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Sources say that Italy's Poste wants to meet with Telecom Italia over the takeover bid
Two sources familiar with the matter confirmed on Saturday that Poste Italiane?has requested a meeting at which the chief executive of the postal services group, Matteo Del Fante, could present its 10.8 billion euro ($12 million) cash and share bid for the former telephone monopoly. Poste, a state-backed conglomerate, announced last Sunday a plan to privatize TIM and create a digital champion in the country. This would strengthen the control of critical data for households and corporations by the government. The offer was not previously agreed upon with TIM. Sources said Del Fante had sent a request to TIM directors asking for an opportunity to present the offer. Poste, which offers services in logistics, payments, broadband, insurance, and financials, forecasts 700 million euro of annual benefits from the merger. Poste would gain control over TIM's network of data centres and its cybersecurity division Telsy. This deal would expand Poste's digital services for consumers, large businesses, and governments. Sources said that TIM's 'directors' will discuss Del Fante’s request during a meeting scheduled for Sunday. They added that the presentation of the bid 'was expected to happen in the next few weeks'. Poste and TIM declined to comment. On Sunday, TIM directors will also be expected to select advisers who will help them assess?Poste bid. Sources said that the TIM board will also decide on a?premature termination of a contract with Inwit for a long term, similar to a move made by Swisscom?s?Fastweb?. Poste is TIM’s?leading shareholder with 27%?of its ordinary share capital. This stake will drop to close to 20% when TIM converts special shares that it has outstanding in ordinary stock.
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The thieves steal 12 tons KitKat bars from Europe
Nestle, a Swiss food giant, said that thieves stole the truck carrying 12 tons of KitKat bars in Europe. Nestle's KitKat said that the truck carrying 413 793 bars of their new chocolate range set out from central Italy to distribute the chocolate across Europe but never arrived at its final destination, Poland. The vehicle as well as the merchandise are still missing. Nestle has not revealed where the truck went missing. In a separate announcement, KitKat said that the bars missing can be traced via a unique batch code. Anyone who scans the batch numbers of?the stolen bars will receive instructions on how?to contact KitKat. KitKat stated that "cargo theft is an escalating issue for businesses of every size." (Writing and editing by Dave Graham)
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Ford's US carrier arrives in Croatia to repair
The U.S. aircraft carriers Gerald R. Ford and the USS Enterprise, which were deployed to U.S.-Israeli missions against Iran, have anchored at Split, Croatia, for repairs and maintenance. On March 12, the 'Ford', the world's biggest carrier and newest ship, was supporting Operation Epic Fury in the Red Sea when a fire in its laundry room caused three injuries. A?U.S. Officials at the time confirmed that nearly 200 sailors were also treated for smoke-related issues. It took several hours to put out the fire, which affected 100 sleeping berths. The warship was deployed for nine months, and took part in operations against Venezuela in the Caribbean before arriving in the Middle East. During its deployment, it has experienced plumbing issues affecting nearly 650 toilets. The Ford temporarily stopped in Souda bay on the Greek Island of Crete. The U.S.-allied NATO country of Croatia approved the arrival of this Ford earlier in the week. The U.S. Embassy in Croatia released a statement that said, "During its visit, the USS Gerald R. Ford is expected to host a number of?local leaders and 'key officials to reaffirm and strengthen the strong and enduring relationship between the United States and Croatia." The carrier is staffed with more than 5,000 soldiers and has 75 military aircraft, including fighter planes like the F-18 Super Hornet. It also boasts an advanced radar system to control air traffic and navigate. (Reporting from Split by Antonio Bronic; Writing by Aleksandar Vaovic; Editing and proofreading by Joe Bavier).
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Bickert, Meta's former content policy chief and now Harvard professor, will be teaching at Harvard.
