Citizens and trade unions in cities around Europe were taking to the streets on Sunday for May Day marches and put out protest messages to their governments, notably in France where the holiday to honor workers was being used as a rallying cry against newly re-elected President Emmanuel Macron. In …
Read More »Macron, Draghi call for reform of EU fiscal rules to allow more investment
French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi called Thursday on the EU to reform its fiscal rules in order to allow greater investment spending while acknowledging the necessity to reduce debts. “Just as the rules could not be allowed to stand in the way of our response …
Read More »Gas explosion in Sicily leaves at least three dead, six missing
Three people were killed and six are still missing after a gas explosion late on Saturday caused several residential buildings in the Sicilian town of Ravanusa to collapse, Italian authorities said on Sunday. Two apartment blocks in the town of 11,000 people were completely destroyed and several other buildings had …
Read More »Italian police raid Juventus offices over financial irregularity claims
Italian authorities have launched an investigation into the Juventus football club for financial irregularity claims. “Since this afternoon, on the orders of this Public Prosecutor’s Office, soldiers of the Guardia di Finanza (financial police unit in Italy) have been carrying out local searches at the Turin and Milan offices of …
Read More »Migrant boat with 10 dead bodies arrives in Sicily
A boat carrying the bodies of 10 migrants found dead at sea arrived in Sicily on Friday, along with dozens of people it rescued this week as they tried to cross the Mediterranean. The crew of the Geo Barents vessel, run by charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF), found the corpses …
Read More »Italy, France to sign Rome treaty aimed at changing EU power balance – sources
Italian and French leaders Mario Draghi and Emmanuel Macron will sign a deal next week to try to tilt the balance of power in Europe after the departure of German Chancellor Angela Merkel a government source said. The details of the accord remain undisclosed, but another Italian official said it …
Read More »Archaeologists unearth room shedding light on slave life in ancient Pompeii
Archaeologists have uncovered a room at a villa just outside Pompeii containing beds and other objects that shed light on the living conditions of slaves in the ancient Roman city buried by a volcanic eruption. The room, in an excellent state of preservation, contains three wooden beds and a series …
Read More »Climate, COVID-19, and corporate tax tops G20 agenda in Rome
The leaders of the world’s economic powerhouses gathered Saturday for the first in-person summit since the coronavirus pandemic, with climate change, COVID-19 economic recovery, and the global minimum corporate tax rate on the agenda. Italian Premier Mario Draghi welcomed the Group of 20 heads of state to Rome’s Nuvola cloud-like …
Read More »A World Remembers: Memorials honor COVID-19’s five million dead
The Italian city that suffered the brunt of COVID-19’s first deadly wave is dedicating a vivid memorial to the pandemic dead: A grove of trees, creating oxygen in a park opposite the hospital where so many died, unable to breathe. Bergamo, in northern Italy, is among the many communities around …
Read More »Italian former minister Matteo Salvini goes on trial for kidnap over blocked migrant ship
Former Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini is facing up to 15 years in prison in a controversial trial over his 2019 order to prevent migrants picked up by NGOs while crossing the Mediterranean Sea from entering Italy. The trial, which started on Saturday in Palermo, is about one particular incident …
Read More »Police raid homes, businesses across Germany, Italy, Bulgaria in Italian mafia probe
Police in Germany, Italy, and Bulgaria raided 46 residential and commercial buildings on Wednesday as part of a European probe into the Italian mafia, German police said. They said they would release more information after the raids had been completed. The synchronized raids were the result of a European investigation …
Read More »Italy’s Chinese feel penalized by COVID-19 Green Pass rules
One of Italy’s largest Chinese communities says it is being unfairly penalized by the government’s mandatory COVID-19 health pass and has asked the authorities for a flexible interpretation of the rules. The so-called Green Pass, showing proof of COVID immunity through vaccination, previous infection, or a negative test, has triggered …
Read More »Russia’s Putin won’t attend G20 summit to be held in Rome in person
Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the G20 summit in Rome in person this month due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic, but will take part in it via video link, the Kremlin said on Tuesday. The Kremlin said Putin informed Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi about his plans …
Read More »Italian police use water cannon to break up health pass protest at port
Italian police used water cannon and tear gas on Monday to clear a sit-in at the port of Trieste, where opponents of the government’s mandatory COVID-19 health pass have tried to block access. The northeastern port has been the focal point of protest in Italy over the introduction of new …
Read More »Tens of thousands demonstrate in Rome against right-wing extremists
Tens of thousands of union members and other Italians gathered in Rome to stand up against rising fascism on Saturday, a week after right-wing extremists forced their way into the headquarters of Italy’s most powerful labor confederation while protesting a COVID-19 certification requirement for workplaces. The head of the CGIL …
Read More »Catalan separatist leader Puigdemont arrested in Italy
Exiled former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont has been arrested in Italy on Thursday, his lawyer and an aide say, four years after fleeing following an independence referendum that Madrid ruled unconstitutional. The European MEP was expected to appear in court on Friday at a hearing that could see him extradited …
Read More »Iraq receives over 100,000 coronavirus vaccine doses
Iraq on Sunday received a donation of more than 100,000 AstraZeneca doses against Covid-19 from Italy via vaccine-sharing facility Covax, the UN children’s agency UNICEF said. More than four million people in Iraq, or around 10 percent of its 40 million inhabitants, have received at least one coronavirus vaccine jab, …
Read More »Five people stabbed in Italian resort, Somali man arrested
A Somali asylum-seeker was arrested by Italian police after he allegedly stabbed four women and a six-year-old child in the tourist town of Rimini on Saturday night, ANSA news agency reported on Sunday. Investigators were for the moment ruling out terrorism as the motive, ANSA added. Interior minister Luciana Lamorgese …
Read More »Italian police warn of armed attacks by anti-vaxxers
Italian police warned on Thursday that anti-vaccine campaigners had called for armed attacks during planned anti-government protests this weekend and that eight people were being investigated for incitement to crime. A police statement said searches had been conducted in six Italian provinces, including Milan, Rome, and Venice, and that the …
Read More »Major fire rages in building in Italian city Turin
A major fire broke out in the centre of the northern Italian city of Turin on Friday, forcing around 100 people to be evacuated from their homes, emergency services said. The fire started in the attic of building close to the main train station and soon spread to adjacent properties, …
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