The Times - UK (2022-02-03)

34 Thursday February 3 2022 | the times

Wo r l d

The president of CNN, the American

news TV channel, has resigned after

disclosing a romantic relationship

with a senior executive at the com-

pany.

Jeff Zucker said that the relation-

ship was exposed as the network

investigated Chris Cuomo, a former

presenter who was dismissed in Dec-

ember after being caught up in the

scandal around his brother, the dis-

graced governor of New York.

“As part of the investigation into

Chris Cuomo’s tenure at CNN, I was

asked about a consensual relation-

ship with my closest colleague, some-

one I have worked with for more than

20 years,” Zucker, 56, wrote in a

memo to staff. “I acknowledged the

relationship evolved in recent years.

I was required to disclose it when it

began but I didn’t. I was wrong.”

Zucker, who served at the top of

CNN for nine years, also resigned as

the chairman of WarnerMedia’s news

and sports division.

He stepped down over a relation-

ship with Allison Gollust, 49, CNN’s

executive vice-president and chief

Mario Draghi, the Italian prime

minister, is battling to keep a multi-

billion-euro Covid bailout package

from the EU on track as he tries to

bounce back from a failed bid to

become the country’s president.

Draghi, 74, met cabinet ministers

after giving them 48 hours to report

on laws and reforms they must

prepare to ensure Italy qualifies for

€191 billion in EU grants to revive its

Covid-shattered economy.

The prime minister warned them

this week that 127 measures were

needed to obtain the next three tran-

ches of cash totalling €64 billion. On

Wednesday the government said that

of 45 measures required by June,

three were ready. Projects to be

funded include internet facilities,

nursery schools, high-speed railway

lines and student accommodation as

well as green infrastructure and a re-

launch of crumbling hilltop hamlets.

Draghi earned rave reviews last

Draghi fights for EU bailout

to kickstart Italian economy

year when he was drafted in to hold

together a national unity govern-

ment including parties from across

the political spectrum tasked with

implementing the programme.

Last month reforms gave way to

intrigue, backroom deals and

betrayal as party bosses tried and

failed to elect Italy’s next president,

eventually giving up and re-electing

the incumbent Sergio Mattarella for

another seven years.

Draghi had thrown his hat into the

ring only to be rejected by the 1,008

MPs and regional politicians casting

a vote, who were afraid the govern-

ment would collapse if he stepped

down as prime minister, bringing

early elections and possibly costing

them their seats and pensions. It

meant that this time, the former

European Central Bank governor

who famously said “whatever it takes”

in 2012 when defending the euro cur-

rency, did not get the result he wanted.

“This has weakened Draghi,” said

Giuseppe Orsina, deputy director of

the school of government at Rome’s

Luiss University. Alessandra Ghisleri,

head of the polling firm Euromedia

Research, said: “He should not have

gone for it in the first place.”

Draghi’s failed bid put at risk his

“miraculous halo” which is key to

maintaining Italy’s credibility in

Brussels, according to Francesco

Galietti, an analyst at the Policy

Sonar consultancy in Rome.

His approval rating has slipped by

3.7 per cent since December, but with

52.1 per cent he still beats Italy’s party

leaders, the pollster Ghisleri said.

The election also damaged the

reputation of other politicians, in-

cluding Matteo Salvini, leader of the

League party. He tried to be a king-

maker but failed to get a right-wing

candidate, Maria Casellati, elected,

then backed Mattarella at the last

moment without telling his ally

Giorgia Meloni, head of the hard-

right Brothers of Italy. She con-

demned Salvini’s switch as “mad-

ness”, claiming their alliance “does

not exist any more” in a Facebook

video watched a million times.

Italy

Tom Kington Rome

GUY FLEURY; ALAMY; OCEANCO

R

otterdam will

dismantle a

renowned

harbour

bridge to

allow a giant pleasure

yacht being built for Jeff

Bezos to leave a local

shipyard (Bruno

Waterfield writes).

The Koningshaven

bridge, known as De

Hef, is a symbol of

Europe’s largest port but

is too low for the three-

masted, 127m-tall vessel,

which will be the world’s

largest sailing yacht.

The bridge has a

clearance of 40m

under its middle

section.

Bezos, 58, the boss

of Amazon, and the

shipbuilder Oceanco

— which also built

the three-masted giant

Black Pearl — will pay

for the bridge to be

temporarily taken

apart this summer.

City officials justified

the decision “from an

economic perspective

and the preservation of

employment” even

though it breaks a

promise made in 2017.

Ton Wesselink, 55,

head of a local historical

society, said the move

put the whims of Bezos

before the city’s

heritage. “Employment

is important but there

are limits,” he told a

local broadcaster.

The yacht, reported to

cost €430 million, will

be the largest three-

masted schooner in the

world when completed

at the Alblasserdam

yard east of Rotterdam.

Marcel Walravens, the

official responsible for

the bridge, said it was

not practical to move

the yacht before

mounting the masts.

“If you carry out a big

job somewhere, you

want all your tools in

that place,” he said.

“The municipality

considers this an

important project.”

The railway bridge

was completed in 1927

and was damaged in

May 1940 as the Dutch

fought to repel the

German invaders. It fell

into disrepair in the

1990s after it was closed

to rail traffic before it

was preserved as a

national monument.

The bridge was

restored in 2017 with a

promise that it would

remain intact.

Dutch pride lowered

for Bezos superyacht

The bridge in Rotterdam

will be dismantled for

Jeff Bezos’s yacht, left.

Below: the Black Pearl,

also built by Oceanco

el,

d’s

t

y

fo

te

a

C

th

eco

and

emp

Jeff Zucker was

at the top of the

US news channel

for nine years

CNN boss quits over affair with colleague

marketing officer. She said in a state-

ment to The New York Times: “Jeff

and I have been close friends and pro-

fessional partners for over 20 years.

“Recently our relationship

changed during Covid. I regret that

we didn’t disclose it at the right time.

I’m incredibly proud of my time at

CNN and look forward to continuing

the great work we do every day.”

Zucker and Gollust are both div-

orced. CNN faced criticism after it

was disclosed that Cuomo, a prime-

time host, was involved in co-ordi-

nating his brother’s defence against

allegations of sexual misconduct.

Zucker had stood by Cuomo after

his 64-year-old brother, Andrew,

resigned as the governor of New York

in August.

United States

Keiran Southern Los Angeles