The winner of the event was GM-elect Mahdi Gholami Orimi, who managed to edge out GM Marcin Tazbir and IM Kundu Kaustuv on tiebreaks despite not playing in the first round Gholami will receive a €1,500 first prize along with 11 rating points I finished my tournament in Italy with a huge win over the legendary Grandmaster Alberto David It was a tough tournament but I am so happy to end it on such a high note I've now defeated 3 GMs in my comeback to competitive chess the only way to follow top-flight tournaments was to get a copy of a newspaper's chess column or wait for the publishing of the latest Chess Informant to look over the games As far as direct access to players and personalities was concerned this was limited to organizers and journalists the experience for chess fans has become infinitely more immersive Rozman has been one of the trailblazers in terms of providing this immersion and with over five million YouTube subscribers, his participation in any tournament becomes an instant spectacle. For the Spilimbergo Open, viewers were able to follow Rozman's performance via live YouTube broadcasts hosted by his coach, GM Arturs Neiksans and then see Rozman's opinion on his games in retrospective recaps Adding to the viewer experience, GM Hikaru Nakamura also produced recaps featuring Rozman's games (in a bygone era it was unheard of to see the world number-two commentating on an IM's games).  Rozman opened proceedings with a 17-move miniature against Giulio Simoni and started the event with a solid 3.5/5, but his most esthetic highlight occurred in round seven when he sacrificed his queen against Albanian CM Klendi Zeneli The pinnacle of Rozman's tournament was his final-round game against the Luxembourgish-Italian GM David. After punishing David for playing the rare, hypermodern English Defense Rozman bulldozed his opponent's kingside and uncorked a brilliant knight sacrifice that won on the spot Rozman posted a recap where he excitedly gave a play-by-play of the game including an anecdote about accidentally knocking over pieces with a pen (27:15) Rozman also sent out a powerful message regarding his journey to GM in his final YouTube recap announcing: "I have no intention of stopping." Unfortunately, an online incident earlier in the tournament precipitated an announcement by Rozman, who had to speak out against misogyny that was occurring on stream during his round-four pairing with FM Liwia Jarocka In a recap titled "I'm done with this" Rozman made a statement condemning the unspecified comments: "There was a fundamental lack of respect for my opponent and so on" and went on to cite this behavior as "the reason that more women do not play chess." As the foremost personality in online chess and a staunch defender of equality in chess Rozman's words should be heeded by offenders: "The way you behave reflects poorly on this channel and the chess community as a whole My travels during my assignment to Aviano Air Base in Italy have impressed upon me that for many people here breakfast is not much more than a brioche and a cappuccino I like to frequent a cafe where I can eat a pistachio brioche and sip a latte macchiato a pastry shop whose name translates to The Strange Delights My family and I checked out the shop in Spilimbergo which is about 30 minutes by car from Aviano a mammoth creation that feels like it weighs about 5 pounds It can be paired with the shop’s mega cappuccino which is made with almost 34 ounces of milk and eight shots of espresso The drink is too much for one person to consume so be sure to have a companion or two along to share if you order it We ordered a mega brioche with white chocolate drizzle and cookies on top and we chose chocolate-and-pistachio filling but the chocolate was applied so thickly that our dish barely looked like a brioche which really enhanced the creamy consistency of the filling and brought out the indulgent chocolate flavor This breakfast item made such an impression that for my next birthday I think I will ask my wife to get me a mega brioche instead of a cake All the rich baked goodness made me long for a drink to wash it down so it was time to take the mega cappuccino plunge which I did after adding six packets of sugar I did not come close to finishing the drink there are plenty of other Italian bakery standards on offer including brioches with jam and small pastries of all kinds The restaurant also advertises “latte art” courses for those interested in the presentation of the perfect cup of coffee But I’m happy to indulge in what they’re creating but the mega brioche costs 25 euros; regular espressos and lattes range from 2-4 euros A selection of images from Richard Kalvar’s retrospective in Spilimbergo the skill is in proving it,” Richard Kalvar once wrote the American-turned-French photographer has been traveling the world photographing the strange and slightly surreal aspects of human life he was awarded the International Award of Photography by the Centro di Ricerca e Archiviazione della Fotografia (the CRAF) in Italy for his lifetime contribution to the world of photography “The exhibition is not only a tribute to Kalvar’s mastery but also an opportunity for each of us to immerse ourselves in a visual dimension that challenges our own perceptions,” writes Mario Anzil Vice President adn Councillor for Culture and Sports in the Friuili-Venezia Giulia region “We are prompted to look beyond the surface Accompanying the exhibition is a series of three essays written around the 80 photographs on view Michele Smargiassi revisits one image in particular and the moment that Kalvar made the shot: faces herself head-on with her own reflection abundant breasts pushing against mirrored breasts Kalvar removes the transparency so you can’t tell it’s a shop window; Kalvar removes the transparency and it has become an encounter with the Self ‘I wanted to isolate this woman as she shamelessly looked at and touched a stranger who was giving the impression that she wanted to verify the resemblance.’ Then Kalvar takes another shot; although he knows he already has the photo he wants he takes another shot anyway because he is a great professional; he acknowledges that the work must be done and that he shouldn’t miss out on any other opportunities; however he realizes that they are ‘mere aftershocks after the great earthquake.’” the power of Kalvar’s approach lies in his ability to frame reality in a way that is likely invisible to most of us concealed in the “continuous flow of life.” It is Kalvar’s eye that manages to rend even the most mundane into something compelling — demonstrating a rare ability to evoke strong emotions of surprise or joy “This approach places him in a truly unique realm of the global photography scene which Kalvar has navigated with remarkable elegance and ease for over half a century continuously gifting us with visual surprises and teaching us to view reality with the intelligence of irony,” Sarcinelli concludes Visit “Journey Into a Mysterious World” at the Palazzo Tadea in Spilimbergo GM Marcin Tazbir (POL) and IM Kaustuv Kundu scored 7/9 each at 22nd Splimbergo Masters (>2000) 2024 Mahdi won the tournament due to better tie-break score Marcin and Kaustuv were placed second and third respectively The total prize fund of the tournament combining four sections (Masters The seven-day nine round rating tournaments were organized by Circolo scacchi "Le due torri" Spilimbergo at Centro Sportivo La Favorita in Splimbergo The total participation combining four tournaments was 451 80 in Open B (1500-1899) and 77 in Open C (Under 1700) Thanks to WGM Bettina Trabert (GER) for the above information 5 WGMs and 6 WIMs took part in the Masters (>2000) tournament from 31 countries across the world The Open A (1700-2099) category had 140 players Open B (1500-1899) 80 and Open C (Under 1700) witnessed 77 players All four tournaments were organized by Circolo scacchi "Le due torri" Spilimbergo from 9th to 15th August 2024 at Centro Sportivo La Favorita in Splimbergo The time control was 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment Details Official site Circolo scacchi Splimbergo fb We have launched the ChessBase India App. Check out this amazing resource! Android for now - Download the app now Follow Tweets by @ChessbaseIndia ChessBase India is proud to be the official partner of chessbase.com reporting on events in India Like our Facebook page for more Indian chess updates The all new ChessBase Premium Account which gives you access to ten amazing online ChessBase services like PlayChess Become a part of the ever-growing ChessBase India Youtube Channel. Subscribe now and stay update with our awesome video content.  