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☆ Ancient Roman concrete was incredibly strong — scientists may have just figured out why
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Ancient Roman concrete is incredibly durable, even more so than modern concrete. One team may have cracked the mystery — focusing on tiny white flecks once seen as imperfections. These scientists suggest the secret is in white flecks found in the concrete called "lime clasts." Courtesy of the researchersLime clasts — the white flecks — are quite brittle, and that's a good thing. They made up concrete blocks, one using the powdered lime and one using a more modern version of the concrete that did not.

☆ Kevin Spacey hails Italy museum for having 'the guts' to honour him
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey poses as he is awarded by the National Museum of Cinema of Turin with the "Stella della Mole Award" in Turin, Italy, January 16, 2023. REUTERS/Massimo PincaTURIN, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Kevin Spacey picked up a career award in Italy on Monday, despite controversy over the sex crime allegations that have tarnished the reputation of the Oscar-winning American actor. The Museum of Cinema in Turin said it handed the prize in recognition of Spacey's "personal aesthetic and authorial contribution to the development of the art of drama." "I am surely blessed and grateful and humbled and my heart is very full tonight toward the Museum of Cinema for having had le palle (the guts) to invite me tonight," he said. In the run-up to the award ceremony, the Turin-based La Stampa newspaper ran an editorial headlined "Italy, land of plenary indulgence".

☆ Italy's rhythmic gymnastics coach to keep job despite abuse claims
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, Jan 12 (Reuters) - The coach of Italy's female Olympic gymnastics team will keep her job in spite of ongoing investigations on the alleged psychological abuse and mistreatment of young athletes over their weight and eating habits. In a Thursday decision, sports authorities confirmed Emanuela Maccarani as coach, but stripped her of the added role of technical director of Italy's women national rhythmic gymnastics training centre in the northern city of Desio. Sports and civilian prosecutors are probing Maccarani and her assistant Olga Tishina on the back of former team athletes' allegations that they were bullied and mocked. "It's my own decision," Gherardo Tecchi, head of Italy's national gymnastic federation, said, adding it was made after consultation with the head of Italy's Olympic committee Giovanni Malago. Maccarani, who was indicted by the national gymnastics federation's judicial body this month, denied any wrongdoing in an interview on Tuesday with the Corriere della Sera newspaper.

☆ Vodafone to receive $1.8 bln from sale of Hungarian unit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SummarySummary Companies Sells Hungarian unit to 4iG and Hungarian stateLONDON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - British telecom group Vodafone (VOD.L) said it had agreed the sale of its Hungarian business to local IT company 4iG and the Hungarian state, and would receive a total cash consideration of 1.7 billion euros ($1.82 billion) from the deal. Vodafone said on Monday that the proceeds from the sale would be used to pay down debt. Under Read, Vodafone, once one of the biggest mobile operators in the world, has been selling assets to focus on its core European and Africa operations. The group's interim chief executive Margherita Della Valle said in a statement that the Hungarian disposal would increase competition and accelerate competition in Hungary. Under the plan, 4iG will hold a majority 51% stake while the Hungarian state will hold 49%.

☆ BlackRock's mighty tech unit is a silver lining in an awful market. But competition and a recession could test its momentum.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In a tumultuous year for BlackRock, its powerful Aladdin business won record new mandates. "2022 was a good litmus test for the BlackRock model vis-a-vis Aladdin," said Cathy Seifert, a senior equity analyst at CFRA Research. Now Sudhir Nair, the longtime BlackRock executive who runs the Aladdin business globally, and his sprawling business face a test: Keeping that momentum. "To get new business, Aladdin may have to sharpen their pencils, despite the fact that I do think they still retain a best-in-class position," Seifert said. Influential rival money managers like Two Sigma, Pimco, State Street, and Amundi have been putting resources behind their own proprietary tech platforms.

☆ Tech Spending Pressures Fuel Demand for Specialized Industry Clouds
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CIO Journal The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. PREVIEWMost industry clouds began to hit the market early last year, in part sparked by demand for better healthcare data systems during the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020. Though Oracle doesn’t break out revenue from industry cloud sales, its industry cloud offerings are a “multibillion-dollar business,” Mr. Sicilia said. Microsoft last year rolled out industry clouds for retail, financial services, manufacturing, sustainability and nonprofit businesses, according to Kees Hertogh, Microsoft’s general manager for global industry product marketing. A Microsoft-developed industry cloud helped Tarrytown, N.Y.-based MVP Health Care implement a system to streamline its healthcare data, according to CIO Michael Della Villa.