Monika Bickert is Meta's longtime chief of content policy. She oversaw the writing and enforcement Facebook's policies and played a role in determining how to approach user safety. Bickert, who wrote an internal post on Friday that was viewed by, said she would stay with Meta until August to 'work on a plan of transition with Kevin Martin. He oversees Meta's Global Policy Team. Bickert, who is Meta's head of content policy, has been the public face of Meta during controversies surrounding its handling political content and teen health. She joined Facebook in 2012 as a former federal prosecutor. The company changed its name later to Meta. She wrote: "Yes, we are a business, and we make profit. But the idea that 'we do'so' at the cost of people's well-being or safety is a misunderstanding of where our commercial interests lie," in 2021, after documents were leaked by former Meta employee Frances Haugen. Joel Kaplan, Meta's Chief Global Affairs Officer, praised Bickert in a statement. (Reporting and editing by Peter Henderson, William Mallard, and Jeff Horwitz)
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FAA stops traffic at Washington airports due to odor
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) halted all traffic at three of the main airports in the Washington, DC area late on Friday night after an odor was detected by a Virginia air-traffic control facility. The FAA stated that the odor forced them to evacuate Potomac Consolidated Terminal RADAR - Approach Control TRACON which controls the airspace of numerous airports around the Washington region. Around 6:40 p.m.?EDT, the FAA announced ground stops at Reagan Washington National Airport and?Washington Dulles. Baltimore, and smaller airports located in Charlottesville, Richmond, and Charlottesville. The odor from the Warrenton facility, Virginia, has caused traffic to be snarled for the second time within two weeks. According to someone briefed about the issue, the burning smell was similar to the one that caused the FAA to stop air traffic on March 13. On March 13, the FAA announced that it had stopped work due to a chemical smell associated with a circuitboard that was overheating. Flightradar24 is a website that tracks flights. It said that inbound 'flights were holding or diverting. Since 6:40 pm EDT, there has not been a departure from the airports. The FAA said an update would be?expected at around 8 p.m. FlightAware reported that 25% of flights were delayed at Baltimore, National and Dulles. (Reporting and editing by David Shepardson)
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The trucking industry is stuck in a slump for years because of the rising US diesel prices
U.S. 'diesel' prices have risen by 50% due to the U.S. - Israel war on Iran, which has delayed a much-needed turnaround in the trucking industry and squeezed?cash flows?and profits of independent big-rig operators. According to the American Automobile Association's data, the national average price for diesel fuel reached $5.38 a gallon on Saturday. This is up from $3.61 per gallon a year ago and not too far from the highest price recorded of $5.82 per gallon in June 2022. This was almost four months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. California, home to the busiest container ports in the U.S., and the state with the highest population, saw its diesel prices hit an all-time high of $7.17 per gallons on Friday. According to AAA, the diesel price in Washington State also reached a record high of $6.55 a gallon. Transportation is at the forefront of the historic energy disruption traced to Iran's chokehold over the Strait of Hormuz. This narrow stretch of water off its southern coast normally carries one-fifth of all oil and natural gas liquefied in the world. The U.S. is well-supplied with diesel but prices have risen because oil is traded on a global scale. The small carriers are really being squeezed because they can't negotiate higher rates, as demand is flat, said Dean Croke. He was referring to the U.S. Trucking Industry's four-year slump. Independent truckers are often paid a rate per load that includes fuel, and have less leverage to negotiate more money when diesel costs soar. Surcharges are used by large contract trucking companies like FedEx, JB Hunt, and CH Robinson to recover higher fuel costs. These big players can also hedge fuel risks and leverage their size to negotiate lower rates. FedEx and analysts say that customers have not resisted diesel prices yet. Experts say that truckers often pay their fuel bills shortly after purchasing them, while customers have to wait 30 days or longer before they can pay for transport. This creates a financial crunch. The off-contract rates are still about 25% higher compared to a year ago due to the thousands of drivers who have left the industry. "That is the cushion," Croke said. If these rates were not higher than last, it would be a catastrophe. The people would be screaming as they did in 2022 when diesel reached a record-high that summer. (Reporting and editing by David Gregorio; Lisa Baertlein)
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DHS pays 50,000 airport workers in the US as part of emergency measures
