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☆ Italy's doValue spells out cost savings from AI adoption
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ROME, July 20 (Reuters) - Italy's biggest debt recovery firm doValue (DOVA.MI) expects the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in its non-performing loans (NPLs) repayment business to reduce its servicing costs by between 8% and 11% from next year. Exploiting AI will also increase by 4% the annual NPL recovery rate per asset manager, the group said in a statement on Thursday. Its new AI solution will be implemented in Spain in the third quarter of the year and in the rest of the group by the end of 2023, doValue told Reuters in an emailed comment. DoValue also said it had already fully implemented in Italy a search engine based on text mining which will save the company 35-40% of the time needed to recover soured loans. The firm manages about 120 billion euros of assets under management across Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Cyprus.

Persons: doValue, DoValue, Federica Urso, Keith Weir Organizations: Reuters, Thomson Locations: Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus

☆ Italian Antitrust body backs deal to soften fees on digital payments
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Giuseppe Fonte | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummaryCompanies Deal would allow Italy to drop threat of levyFinancial firms demanded Antitrust assurancesTerms agreed not expected to alter status quoROME, July 20 (Reuters) - Italian Antitrust body has given a green light to a deal negotiated by retailers, banks and payment firms to soften fees on small card transactions as demanded by the government, according to sources and documents seen by Reuters. People familiar with the matter said the parties had finalised the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) last month, but financial firms were worried about the risk of future fines for competition law infringements. As a result, the Treasury sought an opinion from the Antitrust authority. The MOU, seen by Reuters, encourages financial companies to launch competitive commercial initiatives on payments not exceeding 30 euros but stops short of demanding firm promises. The Treasury could summon the parties on July 27 to try to formalise the deal, a source said.

Persons: Giorgia Meloni, Rome, Mario Draghi, Keith Weir Organizations: Reuters, Mastercard, Visa, Treasury, Thomson Locations: Italy

☆ Remembering the Dead
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-16 | by ( Tom Wright-Piersanti | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Fans of the Grateful Dead are saying goodbye to the band this weekend. The day Garcia died in 1995, the Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir gave a concert near Boston. One fan, Albie Cullen, recalled that the encore felt like an emotional send-off for Garcia and the band. It was another emotional send-off, but it wasn’t the end, either. During Dead & Company’s eight-year run, the band once again became a cultural touchstone.

Persons: It’s, Jerry Garcia, Marc Tracy, Garcia, Bob Weir, Albie Cullen, ” Cullen, John Mayer, Mayer Organizations: &, Citi Field Locations: Boston, New York

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

The first time Albie Cullen said goodbye to the Grateful Dead was on Aug. 9, 1995. A co-worker told Cullen, an attorney for a Boston-area music label, that Jerry Garcia, the Dead’s iconic lead guitarist, had died that day. The Grateful Dead had replaced departed members before, but this was different. With his rootsy tenor, Santa-gone-gray beard and unmistakable plucking, Garcia had defined a touring juggernaut and its vibrant subculture, which had become synonymous with the ’60s. The band’s four surviving original members agreed they would never use the name “Grateful Dead” without Garcia.

Persons: Albie Cullen, Cullen, Jerry Garcia, ”, Garcia, Bob Weir, Weir, Garcia —, Bob Dylan’s “, ” Cullen Locations: Boston, Hampton Beach, N.H

☆ Italy's luxury groups set aside rivalries to keep it local
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Elisa Anzolin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

SMALL MANUFACTURERS APLENTYItaly is home to thousands of small manufacturers that cover 50-55% of the global production of luxury clothing and leather goods, consultancy Bain calculates. LVMH announced in May it had taken a majority stake in Nuti Ivo Group, an Italian company that has specialised in making leather products since 1955. Kering managing director Jean-Francois Palus said the luxury group is increasingly looking to bring production in house. "Italy has not created a (major) luxury hub, but we have entrepreneurs who have the ability to activate the right relationships at the right time," said Stefania Lazzaroni, general manager at Italian luxury industry association Altagamma. "Italian groups are now more managerialised, more organised and also stronger, which makes them more open to thinking together," he said.