☆ Vodafone CEO Nick Read to step down
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Britain's Vodafone Group said on Monday that Chief Executive Nick Read would step down at the end of this year and be replaced on an interim basis by finance chief Margherita Della Valle. During his four years in charge, Read led the mobile group through the pandemic, sold assets to increase its focus on Europe and Africa, and spun out its towers infrastructure into a separate unit. Despite the changes its shares had remained in the doldrums and the group cut its full-year outlook last month. "I agreed with the board that now is the right moment to hand over to a new leader who can build on Vodafone's strengths and capture the significant opportunities ahead," he said in a statement.

☆ Morning Bid: China reopening as volatility ebbs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

What's more, Wall Street's 'fear index' is showing little if any trepidation about the final month of the year. Even though it backed up a bit today, the VIX index of implied S&P500 volatility (.VIX) closed at its lowest in 8 months on Friday. Morgan Stanley updated its China equity recommendation to overweight, citing "multiple positive developments alongside a clear path set towards reopening." China's yuan , surged past 7 to the dollar in onshore and offshore markets - its best levels in almost three months. The China re-opening optimism buoyed the oil price even as OPEC+ nations at the weekend held their targets steady despite last week's market speculation of another output cut.

☆ Italy lawmakers call off vote on extending Ukraine arms supplies
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Angelo Amante | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

In the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, former Prime Minister Mario Draghi's administration introduced measures that made it possible to send weapons to Kyiv without seeking parliamentary authorisation for each shipment. Support for Ukraine has been a contentious topic within the ruling coalition, which includes Meloni's Brothers of Italy, Matteo Salvini's League and Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia parties. Earlier this month, a governing coalition official told Reuters that Italy was readying a sixth arms package for Ukraine, including air defence systems Kyiv had requested. The PD is also a supporter of Ukraine, while other leftist opposition forces want the government to shift focus from sending arms to stepping up diplomatic negotiations. Reporting by Angelo Amante, editing by Alvise Armellini, Alexandra Hudson and Conor HumphriesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Energy trader Gunvor expands leadership team
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Julia Payne | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Gunvor Group Ltd FollowLONDON, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Geneva-based energy trader Gunvor Group has widened its executive committee to 14 people including its chief executive, reflecting the growing importance of gas trading for the firm, the company’s website showed on Thursday. Gunvor has a separate company, Nyera, set up in 2021 to invest in renewable energy sources. As one of the world's top five oil traders, the company traded about 3.1 million barrels per day of oil last year. It posted a record profit in 2021 and a record first half of this year on the back of record energy price volatility. The leadership changes also come amid talks with Abu Dhabi National Oil company (ADNOC) to acquire the whole or a stake in Gunvor.

☆ Italy’s Meloni will dodge EU collision on budget
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, Nov 21 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Rightist Italian premier Giorgia Meloni will avoid a fiscal row with Brussels. Her first ever draft budget, to be discussed on Monday, targets a deficit of 4.5% of GDP in 2023. The bulk of Italy’s extra borrowing will go to fight the energy crisis, which has cost Rome 75 billion euros this year. Both measures are nowhere near the outlandish promises Meloni and her allies made before the elections. Rome will also limit the budget impact by cutting a popular welfare scheme by perhaps 1 billion euros and by extending a windfall tax for energy companies.

☆ New Italian government's budget to boost spending to fight energy crisis
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Crispian Balmer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Past attempts to do that have ended in disaster," Industry Minister Adolfo Urso told La Stampa newspaper on Sunday. Meloni has already said that roughly two thirds of the additional spending power would be used to help companies and households survive record-high gas and electricity bills. This comes on top of some 75 billion euros splashed out in 2022 to tackle surging energy prices. But ministers say they will be fiscally prudent, and avoid the budget errors that unseated Britain's former prime minister Liz Truss. Once the cabinet approves the budget, parliament will have until Dec. 31 to pass it into law.

☆ Lufthansa still interested in buying into ITA Airways
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) is still interested in buying into state-controlled Italian carrier ITA Airways, a spokesman said on Friday, despite reports that its original partner in the mooted deal had pulled out. The spokesman declined to comment on reports that it had entered ITA's so-called data room to review the financial status of the company. Italy in August picked a group led by U.S. private equity fund Certares, backed by Air France-KLM (AIRF.PA) and Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL.N), for exclusive talks on buying a majority stake in ITA Airways. Complicating the situation, a senior MSC executive, Pierfrancesco Vago, told investors in Doha last week that MSC was no longer interested in ITA Airways, according to Swiss magazine Travel Inside. Certares had no contact with ITA Airways and Italy's Treasury since the end of October, a source close to the matter said.

