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Norway sovereign wealth fund to back Mediobanca bid for Banca Generali

Norway sovereign wealth fund to back Mediobanca bid for Banca Generali

Reutersa day ago

MILAN, June 11 (Reuters) - Norway's sovereign wealth fund Norges Bank said on Wednesday it would vote in favour of Italian merchant bank Mediobanca's bid for private bank Banca Generali (BGN.MI), opens new tab on June 16.
Norges Bank holds a stake of 1.45% in Mediobanca, according to LSEG data.
Mediobanca in April proposed buying Banca Generali from insurer Generali (GASI.MI), opens new tab as it seeks to stave off a buyout from Banca Monte dei Paschi (MPS) (BMPS.MI), opens new tab. It must gain shareholders' approval to pursue the deal in a meeting on June 16.
Norges Bank voted in favour of a new share issue proposed by MPS to fund its bid for Mediobanca in April.
Several institutional investors, including CalPERS, Calvert and Praxis Investment Management, have said they would vote in favour of the Banca Generali bid on June 16.
Italian tycoon Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, a leading investor in Mediobanca, has expressed a negative view on the Banca Generali bid and is seeking a delay of the shareholder vote saying key details are still unclear.

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I'm a Vinted expert and I've worked out exactly when to sell clothes to make the most money
I'm a Vinted expert and I've worked out exactly when to sell clothes to make the most money

Daily Mail​

time26 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

I'm a Vinted expert and I've worked out exactly when to sell clothes to make the most money

A Vinted seller has shared her number one tip for quickly and efficiently selling your pre-loved clothes. UK-based mother and Vinted enthusiast Rachael, who goes by @RachShops on TikTok, sells second-hand clothing on the online marketplace. If her daughter's clothes no longer fit her, for example, she takes to the app and makes a profit from them, instead of leaving good quality clothes hanging in the wardrobe. But she says the key to selling fast on Vinted is timing - specifically which part of the month you list your items. In fact, Rachel explains, listing items towards the end of the month when most people are getting paid could mean they get snapped up more quickly - as it's 'prime selling time'. In a TikTok video posted towards the end of the month, Rachael said: 'This is my most popular Vinted selling tip - the plan is part of a strategy.' Holding up a tub of spring and summer clothes, Rachael said she planned to list them all on Vinted that evening. 'The bigger picture of me doing this tonight is because it's the 27th, it's near the end of the month and most people are getting paid. 'Believe me, this is prime selling time, so I always make sure I list around these days at the end of each month.' Rachael said that, as most people get paid around that time, they have the cash to spend. 'And they will be spending it on Vinted as well,' she said. The avid seller also offered some other timing tricks that she swears by for best results on the app. Rachael advised to make sure that clothes are being sold seasonally in order to maximise sales, for example when listing items during the spring and summer. 'Always think about that when you're listing stuff,' Rachael continued. 'Just make sure it's relative to the time of year and what people are actually looking to buy.' Rachael said that having suitable mailing bags already on hand saves both time and money, and prevents you from rushing at the last minute. 'The thing I would highly recommend you do if you are a Vinted seller is have mailing bags ready before you list anything so you're organised and prepared. Rachael says it all comes down to timing - and listing your items at the end of the month lines up with most people's paydays 'You should have mailing bags to start with - it saves the stress, first of all, of knowing what to package it up in. 'Second of all, you can post it really quickly, helping towards your positive feedback and good reviews.' And Rachael urged sellers to post their items quickly, for the simple reason that you'll 'get your money' faster as a result. Bu the successful seller is not the first to share her useful hacks for making the most of the app. Another secondhand online clothes seller who has made thousands of pounds on Vinted previously revealed her top tips for sales success. Maisie, who is from Yorkshire, searches cat boot sales, charity shops and online pre-loved websites for cheaply-priced garments with a high resale value. Although it started off as a side hustle, Maisie made reselling her full time career last year after earning £18,000 from flogging clothes. Now, she has helped others by telling them how they too can make a wage from the app - and according to her, it's very simple. Maisie said: 'I absolutely love buying on Vinted to resell on Vinted. It's so easy and it just goes to show the difference that a good quality picture with good lighting and a good background can honestly make.' She says that you should always list similar clothes sizes at the same time on Vinted, as people may browse your page and find other items that they like, resulting in more sales. 'They're more likely to get their money's worth by buying a bundle from you so it will boost your sales and your profit at the same time,' Maisie added. 'You're only having to ship out one parcel and the buyer is only having to pay one lot of postage and fees.'

