tucci, Chris Messina, Happyness ’, Gabriele Muccino, Chris Gardner, Oscar, Will Smith, Gardner, Jaden, Skyfall ’, Daniel Craig, James Bond, “ Bourne, Sam Mendes, Roger Deakins, Thomas Newman, Javier Bardem, Stepmom ’, Chris Columbus, “ Mrs, Doubtfire ”, Julia Roberts, Ed Harris, Susan Sarandon, —, It’s, ’, Kate Beckinsale Organizations: “

☆ The first battery-powered trains have arrived in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Julia Buckley | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Enter Europe’s first battery-powered trains. In Calabria, the trains are running on the Ionian Coast, while Sicilian routes include Messina to Palermo and Messina-Catania-Syracuse. “It is the first time that batteries are used as the main energy source on a fleet of trains for commercial use in Europe,” Trenitalia said in a statement. The fleet – made with 93% recyclable materials – will cut carbon emissions and fuel consumption by 50% versus diesel trains, Hitachi said in a statement. A battery-powered futureThe trains are running in several regions of Italy.

Persons: ”, ” Trenitalia Organizations: CNN, Hitachi, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Catania, Hitachi Rail Locations: Italy, Calabria, Lazio, Tuscany, Sicily, Sardinia, Messina, Palermo, Syracuse, Europe

☆ Intesa launches cloud-based Isybank in digital push
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Vaibhav Sadhamta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Isybank is powered by cloud technology provided by Britain's ThoughtMachine, a cloud-native banking technology firm. High-street banks globally face a big challenge in replacing their existing core IT infrastructure, known as mainframe, with cloud technology. Legacy systems pose a major hurdle, while the task is easy for challenger banks built from scratch on cloud technology. Intesa Sanpaolo has forecast its new digital bank would save around 800 million euros a year in 2026-2027, up from 600 million euros in 2025, according to a strategy presentation delivered in February last year. Isybank targets some 4 million Intesa customers who generate around 200 million euros in revenues a year and could become more profitable for the bank if shifted away from branches given they already only use digital bank services.

Persons: Britain's ThoughtMachine, Paul Taylor, Intesa, Intesa Sanpaolo, Carlo Messina, Stefano Barrese, Valentina Za, Conor Humphries Organizations: MILAN, Google, Thomson Locations: Italy's, Italy, Europe

☆ ‘Based on a True Story’ Review: Only Murders on the TV
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( James Poniewozik | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“The great American art form isn’t music or film or television,” says a podcast host in “Based on a True Story,” a new dark comedy on Peacock. “The great American art form is murder. Forget the surfeit of murder podcasts that “Based on a True Story” satirizes, however fitfully. “Based on True Story” is not even the first TV comedy about a fictional murder podcast. (Steve Martin and Martin Short would like a word.)

Persons: ”, “, Steve Martin, Martin, Craig Rosenberg, Kaley, Nathan, Chris Messina, sleuths, Matt, Tom Bateman, Peacock, it’s Locations: Los Angeles

☆ Pent-up demand promises record tourist season for southern Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Giselda Vagnoni | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

What's more, there appears to be growing demand for the luxury end of the spectrum. Portugal registered more than 2.8 million of foreign visitors from January to March, the best first quarter on record, according to official data. Airlines such as Lufthansa, easyJet and Ryanair have confirmed robust summer bookings while Ryanair, in anticipation of strong demand, has just ordered 150 new 737 Max-10s and optioned another 150. Italian travel and tourism company Alpitour forecasts turnover 30% higher this year. "We already see a very strong demand to book Christmas holidays in 2023.

☆ How Chris Messina Forced Matt Damon to Up His Game in ‘Air’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Calum Marsh | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But for “Air,” the director Ben Affleck had the idea to shoot both sides of the conversation simultaneously. He set up Damon and Messina in offices down the hall from each other, and had two sets of cameras rolling at the same time. I had to use Matt laughing because there wasn’t a take of him playing it straight. He tried to play it straight, and he just couldn’t.”Damon explained that “it was already really funny on the page.” But when Messina came up with threats, “it dictated how I had to play the scene,” Damon said. Every time he’s had the opportunity, he’s always done more than I envisioned or imagined.”