The U.S. Homeland Security Department of the United States announced on Friday that it would take emergency measures to pay 50,000 airport security officers who had not been paid since mid-February. Work absences caused chaos and long security lines at?U.S. airports. "(The Transportation Security Administration has) immediately begun?the process?of paying its workforce. DHS stated that TSA officers could start receiving their paychecks as soon as Monday. On Thursday, President Donald Trump announced that he would pay TSA employees. He then issued a memorandum directing payments to be made on Friday. TSA announced earlier Friday that nearly 14% of airport security agents did not show up to work on Thursday. This is the highest number since mid-February. On Thursday and Friday, major disruptions were reported, including long airport security lines. The TSA reported that more than 3,450 agents did not report to work on Thursday. This included more than a third of the officers at JFK in New York, and airports located in Baltimore, Houston, and Atlanta. TSA reported that airports in all parts of the country had lines of four hours or longer - the longest lines it has ever seen. Airlines warned that lines and absences could increase this weekend without concrete information on the payment of TSA officers. Since February, nearly 500 airport security personnel have quit their jobs. It's unclear how long funding will last, or if Trump would use the funds for Homeland Security Department that were approved last year in a massive tax-and-spending bill. Democrats in Congress are refusing to fund the?DHS and demanding changes in its immigration rules after agents in Minneapolis "shot and killed" U.S. citizens Renee Good, Alex Pretti. Citizens Renee Good, and Alex Pretti. The Republican leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives rejected on Friday a bipartisan compromise from the Senate to end the six-week funding deadlock for DHS. The Congressional Democrats proposed funding TSA separately, while negotiating reforms to the way Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents work. The TSA reiterated Wednesday that it could be forced to close smaller airports, if staffing problems worsened. The airports are dealing with an increase in school-break travel volume of about 5% compared to last year. On Monday, hundreds of U.S. Immigration agents and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) officers were deployed at 14 U.S. Airports to assist with security screening. (Reporting and editing by Chris Reese, Edmund Klamann, and David Shepardson)
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The chair of the US House Transportation panel will not run for re-election
The veteran Republican U.S. legislator?Sam?Graves said Friday that he would not run for re-election in this year. He joins more than 50 incumbents who have left the chamber. Graves has been representing a Missouri congressional district since 2001. The Republican colleagues of President Donald Trump are trying to keep their narrow majority in the House and Senate during the midterm elections in November. According to a House count, 57 House members - 36 Republicans & 21 Democrats – have declared they won't run for reelection. Graves has been a leading legislator in aviation issues, including the safety legislation the House unanimously passed on Thursday following the mid-air collision that occurred between a regional American Airlines jet and a Black 'Hawk Army helicopter last year that resulted in the deaths of 67 people. The congressman is working on a five year reauthorization for highway spending. This legislation could be delayed until the midterm elections. Graves, a member of the U.S. Senate, said this month that he supports a fee on electric vehicle owners to pay for highway repairs in the U.S. The majority of federally-funded?road repair revenue is collected by diesel and gasoline tax, but EVs don't use these fuels. The House Republicans proposed a new annual fee of $250 for owners of EVs, and $100 hybrid EVs. However, it was not included within the'massive tax bill and spending bill approved by Congress. Graves co-authored legislation that Congress passed in 2020 to increase U.S. Air Traffic Controller staffing. It also increased funding to prevent runway close-calls and speed up refunds on canceled flights. The 2024 FAA reauthorization measures prohibit airlines from charging fees for families to travel together. They also require airplanes to have cockpit recording devices that record for 25 hours. Maximum civil penalties for airline consumer violation are increased from $25,000 to $75,000, and aircraft production is scrutinized more closely.
Bloomberg News reports that Saudi pipeline bypasses Hormuz and pumps 7 million barrels per day of oil.
Bloomberg News reported that Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline, which circumvents the Strait of Hormuz and pumps?oil to its full capacity of 7 million barrels per day, according to a source familiar with the issue.
Bloomberg reported that Saudi Arabia exports 5 million barrels of crude oil a day from its Yanbu port, located on the?Red Sea. The country also exports 700,000 to 900,000 barrels per day in oil products.
Could not verify the report immediately. Aramco, the Saudi Arabian oil company, did not immediately respond to an inquiry for comment.
Aramco CEO Amin Nasser had earlier told reporters on a March earnings call that it was expected the East-West pipe to reach its full capacity 7 million bpd within the next few days as customers reroute.
Conflict in the Gulf Region, triggered by U.S. The conflict in the Gulf region,?triggered by?U.S.
Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz. This has trapped a fifth of the world's oil supplies and liquefied gas, sending crude oil prices soaring above $100 per barrel. (Reporting and editing by Jan Harvey in Bengaluru, and Joe Bavier.)
(source: Reuters)