US-backed Israeli company's spyware used to target European journalists, Citizen Lab finds
US-backed Israeli company's spyware used to target European journalists, Citizen Lab finds

The Independent

time38 minutes ago

  • The Independent

US-backed Israeli company's spyware used to target European journalists, Citizen Lab finds

Spyware from a U.S.-backed Israeli company was used to target the phones of at least three prominent journalists in Europe, two of whom are editors at an investigative news site in Italy, according to digital researchers at Citizen Lab, citing new forensic evidence of the attacks. The findings come amid a growing questions about what role the government of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni may have played in spying on journalists and civil society activists critical of her leadership, and raised new concerns about the potential for abuse of commercial spyware, even in democratic countries. 'Any attempts to illegally access data of citizens, including journalists and political opponents, is unacceptable, if confirmed,' the European Commission said in a statement Wednesday in response to questions from members of parliament. 'The Commission will use all the tools at its disposal to ensure the effective application of EU law.' Meloni's office declined to comment Thursday, but a prominent member of her Cabinet has said that Italy 'rigorously respected' the law and that the government hadn't illegally spied on journalists. Mercenary spyware industry The company behind the hacks, Paragon Solutions, has sought to position itself as a virtuous player in the mercenary spyware industry and won U.S. government contracts, The Associated Press found. Backed by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Paragon was reportedly acquired by AE Industrial Partners, a private investment firm based in Florida, in a December deal worth at least $500 million, pending regulatory approvals. AE Industrial Partners didn't directly respond to requests for comment on the deal. Paragon's spyware, Graphite, was used to target around 90 WhatsApp users from more than two dozen countries, primarily in Europe, Meta said in January. Since then, there's been a scramble to figure out who was hacked and who was responsible. 'We've seen first-hand how commercial spyware can be weaponized to target journalists and civil society, and these companies must be held accountable,' a spokesperson for WhatsApp told AP in an email. 'WhatsApp will continue to protect peoples' ability to communicate privately.' Meta said the vulnerability has been patched and they have not detected subsequent attacks. Meta also sent a cease-and-desist letter to Paragon. Last month, a California court awarded Meta $168 million in damages from Israel's NSO Group, whose spyware was used to hack 1,400 WhatsApp accounts, including of journalists, activists and government officials. Journalists targeted The Citizen Lab's findings, released today, show that the use of spyware against journalists has continued, despite the backlash against NSO Group, and establish for the first time that Paragon was able to successfully infect Apple devices. Ciro Pellegrino, who heads the Naples newsroom of an investigative news outlet called received a notice on April 29 that his iPhone had been targeted. Last year, Fanpage secretly infiltrated the youth wing of Meloni's Brothers of Italy party and filmed some of them making fascist and racist remarks. Pellegrino's colleague, Fanpage editor-in-chief Francesco Cancellato, also received a notice from Meta that his Android device had been targeted by Paragon spyware, though forensic evidence that his phone was actually infected with Graphite hasn't yet surfaced, according to Citizen Lab. The Citizen Lab's report today also revealed a third case, of a 'prominent European journalist,' who asked to remain anonymous, but is connected to the Italian cluster by forensic evidence unearthed by researchers at the laboratory, which is run out of the Munk School at the University of Toronto. The Citizen Lab, which has analyzed all the devices, said the attack came via iMessage, and that Apple has patched the vulnerability. Apple did not respond immediately to requests for comment. 'Paragon is now mired in exactly the kind of abuse scandal that NSO Group is notorious for,' said John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at the Citizen Lab. 'This shows the industry and its way of doing business is the problem. It's not just a few bad apples.' Stealthy spyware Paragon's spyware is especially stealthy because it can compromise a device without any action from the user. Similar to the NSO Group's notorious Pegasus spyware, which has been blacklisted by the U.S. government, Graphite allows the operator to covertly access applications, including encrypted messengers like Signal and WhatsApp. 'There's no link to click, attachment to download, file to open or mistake to make,' Scott-Railton said. 'One moment the phone is yours, and the next minute its data is streaming to an attacker.' Parliamentary oversight COPASIR, the parliamentary committee overseeing the Italian secret services, took the rare step last week of making public the results of its investigation into the government's use of Paragon. The COPASIR report said that Italian intelligence services hadn't spied on Cancellato, the editor of Fanpage. The report did confirm the surveillance, with tools including Graphite, of civil society activists, but said they had been targeted legally and with government authorization — not as activists but over their work related to irregular immigration and national security. Giovanni Donzelli, vice president of COPASIR and a prominent member of Meloni's Brothers of Italy party, declined further comment Thursday, saying the parliamentary report was 'more relevant than an analysis done by a privately funded Canadian laboratory.' Citizen Lab says it's 'rigorously independent,' and doesn't accept research funding from governments or companies. Italy and Paragon both say they've terminated their relationship, but offer starkly different versions of the breakup. Paragon referred questions to a statement it gave to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, in which the company said that it stopped providing spyware to Italy after the government declined its offer to help investigate Cancellato's case. Italian authorities, however, said they had rejected Paragon's offer over national security concerns and ended the relationship following media outcry. U.S. contracts Paragon has been keen to deflect reputational damage that could, in theory, impact its contracts with the U.S. government. A 2023 executive order, which so far hasn't been overturned by U.S. President Donald Trump, prohibits federal government departments and agencies from acquiring commercial spyware that has been misused by foreign governments, including to limit freedom of expression and political dissent. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security awarded Paragon a one-year, $2 million contract last September for operations and support of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, public records show. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has also reportedly used the spyware. In December 2022, Adam Schiff, the California Democrat who at the time chaired the House Intelligence Committee, wrote to the administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration questioning whether the DEA's use of Graphite spyware undermined efforts to deter the 'broad proliferation of powerful surveillance capabilities to autocratic regimes and others who may misuse them.' ___ Byron Tau in Washington, and Lorne Cook in Brussels, contributed to this report.