☆ European banks' business model is 'safe and sound': Intesa Sanpaolo CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | 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 EmailEuropean banks' business model is 'safe and sound': Intesa Sanpaolo CEOCarlo Messina, CEO at Intesa Sanpaolo, weighs in on the outlook for European banks, which he says are in a different situation to their counterparts in the U.S., and have a solid business model and are supported by central bank supervision.

☆ World's longest bridge could transform Sicily. But not if the Mafia and earthquakes get in the way
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Barbie Latza Nadeau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Since then, various plans, including a short-lived idea for a tunnel, have come and gone – like water under the bridge. If built, the bridge across the Straits of Messina would span two miles (3.2 kilometers) and would be the longest suspension bridge in the world. When Salvini became transport minister, he made it his priority, betting his legacy on the bridge. “The bridge over the Strait of Messina is a project that can break ground immediately. The recent arrest of Cosa Nostra boss Matteo Messina Denaro after 30 years on the lam in Sicily represented a victory.

☆ Spring cleaning can make you happier and more productive, says clinical psychologist—here's how
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Renée Onque | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Here are a few ways Messina says spring cleaning may improve how you feel and what you're able to get done at home. Spring cleaning is a centuries-old concept from multiple cultural and religious practices — and the act can mean more for you than just a decluttered and more organized home. Spring cleaning is also exercise, and though it isn't equivalent in intensity to the kinds of exercises you should aim for every day, "it includes physical movement," he notes. And then you're going to feel the effect of that; that could be low self-esteem [due to] poor job performance." "It's activating them in a way that's towards a productive activity and includes physical movement.

☆ The user who invented the hashtag has reportedly left Twitter, saying the company 'deserved more dignity and consideration than it's received in the last six months'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The man who suggested Twitter use hashtags has left the platform. Chris Messina reportedly said the company "deserved more dignity and consideration than it's received in the last six months." The man responsible for Twitter's use of hashtags to group tweets has left the platform, saying it's been mismanaged under Elon Musk's ownership. Whatever Twitter was before deserved more dignity and consideration than it's received in the last six months," Messina tweeted, per The Verge. As for the hashtags, Musk isn't a fan.

REUTERS/Lauren JusticeLOS ANGELES, April 3 (Reuters) - Actor Ben Affleck is hopeful for basketball legend Michael Jordan’s seal of approval after directing the biographical sports film, "Air," which is based on Jordan’s historic deal with the Nike (NKE.N) shoe brand. Affleck plays Nike co-founder Phil Knight and “The Woman King” actor Viola Davis portrays Jordan’s mother, Deloris Jordan. There was one key role that Affleck and Damon decided not to fill, and it was Michael Jordan’s. “The second you put the camera on an actor and say ‘Hey, it’s Michael Jordan’ and it’s not Michael Jordan, you’re going to lose the audience, so we knew. Michael’s just too famous and means too much to people to try to have someone else play him in a movie,” Damon said.

☆ TikTok's CEO got coached by ex-Obama and Disney advisers for a month before his viral Congress hearing, which saw his followers on the app increase 16,000%
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

TikTok hired former Obama and Disney advisers to coach its CEO before his congressional hearing, per WSJ. Shou Zi Chew has seen his follower count on TikTok rise from 18,700 to 3 million in 8 days. Chew was largely unknown before the hearing last Thursday, with just under 19,000 followers on the app, per Reuters. Two days before the hearing, Chew posted an informal introduction on the app – he was dressed in a hoodie and jeans – which has since amassed 4.7 million likes. A spokesperson for the app previously told Insider it believed the bans "have been based on misplaced fears and seemingly driven by wider geopolitics."

