Dalai Lama blesses Tuscan land for new complex

Tibetan spiritual leader teaching in Tuscany

(ANSA) - Pisa, June 13 - Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama urged his followers to cover their heads to beat the heat of the Tuscan sun as he blessed the site of a new Buddhist monastic complex Friday.

"I remember one time in Mumbai when it was so hot that I took a towel, wet with cold water, to put on my head and that's what I do even now," said the Dalai Lama as he tried to cool off with a damp white cloth on his head. "Today is really hot but I think that mentally, we are all happy to be here," he added. The Dalai Lama is visiting a Tibetan Buddhist centre in Pomaia in northern Tuscany near the historic city of Pisa, meeting with visitors from around Italy including Franciscan monks as well as Buddhists.

On Saturday and Sunday, the Dalai Lama will take part in teaching events in Livorno on the sea coast. Before the ceremony blessing the site of the new monastery, the Dalai Lama admired the seeds of plants placed in a large pot by children. These will become the shoots of brotherhood and peace," he said. 

Fiat confirms revenue targets of 93 bn euros

CEO says EC anti-trust probe 'not a problem for us'

(ANSA) - Venice, June 13 - Sergio Marchionne, chief executive of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, on Friday confirmed the group's financial targets for 2014 including revenues of about 93 billion euros. Net income will reach between 0.6 billion euros and 0.8 billion euros, he said.

Marchionne also said that a European Commission anti-trust probe involving Fiat and two other multinational companies "is not a problem for us". peaking on the sidelines of a conference in Venice, he said the investigation opened in Brussels will find nothing against Fiat. Elier this week, the EC announced the probe into whether tax arrangements granted by three EU countries amounted to illegal State aid.

The EU's antitrust regulator is examining whether tax deals granted by Luxembourg, Ireland and the Netherlands respectively, to Fiat Finance and Trade, Apple and Starbucks were in contravention of European competition rules. "In the current context of tight public budgets, it is particularly important that large multinationals pay their fair share of taxes," said EU antitrust chief Joaqun Almunia. Ad hoc tax agreements are not illegal per se under European law, but "they could contain illegal State aid if they involve specific and selective advantages to some companies or groups of companies," the EU regulator said.

Marchionne added that expectations for 2014 Maserati orders will "maybe" reach the 40,000 target and the luxury line "may" end the year with more losses than gains. Taking a longer view, production appears to be "on pace" for a 2018 target of 75,000 Maseratis. 

ISSpresso coffee to launch at space station

May comfort on future 'interplanetary exploration missions'

(ANSA) - Rome, June 13 - The chief of the Italian Space Agency (ISA) on Friday said a groundbreaking new system for making espresso coffee in space, ISSpresso, may improve life for astronauts on interplanetary exploration missions. ISA President Roberto Battison said the space agency is bringing the Italian hot beverage system to the International Space Station (ISS) thanks to cooperation agreements with NASA and the space agencies' shared objective of "improving the quality of life of ISS astronauts, as well as the astronauts who will take part in future long interplanetary exploration missions".

Italian coffee maker Lavazza and aerospace food engineering firm Argotec are launching a coffee-making system that for the very first time will make authentic Italian espresso in space, the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and Argotec said Friday. "Today we are in a position to overcome the limits of weightlessness and enjoy a good espresso," said Giuseppe Lavazza, vice president of Lavazza. Dubbed ISSpresso after to the name of the International Space Station (ISS), the system is set to be deployed on the Futura Mission - Italy's second long term mission to the ISS - at the end of 2014. The Futura Mission will also feature the first Italian woman to go into space, Samantha Cristoforetti, who could become the first astronaut in history to drink an real espresso coffee in orbit.

The ISSpresso is the first capsule-based espresso system able to work in the extreme, microgravity conditions of space, where principles regulating fluid dynamics and liquid mixtures are very different than on earth, complicating the handling of liquids at high temperature and high pressure. For example, the plastic tube carrying water inside normal espresso machines has been replaced with a special steel tube that can withstand pressure of more than 400 bar, or 400 times atmospheric pressure at sea level. The machine weighs 20 kg due to heavy-duty safety and backup systems required by the ASI. The machine will not not only prepare a regular espresso, but also other hot beverages, such as caffe' lungo, tea, infusions and broth, so that food can also be rehydrated.

"Food provides an important psychological support and being able to enjoy a good Italian espresso may be just the right way to finish off the menu designed especially for each astronaut, helping him or her to feel closer to home," said David Avino, Argotec's managing director. A prototype of the space coffee machine is currently being tested and undergoing safety checks at Argotec's laboratories. Avino explained that the Argotec had worked on development for about a year before readying a functional project in June 2013. Avino said solutions and innovations found for the "ultra high-tech project" has are "applicable with immediate returns on Earth as well".

The new powers come after recent allegations of graft and tender-rigging in Milan Expo 2015 and a major dike project in Venice. Expo Commissioner Giuseppe Sala said Friday that he had seen a draft of the bill and was "very satisfied" with the new anti-corruption measures that he said are in best interests of the World Fair. Renzi had vowed to pass legislation to combat graft after the case, including the move to give greater powers to Cantone, and has called for life bans for politicians involved in corruption, saying this is a form of "high treason". 