☆ Fossils of car-sized dinosaur-era sea turtle unearthed in Spain
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

It dwarfed today's largest turtle - the leatherback, which can reach 7 feet (2 meters) long and is known for marathon marine migrations. Other large turtles from Earth's past include Protostega and Stupendemys, both reaching about 13 feet (4 meters) long. Protostega was a Cretaceous sea turtle that lived about 85 million years ago and, like its later cousin Archelon, inhabited the large inland sea that at the time split North America in two. The presence of a couple of bony bulges on the front side of the pelvis differs from any other known sea turtle, indicating that Leviathanochelys represents a newly discovered lineage. It shows that gigantism in marine turtles developed independently in separate Cretaceous lineages in North America and Europe.

☆ Biden's student-loan forgiveness is at risk. It may have helped stop a 'red tsunami' as Gen Z flocked to the polls to save their relief.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Student-loan forgiveness was a major policy that had support from the majority of young voters. While it's difficult to pinpoint what exactly may have caused this shift, opinions of young voters should be taken into consideration. Major issues like reproductive rights, climate change, and student-loan forgiveness likely helped with that turnout. Student-loan forgiveness is currently paused due to a ruling from the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, in response to a lawsuit filed by six Republican-led states seeking to halt the debt relief. "The youth agenda is taking center stage in the Democratic party"Support for student-loan forgiveness is higher among young voters than the general public.

☆ 'Exceptional' discovery as ancient bronze statues emerge in Tuscany
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Alvise Armellini | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/7] People work at the site where 2,300-year-old bronze statues have been discovered, in San Casciano dei Bagni, Italy, in this handout photo obtained by Reuters on November 8, 2022. Ministero della Cultura/Handout via REUTERSROME, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Archaeologists in Italy have found more than two dozen beautifully preserved bronze statues dating back to ancient Roman times in thermal baths in Tuscany, in what experts are hailing as an "exceptional" discovery. The statues were found over the last two weeks in San Casciano dei Bagni, a hilltop town about 160 kilometres (100 miles) north of Rome where archaeologists have been exploring ancient ruins for the last three years. "This is an exceptional discovery which confirms once again that Italy is a country of immense and unique treasures," he said in a statement. According to ANSA, which first reported on the discovery, the statues have been taken to a restoration laboratory in Grosseto, another town in Tuscany, but will eventually be returned to San Casciano dei Bagni to be displayed in a new museum.

☆ Signals that Russia might abandon a crucial occupied city are likely a trap, Ukraine says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russian sources suggested that its forces are about to retreat from the strategic city of Kherson. Western intelligence — and some statements from Russia — have noted moves suggesting that Russia may be about to abandon the city, a strategic and symbolic prize should Ukraine reclaim it. Russian soldiers guard an area as a group of foreign journalists visit in Kherson, Kherson region, south Ukraine, May 20, 2022. "While there's some commotion and movement going on, it's not decisive," Kateryna Stepanenko, an ISW Russia analyst, told The Hill. "It doesn't appear that Russians have at this moment entirely given up Kherson city."

☆ Loafer buyout flop may have sting in the tail
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, Oct 26 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Founder Diego Della Valle’s stingy attempt to take luxury shoemaker Tod’s (TOD.MI) private appears to have floundered. Della Valle’s refusal to lift the bid price appears puzzling. Adding perhaps 10% to the offer price would have mollified the naysayers. Investors would be forced to accept illiquid stock or compensation based on Tod’s average price in the six months prior to the offer. Della Valle’s next deal could be even stingier.

☆ Della Valle family fails to reach 90% Tod's target as offer closes
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, Oct 25 (Reuters) - The Della Valle family failed to reach the 90% ownership threshold needed to proceed with a proposed delisting of luxury shoemaker Tod's (TOD.MI) under their buyout bid, a Borsa Italiana filing showed on Tuesday. On the last day available for the offer, investors tendered Tod's shares accounting for a total of 4,134,358 shares. According to Reuters calculations, the Della Valles, who own 64.5% of the company, needed to gain the acceptance of 5,144,373 shares to reach the 90% threshold in their effort to take the company private. The Della Valle family has stated it could delist Tod's by merging it into DeVa Finance within six months of the closing of the takeover bid. Tod's shares ended down 2.4% at 39.6 euros, underperforming Milan's all-share index (.FTITLMS) which ended up 1.5%.

