Latest news with #GiuliaSegreti
Time of India
12 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Leonardo, Airbus, Thales to assess feasibility of space alliance by end-July
By Giulia Segreti PARIS: European aerospace companies Leonardo Thales and Airbus will assess the feasibility of a space alliance by the end of July, Leonardo CEO Roberto Cingolani said on Tuesday at the Paris Airshow. Under so-called " Project Bromo ", named after an Indonesian volcano, the three groups have been exploring plans to set up a new joint space company as Europe looks to compete with Elon Musk's Starlink. Cingolani said that by the end of next month the three groups would have assessed several aspects of a potential partnership, including possible European antitrust hurdles, financial due diligence, and "the value creation" of the venture. "The business model will take more time, however," the CEO added, speaking to reporters, He confirmed that the structure of the alliance would be similar to that of Europe's top missile maker MBDA, owned by Airbus, Leonardo and BAE Systems, although "slightly different in governance". Cingolani also said that Leonardo and Thales - which already have two joint ventures in the space sector, namely Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio - were considering merging these into the new entity. "It's a moment when we are discussing all scenarios," he said. Separately, Italian Industry Minister Adolfo Urso told reporters that he hoped talks over a potential Italian-French space alliance could include Germany too. "We are in tune with Germany and the new German government on many industrial dossiers," Urso said.
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Leonardo, Airbus, Thales to assess feasibility of space alliance by end-July
By Giulia Segreti PARIS (Reuters) -European aerospace companies Leonardo Thales and Airbus will assess the feasibility of a space alliance by the end of July, Leonardo CEO Roberto Cingolani said on Tuesday at the Paris Airshow. Under so-called "Project Bromo", named after an Indonesian volcano, the three groups have been exploring plans to set up a new joint space company as Europe looks to compete with Elon Musk's Starlink. Cingolani said that by the end of next month the three groups would have assessed several aspects of a potential partnership, including possible European antitrust hurdles, financial due diligence, and "the value creation" of the venture. "The business model will take more time, however," the CEO added, speaking to reporters, He confirmed that the structure of the alliance would be similar to that of Europe's top missile maker MBDA, owned by Airbus, Leonardo and BAE Systems, although "slightly different in governance". Cingolani also said that Leonardo and Thales - which already have two joint ventures in the space sector, namely Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio - were considering merging these into the new entity. "It's a moment when we are discussing all scenarios," he said. Separately, Italian Industry Minister Adolfo Urso told reporters that he hoped talks over a potential Italian-French space alliance could include Germany too. "We are in tune with Germany and the new German government on many industrial dossiers," Urso said. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Israel furious as France shuts weapons stands at Paris Airshow
By Paul Sandle, Giulia Segreti, Steven Scheer and Tim Hepher PARIS/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -France shut down the main Israeli company stands at the Paris Airshow on Monday for refusing to remove attack weapons from display, sparking a furious response from Israel and inflaming tensions between the traditional allies. Stands including those of Elbit Systems, Rafael, IAI and Uvision were blocked off with black partitions before the start of the world's biggest aviation trade fair. Smaller Israeli stands, which didn't have hardware on display, and an Israeli Ministry of Defence stand, remained open. France, a long-time Israeli ally, has gradually hardened its position on the government of Benjamin Netanyahu over its actions in Gaza and military interventions abroad. French President Emmanuel Macron made a distinction last week between Israel's right to protect itself, which France supports and could take part in, and strikes on Iran it did not recommend. The office of French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said it had told all exhibitors ahead of the show that offensive weapons would be prohibited from display and that Israel's embassy in Paris had agreed to this. It added that the companies could resume their exhibits if they complied with this requirement. Bayrou told reporters that given France's diplomatic stance, and "in particular its ... very great concern about Gaza", the government had felt it unacceptable for attack weapons to be on show. But Israel's defence ministry reacted with fury. "This outrageous and unprecedented decision reeks of policy-driven and commercial considerations," it said in a statement. "The French are hiding behind supposedly political considerations to exclude Israeli offensive weapons from an international exhibition - weapons that compete with French industries." The ministry later added it was filing court petitions against the decision. IAI's president and CEO, Boaz Levy, said the black partitions were reminiscent of "the dark days of when Jews were segmented from European society". Two U.S. Republican politicians attending the air show also criticised the French move. Talking to reporters outside the blacked-out Israeli defence stalls, U.S. Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders described the decision as "pretty absurd", while Republican Senator Katie Britt criticised it as "short-sighted". Meshar Sasson, senior vice president at Elbit Systems, accused France of trying to stymie competition, pointing to a series of contracts that Elbit has won in Europe. "If you cannot beat them in technology, just hide them right? That's what it is because there's no other explanation," he said. Rafael described the French move as "unprecedented, unjustified, and politically motivated". The air show's organiser said in a statement that it was in talks to try to help "the various parties find a favourable outcome to the situation".