Palazzo Tadea in Spilimbergo will host a photography exhibition entitled Tour de France by Robert Capa and other Magnum photographers organized by the Center for Research and Archiving of Photography in collaboration with Suazes and Magnum Photos The event is organized with the support of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region the Friuli Foundation and the sponsorship of the University of Udine.The exhibition presents more than 80 images taken by masters of the famous Magnum photo agency one of the world’s most popular and beloved sports The photographs on display recount the epics of the champions and the great international events first and foremost the Tour de France (which this year for the first time in history will start from Italy) but also the extraordinary humanity of the cyclists and the public that supports them Thanks to the sensitivity and talent of the Magnum authors “he who flees is not a coward,” a concept that finds full expression in this exhibition The exhibition is an opportunity for photography and cycling enthusiasts as it aims to offer a deep and human look at the sport with a tribute not only to the great champions but also to the passion and dedication of all those who live the sport with the stories and emotions captured by the lenses of Magnum photographers The public can visit the exhibition Monday through Friday 1939 © Robert Capa © International Center of Photography / Magnum Photos This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page The dates displayed for an article provide information on when various publication milestones were reached at the journal that has published the article activities on preceding journals at which the article was previously under consideration are not shown (for instance submission All content on this site: Copyright © 2025 Elsevier B.V. Adore Jesus’ Real Presence in the Eucharist Explained’ Series Addresses Marian Devotion in Arlington Diocese and Beyond Congress Must Act Against Online Child Exploitation Oklahoma Board Approves First Catholic Charter School in the Country Pope Francis Names Two New Auxiliary Bishops for San Diego Who Immigrated to US as Teens Catholic honored for helping raise money to restore Paris cathedral founder of Travisanutto Giovanni mosaic studio They stand next to an artistic rendering of the mosaic design for the central dome of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington By Kelly Sankowski • Catholic News Service • Posted December 12 WASHINGTON (CNS) — Giovanni Travisanutto’s mosaic career began when he was an 11-year-old boy standing on a step stool to reach the workbench at the mosaic school in Spilimbergo It ended with him once again reaching new heights as he stood atop scaffolding 150 feet up installing the mosaic section that would complete both his career and the original plans for the Trinity Dome in the As he sat in the pews of the shrine’s Upper Church Dec looking up at the 18,300-square-foot mosaic the founder of the Italian studio that completed the dome artwork recalled how he entered the mosaic craft because he had no other choice Travisanutto’s hometown of Spilimbergo The only school remaining was the Scuola di Mosaico where people from around the world are trained in the mosaic craft When Travisanutto completed elementary school Travisanutto had to pull up a block on which to stand so he could work he was discouraged from doing the work and took a brief break from classes thanks to the help of “a special teacher” who “understood he had to do something to make me on the right track came in his wheelchair to the large warehouse where Travisanutto his son Fabrizio and other workers were completing the mosaic The father-son team had rented space separate from their studio because the mosaic was so large with the image of Mary reaching more than 31 feet tall by 33 feet wide also completed the mosaics for the national shrine’s Knights of Columbus Incarnation Dome Travisanutto said every time he visited he would look at the Trinity Dome and think it would be impossible to install a mosaic there “This one was just a dream,” he said “We said this would never happen.” telling him that they wanted his studio to make the Trinity Dome Mosaic His team had the same amount of time to work on the Trinity Dome as it did for the other two domes The Travisanuttos needed more than the usual 10 workers to complete such a large project in so little time so mosaic workers from different workshops in Spilimbergo — known as “town of mosaics” — joined the effort From March 2016 until April 2017 the team worked for 10 hours a day Travisanutto said everyone was excited to work on the project placing a stone in each section that was being worked on The mosaic process began with color drawings to scale which the studio then blew up to the actual size that would be placed in the dome After the designer approved the larger drawings workers cut the paper into 30,000 sections which were then numbered to correspond with thousands of color shades Each part of the mosaic has precise coloring Mark the Evangelist has at last 20 different shades of blue in it and each person’s face has about 30 different shadings The entire mosaic is made up of more than 14 million pieces of Venetian glass called “tesserae,” which the workers hand cut with a hammer to create the right size for the design Travisanutto sent three workers to Washington for the installation you feel that you do something for your religion for the future of your religion,” Travisanutto said Travisanutto joined Cardinal Wuerl and Msgr Rossi as the last section of the mosaic was set in place said he will still stop by the mosaic studio at times to greet the workers (learning we would make the mosaic) was the best news I had because I knew I would finish with this one,” he said … It is a dream that came true.” CatholicPhilly.com works to strengthen the connections between people families and communities every day by delivering the news people need to know about the Catholic Church you and hundreds of other people become part of our mission to inform form in the Catholic faith and inspire the thousands of readers who visit every month Please join in the church's vital mission of communications by offering a gift in whatever amount that you can ― a single gift of $40 Your gift will strengthen the fabric of our entire Catholic community and sustain CatholicPhilly.com as your trusted news source PREVIOUS: New York Archdiocese pays $40 million to clergy sexual abuse victims NEXT: Washington Archdiocese appeals court decision on transit ad USCCB: Statement of USCCB on Vatican’s Document Addressing Pastoral Blessings Pope Francis’ May 2023 Prayer Intention | Watch Video Catholic Charities of Philadelphia Returns to Roots Dan Tarrant Brings God to the World Through Catholic Filmmaking Photo by: USA BasketballChennedy Carter Leads USA U19 Women’s Team In Scoring As They Eclipse Host Italy In Exhibition La scrittrice descrive il suo programma per andare in italia con le sue nipoti Lei descrive il suo itinerario che include un po’ di tutto – visitare musei Fanno un corso per imparare a fare la pizza margherita ed un’altro per fare il gelato Hanno prenotato un giro per Roma sulla Vespa Giacché il viaggio sarà il primo all’estero per le ragazze lei vuole che le nipoti vedano le cose più famose dell’Italia ma anche godere la dolce vita con qualche giorno di tranquillità.  