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Rome finishes marquee project in contentious city overhaul for Catholic Holy Year
Rome has actually finished the most ambitious of thousands of building and construction works that have disrupted life in the Eternal City in preparation for the millions of travelers expected throughout the 2025 Catholic Holy Year that starts this week Mayor Roberto Gualtieri opened a major new roadway junction near the Vatican on Monday, marking completion of an 85 million euro ($ 88.4 million) centrepiece project amongst 3,200 public building works ahead of the Holy Year, otherwise known as the Catholic Jubilee. The brand-new underpass near the medieval Castel Sant' Angelo. redirects traffic underground and produces a pedestrian zone from. the Tiber River towards St. Peter's Basilica, the centre of. Catholicism and one of the world's most visited tourist sites. The craze of work, nevertheless, has actually irritated citizens and left. some visitors feeling short-changed in current months due to the fact that. lots of tourist destinations have actually lagged scaffolding. The Vatican anticipates 32 million tourists to descend on the. Italian capital for the Holy Year, which will be opened by Pope. Francis during Christmas Eve Mass at St. Peter's on Tuesday and. will run up until Jan. 6, 2026. The very first Holy Year was declared in 1300 as a chance. for pilgrims pertaining to Rome to get unique indulgences, or. remission of their sins. The occasion now usually takes place every 25. years and is thought about a time of peace, forgiveness and pardon. Gualtieri said building employees, who began the. underpass in August 2023, worked 24 hr a day for 450 days to. win a race versus time to complete it on schedule. The Jubilee will now give Rome a brand-new beautiful public. square, he informed press reporters. Under the new design, much of the Via della Conciliazione,. the main boulevard leading towards the Vatican, will end up being a. traffic-free pilgrims' path expected to be strolled by as much as. 100,000 travelers daily. Beyond the new road construction, Rome has actually pooled 3.7 billion. euros of state and European funds to revamp traveler sites,. parks and even rubbish bins. The Trevi Fountain has actually likewise been brought back and was resumed on. Sunday.
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Brazil's Petrobras to sign offer for four new assistance vessels built locally
Brazil's Transpetro, a system of staterun oil company Petrobras, stated on Monday that regional shipbuilding firms Ecovix and Mac Laren had won a tender to develop four new coastal vessels for $69.5 million per vessel. WHY IT is necessary The quote is the first step of Petrobras' strategy to renew its fleet of support vessels, and is a win for Brazil's federal government as it seeks to renew the country's shipbuilding sector. ESSENTIAL QUOTE It is a milestone for our management to resume the acquisition of ships in Brazil after ten years without contracting vessels to expand the fleet, stated Transpetro Chief Executive Sergio Bacci in a declaration. CONTEXT The 4 'helpful' class vessels will have capacity of 15,000 to 18,000 deadweight tonnage. They become part of the company's plan to commission 25 new ships, with 16 currently listed in Petrobras' tactical plan for the 2025-2029 period. WHAT'S NEXT Transpetro said it is set to release a 2nd tender in January for 8 pressurized and semi-refrigerated gas tankers.
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Rome completes marquee task in contentious city overhaul for Catholic Holy Year
Rome has actually completed the most ambitious of thousands of building and construction works that have actually disrupted daily life in the Eternal City in preparation for the millions of travelers anticipated throughout the 2025 Catholic Holy Year that starts this week Mayor Roberto Gualtieri opened a significant new roadway junction near the Vatican on Monday, marking completion of an 85 million euro ($ 88.4 million) centrepiece task among 3,200 public building and construction works ahead of the Holy Year, otherwise called the Catholic Jubilee. The brand-new underpass near the medieval Castel Sant' Angelo. reroutes traffic underground and produces a pedestrian zone from. the Tiber River toward St. Peter's Basilica, the centre of. Catholicism and among the world's most checked out traveler sites. The frenzy of work, nevertheless, has irritated residents and. left some visitors feeling short-changed in current months. since lots of tourist destinations have lagged scaffolding. The Vatican anticipates 32 million tourists to descend on the. Italian capital for the Holy Year, which will be opened by Pope. Francis during Christmas Eve Mass at St. Peter's on Tuesday and. will run until Jan. 6, 2026. The very first Holy Year was announced in 1300 as an opportunity. for pilgrims coming to Rome to acquire unique extravagances, or. remission of their sins. The occasion now usually happens every 25. years and is considered a time of peace, forgiveness and pardon. Gualtieri said construction employees, who started the. underpass in August 2023, worked 24 hours a day for 450 days to. win a race against time to finish it on schedule. The Jubilee will now give Rome a brand-new stunning public. square, he informed reporters. Under the brand-new layout, much of the Via della Conciliazione,. the main boulevard leading towards the Vatican, will become a. traffic-free pilgrims' course anticipated to be walked by as much as. 100,000 travelers daily. Beyond the new road building, Rome has pooled 3.7 billion. euros of state and European funds to upgrade tourist websites,. parks and even rubbish bins. The Trevi Fountain has also been brought back and was resumed on. Sunday.