☆ TikTok’s Behind-the-Scenes Help in Washington: Former Obama, Disney Advisers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Kirsten Grind | Erich Schwartzel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

TikTok has enlisted three heavyweights from American politics and business to advise it behind the scenes as the social-media app tries to convince U.S. authorities that it isn’t beholden to the Chinese government. David Plouffe and Jim Messina , veterans of Barack Obama ’s presidential campaigns, and Zenia Mucha , the former longtime communications chief of Walt Disney Co., are advising TikTok in its fight against efforts to ban it in the U.S, according to people familiar with their roles.

☆ Sister's note led police to mafia boss Messina Denaro
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Alvise Armellini | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Rosalia (Rosetta) Messina Denaro, 67, was detained in Sicily on mafia membership charges, Carabinieri police said, releasing a 57-page arrest warrant. Her brother, Matteo Messina Denaro, 60, was Italy's most wanted man until his arrest on Jan. 16, after 30 years on the run. Italian authorities had already said that Messina Denaro was snared by his failing health, but on Friday they revealed the source of the key tip. 'BIG STRAWBERRY'While on the run, Messina Denaro followed mafia tradition in communicating with relatives and affiliates via "pizzini", small pieces of paper sometimes written in code. Rosalia's husband, Filippo Guttadauro, is another convicted Sicilian mobster, while her daughter Lorenza is Matteo Messina Denaro's defence lawyer.

Catalano's brother, Agostino, was a policeman who died in a 1992 bomb that killed anti-mob magistrate Paolo Borsellino - a attack that prosecutors say Messina Denaro helped mastermind. The last confirmed sighting of Messina Denaro was in 1993, making it difficult for police to identify the most wanted man in Italy. Only one of them decided to collaborate with justice," said Roberto Piscitello, a prosecutor who tried to capture Messina Denaro from 1996 to 2008. FALSE IDENTITYPolice say they managed to catch Messina Denaro after learning from wiretaps of his relatives that he had cancer. BUSINESS CONTACTSMagistrates said they found evidence that Messina Denaro had visited Spain, Greece and Austria over the years.

☆ Sicilian Mafia’s Bloodiest Era Draws to a Close With Arrest of Old-School Boss
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Margherita Stancati | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

ROME—The arrest of Sicilian mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro marks the end of an era for Cosa Nostra, a once-dominant player in global crime that has largely been forced to retreat to its native island. Captured this week after 30 years on the run, Mr. Messina Denaro was the last leading mobster who represented Cosa Nostra, as the Sicilian mafia is known in Italy, in its heyday and still lived at large. He played a major role in the crime syndicate in the 1980s and 1990s, when it controlled the trans-Atlantic heroin trade and waged a ruthless campaign against anything that stood in the way, from rival factions to the Italian state.

☆ Watch: California Floods Leave Behind Washed Away Houses, Submerged Cars
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Watch: Italy Arrests Most-Wanted Mafia Boss Italy’s Carabinieri military police arrested the country’s most notorious mafia boss in Sicily after a 30-year manhunt. Matteo Messina Denaro was at a clinic in the outskirts of Palermo when police swarmed the area and captured him on Monday. Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

☆ Factbox: How top Mafia boss Messina Denaro escaped justice for 30 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Alvise Armellini | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

ROME, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Matteo Messina Denaro, a brutal Sicilian Mafia boss who was Italy's most wanted criminal before his capture on Monday, had been on the run for 30 years. Messina Denaro, 60, was the last runaway member of a generation of mobsters who masterminded a string of bombings and murders that terrorised Italy in the early 1990s. Nobody knows for sure, but there have long been suspicions that Messina Denaro had his back covered by politicians and other establishment connections. Crime writer Roberto Saviano has pointed out that a former junior justice minister, Antonio D'Ali, has been convicted for collusion with the Messina Denaro family. Messina Denaro was eventually caught outside a clinic in Palermo after police discovered he was sick with cancer.