Honoring one’s origins and realizing with one’s own eyes that the Scuola Mosaicisti del Friuli Institute where mosaicists have been trained for a hundred years in his grandfather’s native town David Zavagno to leave his hometown in the U.S Zavagno visited the Scuola Mosaicisti del Friuli in May preceded by an extensive correspondence in which Dr Zavagno had expressed his desire to leave Cleveland to join the festivities that celebrate the school known from a distance through family stories which also saw the participation of Giovanni Travisanutto and his son Fabrizio former students of the school and today owners of a mosaic workshop whose activity is well integrated in the American market allowed Zavagno to admire the many works exposed to access the mosaic workshops where the students were engaged in the execution of their works with hammer blows from the first copies in Roman and Hellenistic style up to the contemporary mosaic where the classic canons give way to creativity.  The school building itself impressed Zavagno knowing that the original 1930s building on via Corridoni was born thanks to a contribution from the National Terrazzo and Mosaic Contractors’ Association who had established themselves in the field of terrazzo and mosaics to learn more about the great external redevelopment undertaking that the school will go through in the coming months and whose design was born within it Jus’ massive mosaic flooring with images of the flora and the regional fauna will surround the two exhibition buildings on Viale Barbacane Zavagno enjoyed a walk through the historic center of Spilimbergo and an interview with Mayor Enrico Sarcinelli a meeting with the students of the school was scheduled: a moment strongly desired by Dr Zavagno to leave a testimony and a sign to young people who dream of affirming themselves in life through the art of mosaics Zavagno addressed the audience of students and teachers testifying his strong bond with Friuli and an artisan knowledge that made his family fortune was from Spilimbergo and like many young people he had emigrated in search of fortune Through family vicissitudes he had come to the U.S After an initial period where the insertion into a different society was certainly not easy with language barriers and a job market that offered low-qualifying activities to foreigners the Friulian “Henry” managed to open his own business in 1924 in Cleveland specialized in the processing of marble and partly in the execution of mosaics resourcefulness and skills made the company grow through generations and it is still in business.  Zavagno learned craft skills by watching his grandfather and father at work It was they who passed on to him the techniques and with experience and without specific education Should David Zavagno had achieved his professional career in another sector the love for stone and mosaic would have remained in his soul as well as his being from Friuli where the two aspects are closely linked due to its family history and biography the only place where you acquire a profession that our ancestors learned with difficulty in the shops and on construction sites to be successful and to transform from workers into entrepreneurs Zavagno therefore invited the students to become aware of the importance of the school they attend a possibility that his grandfather and the other Friulians of the time did not have He urged them to excel in the art of mosaic Bring your mosaics wherever life takes you: the world is yours to explore demonstrated his appreciation for the educational work that the school is conducting by awarding the president and director a donation of 10,000 euros with the hope that it will support the training activity He then delivered two certificates of esteem from the Embassy and the American Association that bring together marble and mosaic companies into the hands of director Brovedani “The generous and concrete gesture of David Zavagno and his wife are for us testimony of how the Scuola Mosaicisti del Friuli is appreciated in the world,” declared President Lovison but it is they as Mosaic Masters who bring the passion knowledge and beauty of the mosaic to every place We are proud of this and it is our duty to thank those who have done before us to make this school an international mosaic center I welcome the exhortation of our American supporter to ensure that the school is committed to always being first in everything it does we owe it to the many emigrants from Friuli to our land and also to our friend David Zavagno to whom our most sincerity goes Scuola Mosaicisti del Friulihttps://scuolamosaicistifriuli.it/en/ Discover all our subscription plans and become a member How high might inflation rise in the US in the coming years Blanchard (2021) and Summers (2021) caution that the recent $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) together with the fiscal expansion passed in 2020 may push unemployment low enough to cause overheating and surging inflation see a persistent surge in price pressures as unlikely and Powell (2021) argues that the rise in inflation will be “neither particularly large nor persistent” to re-assess how strongly US inflation responds to the unemployment rate including since the start of the COVID-19 crisis with a focus on underlying (core) inflation to predict how high inflation might rise depending on how low unemployment falls with the government spending expansion To understand recent inflation behaviour, we separate it into two components: (1) underlying inflation that reflects macroeconomic conditions (the Phillips curve); and (2) a transitory component arising from changes in relative prices due to microeconomic factors. We measure underlying inflation using weighted median CPI inflation data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland which indicate the price change at the 50th percentile (in terms of consumption basket weights) of the distribution of price changes in a given month This approach filters out extreme price movements from various components such as the record 84% fall in cell phone service prices in March 2017 (annualised) which prompted commentary by then Fed Chair Yellen.1 Underlying (median CPI) inflation has moved closely with macroeconomic conditions in recent years (Figure 1) During 2017-19 when unemployment declined well below Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates of its natural rate median CPI inflation rose above 2.5% (quarter-over-quarter) Figure 1 US inflation fell in 2020 as unemployment rose Long-term forecast = SPF 10-year-ahead forecast an often-used simpler measure of core inflation based on the CPI excluding food and energy prices has not reliably reflected macroeconomic conditions it was on average below the long-term expected level for CPI inflation based on the Survey of Professional Forecasters (SPF) it fluctuated widely from -1.1% in 2020Q2 – the largest fall in the series’ history – with record drops in airline fares when several of these one-off price drops rebounded providing a noisy signal of underlying inflation The CPI excluding food and energy will probably rise sharply in 2021Q2 on a year-over-year basis but this will reflect base effects from the record 2020Q2 drop rather than a rise in underlying inflation median CPI inflation has moved in line with its pre-pandemic relation with unemployment – the Phillips curve – and at first there is a puzzle inflation was higher above its long-term forecasted level than could have been expected given the rise in unemployment the labour market was very unusual in 2020 with a large share of job losers on temporary layoff due to lockdown measures having arguably little effect on wage bargaining and price dynamics When we exclude job losers on temporary layoffs from the unemployment rate (right panel) the puzzle fades and inflation is broadly in line with its pre-pandemic Phillips curve relation Figure 2 US inflation: No puzzle in COVID-19 crisis Note: Inflation gap = inflation – long-term SPF forecast  Unemployment gap = unemployment – CBO natural rate Our Phillips curve estimates based on quarterly data for 1985-2019 imply that a 1 percentage point fall in the unemployment rate should raise median CPI inflation by 0.24 percentage points (the 95% confidence interval is 0.17–0.31 percentage points) We find little evidence of non-linearity with inflation rising faster at lower rates of unemployment so far despite the sample including times of low unemployment.2 Our Phillips curve slope estimate is similar to that of Blanchard et al (2015) (about 0.2) and of Hazell and others (2020) (0.25 for median CPI inflation) we investigate how high inflation might rise under two unemployment scenarios we consider the April 2021 IMF World Economic Outlook baseline which reflects the IMF staff’s assessment of the ARPA and earlier fiscal packages with the unemployment rate falling to 3.6% by 2023 about 0.8pp below the CBO natural rate (Figure 3) median CPI inflation would then rise to 2.4% (quarter-over-quarter) by 2023 we consider Blanchard’s (2021) scenario where the unemployment rate falls to 1.5% reflecting larger assumed fiscal multipliers calibrated on the basis of conditions that prevailed after the global financial crisis – although such large multipliers might not apply now with the rapid recovery A substantial fall in unemployment could also occur with smaller multipliers but with additional fiscal stimulus beyond the ARPA our estimates imply that median CPI inflation would rise to 2.9% by 2023 we consider a steeper Phillips curve slope – the upper bound of our aforementioned confidence band Figure 3 US inflation could rise to 2.5% or more by 2023 our estimates imply median CPI inflation rising to about 2.5–3.0% by 2023 and which has averaged about 0.2 percentage points below CPI inflation over the past decade due to methodological differences Inflation of the PCE excluding food and energy which has averaged below median PCE inflation by about 0.5 percentage points reflecting disinflationary relative price changes Such outcomes would be broadly consistent with the Fed’s average inflation targeting strategy with inflation modestly overshooting its long-term level following a number of years of undershooting it Inflation could rise higher than we envisage if expectations de-anchor and rise with actual inflation resulting in a self-fulfilling inflationary spiral How likely is such a scenario – which has not materialised for several decades – to occur with the temporary pandemic relief package currently being implemented Blanchard (2021) concurs that current Phillips curve estimates do not yield predictions of high inflation but emphasises that the aforementioned sharp fall in unemployment could de-anchor expectations and steepen the Phillips curve resulting in a self-perpetuating rise in inflation and costly policy trade-offs when unemployment persisted below its natural rate and inflation rose from below 2% in 1961 to nearly 6% by 1969 the rise in government spending in the 1960s was not a one-time relief bill along the lines of ARPA but rather reflected longer-term commitments to finance the Vietnam War and Great Society programmes A more appropriate reference for today is the temporary government spending and inflation during the Korean War in the early 1950s the Fed’s communication and policy framework are now more credible and consistent with explicit policy goals than they were in the 1960s and 1970s Inflation has undershot its long-term expected level for much of the past decade – sometimes by more than the inflation overshoot we now predict – with little evidence of de-anchoring the structure of the economy is now more open to foreign competition and labour markets are more flexible which would further dampen price pressures a period of low unemployment could have positive supply-side effects further mitigating inflationary pressure and reducing scarring from the COVID-19 crisis as more (discouraged) workers re-enter the labour force and efficiency-enhancing job switches increase as labour markets tighten enhancing human capital through on-the-job training and prompting investment as well as research and development we see little risk that the current temporary government spending for pandemic relief causes an inflationary spiral We expect instead a rise in inflation that is modest and temporary We have focused in this column on the impact of the ARPA The recently unveiled American Jobs Plan proposal but the spending is likely to be spread over a longer period and raise potential output through increased infrastructure investment These factors could limit overheating concerns as the plan is being firmed up it is important to keep in mind the lessons from the past More persistent and unfunded long-term commitments with limited supply-side benefits could pose greater inflationary risks Should such upside risks to inflation arise they would complicate the exit from the Fed’s very accommodative monetary policy stance Authors’ note: The views expressed in this column are the sole responsibility of the authors and should not be attributed to the International Monetary Fund Swapnil Agarwal and Mattia Coppo provided excellent research assistance “Monetary Policy for a High-Pressure Economy” “The Nonpuzzling Behavior of Median Inflation” “Inflation and Activity: Two Explorations and their Monetary Policy Implications” “Should We Reject the Natural Rate Hypothesis?” Journal of Economic Perspectives 32(1): 97–120 “In defense of concerns over the $1.9 trillion relief plan” Peterson Institute for International Economics Realtime Economic Issues Watch “Inflation fears and the Biden stimulus: Look to the Korean War Gopinath, G (2021), “Structural Factors and Central Bank Credibility Limit Inflation Risks” “The Slope of the Phillips Curve: Evidence from U.S Powell, J (2018) “Monetary Policy at a Time of Uncertainty and Tight Labor Markets”, Remarks at “Price and Wage-Setting in Advanced Economies” Powell, J (2021), Virtual Hearing - Oversight of the Treasury Department’s and Federal Reserve’s Pandemic Response “The Biden stimulus is admirably ambitious Yellen, J (2016), “Macroeconomic Research After the Crisis” speech at 60th annual economic conference “The Elusive ‘Great’ Recovery: Causes and Implications for Future Business Cycle Dynamics” sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston 1 We derive quarterly inflation rates from the Cleveland Fed’s monthly median CPI inflation data using the methodology of Ball and Mazumder (2019) who convert monthly inflation to monthly price levels average over three months to get quarterly price levels compute the percentage change from the previous to the current quarter 2 Our baseline Phillips curve equation is: πt - Etπt+h = α + βxt + εt where πt = weighted median CPI (Q/Q SAAR) inflation; Etπt+h = 10-year-ahead SPF inflation expectations; and xt = 4-quarter average gap between unemployment and its CBO natural rate When adding a xt squared term to the equation we fail to reject the null of linearity (p-value =  26%) new political challenges have been added to existing ones (Gourinchas et al Among the existing domestic challenges are the distributional effects of climate policy with minimal impact on aggregate activity (Metcalf and Stock 2023) could lead to significant sectoral reallocation This causes political resistance from sectors expecting to shrink The voluntary nature of the Paris Agreement is another existing challenge It causes concerns about losing competitiveness through climate policy if other countries do not comply Among the new challenges are the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath Government programmes to support households and sectors affected by the pandemic have resulted in much-reduced fiscal space to finance the green transition the surge in inflation forced central banks to raise interest rates Higher rates curtail financing for clean technology investments more than for conventional technology because clean technology typically has a more front-loaded investment profile (Hirth and Steckel 2016) Additional new challenges arise from the effect of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on energy supply With the abrupt decrease in energy trade from Russia to Europe concerns about energy security soared and remained high for over a year (Figure 1.) The scramble to secure energy supply resulted in increased investments in fossil fuel infrastructure especially oil and natural gas  (IEA 2023) Russia re-directed its supply of oil and natural gas away from Europe to China and India at a discount which increased the consumption of these fuels in these two countries Figure 1 Weekly number of US and European newspaper articles referencing “energy security” and “green transition” 9 October 2021 to 9 October 2023 (9 October 