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☆ Italy’s Friuli region is one of Europe’s best kept secrets
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Silvia Marchetti | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

With 13 natural reserves and the pristine park of the Friuli Dolomite Mountains, the region lures tourists seeking to connect with nature or explore the outdoors. There’s also the spellbinding Grotta Gigante, or Giant Cave, one of the world’s largest tourist caverns. Golden beachesThe Grotta Gigante is one of the world's largest tourist caverns. Trieste boasts an unusual segregated beach, with origins dating back several centuries. “Residents are very fond and proud of this place,” says Trieste local Maria Bonacci.

☆ Rublev tames Thiem, Sabalenka and Garcia stroll as Melbourne sizzles
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Thiem, a finalist at Melbourne Park and U.S. Open champion in 2020, is on the comeback trail after a wrist injury and was able to compete only to a certain extent against the power of the rangy Russian. Thiem was simply unable to get a foothold in the contest and the 25-year-old Rublev, a quarter-finalist at the Australian Open in 2021, served out for the match after little more than two hours on court. Tennis Australia on Tuesday morning banned fans from bringing flags of either nation into the Melbourne Park precinct after a Russian tricolour was hung on a bush next to a court where Ukrainian Kateryna Baindl was playing on Monday. "It wasn't that easy a match and I'm super happy to start with a win," said the Belarusian. Novak Djokovic will begin his bid for a record-extending 10th title at Melbourne Park against Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena in the final match of the day on Rod Laver Arena.

☆ Expansionist dreams threaten ECB digital euro plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Rebecca Christie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The idea of a digital euro with the same reserve backing as its physical equivalent is thus partly about Frankfurt controlling the process. At best, a digital euro could bring more citizens into the banking system, particularly those who don’t have enough money for traditional financial services products. That jars with central bankers’ preference to limit the digital euro to the EU at first. The euro does not need a digital currency, but its members have signalled they want one. Reuters GraphicsFollow @rebeccawire on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSEuro area finance ministers issued a statement on the so-called digital euro on Jan. 16, calling for political oversight and an international approach of a European central bank digital currency (CBDC).

☆ German online bank N26 to expand crypto trading
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FRANKFURT, Jan 17 (Reuters) - German online bank N26 said on Tuesday that it would expand the list of countries where its customers may trade cryptocurrencies to include those in Germany and Switzerland. In addition, N26 said it would provide the service for customers in Belgium, Portugal and Ireland. Last year, N26 began offering crypto trading for some customers in Austria only, in its first foray into the asset class. N26 said it would roll out the expanded trading gradually over the coming weeks. Reporting by Tom Sims and Marta Orosz Editing by Miranda MurrayOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ How Europe Escaped a Looming Energy Crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( Matthew Dalton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Unseasonably warm winter weather has been a challenge for Austria’s ski resorts but helped Europe limit its gas consumption. PARIS—Only a few months ago, Russian officials were taunting Europe about a brutal winter to come, and the continent was bracing for an energy crisis of historic proportions. Then Europe made an odds-defying escape—at least for now.

☆ Tesla cuts prices in the U.S. and Europe to stoke sales after lackluster year-end deliveries
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The Tesla Model Y (left) and Model 3 electric cars at the company's official launch event in Bangkok on Dec. 7, 2022. The Model Y is categorized by some as an SUV and others as a crossover. However, the move in the U.S. may help Tesla qualify for more federal EV tax credits, and stoke sales volume here and abroad, after competition and interest rates increased. In Europe, Tesla cut prices on its Model 3 and Model Y vehicles in Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland and the U.K.Reuters reported that in Germany, Tesla cut prices on the Model 3 and the Model Y from 1% to around 17%, depending on the configuration. Tesla's Model 3 was the bestselling electric vehicle in Germany in December 2022, followed by the Model Y.

☆ Tesla has slashed the prices of its Model 3 sedan and Model Y SUV between 6% and 20% in the US, as it reverses strategy after demand tapers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Tesla has slashed the prices of its Model 3 sedan and Model Y SUV between 6% and 20% in the US. Prices of the Model 3 sedan and Model Y SUV were slashed on Thursday. Meanwhile, the long range Model Y now costs $52,990 — a 20% price cut from its sticker price of $65,990 previously. Tesla also slashed EV prices in the European markets like Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and France, per Reuters. At the end of 2022, Tesla was offering a rare $7,500 discount on its Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.