Decree streamlines public service, fight corruption

Workers could face transfers as far as 50 km under draft

(ANSA) - Rome, June 13 - A major government decree designed to cut costs and streamline Italy's public service while boosting the powers of its anti-corruption czar was on the agenda for a cabinet meeting Friday, sources said. The decree includes a retirement directive stating that most civil servants can remain only two years beyond normal retirement age - excluding magistrates, who can remain on the job until age 75 "in order to safeguard the functionality of the courts".

Physicians and professors in the public service may be encouraged to take early retirement - even if they are not yet retirement age - when 2014 service levels reach 42.5 years for men and 41.6 years for women, sources said. It also aims to trim spending on research and consultants by 50% compared with 2013 spending levels and bans "economic" transactions involving international firms that have their headquarters in "so-called tax havens". As well, the draft says public employees may be transferred without their consent to work in the same jurisdiction but as far as 50 kilometers away from their base location. Sources said cabinet was also reviewing a draft decree on tax simplification as well as plans for a 12% rise in the road tax. On Thursday, Civil Service Minister Marianna Madia presented a series of measures in the draft document to unions representing public employees that also included plans for more flexible work hours, babysitter vouchers and more working from home.

In April, Premier Matteo Renzi announced the reform plans which he said would not only reduce costs and streamline services, but clear the way for as many as 10,000 jobs for young workers. He also said that no layoffs were being considered. The draft decree comes the same day as a report from the small-business group CGIA Mestre which said that businesses find Italy's public administration the worst in Europe to deal with.

The report, released by CGIA Mestre's Giuseppe Bortolussi, said that the "malfunctioning" Italian public service costs companies an average of 7,000 euros per year in paperwork and fees. That is crippling for small business, the report said. The draft decree is also set to give anti-corruption czar Raffaele Cantone "extraordinary authority" to supervise public contracts and impose penalties. It also ensures that work can continue on projects that are subject to corruption investigation.

Venice mayor quits in anger amid bribery probe

Govt prepares corruption crackdown, new powers for graft czar

(ANSA) - Venice, June 13 - Giorgio Orsoni quit as Venice mayor Friday in the MOSE flood-barriers graft scandal under pressure from the ruling Democratic Party (PD) that backed him, just as the government prepared to unveil tough measures to crack down on corruption. Orsoni, who was being probed for illegal financing of political parties over his 2010 city election campaign, was released from house arrest Thursday after reaching a plea bargain with prosecutors, accepting a four-month suspended jail term, which judges must approve.

As he tendered his resignation Friday, Orsoni revoked the powers of his city council. "It's nothing against any individual official," he said in a written address, while still calling out "opportunist and hypocritical reactions" to his arrest, "even from some members of city council".

Just a day earlier, Orsoni said nothing would force him to step down, because there was "no objective reason". "I have nothing to reproach myself for," added Orsoni at a news conference. "I couldn't have known that an illegal system was used (for the 2010 campaign)," he said, adding that he has assigned fund-raising to third parties. "I have made many enemies and maybe this is the price I'm paying".

Orsoni was among 35 people arrested earlier this month over the MOSE probe, in a group of 100 suspects under investigation. These include former Veneto governor and ex-minister Giancarlo Galan, currently a Senator for ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia (FI) party, and Altero Matteoli, a former centre-right environment and transport minister. Prosecutors are looking at allegations a corruption scam saw 25 million euros in taxpayer money funnelled to political campaigns and away from MOSE, a 5.5-billion-euro system of retractable dikes set to be operable in 2016 after decades of delays. The MOSE scandal broke last week, less than a month after other high-profile arrests over alleged corruption on contracts for Milan Expo 2015. Premier Matteo Renzi, whose center-left PD had pressured Orsoni to step down, has vowed to pass legislation to combat graft after the case, including a move to give greater powers to national anti-corruption chief Raffaele Cantone.

Florence to open modern-art museum

De Chirico, Morandi, Depero, Nannucci at S.M. Novella square

(ANSA) - Florence, June 12 - Florence is to open its first public modern-art museum on June 24. Entry to the 20th Century Museum will be free to all Florentines from 12 to 22 on the first day, unveiled by Mayor Dario Nardella.

The 300 works, divided into 15 sections, will be housed in the Leopoldine complex in Piazza Santa Maria Novella. Among the paintings, sculptures, videos and installations are works by Maurizio Nannucci (Everything Might Be Different), Giorgio de Chirico (Les bains mystérieux), Fortunato Depero (Nitrito in velocità), Alberto Moretti (Malcolm X ed altri) and Giorgio Morandi (Natura morta). 

Padoan says banks must make most of ECB measures

Italy, Europe can 'scrape along' or boost economic growth

(ANSA) - Milan, June 12 - Italian banks must take advantage of reduced market stress and new measures introduced by the European Central Bank to "give new impetus" to growth, Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said Thursday.

Speaking to a conference on pensions, Padoan said that the banking system demonstrated "enormous capacity for strength" in the face of the global financial crisis and Italy's economic downturn. Now, it must do more to encourage economic growth, taking advantage of measures announced last Thursday by the ECB to boost lending to business, said Padoan.

He added that the government is working on some "measures to change the incentive system" within the economy that he said he hoped would be passed "in the coming days". Concluded Padoan: "The Italian and European economies are faced with two options for the next five to 10 years: scrape along or jump on a path of growth and accelerate the expansion and creation of new jobs".