2021 = 100) A third group of challenges arises from rising populism Populist movements have tended to challenge climate policies following the narrative that climate policy is a project of the ‘elites’ who stand against the will of ‘the people’ similarly to what happened to health policies during COVID-19 (Fiorino 2022 carbon pricing – the most efficient economic tool for emission reductions – has become a primary target and source for discontent the ‘yellow vest’ protests in France stopped an increase in gasoline taxes in 2018 and the recent protests in Europe in the agriculture and transportation sectors are focused on the Green Deal governments have leaned against previous climate policy instead of advancing it the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) achieved support in the US Congress partly through potentially protectionist measures such as local content requirements that might contravene WTO rules This reduces the opportunities for trade partners to benefit from the US green investment push The IRA also generates an estimated $391 billion in expenses (CRFB 2022) while carbon pricing would have generated a revenue climate policy was supported by significantly faster than expected technological achievements This translated into rapid declines in the prices of low-carbon energy the share of investments allocated to low-carbon energy technology has surpassed the share going to high-carbon energy technology (Figure 2) This process is self-reinforcing through two mechanisms This is most striking for solar panels: it is estimated that each doubling in cumulative production capacity in solar photovoltaics reduces prices by 22.5% (Creutzig et al The speed of these developments has surprised even experts World Energy Outlook reports from the International Energy Agency projected solar energy production well below the level of what eventually materialised The second self-reinforcing mechanism is network externalities supply chains and human capital were fully locked into a fossil fuel equilibrium refuelling a conventional car is extremely convenient due to a dense network of petrol stations electric vehicles and renewable energy generation have reached considerable market shares and continue to grow strongly globally (Figure 3) the boom in low-carbon technology is significantly affecting investments in oil and natural gas and market expectations are changing (Bogmans et al even the energy crisis of 2022 did not cause an increase in investments for fossil fuel-based powerplants (IEA 2023) it is more profitable to invest all research and development funds into one technology in order stay at the technology frontier a new self-sustaining equilibrium of electric vehicles can emerge (Koch et al Figure 3 Global electric vehicle (EV) sales and electricity generation sources How should policymakers navigate the race between political backlash and technological progress they should further enable low-carbon technology development Reinforcing the ongoing shift to clean technology could involve restricting sales of high-pollution goods or phasing out polluting technologies (Van Der Ploeg and Venables 2023) The government also has an important role in directing basic research towards technologies – such as green hydrogen and negative emission technology – that are currently still expensive but are needed at a large scale by mid-century the diffusion of technology to emerging markets and developing economies needs to be actively supported both among innovating countries and recipients of technology transfers as well as lower trade barriers (Hasna et al climate policies should be designed to ensure fair burden sharing within and across countries Surveys show that support for climate policies increases when they are effective and the policies are communicated well (Dechezleprêtre et al Climate policy also needs to be designed in a way that supports international cooperation The protectionist features of the policy package are not cooperative and should not be imitated the package is expected to accelerate low-carbon technology deployment in the US and The net effect on other countries could well be positive It is hoped that these positive spillovers will be sufficient to avert a harmful round of protectionist retaliation from other countries But designing climate policies that are fully consistent with the international trading system is possible – and would be even more beneficial Black, S, I W H Parry, and K Zhunussova (2023), “Is the Paris Agreement Working? A Stocktake of Global Climate Mitigation” Bogmans, C, A Pescatori, and E Prifti (2023), “The Impact of Climate Policy on Oil and Gas Investment” Creutzig, F, P Agoston, J C Goldschmidt, G Luderer, G Nemet, and R C Pietzcker (2017), “The Underestimated Potential of Solar Energy to Mitigate Climate Change” CRFB (2022), “CBO Scores IRA with $238 Billion of Deficit Reduction” Dechezleprêtre, A, A Fabre, T Kruse, B Planterose, A Sanchez Chico, and S Stantcheva (2022), “Fighting Climate Change: International Attitudes toward Climate Policies” Fiorino, D J (2022), “Climate Change and Right-Wing Populism in the United States" “Energy Transition: The Race between Technology and Political Backlash” Peterson Institute for International Economics Working Paper 2024 (004) “Green Innovation and Diffusion: Policies to Accelerate Them and Expected Impact on Macroeconomic and Firm-Level Performance” “The Role of Capital Costs in Decarbonizing the Electricity Sector” Environmental Research Letters 11(11): 114010 IEA (2022), Renewables 2022 IEA (2023), World Energy Investment 2023 Koch, N, N Ritter, A Rohlf, and F Scarazzato (2022), “When Is the Electric Vehicle Market Self-Sustaining? Evidence from Norway” “The Macroeconomic Impact of Europe’s Carbon Taxes” Spilimbergo, A (2021), "Populism and Covid-19" Van Der Ploeg, F, and A Venables (2023), “Radical Climate Policies” Waves of populism spread through Russia and the US at the end of the 19th century and through several European and Latin American countries in the 20th century populism remained marginal in Europe and became influential in some Latin American countries What is peculiar in the recent wave is that populism has spread and become influential in some countries with well-established liberal democracies This begs the question of how populism can not only co-exist but even thrive in liberal democracies In line with a common view in political science we use the definition of populism as “an ideology that considers society ultimately separated into two homogeneous and antagonist groups the ‘pure people’ versus the ‘corrupt elite’” (Mudde 2004) Populist leaders claim to have a monopoly on the political representation of the people This monopoly on representing the ‘people’ is almost a moral right which delegitimises all other parties This view is in contrast with the concept of liberal democracy Liberal democracies are political systems based on pluralism where different groups represent different interests and values which are all legitimate provided they respect the rules Associations play a key role in liberal democracies Alexis de Tocqueville in his Democracy in America (1835) writes on the role of associations (defined also as ‘intermediate bodies’ spontaneous groupings not organised by the state) in democracies But what is the role of associations if the populist leaders are the only legitimate representative of the people Are individuals who belong to associations more prone to voting for populist parties we bring this question to the data (Boeri et al We test whether belonging to a body in civil society (as proxied by belonging to a civil society association) reduces the probability of voting (as stated in retrospective questions) for a populist party We use several waves of the European Social Survey (ESS) which comprises more than 110,000 individual observations covering 18 European countries with populist parties for about 15 years To identify voting for populist parties in Europe and Latin America who classify populist parties based on the 2014 Chapel Hill Expert Survey (CHES) In our regressions we control for country and time effects (and their interactions) as well as for several individual characteristics We find strong (and statistically highly significant) evidence that individuals who belong to associations are less likely to vote for populist parties   The coefficient on civil association is about 3% This is a high number considering that the average vote share for populist parties is between 10% and 15% in most countries membership of civil society reduces the vote for populist parties by 20% to 30% Did the global financial crisis in 2008-9 and the recession in 2012 in some euro area countries change the effect of associations on the voting pattern The intensities of the crises are scarcely correlated with the presence of right-wing populist parties in power in subsequent years (see Figure 1.)  