☆ Explainer: West mulls sending German Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

BERLIN APPROVALThe re-export of Leopards requires German government approval, so other countries with such tanks could not send them to Ukraine without it. WHY HAS THE WEST NOT SENT BATTLE TANKS TO KYIV SO FAR? The Leopard 2 is one of the most widely used Western tanks. Germany has about 350 Leopard 2 tanks today, compared to some 4,000 battle main tanks at the height of the Cold War, German military expert Carl Schulze says. WHAT OTHER WESTERN BATTLE TANKS ARE THERE?

☆ Tesla shares fall on US and European price cuts
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

More stable cost inflation was also a factor in reducing prices, said a spokesperson for Tesla Germany, confirming price cuts in its top European market. The US price cuts, announced late Thursday on its global top-sellers the Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover SUV, were between 6% and 20%, Reuters calculations showed. For a US buyer of the long-range Model Y, the new Tesla price combined with the US subsidy amounts to a discount of 31%. In China, where Tesla cut prices last week by 6% to 13.5%, owners protested at delivery centres, calling for compensation. Before the cuts, Tesla inventory in the United States, as tracked by models its website shows as immediately available, had been trending higher.

☆ Bayern in need of a keeper after Neuer injury, coach Nagelsmann says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Bayern Munich want to sign a goalkeeper following the injury to Germany captain Manuel Neuer but the options on the transfer market in the winter period are limited, coach Julian Nagelsmann said on Thursday. Speaking in Doha, Qatar, at the end of a one-week training camp ahead of the Bundesliga season restart next week, Nagelsmann said that, while 34-year-old Sven Ulreich was ready to step in to replace Neuer, the club still needed another keeper. Nagelsmann said the choices behind Ulreich were limited to younger keepers, including 19-year-old Johannes Schenk, with no experience of top league matches. Bayern, top of the Bundesliga, resume their hunt for a record-extending 11th straight league crown against RB Leipzig on Jan. 20. "We want to put ourselves on track for the big match against top league rival Leipzig next week," he said.

☆ Top DAZN exec reveals how the streamer is gearing up to super-serve fans in 2023, moving beyond boxing, and betting big on women's sports
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

We've also invested heavily in women's boxing. You are starting to see real, meaningful growth in women's sport now and that comes in different forms. The professionalism of the production in women's sport, we've been central to driving that forward. In the US, boxing fans in this country are disproportionately Hispanic relative to the wider population. The real business for us is the ongoing monthly subscription relationship that we have with boxing fans in this country, or soccer fans in Germany or Italy, and baseball fans in Japan.

☆ Column: Europe's mild weather reprieve this winter may come to bite by summer
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Gavin Maguire | Thomson Reuters | Gavin Maguire Is The Global Energy Transition Columnist. He Was Previously Asia Commodities | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

In Switzerland - one of Europe's top winter sports destinations - many ski resorts have been forced to close due to a lack of snow. KINDLINGBeyond lost tourism revenues, the unusually low snow totals and warm temperatures pose a potential threat to several European sectors later this year. For power producers, the low snow totals come on the back of a drier-than-normal 2022, and leave hydro power production potential sharply below normal in several key countries. Last July, a prolonged heat wave pushed river temperatures above the level that can help cool reactors, and forced power producers in France to curb nuclear output. If snow totals remain well below usual, river temperatures may stay warmer than normal in 2023 and pose a fresh risk to nuclear operators.

☆ Thai king's daughter remains unconscious weeks after collapsing
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BANGKOK, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Thailand's Princess Bajrakitiyabha remained unconscious more than three weeks after collapsing due to a heart problem, a palace statement said in an update on the health of the the 44-year-old potential heir to the throne. The eldest child of Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn lost consciousness on Dec. 15 due to severe heart arrhythmia resulting from inflammation following a mycoplasma infection, according to a statement issued by the palace late on Saturday. The princess's "overall condition is that she remains unconscious," the palace said. read moreShe is one of three children of King Vajiralongkorn who have formal titles, making her eligible for the throne under a palace succession law and the country's constitution. The king has yet to formally designate an heir and there has been no official discussion on the prospect of the princess taking the throne.