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Russia's Rusagrotrans forecasts record high wheat exports in 2024/25 season first half
Russia will export a record 29.4 million metric tons of wheat in the very first half of the 2024/25 exporting season, experts from rail carrier Rusagrotrans stated on Monday, after raising their December export quote. The country has actually exported wheat at a record speed, in spite of low global rates in the existing exporting season, ahead of the intro of a quota on Feb. 15 that becomes part of steps to improve domestic supply and fight inflation, presently at 9.5%. For the 2nd half of the season from Feb. 15 to June 30, the government has set the wheat and meslin export quota at 10.6 million heaps. Rusagrotrans raised its December export price quote to 3.7-3.8. million loads from 3.4-3.5 million loads, listed below last year's volume. of 4.06 million heaps. The estimate consists of exports to ex-Soviet. nations forming the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). In the first half of the 2023/24 exporting season, Russia. exported 27.7 million lots. Russia approximates this year's wheat. harvest at 83 million lots, below 92.8 million in 2023.
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What happens when Russian gas to Europe by means of Ukraine stops?
Russian President Vladimir Putin fulfilled Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in the Kremlin on Sunday, an uncommon visit by a European Union leader to Moscow as a. agreement allowing for Russian gas to transit through Ukraine. nears expiration. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had stated on Thursday. that Kyiv might think about continued transit of Russian gas, but. just on condition that Moscow did not receive payment up until. after the war - a condition it was unlikely to accept. Putin. said that day that it was clear there would be no new deal with. Kyiv to send out Russian gas through Ukraine to Europe. Here is what happens if Russian gas transit by means of Ukraine is. totally shut off and whom will be impacted most. HOW BIG ARE THE VOLUMES? Russian gas products to Europe by means of Ukraine are fairly. little. Russia shipped about 15 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas. by means of Ukraine in 2023 - only 8% of peak Russian gas flows to. Europe through different paths in 2018-19. Russia invested half a century developing its European gas market. share, which at its peak stood at 35%. Moscow has lost its share to rivals such as Norway, the. United States and Qatar given that the Russian invasion of Ukraine in. 2022, which spurred the EU to cut its dependence on Russian gas. EU gas costs rallied in 2022 to record highs after the loss. of Russian materials. The rally will not be repeated offered modest. volumes and a little number of consumers for the staying. volumes, according to EU authorities and traders. UKRAINIAN PATH The Soviet-era Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod pipeline brings gas. from Siberia by means of the town of Sudzha - which is now under control. of Ukrainian military forces - in Russia's Kursk area. It then. flows through Ukraine to Slovakia. In Slovakia, the gas pipeline divides into branches going to. the Czech Republic and Austria. Russia's general gas exports via the path have held. constant regardless of the blockage of flows from Gazprom to Austria's OMV in. mid-November over a contractual conflict, and legal wranglings as. other buyers stepped in to buy the volumes. Austria still gets most of its gas via Ukraine, while. Russia accounts for around two-thirds of Hungary's gas imports. Slovakia takes around 3 bcm from energy huge Gazprom. each year, also about two-thirds of its requirements. The Czech Republic practically totally cut gas imports from. the east in 2015, but began taking gas from Russia in 2024. Most