☆ Male or female title? Italy's new PM Meloni stirs gender debate
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Giorgia Meloni is Italy's first woman prime minister, but she is choosing to refer to herself using the masculine form of her new title - sparking a debate on the issues of female empowerment and political correctness. Under RAI's corporate gender policy, the feminine form should be used whenever it exists, and "no colleague can therefore be obliged to use the masculine" to refer to Meloni, Usigrai said in a statement. "The first female prime minister goes by the masculine name ... Is using the feminine form too much for the leader of FdI, a party that already omits Sisters from its name?" The Accademia della Crusca, a guardian of the Italian language, has said using the feminine for positions held by women is the grammatically correct choice. However, anyone who prefers to use the traditional masculine form, for ideological or generational reasons, has every right to do so, its president Claudio Marazzini told Italian news agency Adnkronos.

☆ Italy's Illycaffe to pay global employee bonus, CEO tells paper
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Italian premium coffee maker Illycaffe will pay a cash bonus to its employees to help them cope with increasingly stretched finances, its chief executive told Il Corriere della Sera newspaper on Sunday. The Ukraine crisis has lowered economic growth expectations around the world while soaring inflation is taking a heavy toll on household finances, especially in Europe. Illycaffe CEO Cristina Scocchia said the company would split a 500,000 euro ($493,000) bonus pool among its 1,350 employees worldwide by the end of the month. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"We need to combine profits and social values," she said. ($1 = 1.0142 euros)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Giulio Piovaccari Editing by David GoodmanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Fact Check-No evidence illustration in 1962 Italian magazine aimed to “preview” life in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Contrary to posts on social media, there is no evidence that the image, published in a 1962 issue of Italian magazine La Domenica del Corriere, aimed to “preview what the world could look like in 2022”. Another recent example is viewable (here)Similar allegations connecting the illustration with the COVID-19 pandemic were addressed by multiple fact-checking organizations in 2020 (here here)La Domenica del Corriere was a weekly supplement to Italian newspaper Corriere Della Serra. The Corriere della Sera Foundation, according to their website, preserves an archive with “all the covers of the magazine”. Corriere della Sera Foundation did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. According to Poeta, the illustration was a back cover issued on Dec. 16, 1962 (here).

☆ Holocaust survivor to oversee start of rightist Italian parliament
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Crispian Balmer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Senator Liliana Segre attends a debate ahead of a confidence vote at the upper house of parliament after former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi pulled his party out of government, in Rome, Italy, January 19, 2021. REUTERS/Yara Nardi/Pool/File PhotoROME, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Italy's new parliament opens on Thursday, with a Holocaust survivor due to preside over the first session of the upper house Senate as the most right-wing coalition since World War Two takes control of both chambers. Liliana Segre was the only member of her family to emerge alive from the Nazi Auschwitz concentration camp at the end of the war. Honoured as a senator for life, the 92 year-old is the oldest active member of the house, meaning she will start proceedings. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterAdditional reporting by Angelo Amante; editing by Barbara LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ University of Florida students protest against Ben Sasse’s anti-LGBTQ past
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

Hundreds of University of Florida students held protests this week criticizing the anticipated appointment of Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., to lead the school. Sasse has said that as university president, he would do his best to represent the views of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer students. But for some, his candidacy has called to mind the university’s anti-LGBTQ history and the extent to which many of them feel it continues to sideline their needs and experiences, four LGBTQ students told NBC News. The university’s LGBTQ+ Affairs office, for example, has a high staff turnover rate, he said. He said a “silver lining” of the protests was that many LGBTQ students made their concerns more widely known.

☆ Italy’s loafer king can afford to be more generous
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, Sept 29 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Tod’s (TOD.MI) founder Diego Della Valle is seeking to delist his bling shoemaker on the cheap. The Italian tycoon on Monday launched a takeover bid at 40 euros a share for the company he controls with a 65% stake. Investor Tabor Asset Management believes that, taken separately, the Italian group’s brands warrant an offer of at least 76 euros a share. That would push the price tag to 60 euros a share, 50% above the current offer, Breakingviews calculations show. With so much hidden value to reap, Della Valle can probably afford to be a tad more generous.

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