Figure 1a Cumulative change in GDP per capita between 2007 and 2016 Figure 1b Right-wing populist parties in national political systems When we split the samples into 2002-10 and 2012-16 the coefficient on civil association membership is negative and statistically significant for every year but becomes even more negative after the financial crisis Note also that the coefficient of the variable for (self-reported) insufficient income is negative and significant after the financial crisis and its magnitude increases 2-3 times in the post-crisis period What can explain the increasing negative correlation between civil association membership and populist vote One potential explanation is that before the crisis party affiliations were relatively strong and ideological voting behaviour played an important role with the diminished role of social-democratic parties across Europe – individual beliefs often shifted with many disconnecting from traditional parties many people felt open to vote for new parties provided ideological ‘anchors’ and alternative spaces where ‘outsiders’ could voice their opinions Another complementary explanation is that economic crises affect the system of beliefs in the role of the state (Giuliano and Spilimbergo 2013) This unanswered demand is fulfilled by civil society associations and less by populist voting OLS and Probit regressions have the potential problem of self-selection given voters may decide not to vote (Guiso et al we estimate the probability of participation We assume that lack of awareness affects voter turnout by increasing the cost of acquiring information about political platforms and candidates but does not directly impact choice of political party the results from estimating the two-step Heckman model support our main finding Civil society has long been recognised as a key defence of liberal democracy as Alexis de Tocqueville wrote almost two centuries ago populists may pragmatically use associations as transmission belts as historical experience in some Latin American countries may indicate is civil society an enemy or friend of populism we find that in Europe individuals belonging to associations are less prone to voting for populist parties Qualitatively similar results hold for most Latin American countries our findings also shed new light on the role of the global financial crisis in the political process The crisis has not simply caused a populist wave (Boeri et al. it may have changed (and enhanced) the role of civil society and ideologies are increasingly questioned Authors’ note: The views expressed in this study are the sole responsibility of the authors and should not be attributed to the IMF Boeri, B, Prachi Mishra, C Papageorgiou and A Spilimbergo (2018a), ““Populism and Civil Society” “A Dialogue between a Populist and an Economist” Democracy in America (edited and translated by H C Mansfield and D Winthrop) and the Rise of Populism: Economic Have-Nots and Cultural Backlash” This column is a lead commentary in the VoxEU debate on "Populism" Populism is a controversial and polarising subject at the best of times and particularly when employed in everyday conversation This may be because politicians frequently use the term in a derogatory way both against political opponents and as synonymous with incompetence and with more than a hint of schadenfreude many analysts expected Covid-19 would expose the contradictions of so-called populist politicians anew.1 But was Covid-19 a day of reckoning If the Global Financial Crisis could make the fortunes of populist politicians by bringing them to power would the Covid-19 pandemic finally be their undoing?2  in this column I review the reasons for which populists were expected to mishandle the pandemic in its early stages I find no clear evidence to suggest that populists in power systematically mismanaged the response to Covid-19 and conclude that populists will remain central to our landscape in the future But what were the reasons that analysts expected populist politicians to mishandle the pandemic it has often been said that populist politicians are better at identifying problems than at solving them and this view is likely to have coloured the predictions of observers starting with Dornbusch and Edwards (1991) have argued that populists in power yielded disastrous macroeconomic performance in Latin America when dealing with other crises and Magud and Spilimbergo (2021) extend this finding to show a similar track record of poor macroeconomic performance and weakened institutions over the last 30 years (2020) found such results for the entire world But perhaps most worrying was the populist record of systematically undermining institutions elements of our society which were themselves key to dealing with pandemics and other crises there was legitimate concern that populists would not be able to react appropriately to the growing public health emergency trust was seen to be a fundamental part of effective containment policies during the pandemic Communities with higher levels of trust could respond more robustly to measures mandated by governments (Brodeur et al with a lack of trust often associated with populist sentiments (Algan et al a lack of trust and an ineffective response to the pandemic might easily have resulted in a mutually reinforcing negative feedback loop where communities with low levels of trust followed fewer containment measures leading to an ineffective government response and less ability to contain the pandemic and thus eroding trust further the lack of trust was thought to permanently undermine public health experts (Eichengreen et al populists often employed narratives which raised tensions and were not useful in the fight against the pandemic Left-wing populists condemned public health systems for being dismantled by ‘neoliberal policies’ in the face of Covid-19 while right-wing populists emphasised the ‘foreign’ nature of the pandemic and the disproportionate price paid by locals through restrictions on their freedom (Wondreys and Mudde 2020) Populists with authoritarian tendencies also adopted a rhetoric of ‘machismo’ that minimised health risks and portrayed their nations as being at war with an imported virus (Ajzenman et al All these narratives distracted the focus from key containment measures populist politicians have often been accused of short-sightedness because of their continuous attempts to address people’s present needs It was believed that this short-sightedness would result in a lack of consistent planning necessary to fight the pandemic it was often presumed that the solution to pandemic would require international collaboration to succeed populist politicians (especially those with nationalistic tendencies) were against international coordination measures as these measures limited the freedom of the ‘people’ it was expected that populists in power would mishandle the response to the pandemic evidence on the management of the pandemic by populist regimes has been mixed to-date Right-wing and authoritarian governments seem to have reacted faster to the need for public health measures at least in the initial stages of the outbreak (Toshkov et al right-wing populist parties appear to have increased consensus when in power and to have remained stable when part of a coalition or in opposition (Wondreys and Mudde 2020) Other authors find that “strongly populist governments implemented fewer health measures against COVID-19 in February and fewer mobility restrictions in March of 2020” and note “…a weaker but statistically