other Russian gas paths to Europe are shut consisting of. Yamal-Europe through Belarus and Nord Stream under the Baltic. The only other functional Russian gas pipeline path to. Europe is the Blue Stream and TurkStream to Turkey under the. Black Sea. Turkey sends out some Russian gas volumes onward to. Europe including to Hungary. WHY DOES THE UKRAINIAN ROUTE STILL WORK? While staying Russian gas transit volumes are little, the. issue stays a problem for the EU. Lots of EU members such as. France and Germany have said they will not purchase Russian gas. anymore however the stance of Slovakia, Hungary and Austria, which. have closer ties to Moscow, challenges the EU typical technique. The nations, who still get Russian gas, argue it is. the most economic fuel and likewise blame neighbouring EU countries. for high transit costs imposed on alternative materials. Ukraine still makes $0.8-$ 1 billion in transit fees each year. from Russian gas transit. According to Reuters computations, Gazprom's total. pipeline gas exports to Europe by means of all paths in 2024 have. increased to 32 bcm from 28.3 bcm in 2023, when they collapsed. to the most affordable level since the 1970s. Russia could make around $5 billion on sales by means of Ukraine. this year based on a typical Russian federal government gas price. forecast of $339 per 1,000 cubic metres, according to Reuters. estimations. Russia's gas pipeline export monopoly Gazprom plunged to a. net loss of $7 billion in 2023, its very first annual loss given that. 1999, because of the loss of EU gas markets. Russia has said it would be prepared to extend the transit offer. however Kyiv has consistently stated it will not do it. Another alternative is for Gazprom to provide a few of the gas through. another path, for instance via TurkStream, Bulgaria, Serbia or. Hungary. Nevertheless, capability via these paths is limited. Hungary has actually been eager to keep the Ukrainian path open, but stated it. would continue to get Russian gas from the south, by means of the. TurkStream pipeline on the bed of the Black Sea. The EU and Ukraine have also asked Azerbaijan to help with. discussions with Russia regarding the gas transit offer. A senior source at Azeri energy business SOCAR informed Reuters. on Friday that Moscow and Kyiv have failed to settle on the deal. brokered by Azerbaijan to continue Russian gas exports to Europe. through Ukraine.
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Russian gas sales to Europe are 'made complex', Kremlin states after Putin-Fico talks
The scenario with European nations that buy Russian gas is extremely complicated and needs increased attention, the Kremlin stated on Monday after talks the previous day between President Vladimir Putin and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated he could not offer more details about the talks, which likewise discussed bilateral relations and the Ukraine war. Fico stated on Sunday that Putin had actually validated Russian determination to continue to supply gas to Slovakia, despite the fact that the Slovak leader stated this was virtually difficult once a. gas transit arrangement in between Russia and Ukraine expires at the. end of the year. It was unclear what possible solution the two leaders. may have discussed. Ukraine has actually decreased to renew the gas transit deal. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said last week this might be. possible, but just on condition that Russia was not spent for the. gas up until after the war was over. You heard the declaration from the Ukrainian side, and. you understand about the positions of those European countries that. continue to buy Russian gas and that consider this needed for. the regular operation of their economies, Peskov informed reporters. Therefore, there is now a very complicated circumstance. here that requires increased attention..