☆ One dead, another injured after shots fired at Austrian barracks
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

VIENNA, Jan 6 (Reuters) - A soldier was killed and another injured after an exchange of fire at an airfield barracks in the Austrian town of Wiener Neustadt on Friday, a Defence Ministry spokesperson said. Austrian news agency APA reported that the soldier on guard duty had opened fire during an apparent argument and that he was then shot by the higher-ranking military officer. "In the airfield barracks ... the guard soldier was killed and another soldier injured in an exchange of fire shortly before 7 a.m. (0600 GMT)," ministry spokesperson Michael Bauer tweeted. Austrian broadcaster ORF reported that the guard who was killed at the barracks in the town, about 60 km (40 miles) south of Vienna, was aged 20 and from the province of Lower Austria. Writing by Paul Carrel, editing by Miranda Murray and Philippa FletcherOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

FRANKFURT, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Germany exported more electricity to its neighbours than it imported in 2022, even with an energy crisis at home, thanks to more more weather-driven renewable power and greater demand from France. The trade figures show that Germany's neighbours remain dependent on surplus power from Europe's biggest economy if their own generation supplies fall short. In detail, German power imports in 2022 totalled 51 TWh, 2.6% down from 2021, while exports rose 7.3% year-on-year to 78.5 TWh, giving a net export surplus. France, Switzerland and Austria increased energy imports from Germany year-on-year, as did the Czech Republic, Belgium and Norway. Volumes originating in Switzerland, Austria, Poland, among others, fell last year.

☆ Czech firm Net4Gas missing latest payments from Gazprom
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Companies Net4Gas sro FollowGazprom PAO FollowPRAGUE, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Czech natural gas transmission system operator Net4Gas (N4G) has not received the latest monthly contracted payments from Russia's Gazprom, a government minister said. Net4Gas had been in the past shipping Russian gas from Germany through the Czech Republic to Slovakia and on to Austria. In October, Fitch Ratings agency affirmed N4G at 'BB+' and said its base scenario assumed "full or near-complete shut-off of Russian pipeline gas to Europe and no payments from Gazprom." The Czech Republic has scrambled to get alternative supplies through liquefied natural gas shipments and flows from Norway and elsewhere. Flows between Slovakia and the Czech Republic have been running in both directions depending on demand.

☆ Former Pope Benedict was first pontiff to resign in 600 years
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +14 min

[1/3] Pope Benedict XVI blesses a baby as he rides around St Peter's Square to hold his last general audience at the Vatican February 27, 2013. REUTERS/Max Rossi/File PhotoVATICAN CITY, Dec 31 - Former Pope Benedict, who died on Saturday aged 95, was the first pontiff in 600 years to resign, leaving behind a Catholic Church battered by sexual abuse scandals, mired in mismanagement and polarised between conservatives and progressives. Benedict, the first German pope in 1,000 years, had good relations with his successor, Pope Francis, but his continued presence inside the Vatican after he stepped down in 2013 further polarised the Church ideologically. Although he said he would remain "hidden from the world", Benedict did not live up to that promise and in retirement sometimes caused controversy and confusion through his writings. Ganswein's role as a middleman between Benedict and the cardinal was unclear, with many believing he had misled Benedict, the cardinal, or both.

☆ COVID travel curbs against Chinese visitors 'discriminatory' -state media
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Bernard Orr | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Global spending by Chinese visitors was worth more than $250 billion a year before the pandemic. China's official death toll of 5,247 since the pandemic began compares with more than 1 million deaths in the United States. UK-based health data firm Airfinity said on Thursday around 9,000 people in China are probably dying each day from COVID. Airfinity expects China's COVID infections to reach their first peak on Jan. 13, with 3.7 million cases a day. China has said it only counts deaths of COVID patients caused by pneumonia and respiratory failure as COVID-related.

☆ I paid $300 for 2 nights in an Airstream trailer. It was my first time sleeping in one, and I'll never do it again in a city.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Joey Hadden | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

On a recent trip to Vienna, Austria, I stayed in an Airstream trailer for the first time. I found the 22-foot-long trailer on Airbnb and paid $300 for a two night stay. When I traveled to Vienna, Austria, in October 2023, I wanted an affordable, atypical accommodation. So I booked two nights in a luxury Airstream trailer that I found on Airbnb. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers.