Persons: Luigi Fedeli e, Zegna, Gildo Zegna, Ermenegildo, Kering, LVMH, Jean, Francois Palus, It's, Chanel, Brunello, Stefania Lazzaroni, Prada, Roberto Costa, Bertelli, Elisa Anzolin, Silvia Aloisi, Keith Weir, Jane Merriman Organizations: France MILAN, Prada, Filati Biagioli Modesto S.p.A, Biagioli, Prada Group, Reuters, Bain, Group, Nazionale della Moda, Global Luxury Investment Banking, Citigroup, Thomson Locations: Italy, France, Italian, Monza, Milan, Filati Biagioli, Bertelli, Nuti

☆ Stellantis to build new Jeep Compass as fifth model in Melfi
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, July 13 (Reuters) - Stellantis will build the new Jeep Compass, one of the carmaker's bestsellers in Europe, as the fifth model for its Melfi plant in southern Italy, two sources close to the matter told Reuters on Thursday. The new model will be a development from the Compass SUV the Franco-Italian group currently produces in Melfi, one of its main assembly sites in the country. The new Jeep Compass will join four other new models the carmaker had promised for Melfi but which it has not yet officially announced. The production of models in Melfi underpinned by the new Stellantis platform for medium-sized cars is expected to start during 2024. Stellantis currently also builds Jeep's Renegade and Fiat's 500X models in Melfi.

Persons: Stellantis, Carlos Tavares, Adolfo Urso, Melfi, Germany's, Italy's Lancia, Giulio Piovaccari, Gilles Guillaume, Keith Weir Organizations: MILAN, Jeep, Reuters, Compass, Jeep Compass, Germany's Opel, Thomson Locations: Europe, Melfi, Italy, Italian, Paris

ATHENS/ROME, July 13 (Reuters) - Southern Europe sweltered under a fierce heatwave on Thursday, with a warning that temperatures could hit record highs for the continent next week. Health authorities issued a top, red alert warning for 10 Italian cities for the next two days, including Rome, Florence, Bologna and Perugia. Weather forecasts and official records are based on the air temperature which is significantly lower than the land surface reading. The record European temperature of 48.8C was registered in Sicily in August 2021 and could be exceeded next week, according to the European Space Agency. "With this solitude and this heat emergency, we see an explosive mix," he told a press conference.

Persons: Europe's sweltering, Luca Lombroso, Marco Impagliazzo, It's, Michele Kambas, Pietro Lombardi, Emma Pinedo, Keith Weir, Crispian Balmer, Emelia Organizations: Italian Meteorological Society, Health, Agency's Sentinel, European Space Agency, Catholic, Thomson Locations: ATHENS, ROME, Southern Europe, Islands, Italy, Cyprus, Greece, Athens, Europe's, Lodi, Rome, Florence, Bologna, Perugia, Spain, Extremadura, Sicily

☆ Tod's creative director Walter Chiapponi to step down
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] The logo of Tod's is seen in a shop in downtown Rome, Italy February 10, 2016. REUTERS/Tony Gentile/File PhotoMILAN, July 12 (Reuters) - Italian luxury fashion group Tod's (TOD.MI) said on Wednesday that creative director Walter Chiapponi was leaving the company "by mutual agreement" after four years. Chiapponi will present his last Tod's Spring Summer 2024 women's collection in September at the Milan Fashion Week, the group said in a statement. Tod's did not name a replacement but said that a "new creative direction" would be announced in the coming months. The designer's departure was first reported by Women's Wear Daily (WWD) on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources.

Persons: Tony Gentile, MILAN, Walter Chiapponi, Chiapponi, Tod's, Women's, Walter, Diego Della Valle, Fay, Hogan, Roger Vivier, Elisa Anzolin, Keith Weir Organizations: REUTERS, Milan, Tod's, Thomson Locations: Rome, Italy

☆ 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

[1/5] Firefighters work at the scene following a fire in a retirement home in Milan, Italy, July 7, 2023. REUTERS/Claudia GrecoMILAN, July 7 (Reuters) - An overnight fire in a retirement home in Milan killed six people and injured around 80, including three who are in a critical condition, Italian authorities said on Friday. Two residents burned to death in their room, while four others died from intoxication, Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala said, speaking to reporters on the scene. Having said that, six dead is a very heavy death toll," Sala said, indicating that the facility housed 167 people. They evacuated about 80 people, including many in wheelchairs, while another 80 or so were taken to hospital, local firefighters' chief Nicola Miceli told RAI public television.