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
'Ciao Francesco', Romans wave goodbye to the pope they adopted
By Giulia Segreti ROME (Reuters) - Romans cheered, clapped and cried on Saturday as they watched the simple, open-topped, white "pope-mobile" carry Francis' coffin from the Vatican to his chosen burial place at the heart of the Eternal City. "When a pope dies, another one is made," a well-known and rather cynical Roman proverb says, but for many citizens of the Italian capital Pope Francis will be almost irreplaceable. Under a scorching spring sun, locals and tourists sat on church steps, crammed the pavements and peered out of the windows and balconies as the motorcade passed by. Pope Francis was not just any pontiff for the citizens of Rome, which he adopted as his home since being elected in 2013 - and which also adopted him. "He was one of us," said Giovanna Maialetti, a devout Catholic who was among the thousands of people lining the streets as Francis made his final journey. Despite coming "from the end of the world", as the pope said from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica on the night he was elected, Francis quickly bonded with his new city, often referring to himself by his lesser-known title, Bishop of Rome. "Romans loved him. I didn't care where he was from, he was the pope of us Romans, of the world, of those who believed and even those who didn't ... it felt like he was part of the family," said 85-year-old Maialetti. The pope's body was carried from his funeral outside St. Peter's to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore (St. Mary Major) some 5.5 kilometres (3.4 miles) away, where he was laid to rest. No pope had been buried outside the Vatican for more than a century. "We are living history. The fact that Francis wanted to cross the city and say goodbye to us shows that he was a simple man, despite everything," said Ida Di Gioia, a 38-year-old pharmacist whose shop was on the pope's cortege route. A LAST PICTURE As the procession passed famed monuments, including the Colosseum and the Roman Forums, people clutched their phones to grasp one last picture. Used to zipping around Rome in a small and anonymous car, the pope had never crossed the city in a pope-mobile, which he only used in St. Peter's Square and on foreign trips. The cortege was initially expected to be at walking pace, but ended up travelling briskly along the sealed-off road, to the dismay of some well-wishers who had waited for hours. As the pope-mobile approached St. Mary Major, some pilgrims showered the bare wooden coffin with flowers. "It is a joy and honour that he picked here to be buried instead of the Vatican, we'll definitely go to visit him," said Laura Regoli, the owner of one of the city's oldest pastry shops, only steps away from St. Mary Major. In a break from the past, Francis chose the basilica over the Vatican, because of his devotion to Mary, Mother of God. He prayed there before setting off on and returning from each overseas trip. "Ciao Francesco. It'll be hard, but let's hope your successor will be as down to earth as you were," said Adolfo Pasquali, a taxi driver.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Italy's new high-speed rail line looks to reverse depopulation, lift southern economy
By Giulia Segreti SANT'AGATA DE' GOTI, Italy (Reuters) - Italy's high-speed railway is finally pressing into the heart of the underdeveloped south, using European Union funds in the hope that the new network will help reverse years of depopulation and lift the lacklustre economy. The 145-kilometre (90-mile) line will connect the cities of Naples on the Mediterranean coast to Bari on the shores of the Adriatic in just two hours, against four at present. The link, which is being upgraded and will also be managed by state-controlled railway group Ferrovie dello Stato (FS), is expected to be completed by 2028. "It's a revolutionary project, two Italian ports and two seas will be connected," said Alessio Forestieri from construction company Pizzarotti, part of the consortium building the line, which also includes constructors Ghella and Itinera. Costing just over 6 billion euros ($6.48 billion), almost a quarter of this will come from the EU's COVID-19 recovery fund. Italy is the largest recipient of the fund and has been criticised for missing spending deadlines and constantly seeking revisions of its original plans. However, the high speed line is already being held up as a success story. The project is part of a broader FS strategy to invest some 60 billion euros in its network over the next 10 years, strengthening and extending services nationwide. Despite operating more than 17,000 km of rail lines, Italy's network has been heavily skewed towards the wealthy north, leaving more remote, internal areas of the peninsula under-served, especially in the south. More than 1,000 km of the FS tracks carry high-speed trains, but after reaching the southern-most point in 2009 -- the city of Salerno, close to Naples -- development further south faced constant delays because of persistent funding problems. A CHOICE The two-track line to Bari will replace the current, slow single line. All existing stations will be revamped, with a new one created in the remote area of Irpinia, inland from Naples. Southern-focused think-tank Svimez estimates that, in the construction phase alone, the new line will generate new business worth more than 4 billion euros and 62,000 jobs. Federica Favo, a 29-year old from Naples who works on one of the construction sites, says the project has helped her and many new graduates. "When I started studying civil engineering everyone said it was crazy, but now there's a real jobs market in the area. The base camp is like a town, which offers so many opportunities for the area," she told Reuters. Italy's south, known as the "Mezzogiorno", is in dire need of a lift. In the 10 years to 2022 almost 200,000 young graduates left the southern regions for central and northern Italy and a further 138,000 moved abroad, the latest Svimez data shows. The think-tank has forecast that by 2080, the south will lose over 8 million residents -- its share of the total Italian population falling to 25.8% from 33.8% at present. Giuseppe Cirillo, head of the fast-speed project for FS infrastructure unit RFI, said the new link could stem the exodus. "Activating the line is crucial, especially for all those inland areas and villages that have been suffering severe depopulation in recent years," he told Reuters. The line should allow people to keep living in their small hometowns and commute to larger cities to work, rather than uproot as they now have to do, he said. Angela Lombardi, from the remote village of Savignano Irpino, said finally having a station will hugely broaden the travel and job opportunities for local residents. "It's a first for our area," she said. "This line will give us a choice." (editing by Crispian Balmer and Gavin Jones)