Persons: — Organizations: Service, Business Locations: Vienna, Austria, Canada, Europe

☆ Swiss Odermatt takes super-G win in Bormio
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 29 (Reuters) - Swiss Olympic champion Marco Odermatt won the super-G event in Bormio, Italy on Thursday to extend his lead atop the overall World Cup standings. Odermatt beat Austria's Vincent Kriechmayr by 0.64 seconds, while Loic Meillard took third place, 1.22 seconds behind his Swiss compatriot. The 25-year-old Odermatt has now racked up five wins this season and leads the overall World Cup standings by 329 points from Norway's Aleksander Aamodt Kilde. Earlier on Thursday, three-time Olympic champion Matthias Mayer of Austria announced his retirement from the sport. "Matthias was our leader and he helped the younger guys and all of us a lot, so it was not easy."

☆ Bulgaria summons Russian envoy over Bellingcat journalist Grozev
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SOFIA, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's foreign ministry said it would summon on Thursday the Russian ambassador to Sofia "for explanations" after Moscow put Christo Grozev, a Bulgarian citizen and the executive director of investigative news outlet Bellingcat, on a wanted list. Grozev, Bellingcat's chief investigator on Russia, is "wanted under an article of the Criminal Code," according to information published on Russia's interior ministry website earlier this week. "The Russian ambassador will be summoned for explanations," a foreign ministry spokesperson said, after leading Bulgarian political parties called for official support for Grozev. Grozev "focuses on security threats, extraterritorial clandestine operations, and the weaponisation of information" according to Bellingcat's website. Grozev said he has been offered help by the Netherlands, Sweden, Estonia and Austria, where he has been living in recent years.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni may say more on this in her end-of-year news conference from around 11:30 a.m. (1030 GMT). It was unclear when the EU health committee, which started its meeting on Thursday morning, would end and what decisions it could take. The Health Security Committee is composed of officials from health ministries across the bloc and chaired by the Commission. It has met frequently at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe to coordinate policies. China has rejected criticism of its COVID statistics as groundless and politically motivated attempts to smear its policies.

☆ Triple Olympic champion Mayer announces retirement
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 29 (Reuters) - Three-time Olympic champion Matthias Mayer of Austria announced his retirement from Alpine skiing on Thursday, saying he had arrived at the decision after days of consideration. He also claimed super-G gold at the Olympics in Pyeongchang as well as the downhill gold in Sochi. In addition to his Olympic medals, Mayer also racked up 11 World Cup victories. I've been thinking about it over the last few days and the time has come to stop," Mayer told reporters in Bormio, Italy. Matthias added he will not be competing in the super-G World Cup event in Bormio later on Thursday.

☆ Shiffrin completes giant slalom double for 79th World Cup win
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Dec 28 (Reuters) - American Mikaela Shiffrin secured a giant slalom double in Semmering, Austria on Wednesday to claim her 79th World Cup victory, moving her within three wins of compatriot Lindsey Vonn's women's record of 82. Shiffrin clocked a combined time of two minutes and 3.51 seconds to beat Switzerland's Lara Gut-Behrami by 0.10 seconds. It was back-to-back victories for Shiffrin who also won on Tuesday. The 27-year-old will have a chance to complete a treble on Thursday, in the slalom race at the same location. She leads the overall World Cup standings by 305 points from Italy's Sofia Goggia.

☆ Shiffrin claims 78th World Cup win, closes on record
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 27 (Reuters) - American Mikaela Shiffrin claimed her 78th World Cup victory in the giant slalom in Semmering, Austria on Tuesday, taking her to within four wins of compatriot Lindsey Vonn's women's record of 82. Shiffrin clocked a combined time of two minutes 7.18 seconds to beat Slovakia's Petra Vlhova by 0.13 and Italian Marta Bassino by 0.31. "You hope that you're in the right shape, and you can bring the right intensity from the start, and I felt really good today. Shiffrin's last win in the discipline came just over a year ago, in Courchevel, France in the build-up to the Beijing Olympics. The 27-year-old has racked up four wins this season and leads the overall World Cup standings by 205 points from Italy's Sofia Goggia.

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