☆ Mafia boss Messina Denaro held in top security Italian prison
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] A general view shows the prison where Italy's most wanted mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro is detained, in L'Aquila, Italy, January 18, 2023. REUTERS/Gabriele PileriL'AQUILA, Italy, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro was being held on Wednesday in a high-security jail in central Italy, subject to special restrictions applied to the country's most dangerous prisoners. "I've no criminal record," Messina Denaro, who was caught on Monday after 30 years on the run, told prison guards when he was admitted to the Costarelle prison close to the city of L'Aquila, Italian media reported. Police on Tuesday found the apartment where they believe Messina Denaro had been living for the past few months under the assumed name of Andrea Bonafede. Prosecutors say Messina Denaro was one of the leading figures in Cosa Nostra but preferred to remain in his own region and was not the "boss of bosses" like the late Salvatore "Toto" Riina.

☆ Perfumes and fancy clothes found in mafia boss Messina Denaro's hideout
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Wladimir Pantaleone | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Carabinieri police stand guard near the hideout of Matteo Messina Denaro, Italy's most wanted mafia boss, after he was arrested, in the Sicilian town of Campobello di Mazara, Italy, January 17, 2023. REUTERS/Antonio ParrinelloPALERMO, Italy, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Perfumes and designer label clothes were found on Tuesday in an apartment which investigators believe was the last hideout of Sicilian mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro, judicial sources said, a day after the arrest of the 60-year-old fugitive. Messina Denaro was known for his taste for luxury goods, including sun glasses and clothes. Investigators believe Messina Denaro was driven on Monday to Palermo's La Maddalena hospital from Campobello di Mazara to be treated for cancer. Despite his illness, prosecutors said Messina Denaro was fit enough to serve time in prison where he will carry on with his cancer treatment.

☆ Italian Police Arrest Most-Wanted Sicilian Mafia Boss
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Margherita Stancati | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Members of the Carabinieri police stand outside the force’s San Lorenzo headquarters in Palermo. ROME—Italy’s Carabinieri military police have detained the country’s most notorious fugitive mafia boss, who had been on the run for 30 years, dealing a blow to one of the world’s most storied crime syndicates. Matteo Messina Denaro was in a private hospital on the outskirts of the Sicilian city of Palermo when Carabinieri swarmed the area and captured him on Monday morning, the Carabinieri said.

Italy's most-wanted man, Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro, was arrested Monday after three decades on the run. Messina Denaro, a convicted murderer who has eluded authorities 30 years, is thought to be the leader of the notorious Cosa Nostra organized crime group. A picture released by police early Monday showed Messina Denaro in a police car — visibly older than in his 1990s mugshots — alongside two officers. Matteo Messina Denaro after his arrest on Monday. In 2006, police arrested Cosa Nostra boss Bernardo Provenzano, who police named as the "Capo di Capi," or chief of chiefs, after a 43-year manhunt.

☆ Arrest of 'last godfather' deals new blow to ailing Sicilian mafia
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Angelo Amante | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Messina Denaro, 60, was Italy's most wanted mafia boss and had been on the run for three decades. Experts describe Cosa Nostra, its fame amplified by movies such as "The Godfather", as an ailing crime group facing several difficulties, including competition in the highly lucrative drugs market. "Messina Denaro was the last godfather, he represented all the secrets of Cosa Nostra. Sergi said it was not clear who would step in to replace Messina Denaro in what is now a more factionalised mafia. Any revelation from Messina Denaro on the group's activities - including 1993 bomb attacks in Florence, Rome and Milan which killed 10 people - could be a further major development.

☆ Illness is what ultimately snared Italy's top Mafia fugitive
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Alvise Armellini | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Messina Denaro, 60, was caught just outside a private clinic in Palermo together with an accomplice. Illness "is one of the events in the life of a (fugitive) individual that forces them to come out into the open," Palermo Prosecutor Paolo Guido told a press conference. Officers found a man who looked well-groomed, in apparent good health, with a luxury watch worth 35,000 euros ($37,840). In police pictures, Messina Denaro was seen wearing a brown fur-lined jacket, glasses and a brown and white woolly hat. Meanwhile, Messina Denaro seems set for a life behind bars.

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