Persons: Claudia Greco MILAN, Giuseppe Sala, Sala, Firefighters, Luca Cari, Nicola Miceli, Lucia, Giselda Vagnoni, Keith Weir Organizations: REUTERS, Milan, Firefighters, RAI, Thomson Locations: Milan, Italy, Corvetto

☆ Factbox: Who got what in Silvio Berlusconi's will?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Pier Silvio Berlusconi attends the funeral of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi at the Duomo Cathedral, in Milan, Italy June 14, 2023. REUTERS/Yara Nardi/File PhotoMILAN, July 6 (Reuters) - Details of how billionaire Italian tycoon Silvio Berlusconi divided up his assets have been made public on Thursday after the will of the former prime minister, who died on June 12, was unsealed. That means the five children each get an additional Fininvest stake of just over 8%, on top of what they already owned. * He left the remaining one third of his stake, roughly 20% of Fininvest, to his eldest children, Marina and Pier Silvio, in equal amounts. * Marina and Pier Silvio already owned 7.65% of Fininvest each, or a combined 15.3%.

Persons: Silvio Berlusconi, Yara, MILAN, Forbes, Berlusconi, Pier Silvio, Marta Fascina, Paolo, Marcello Dell'Utri, Dell'Utri, Valentina Za, Keith Weir Organizations: Italian, Cathedral, REUTERS, broacaster, Banca Mediolanum, Serie A, Monza, Marina, Thomson Locations: Milan, Italy

☆ Berlusconi leaves control of family business to two eldest children
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Elvira Pollina | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Eleonora Berlusconi, , Pier Silvio Berlusconi, Barbara Berlusconi, Luigi Berlusconi, Marina Berlusconi walk to attend the funeral of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi at the Duomo Cathedral, in Milan, Italy June 14, 2023. Marina and Pier Silvio Berlusconi, who both already have executive roles in parts of the business, will hold equal stakes jointly worth around 53% in the Fininvest family holding company, the source said, confirming an earlier report from ANSA news agency. Marina chairs Fininvest while Pier Silvio has been in charge of the MFE-MediaForEurope (MFEB.MI) TV business which has long been the jewel in the family's crown. Barbara, Eleonora and Luigi Berlusconi, his three children from his second marriage, have been less involved in the family business. Berlusconi, who founded a business empire based on real estate and then television, died in Milan.

Persons: Eleonora Berlusconi, Pier Silvio Berlusconi, Barbara Berlusconi, Luigi Berlusconi, Marina Berlusconi, Silvio Berlusconi, Claudia Greco, Marta Fascina, Dell'Utri, Silvio Berlusconi's, Marina, Pier Silvio, Silvio, Barbara, Eleonora, Berlusconi, Paolo, Marcello Dell'Utri, Fascina, Milan's, Villa San, Villa, Costa, Vladimir Putin, Tony Blair, Giulio Piovaccari, Federico Maccioni, Keith Weir, Alvise Armellini, Mark Potter Organizations: Italian, Cathedral, REUTERS, MILAN, Fininvest SpA, Reuters, Forza Italia, Italian Serie A, Monza, Villa, British, Thomson Locations: Milan, Italy, Marina, Fininvest, Raffaele, Italian, Villa San Martino, Arcore, Russian

☆ Generali buys U.S. asset manager Conning under deal with Cathay Life
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, July 6 (Reuters) - Generali (GASI.MI) has agreed to buy Connecticut-based asset manager Conning Holdings as part of a partnership with Cathay Life, a unit of Taiwan's Cathay Financial Holding (2882.TW), the Italian insurer said on Thursday. Cathay Life will become a minority shareholder in Generali Investments Holding, which comprises the majority of the group's asset management activities, with a stake of around 16.75%, Generali said. Furthermore Generali will become one of the top 10 players in asset management in Europe, he added. Generali and Cathay Life will enter an asset management agreement for at least 10 years. The acquisition of Conning and its affiliates increases Generali's total Assets Under Management (AUM) to $845 billion (775 billion euros), up from 620 billion euros at the end of March.

