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Italy’s Pirelli pushes Chinese owner to cut stake amid fears of Trump freeze-out

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Italy’s Pirelli pushes Chinese owner to cut stake amid fears of Trump freeze-out

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Pirelli’s board is pressing China’s Sinochem, its largest investor, to cut its stake over fears that the Trump administration’s hawkish position on Beijing ownership of American assets will thwart the Italian tyremaker’s US expansion.

At a board meeting on Wednesday, Pirelli’s management will demand the Chinese investor immediately cut its 37 per cent stake to less than Italian shareholder Camfin’s 26.4 per cent holding, according to several people with knowledge of the plans.

The move demonstrates the drastic steps being taken by companies as they adapt to the policies of US President Donald Trump’s administration.

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Korean car group Hyundai on Monday was the latest international business to announce large investments in the US, unveiling a $21bn package that Trump said was evidence that his trade policies “very strongly work” as he seeks to boost domestic manufacturing.

One of the options Pirelli proposed is for Sinochem to reduce its stake below 25 per cent through a share buyback with some stock being resold on the market immediately, people with knowledge of the plans said.

It is unclear whether Sinochem, which will be represented at the meeting by its president Jiao Jian — also Pirelli’s chair — will agree to the proposal. The parties failed to reach an agreement in preparatory talks ahead of the board meeting, the people added.

Pirelli declined to comment. Sinochem could not immediately be reached for comment.

Pirelli owns a factory in the US state of Georgia but produces most of its tyres for the North American market in Mexico and South America. In response to Trump’s trade policies and the looming threat of tariffs on imported cars, it has sought to expand its operations in the US, where it makes a quarter of its global revenues.

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But the tyremaker has met resistance in recent conversations in the US about its expansion plans, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The company believed that this stemmed from the fact its largest shareholder was a Chinese state-owned company, the people added.

Pirelli, which supplies the tyres used by Formula 1 cars, also owns proprietary technology that can link information picked up by tyre sensors to vehicles’ driving commands. The technology is in high demand in the US but Pirelli also fears it will be cut out of a potentially lucrative market because of Sinochem’s stake in the group, according to the people.

The US in January finalised a ban on Chinese automated driving systems as well as hardware and software that interact with cars, such as Bluetooth, WiFi and satellite.

State-owned ChemChina, which later merged with Sinochem, first bought a majority stake in Pirelli in a $7.7bn deal in 2015. Under the initial deal, the Chinese investor agreed it would not interfere with the Italian group’s day-to-day management, strategy or appointments.

This week’s showdown comes less than two years after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government imposed limitations on state-owned Sinochem’s shareholder rights in Pirelli.

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The rare state intervention, under Italy’s “golden power” foreign investment screening mechanism, followed repeated clashes between Pirelli’s Italian management, including its former chief executive Marco Tronchetti Provera, and Sinochem as Beijing sought to tighten its grip over one of Italy’s historic industrial groups.

Sinochem’s attempts to exert control at a time of heightened geopolitical tensions led to disputes with Pirelli’s management. The disagreements culminated with Sinochem’s attempt in 2023 to revise a shareholder pact and strip Camfin — where Tronchetti Provera is the controlling shareholder — of the indefinite right to appoint Pirelli’s chief executive.

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Man Charged With Posting Bomb Instructions Used in New Orleans Attack

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Man Charged With Posting Bomb Instructions Used in New Orleans Attack

Federal prosecutors have filed charges against a former Army serviceman they accused of distributing instructions on how to build explosives that were used by a man who conducted a deadly attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day last year.

The former serviceman, Jordan A. Derrick, a 40-year-old from Missouri, was charged with one count of engaging in the business of manufacturing explosive materials without a license; one count of unlawful possession of an unregistered destructive device; and one count of distributing information relating to manufacturing explosives, according to a criminal complaint unsealed on Wednesday. The three charges together carry a maximum sentence of 40 years in federal prison.

Starting in September 2023, the authorities said, Mr. Derrick was using various social media sites to share videos of himself making explosive materials, including detonators. His videos provided step-by-step instructions, and he often engaged with viewers in comments, sometimes answering their questions about the chemistry behind the explosives.

