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, …
Read More »Milan fire: Firefighters tackle blaze as flames engulf high-rise block of flats
A huge plume of black smoke rose from the reinforced concrete building, named the Torre dei Moro, and was visible for miles. Italian firefighters battled a high-rise blaze in Milan that spread rapidly through a 20-storey residential building. Mayor Giuseppe Sala said there were no reports of injuries or deaths, …
Read More »Italy says it has taken in the largest number of Afghan evacuees in EU
Italy said it has taken in the largest number of Afghans fleeing the war-ravaged country following the Taliban takeover, vowing “not to abandon” vulnerable groups after airlift evacuations end. Western nations are scrambling to get their citizens out of Kabul airport ahead of an August 31 deadline, along with Afghan …
Read More »Italy economic undersecretary quits over Mussolini comment
An Italian economy undersecretary has resigned after causing an uproar by saying a park in his hometown should be renamed after the brother of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. Claudio Durigon, a member of the right-wing League, said earlier this month his party was committed to restoring the original name of …
Read More »Italy plane did not come under fire in Kabul -govt source
Afghan forces shot into the air to disperse crowds near Kabul airport on Thursday and did not fire at an Italian military transport plane, a government source said, quoting intelligence reports. Earlier, a defence source said the C-130 transporter, carrying almost 100 Afghan civilians, had come under attack minutes after …
Read More »Venice hires armed guards as city struggles with overcrowding amid COVID-19 rules
With Italy and Venice, reopening for tourists following a sustained COVID-19 shutdown, authorities have resorted to arming guards across the city in a bid to control overcrowding and combat the spread of coronavirus. Lines for public transport have continued to increase in the city as COVID-19 restrictions limit passenger capacity …
Read More »Italy arrests two Sicilian sheep farmers for lighting wildfires
Italian police arrested two farmers in Sicily on Saturday on suspicion of lighting recent wildfires to create grazing land for their sheep and said the two had been planning another large and dangerous blaze. Wildfires have torn through swathes of southern Italy this summer, helped by record high temperatures, ravaging …
Read More »Italian wildfires rage on after 49 degree heat record
Fires stoked by hot winds have swept through southern Italy, after a monitoring station in Sicily reported temperatures of 48.8 Celsius (119.84°F) which some scientists believe could be the highest in European history. The record temperature, which still needs to be verified by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), was reported …
Read More »Italy firefighters battle 500 blazes after a record heatwave
Italian firefighters said Thursday they had battled more than 500 blazes overnight as another death was reported, taking the total toll linked to wildfires to four over the past week. An anticyclone dubbed Lucifer is sweeping across Italy, sending temperatures soaring and causing what is believed to be a new …
Read More »Pope says he was greatly pained by killing of French priest
Pope Francis said on Wednesday that he was greatly pained by the killing of a French priest, allegedly by a Rwandan immigrant already under investigation for setting the Nantes cathedral on fire last year. Father Olivier Maire, 60, head of the Montfortain Missionary Order at Saint-Laurent-sur-Sevre, was found dead in …
Read More »Tourists wade through Venice square hit by unseasonal flood
Rare summer flooding submerged Venice’s famed Piazza San Marco in up to a metre of water overnight. The lagoon city is often hit by so-called “acqua alta” (high water) in autumn and winter, and devastating floods in November 2019 caused hundreds of millions of euros of damage. Sunday night’s event …
Read More »Italian postal workers intercept package containing bullets addressed to Pope Francis
Law enforcement in Milan is investigating the source of an envelope containing three bullets addressed to the pope, Italian paramilitary police said Monday. The suspicious envelope was intercepted by postal employees overnight at a mail sorting facility in a Milan suburb, according to the carabinieri provincial command in Milan. It …
Read More »Italian farmer arrested after hidden camera catches him deliberately starting fire in countryside
Large fires have burned in several European countries in recent weeks, with some of the worst blazes occurring in Greece where thousands of people have fled wildfires burning out of control, including near the capital, Athens. A 50-year-old farmer has been arrested after hidden cameras caught him deliberately starting a …
Read More »France, Italy gripped by mass protests over new COVID restrictions
Protesters have staged street rallies in France and Italy against COVID restrictions, which they say infringe on their civil liberties. Hundreds of thousands of French protesters took to the streets on Saturday in opposition to government-issued health passes and mandatory vaccines for health care workers. Some 17,000 people demonstrated in …
Read More »German rescue ship carrying 257 migrants docks in Sicily after days in limbo
A German rescue ship carrying 257 migrants docked in Sicily on Saturday, after Italian authorities granted permission. Another humanitarian vessel with 549 people aboard still awaits an assigned port, six days after the start of rescue operations in the Mediterranean. After several days in limbo at sea, Sea-Watch 3 sailed …
Read More »Economic fears in Venice as cruise ship ban comes into force
Environmentalists and cultural heritage activists have long sought to limit the number of vessels travelling through the Italian city, calling them an eye-sore and pointing out that they could cause pollution and erosion. The law — which will see only small passenger ferries and freight vessels enter the lagoon city’s …
Read More »Plans for vaccine passes provoke protests in France, Switzerland and Italy
Government plans to make access to public spaces conditional on health checks have provoked more protest demonstrations in France, Switzerland, and Italy. Under the schemes, vaccination cards, or a recent negative Covid-19 test, are to be made obligatory for those wanting to visit cultural, sporting, and social events. Throughout France, …
Read More »Hackers shut down system for booking COVID-19 shots in Italy’s Lazio region
Hackers have attacked and shut down the IT systems of the company that manages COVID-19 vaccination appointments for the Lazio region surrounding Rome, the regional government said on Sunday. “A powerful hacker attack on the region’s CED (database) is under way,” the region said in a Facebook posting. It said …
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