Persons: Philippe Donnet's, Generali, Carlo Trabattoni, Woody Bradford, Gianluca Semeraro, Valentina Za, Keith Weir Organizations: MILAN, Holdings, Cathay Life, Cathay Financial, Cathay, Generali Investments, Wealth Management, Generali, Thomson Locations: Connecticut, United States, Europe, Asia

☆ Italy launches COVID inquiry panel, opposition fears witch hunt
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Angelo Amante | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ROME, July 6 (Reuters) - Italy's lower house of parliament on Thursday backed a parliamentary inquiry into the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the opposition voicing fears of a witch hunt against those in charge at the time. Giuseppe Conte and former health minister Roberto Speranza," Conte himself, who now heads the opposition 5-Star Movement, told parliament. After the result was announced, the coalition lawmakers shouted in chorus "truth, truth." Italy is not the only country holding an inquiry into the pandemic management. Tommaso Foti, the lower house leader of Meloni's Brothers of Italy party, said the COVID issue caused "doubts and pain" among Italians.

Persons: coronavirus, Giuseppe Conte, Giorgia Meloni, Roberto Speranza, Conte, Speranza, Tommaso Foti, Meloni's, Angelo Amante, Keith Weir Organizations: Senate, Star Movement, World Health, Thomson Locations: Italy, COVID, Britain, Bergamo

☆ Berlusconi leaves control of business empire to two eldest children
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Elvira Pollina | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Eleonora Berlusconi, , Pier Silvio Berlusconi, Barbara Berlusconi, Luigi Berlusconi, Marina Berlusconi walk to attend the funeral of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi at the Duomo Cathedral, in Milan, Italy June 14, 2023. Marina, 56, chairs Fininvest while Pier Silvio, 54, has been in charge of the MFE-MediaForEurope (MFEB.MI) TV business which their father founded. Forbes estimated that the overall Berlusconi family assets, which include luxury properties in Milan, Rome and Sardinia, were worth around $6.8 billion. Brash, ebullient and a four-time prime minister, Berlusconi was a media mogul and political showman whose financial and sexual scandals made him the most polarising figure in modern Italy. Barbara, Eleonora and Luigi Berlusconi, his three children from his second marriage, have been less involved in the family business.

Persons: Eleonora Berlusconi, Pier Silvio Berlusconi, Barbara Berlusconi, Luigi Berlusconi, Marina Berlusconi, Silvio Berlusconi, Claudia Greco, Marta Fascina, Dell'Utri, Silvio Berlusconi's, Marina, Pier Silvio, Fininvest, Brash, ebullient, Berlusconi, Silvio, Barbara, Eleonora, Paolo, Marcello Dell'Utri, Fascina, Milan's, Giorgia Meloni's, Giulio Piovaccari, Federico Maccioni, Keith Weir, Alvise Armellini, Mark Potter Organizations: Italian, Cathedral, REUTERS, MILAN, Marina, Italian Serie A, AC Monza, Banca Mediolanum, Forbes, Fininvest SpA, Reuters, MARTA Berlusconi, Forza Italia, Thomson Locations: Milan, Italy, Italian, Rome, Sardinia, Raffaele

CNN —Remnants of Munich’s main synagogue, which was demolished by the Nazis in June 1938, have resurfaced – much to the amazement of the city’s Jewish community. Construction workers in the southern German city made the discovery while working on the renovation of a weir on the Isar river. Bernhard Purin, head of Munich’s Jewish museum, told CNN that he was surprised to hear the news the following day. Rubble from Munich's main synagogue was discovered at a weir on the Isar river. “The demolition of the main synagogue on Hitler’s orders marked the beginning of exclusion, persecution and destruction.