significant relationship between right-wing governments and COVID-19 policies” (Kavakli 2020)  However some have noted that “populism is associated with a greater COVID-19 death toll per capita [while] the deleterious effect of populism is weaker in relatively more democratic states” (Cepaluni et al there may be several reasons for the appearance of these varying results The pandemic shock hit different countries in asymmetric ways and a government’s response to the pandemic can be measured along several varying dimensions Many of these studies likewise measured different outputs with some authors looking at intermediate indicators and others looking directly at the (electoral or survey) performance of populist parties There was also no unique definition of a populist government with authors using different datasets and some focusing only on right-wing populists populist parties may also have been part of a broader non-populist coalition it is likely that comprehensive assessment of governments’ performances will be possible only at the end as the social and political effects materialise with time (Barrett et al because the pandemic did not ‘kill’ populism it is likely the case that mounting post-pandemic issues will rekindle this ideology once more and particularly when people do not feel represented by traditional parties Globalisation and its consequences are considered one of the leading causes of the rise in populism over the last decade (Rodrik 2018; see Guriev et al The post-pandemic world will experience at least three relatively new challenges that provide fertile ground for this phenomena: (1) the role of the government in economics (which has expanded during the Covid-19 emergency) (2) the unprecedented level of public debt (which rose as a consequence of the pandemic crisis),3 and (3) growing climate change policies.4 Because populists make a point of giving voices to unheard views these challenges call for a kind of new social contract Just as globalisation and economic insecurity fuelled populism before the appearance of Covid-19 this new set of challenges will create new political cleavages with a role for populist parties there is no clear evidence that its handling of the pandemic has ‘killed’ populism the pandemic crisis has spawned new political issues which if left unaddressed by traditional parties may rekindle the growth of this ideology once again Author’s note: This column is based on the remarks by the author at the e-conference “Populism: Economic Causes, Consequences, and Solutions” sponsored  by Georgetown University Global Economic Challenges Network Solvay Brussels School - Université Libre de Bruxelles and Chris Papageorgiou for their useful comments and discussions The views expressed in this note are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF "More than Words: Leaders' Speech and Risky Behavior During a Pandemic," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2034 “The European Trust Crisis and the Rise of Populism" “COVID’s Long Shadow: Social Repercussions of Pandemics” “What COVID-19 Can Teach Us About Mitigating Climate Change” The Macroeconomics of Populism in Latin America Funke, M, M Schularick, and C Trebesch (2020), “Populist Leaders and the Economy" “Did Populist Leaders Respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic More Slowly Magud, N, and A Spilimbergo (2021), “Economic and Institutional Consequences of Populism” “Revenge of the Experts: Will Covid-19 Renew or Diminish Public Trust in Science?” “Populism and the Economics of Globalization" Journal of International Business Policy 1(1): 12-33 societal trust or party preferences: what accounts for the variety of national policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe?” Journal of European Public Policy European Far-Right Parties and COVID-19.” Nationalities papers 1 A Google search for the words “Populism Covid-19” delivers up such titles as “Covid-19 Lays Bare the Price of Populism,”  “Covid-19: A political Virus …” “How Populism Has Proven Lethal in this Pandemic” and “Covid-19 exposed populist leaders ….” 2 In contrast to the 2008-9 Global Financial Crisis populists were in power in 16 countries before the start of the pandemic accounting for more than 25% of global GDP (Funke et al 3 Public debt is projected to rise from 84% of world GDP at the end of 2019 to 99% of world GDP by the end of 2021 4 For more on how the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change intersect All News FIDE News Chess News Top Top Federations Main Page / Search Tournaments Titles Transfers Calculators Download FIDE Circuit Women's Events '24-'25 Open Cycle 2025-2026 Women’s Cycle 2025-2026 Women’s Cycle 2023-2025 All Tournaments Main Events About FIDE Handbook Documents Financial Reports Officials Commissions & Committees Federations Affiliated Organizations Affiliated Members Honourable Dignitaries Chart The most important change in the top 10 in September is Alireza Firouzja’s return into the top 5 open The 21-year-old Iran-born Frenchman gained 16 rating points in the final leg of the Grand Chess Tour in Saint Louis while the runner-up Fabiano Caruana picked up 5 points and is now very close to the 2800 mark Nodirbek Abdusattorov earned 4 rating points in this competition and not only moved one position up in the top 100 Open but also topped the junior’s rating list The Women’s World Championship Challenger Tan Zhongyi emerged as the winner of the Belt and Road Women Chess Open in China to get 6 rating points and climb to the third position in the women’s list Yao Lan triumphally returned to the top 100 Women after a three-month break after earning an impressive 57 points in the 2024 British Championship and FE 22 Spilimbergo – Master Zsoka Gaal picked up 44 rating points and reached her career-high 60th position in the women’s rating list following her strong performance in the SixDays Budapest July-August 2024 Hans Niemann firmly established himself as a top 20 player in August After winning back-to-back matches over Anish Giri the American collected 22 rating points and reached his career-high 16th position (2733) in the open rating list Alina Kashlinskaya achieved arguably the greatest success in her career winning FIDE Women’s Grand Prix Tbilisi gaining 16 rating points and returning to the women’s top 15 continues to ascend in the women’s rating list after collecting 12 points at this event  Stavroula Tsolakidou also had a great tournament in the Georgian capital where she earned 15 points and debuts in women’s top 30 Pauline Guichard lost in a very close final of the French Women’s Championship but can find consolation in 13 rating points that lifted her to the 70th position in the list © 2025 FIDE International Chess Federation stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any way or by any means (including photocopying recording or storing it in any medium by electronic means) without the written permission of FIDE International Chess Federation A 15-year-old young Indian Grandmaster Raunak Sadhwani has won the 19th Spilimbergo Open chess tournament in Italy Sadhwani and Italian GM Pier Luigi Basso finished level on seven points but the Indian was declared the winner on the basis of a better tie-break score Buy Prime Test Series for all Banking, SSC, Insurance & other exams Find More Sports News Here Welcome to the Current Affairs Section of Adda247 If you are preparing for Government Job Exams then it is very important for you to read the Daily Current Affairs All the important updates based on current affairs are included in this Daily Current Affairs 2024 article ministra dell’ambiente dell’Austria: con il suo voto controcorrente contrario alla maggioranza del proprio governo ha consentito di raggiungere la maggioranza necessaria per l’approvazione della Nature Restoration Law Da adesso tutti i Paesi dell’Ue devono pianificare interventi di ripristino degli ecosistemi degradati Bisognerà vigilare perché non si faccia greenwashing È una rivoluzione che cambia il nostro modo di interagire con la natura: si va oltre la mera tutela degli habitat per migliorare ambienti compromessi e riportare biodiversità L’articolo 9 della legge riguarda il ripristino della continuità fluviale