Lithium supplies will not keep up with demand for electric cars, experts warn
Lithium supplies will not keep up with demand for electric cars, experts warn

The Independent

time44 minutes ago

  • The Independent

Lithium supplies will not keep up with demand for electric cars, experts warn

Europe, the US and China will be unable to extract enough lithium domestically to meet their demands for electric vehicle (EV) batteries, according to a study. Researchers from East China Normal University in Shanghai and Sweden's Lund University described this as a 'looming crisis' that could cause 'delays in meeting critical climate and energy goals'. They warned that domestic lithium production could grow as much as 10 times in some areas of Europe, the US and China by 2030 but still fall short of the 'soaring demand' without technological innovations or increasing imports. Lithium, an element which is generally obtained by mining, is a critical component in most EV batteries. EVs are seen as vital to decarbonising road transport, and demand for them is surging in Europe, the US and China. Pure battery electric new cars held a 20.9% market share for the first five months of this year, up from 16.1% during the same period in 2024. Sale of conventionally-fuelled new cars will be banned in the UK from 2030. The report found that under 'most scenarios' for the future levels of lithium production and the amount required, domestic supplies in Europe, the US and China – where 80% of the world's EVs are sold – 'cannot meet demand'. This would lead to those regions 'requiring trade to fill the gap', the study added. Researchers estimated that Europe might need 792,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate equivalent – a measure of lithium content – by 2030. Based on existing and proposed lithium-mining projects, production in Europe could reach 325,000 metric tons at that point. Measures to tackle the shortfall suggested by the authors of the study included shifting focus from producing personal EVs to promoting the use of public transport, and adopting battery technologies that use less or no lithium. The UK imports all the lithium it currently uses from countries such as China and the US, but several companies are developing plans to extract reserves in Cornwall and the North East of England. Portugal is the only European Union member to mine and process lithium. Qifan Xia, of East China Normal University, author of the study published in journal Cell Reports Sustainability, said: 'Lithium today is as important as gasoline in the industrial revolution. 'While lithium reserves are substantial around the world, they are distributed unevenly across different countries. 'Our study showed that without immediate action to expand mining, diversify suppliers, and rethink how we manage demand, the world risks delays in meeting critical climate and energy goals.' Ben Nelmes, founder of green consultancy New AutoMotive, said: 'Lithium will be a key part of the economy, from mining and refining through to cell manufacturing and recycling. 'It is therefore vital that European policymakers send positive signals to investors by maintaining ambitious targets for electric cars and a supportive environment for mining projects.' Separate analysis by the organisation estimated that up to a quarter of a million jobs in Europe could be created in the next five years through EV battery production and the supply chain. These include roles in sectors such as mining, gigafactories – large sites where EV batteries are produced – and recycling.

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