Persons: Bernhard Purin, “, ”, Mordechai Bernstein, Purin, Leonhard Moll, Charlotte Knobloch, Hitler, ” Katrin Habenschaden Organizations: CNN, Jewish Museum Locations: Munich, Germany, Austria, Jewish Museum Munich, Upper Bavaria, Nazi

☆ Western businesses must find a way to work with China-Stellantis CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Companies Stellantis NV FollowMILAN, July 5 (Reuters) - The head of carmaker Stellantis (STLAM.MI) said Beijing's decision to restrict exports of two metals widely used in semiconductors and electric vehicles should not push Western companies to reduce their exposure to China. "It's not realistic nor it is in the interest of Western companies," Tavares said. However it does work with a number of Chinese companies, including ones using gallium and germanium for products the carmaker is buying from them, Tavares said. Its first application will be for new Peugeot 3008 SUV, whose production will start this year at Sochaux facility in France. With the STLA Medium "we're really entering the race," Tavares told reporters, underlining the company's ambition in electric cars.

Persons: carmaker, Carlos Tavares, Tavares, Giulio Piovaccari, Gilles Guillaume, Keith Weir Organizations: Monday, European Union, Peugeot, Sochaux, Thomson Locations: China, France, Italy, Germany, North America

☆ El Niño + climate change = heat records
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Climate change combined with this year’s El Niño set a new world record for worldwide heat on Tuesday – 62.92 degrees Fahrenheit or 17.18 degrees Celsius. The WMO declared the onset of an El Niño Tuesday and warned governments to prepare for more extreme weather events as a result. This will be the first El Niño in seven years. The last very strong El Niño year – 2016 – also saw the previous record for worldwide heat that August. “It is El Niño on top of decades of human emissions of greenhouse gases.”There is no turning back, he said, but humans can likely slow the change.

Persons: Niño, –, It’s, Bill Weir, we’re, ”, ” Weir, John Abraham, Thomas, Weir, ” Abraham, Abraham, “ Organizations: CNN, National Centers, Environmental, World Meteorological Organization, United Nations, WMO, El, CNN International, University of St, Reuters Locations: Switzerland, Americas, Africa, Quebec, Miami, Minnesota, El, ”

☆ Stellantis unveils new platform underpinning move to electric vehicles
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

It has plans to move all its future products onto four new BEV platforms, STLA Small, Medium, Large and Frame, starting with STLA Medium from Europe this year. The STLA Medium platform will support several propulsion configurations; in full electric configuration it will feature a standard range of over 500 kilometres, which can be raised to up to 700 kilometres with a 'performance pack'. "BEV is the focus of the design of this platform," Tavares said. Stellantis said it currently offered 26 models in the market segments which will be served by the STLA Medium platform. Aimed at the mid-sized cars, the STLA Medium platform will be the base for up to two million Stellantis vehicles a year, built in several plants across the world, the Italian-French group said in a statement.

Persons: BEV, Carlos Tavares, Stellantis, Tavares, Ram, Alfa Romeo, Giulio Piovaccari, Keith Weir Organizations: MILAN, Wednesday, Fiat Chrysler, Peugeot, PSA, Citroen, Opel, Thomson Locations: Europe, France, Italy, Germany, North America, Italian

☆ Italy's Meta tax review gets underway in potential test case for tech sector
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Emilio Parodi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

That has prompted a dialogue between Meta and the Italian tax agency -- the assessment phase -- which will end this year either with the company's acceptance of payment or with the start of tax litigation. The assessment, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter, involves the highest ranking Italian tax officials because of the sensitivity of the issue. Meta said it takes its tax obligations seriously, pays all tax required in the countries where it operates and will fully cooperate with the Italian authorities. Italy's tax police and revenue agency calculated a model under which Meta would have had to pay around 220 million euros of sales tax in the country in 2021. The EPPO is awaiting the outcome of the Italian case before it decides whether to pursue similar action in other European Union states, a source with knowledge of the matter had said.