e delle funzioni delle piane alluvionali: far rinascere i sistemi di acqua dolce e garantire la sicurezza delle popolazioni sono obiettivi che La Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia ha deciso di realizzare una grande diga tra Spilimbergo e Dignano conosciuto da ricercatori di tutto il mondo come il “Re dei fiumi alpini” per la morfologia ancora naturale del medio corso Eppure le dinamiche fluviali del Tagliamento vengono analizzate per comprendere come funziona un corso d’acqua non incanalato di creare rami intrecciati e isole temporanee È un modello per molti progetti di rinaturalizzazione Si discute da anni della costruzione di opere in cemento per mettere in sicurezza la città di Latisana segna il confine con il Veneto e tutto intorno si è costruito Vent’anni fa si progettavano casse di espansione Nel 2011 il Laboratorio Tagliamento proponeva alcune soluzioni alternative la penultima: la “traversa a luci mobili” oggi è per magia diventata prima: una singola opera mastodontica in alveo sarebbe l’unica strada possibile per salvare le popolazioni rivierasche della bassa pianura di stravolgere le dinamiche del “Re dei fiumi alpini” né dell’impatto brutale sul paesaggio A livello internazionale, l’indicazione di tecnici ed esperti ormai è chiara: per tutelare la sicurezza bisogna ridare spazio ai fiumi. Lo hanno fatto in Olanda con Room for the river comitati e i due sindaci di Spilimbergo e Dignano si oppongono: la battaglia è iniziata Questa storia non vi ricorda quel che succede sulla Piave, dove si progettano casse di espansione proprio nelle Grave di Ciano del Montello il letto del Tagliamento con acqua limacciosa dopo piogge abbondanti il ponte tra Spilimbergo e Dignano: qui si progetta di costruire una grande diga VeZ è un giornale indipendente, puoi sostenerlo effettuando una donazione. VeZ – Veneto ecologia Z Generation è una testata giornalistica: registrazione al Tribunale di Padova n Editore: Laboratorio dell’inchiesta economica e sociale Aps ContattiRedazione: redazione@vez.newsPubblicità e partnership: adv@vez.newsAssociazione Lies: laboratorio.inchiesta@gmail.com Rilasciato sotto licenza Creative Commons BY SA salvo ove diversamente specificato – Webdesign: Fabiodalez Aiuta l’informazione giovane e indipendente a crescere oppure effettua la donazione tramite Bonifico Bancario BizAway Spain-based provider of a platform to manage and organize business travels The round was led by MundiVentures with participation from new and existing investors The company intends to use the funds to enhance the platform grow in new markets and consolidate in Italy Co-founded by Luca Carlucci and Flavio Del Bianco BizAway provides a platform to manage business travels which has enabled over 35.000 bookings with over €1m in savings for over 400 companies including Casavo The system also gives users access to a multilanguage team who can communicate directly with suppliers which has 35 employees in Spilimbergo and Barcelona For David Gill’s gallery in west London Zaha Hadid has created an ice-like table that appears to be melting into its own legs In preparation for the opening of David Gill’s new gallery in King Street windows are being buffed and final touches of white paint applied Five burly men are lugging a leaf of Zaha Hadid’s new table into place and on sale in a limited editon for almost three-quarters of a million pounds it’s precious cargo; for those with more limited budgets to create a table almost 6m long that resembles sheets of melting ice held up by fragile stalagmites Beneath the table’s smooth surface the material looks wavy and rippled; the legs “It’s like a vortex,” says the architect excitedly of this effect “It’s like water running out of a tap.” Hadid had originally wanted to create the table in Venetian glass but the material It’s weird: you can predict everything but you cannot predict glass.” Liquid Glacial is made instead of acrylic resin the rippled effect achieved through a lamination and milling process that Hadid confesses is a mystery to her depicting a chair in the process of melting explaining that this initiated her own experiments in curvaceous furniture design “It started with this small idea of melting and ice,” she says “and this idea of an icicle dribbling resurfaces in the Aqua Table [for Established & Sons 2005] to the Iceberg project [for Sawaya & Moroni I’ve been talking about liquid space for a long time.” Also on view at the gallery are Hadid’s Dune Formations an organically-shaped table and shelving system in aluminium that was also made for David Gill and exhibited at the 2007 Venice Biennale It’s like water running out of a tap Screencap of Aida Muluneh giving a talk in an interview with Casa África image © jacopo spilimbergoimages courtesy of zaha hadid architects for milan design week 2013, zaha hadid has paired up with product designers and planners at lab 23 to develop a series of urban sculptures for seating and resting the fluid curves of the ‘serac bench’ bench appropriate the formal language of ice formations while the sinuous strata recall the layered lines of intersecting glacial crevasses the object meets the ground at the crest of two sweeping curves that envelope a stepped void allows the filler crystals to refract light and create a shimmering depth the piece is part of an ongoing collaboration that partners environmentally friendly materials with street furniture and dynamic designers dance performance at the inaugural event at lab 23image © tortona design week zaha hadid and patrick schumacher at the inaugural event at lab 23image © tortona design week zaha hadid image © tortona design week layered grooves give way to sleek surfaces the sculptural form characteristically plays with solid and void shapes are informed by ice formations in glacial crevasses curve detailimage © jacopo spilimbergo AXOR presents three bathroom concepts that are not merely places of function but destinations in themselves — sanctuaries of style the newest version is an acrylic and plexiglass design milled and hand polished–like its predecessors–resulting in a pristine ‘I have always been interested in the concept of fluidity,’ says zaha hadid we are now able to achieve even greater results in the work.’ the ‘prototype liquid glacial table’ is being shown alongside zaha hadid’s 128m ‘master prototype superyacht’ designed for blohm + voss the subtle ripples of the table’s surface funnel down into four vortexes to create the supporting legsphoto by jacopo spilimbergo detail of the flat top table surfacephoto by jacopo spilimbergo ‘prototype liquid glacial table’photo by jacopo spilimbergo ‘any great country needs great projects that are a leap forward,’ explains gentiloni ‘the new station at afragola is the foundation of the infrastructure program that promotes economic development in the south.’ the high speed rail service will connect bari and reggio calabria with the north of italy image courtesy of zaha hadid architects (main image by jacopo spilimbergo) the trademark concrete used in zaha hadid architect’s design of the station is a specific composition that provides optimum performance the building’s curved structural concrete elements were built using technologies initially developed during the construction of the MAXXI museum in rome: wooden formwork replaced by prefabricated steel units and double-curves realized with formwork created from CNC-milled polystyrene models the station is set to be fully operational by june 11th conceived as an ‘urbanized public bridge’ the station seeks to connect the communities found on either side of the railway the configuration minimizes distances for those embarking and alighting at the station creating a series of fluid circulation routes the public walkway becomes the station’s main passenger concourse housing a wide range of services and facilities with direct access to platforms below the MAXXI museum in rome uses similar building techniques image by jacopo spilimbergo the glass clad roofs cast an organic shadow within the structure image by jacopo spilimbergo the paths of passengers have determined the geometry of the internal spaces image by jacopo spilimbergo a view of the railway station’s exterior image by jacopo spilimbergo