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A lot of Gulf shares up as cooler US inflation alleviates rate cut issues
The majority of stock markets in the Gulf were up on Monday, after coolerthanexpected U.S. inflation data revived expect further policy relieving by the Federal Reserve. Following the November inflation information in the world's biggest economy, traders raised their rate cut bets for 2025, now expecting a cut in March and another by October. The Fed's choices have a considerable influence on the Gulf region's monetary policy, as most currencies there are pegged to the U.S. dollar. Dubai's benchmark stock index extended its rally to a 3rd straight session, rising 0.4%, pushed up by market, real estate and finance stocks. Tolls operator Salik Company gained 1.4% and Emirates NBD, the Dubai's. largest loan provider, included 1%. Shares of Emaar Residences were up for a. 3rd day, increasing 0.8% to their greatest in more than 18 years. The blue-chip developer said last Monday it had actually prepared to. state dividends at 100% of share capital for 2024 and the next. couple of years, totaling up to 8.80 billion dirhams ($ 2.4 billion). Saudi Arabia's benchmark stock index increased 0.3%,. assisted by gains in financing, energies and energy sectors. The insurance provider Medgulf climbed 3% after it tattooed a. contract to provide medical insurance services to the state-owned. Saudi Electricity. To name a few gainers, Knowledge Economic City Business. gained 1.3% after the designer said it has actually signed an. agreement with Sidra Capital and Raseel Characteristics to develop. a 1.04 billion riyals ($ 276.75 million) investment fund. The Abu Dhabi benchmark index was up 0.2%,. supported by a 2% gain in Abu Dhabi National Energy Company . Energies and energy company TAQA stated on Friday that. its 43%- owned Masdar had finished the acquisition Of Saeta. Yield for an implied enterprise value of EUR 1.2 billion ($ 1.25. billion). The Qatari standard index relieved 0.1% with Qatar. Islamic Bank shedding 0.8%. Industries Qatar. gained 0.6%.
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Singapore Post fires CEO over handling of whistleblower report
Singapore Post stated on Sunday it had actually dismissed its chief executive and 2 other senior managers after an internal investigation discovered they had mishandled whistleblower claims about misconduct by company employees. The company's shares plunged by the most in over four years as the city-state's bourse opened for trading. The stock plunged as much as 9.8%, its greatest intraday loss since March 2020. The alleged misbehavior reported by the whistleblower associated to a number of staff members who worked in the business's international e-commerce logistics parcels service, the company stated in a. statement, without giving additional information. The company had received a whistleblowing report alleging that. 3 unnamed workers had either approved or by hand updated. a delivery failure status code for parcels, although no. shipment was done, the statement stated. CEO Vincent Phang, the chief of the business's worldwide. organization unit Li Yu, and Chief Financial Officer Vincent Yik had. been dismissed after the company discovered they had been irresponsible. in dealing with the case and misrepresented it before an audit. committee, it included. Chair Simon Israel will manage senior management of. Singapore Post in the interim. The company stated it prepared to. reveal a brand-new CEO in due course. Singapore Post also said it will pay a settlement to the. consumer, whose information the company did not reveal. Phang and Yik have actually shown they will strongly contest. the termination of his employment, both on benefits and on the. premises of procedural unfairness, the business stated. The company has been undergoing a tactical evaluation under which. it is offering Australian possessions to personal equity Pacific Equity. Partners for A$ 1.02 billion
British Company - Dec 23
The following are the leading stories on business pages of British papers. Reuters has not validated these stories and does not attest their accuracy.
The Times
- A previous consultant to a UK prime minister has actually been accused of being a co-conspirator in the U.S. Department of Justice's. prosecution of Gautam Adani in the $250 million bribery case.
- Swisscom's planned acquisition of Vodafone Italia. in an 8 billion euro ($ 8.36 billion) offer has actually been. cleared by Italy's competitors watchdog and its industry. ministry.
The Guardian
- Diageo's leading stout beer Guinness has robbed. its reserves in Ireland to increase shipments to the UK, where a. social media-fuelled surge in need has actually left some bars facing. shortages.
- The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) stated that lots of. exporters are still struggling with post-Brexit trading guidelines as. it urges the federal government to push ahead with an EU reset in the. brand-new year.
The Telegraph
- Britain's Thames Water is at a threat of defaulting on its. financial obligations no matter a proposed 3 billion pound ($ 3.77. billion) bailout, credit ranking company S&P Global stated.
- Yodel CEO Mike Hancox has actually released a claim versus Jacob. Corlett, who had sought a merger with the business earlier this. year, after the business owner's rescue deal stopped working.
Sky News
- Electric cargo bike logistics company Zedify has actually launched. an urgent hunt for new backers and is working with Interpath. Advisory on an evaluation of its financing alternatives.
The Independent
- UK's House of Commons leader Lucy Powell stated British. Prime Minister Keir Starmer might present a brand-new law to obstruct. Elon Musk from contributing to Reform UK, guaranteeing the UK electoral. system is secured from the concerns that undermine democracy.
(source: Reuters)