Persons: Italy's Guardia, Meta, Sergio Sirabella, Emilio Parodi, Keith Weir, Devika Organizations: MILAN, Facebook, Meta, Italy's, European Public Prosecutor's, Reuters, Economic Financial Police School, Union, Thomson Locations: Italy, U.S, Milan

☆ Italy has frozen Russian oligarchs' assets worth $2.5 billion
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ROME, July 4 (Reuters) - Italy has frozen Russian oligarchs' assets valued at around 2 billion euros ($2.5 billion) following the invasion of Ukraine last year, the country's central bank said on Tuesday. Italy seized assets -- including bank accounts, luxury villas, yachts and cars -- as part of the European Union's sanctions against the Kremlin and its backers. UIF Director Enzo Serata added that financial holdings worth around 330 million euros, linked to 80 individuals, had been frozen as part of the sanctions regime. Some of the oligarchs targeted by the measures have filed legal appeals, including Russian-Uzbek metals and telecoms tycoon Alisher Usmanov. In April, an Italian court referred to the EU Court of Justice a decision on whether to maintain a freeze on his assets, worth more than 80 million euros.

Persons: Enzo Serata, Alisher Usmanov, Alvise, Keith Weir Organizations: Kremlin, Bank of Italy's, Thomson Locations: Italy, Ukraine, Como, Sardinia, Tuscany, Russian

☆ Greta Thunberg has accused Russia of ‘ecocide’ in Ukraine. But what does that mean?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-02 | by ( Radina Gigova | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

The Deep-Water Horizon oil spill, severe pollution in the Niger Delta and Amazon deforestation, could be examples of ecocide, said Jojo Mehta, co-founder and executive director of Stop Ecocide International. A number of others have debated doing the same, including Brazil, Canada, Kenya, the Maldives and the UK, according to Stop Ecocide International. “It is not a question of whether ecocide will become part of international criminal law, it’s only a question of when,” Sands said. A working group, including Thunberg, has also been established to draw attention to the environmental impact of war. If ecocide were an international crime, it could give the process more authority, some experts say.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, Greta Thunberg, “, Sergei Supinsky, ”, Doug Weir, Polly Higgins, ” Weir, Jojo Mehta, Michael Dantas, Jair Bolsonaro, ” Philippe Sands, Mehta, wasn’t, it’s, ” Sands, Weir, Anna Ackerman, Matthew Hatcher, Ackerman, can’t Organizations: CNN, Getty, Criminal Court, ICC, Observatory, Criminal, International Institute for Sustainable Development, Ukraine’s Locations: Ukraine, Europe, Swedish, Kyiv, Russia, AFP, British, Niger Delta, Humaita, Amazonas, Brazil, ecocide, Rome, Canada, Kenya, Maldives, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Kherson

☆ Italian police blame couple from England for Colosseum graffiti
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] A general view of the Colosseum, in Rome, Italy May 30, 2023. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File PhotoROME, June 29 (Reuters) - Italian police have identified a couple from England as the likely culprits after graffiti was scribbled on a wall at the Colosseum in Rome last week, prompting widespread anger. Italy's Carabinieri police said they had been helped to identify the couple by photographic evidence but did not name them. A police source said the man had been placed under formal investigation but the couple had left the country before the authorities could catch up with them. "This act was offensive to everyone around the world who appreciates the value of archaeology, monuments and history," said Italian Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano.

Persons: Remo Casilli, Ivan, Hayley, Gennaro Sangiuliano, Emilio Parodi, Keith Weir, Conor Humphries Organizations: REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Rome, Italy, England, Italian

☆ Stolen 16th century Vasari letter returned to its Italian home
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] A handwritten letter by Renaissance artist and historian Giorgio Vasari is returned to its owners during a ceremony at the Uffizi Galleries in Florence, Italy, June 29, 2023. Carabinieri/Handout via REUTERSROME, June 29 (Reuters) - A handwritten letter by Renaissance artist and historian Giorgio Vasari has been returned to its owners in Tuscany more than 20 years after it was stolen, Italian police said on Thursday. The letter was dated March 18, 1566 and is believed to be worth around 20,000 euros ($21,760). Vasari, who is regarded as the first art historian, was born in the central region of Tuscany, where he served the Italian banking family and political dynasty the Medici, in Florence. In the letter, Vasari disclosed the painter's fees as well as commenting on the progress of his works.

Persons: Giorgio Vasari, Vasari, Medici, Jan van der, Giovanni Stradano, Federica, Keith Weir Organizations: Uffizi, REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Florence, Italy, REUTERS ROME, Tuscany, Arezzo, London, Brussels, Belgian

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