The authorities said that Mr. Derrick’s videos were downloaded by Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, 42, who was accused of ramming a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on Jan. 1, 2025, in a terrorist attack that killed 14 people and injured dozens. Mr. Jabbar was killed in a shootout with the police. Before the attack, Mr. Jabbar had placed two explosives on Bourbon Street, the authorities said, but they did not detonate.

The authorities later recovered two laptops and a USB drive in a house that Mr. Jabbar had rented. The USB drive contained several videos created by Mr. Derrick that provided instructions on making explosives. The authorities said the explosives they recovered were consistent with the ones Mr. Derrick had posted about.

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Mr. Derrick’s lawyers did not respond to requests for comment.

Mr. Derrick was a combat engineer in the Army, where he provided personnel and vehicle support, the authorities said. He also helped supervise safety personnel during demolitions and various operations. He was honorably discharged in February 2013.

The authorities did not say whether Mr. Derrick had any communication with Mr. Jabbar, or whether the men had known each other. In some of Mr. Derrick’s videos and comments, he indicated that he was aware that his videos could be misused.

“There are a plethora of uh, moral, you know, entanglements with topics, any topic of teaching explosives, right?” he asked in one video, according to the affidavit. “Of course, the wrong people could get it.”

The authorities also said that an explosion occurred at a private residence in Odessa, Mo., on May 4, and the occupant of the residence told investigators that he had manufactured explosives after watching online tutorials from Mr. Derrick.

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Mr. Derrick’s YouTube account had more than 15,000 subscribers and 20 published videos, the affidavit said. He had also posted content on other platforms, including Odysee and Patreon. Some videos were accessible to the public for free, while others required a paid subscription to view.

“My responsibility to my countrymen is to make sure that I serve the function of the Second Amendment to strengthen it,” Mr. Derrick said in one of his videos, according to the affidavit. “This is how I serve my country for real.”

Outside of the income he received through content creation, Mr. Derrick did not have any known employment. He did receive a monthly disability check from Veterans Affairs, the affidavit stated.

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The Girls: “This isn’t ringing alarms to y’all?” : Embedded

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The Girls: “This isn’t ringing alarms to y’all?” : Embedded
Allegations pile up, but Child Protective Services declines to investigate and the school district continues to promote Ronnie Stoner. We include an update at the end of the episode. “The Girls” is a 4-part series from the Louisville Public Media’s investigative podcast, Dig.
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Chud the Builder, Known for Racist Confrontations, Charged With Attempted Murder

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Chud the Builder, Known for Racist Confrontations, Charged With Attempted Murder

A streamer known for hurling racist slurs in public settings under the nickname “Chud the Builder” was charged with attempted murder after a shooting outside a Tennessee courthouse on Wednesday, the authorities said.

The streamer, Dalton Eatherly, 28, was involved in a confrontation with an unidentified man that escalated to gunfire outside the Montgomery County Court in Clarksville, about 50 miles northwest of Nashville, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. Both men sustained gunshot wounds and were in stable condition, the office said.

In addition to attempted murder, Mr. Eatherly was charged with employing a firearm during dangerous felony, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, the sheriff’s office said.

Mr. Eatherly, who is white, has accumulated an online audience by livestreaming confrontations in which he uses racist language toward Black people in public.

Law enforcement did not provide any details about the second man involved in Wednesday’s shooting. Mr. Eatherly posted an audio recording online of paramedics treating his wounds in which he claims he shot the man in self-defense.

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A video posted by the website Clarksville Now shows Mr. Eatherly on a stretcher with a microphone attached to his lapel.

Mr. Eatherly is being held at the Montgomery County Jail, pending arraignment, the sheriff’s office said.

According to court records, Mr. Eatherly was scheduled to appear for a court hearing on Wednesday morning in an unrelated case brought by Midland Credit Management, a collections agency.

A lawyer listed in court records from a separate harassment case in which Mr. Eatherly was a defendant in November did not respond to a request for comment.

On Sunday, three days before the shooting in Clarksville, Mr. Eatherly was arrested in Nashville. According to a police affidavit, Mr. Eatherly live streamed his meal at a restaurant, Bob’s Steak and Chop House, on Saturday even though the restaurant had asked him ahead of time not to do so.

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When he was confronted, Mr. Eatherly “became disruptive and started making racial statements, yelling, screaming and otherwise creating a scene,” according to the affidavit.

He then refused to pay for his $370 meal. Mr. Eatherly was charged with theft of services, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. He was released on $5,000 bond.

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