Category Archives: Italy

Protests in Italy after death of Moroccan man under police restraint

Posted on by

Teargas and water cannon used on protesters after Abderrahim ⁠Fakir died pleading for help from police

Police have clashed with demonstrators during a protest in the Italian city of Bologna after a Moroccan-born man died pleading for help under police restraint.

Human rights campaigners and Italy’s opposition parties have demanded urgent answers over the death on Sunday of Abderrahim ⁠Fakir, 42, who had lived in Italy since he was five years old and ran a small removals and cleaning business.

Continue reading...

Bad Bunny concert in Milan abandoned because of hailstorm

Posted on by

Fans evacuated from sold-out open-air show as organisers promise full refunds

An open-air show by the Puerto Rican music star Bad Bunny was abandoned in Italy on Saturday night because of a violent hailstorm, but the organiser said ticketholders would be reimbursed.

Videos posted on social media showed large hailstones hitting people at the sold-out show, along with strong winds and driving rain, after the star began his set at Milan’s Snai La Maura Hippodrome.

Continue reading...

Former boss of Italian motorways sentenced to 12 years over Genoa bridge tragedy

Posted on by

Giovanni Castellucci among 32 people convicted over the 2018 Morandi Bridge collapse, which killed 43

Thirty-two people, including the former chief executive of Italy’s motorway operator, have been convicted over the 2018 collapse of a Genoa bridge in which 43 people died.

In a hushed courtroom on Thursday in the north-western Italian city, Giovanni Castellucci, a former boss of Autostrade per l’Italia, was sentenced to 12 years in prison, the highest in the case.

Continue reading...

Mafia law gives Italian families right to break free from life of crime

Posted on by

Wives and children offered new identities to try to stop gangsters recruiting down the generations

Children and young adults raised in mafia families will be given a chance to break away from organised crime under new legislation in Italy that aims to stop the intergenerational recruitment of gangsters.

In an unprecedented effort to sever the family chain, the Italian state will offer children aged under 25 and other close relatives of mafia bosses a chance to start over: a new home in another city, a new school and, if necessary, a new identity.

Continue reading...

Italy ordered to compensate woman who was told her rape allegations were ‘normal’

Posted on by

ECHR rules that Italian prosecutor’s remarks perpetuated ‘sexist stereotypes’ and downplayed gender violence

The European court of human rights has ordered the Italian state to pay compensation to a woman whose allegations of repeated rape by her partner were dismissed by a prosecutor as “normal” for men who struggle to overcome resistance from “tired” women.

The court ruled that the remarks perpetuated “sexist stereotypes” and downplayed gender violence, resulting in the woman being subjected to further victimisation.

Continue reading...

Pope praises US history of welcoming migrants in implicit rebuke to Trump

Posted on by

Pope Leo urges Americans to live up to ideals of Declaration of Independence in first key address to US

Pope Leo has used his first key address to his home country to praise the US history of ⁠welcoming migrants, urging Americans to live up to the ideals put forward in the ⁠Declaration of Independence.

In his latest implicit rebuke to Donald Trump, the first US leader of the Roman Catholic church said the word “America” had become ‌a “byword for freedom” across the world because of the way the country welcomed migrants.

Continue reading...

‘But we’re just 1% of emissions’: do smaller countries’ climate efforts matter?

Posted on by

Past and present leaders of wealthy nations such as UK and Germany have argued their actions are insignificant

On first hearing, it is a position that sounds reasonable. “When our share of global emissions is less than 1%,” Rishi Sunak argued when he was the UK prime minister in 2023, “how can it be right that British citizens are now being told to sacrifice even more than others?”

Sunak is not the only world leader to have cited such figures while delaying cuts to pollution. In 2019, Scott Morrison, Australia’s then prime minister, used his country’s 1.3% of global emissions to reject any suggestion Australia was not “doing our bit” on climate breakdown. In July, the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, pointed to his country’s 2% share of global emissions while supporting loopholes in European climate targets. A few months later the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, followed suit, flagging the EU’s 6% share.

Continue reading...

Germany and Italy swelter in heatwave as records tumble across Europe

Posted on by

Denmark experiences highest temperature on record on Saturday as weather system spreads eastward

Germany ⁠and Italy endured sweltering conditions on Saturday as a heatwave linked to dozens of deaths in western Europe spread eastwards, after temperatures broke records above 40C (104F).

Denmark registered its highest temperature on record on Saturday, according to the Danish meteorological institute. “With 36.6C north of Odense, we have the warmest day ever since measurements began in 1874,” it said in a post on X.

Continue reading...

Rome airports threaten to suspend new EU passport system to avoid summer ‘disaster’

Posted on by

Airports CEO says letting non-EU passengers skip entry-exit system would be only way to avoid peak season travel chaos

Rome’s airports will have to suspend the EU’s new digital border system for non-EU citizens to avoid a “disaster” during the peak tourism summer months, according to the head of the airports company.

Marco Troncone said that allowing passengers to skip the biometric entry-exit system (EES) was the only way of avoiding travel chaos over the summer amid warnings from other European airport officials.

Continue reading...

AI helps read papyrus scroll burnt to crisp during Vesuvius eruption

Posted on by

Previously hidden text revealed without unrolling scroll discusses stoic philosophy on ethics, art and human behaviour

The surviving part of an ancient scroll that was burnt to a crisp when Mount Vesuvius erupted nearly 2,000 years ago has been virtually unwrapped and read with help from artificial intelligence.

Researchers uncovered 20 columns of previously hidden text covering more than a metre of charred papyrus without physically unrolling the scroll. The work discusses stoic philosophy on ethics, art and human behaviour and dates to the second or late-third century BC.

Continue reading...

Two children found dead in car in France as heatwave hits Europe

Posted on by

Number of countries issue alerts with sustained and rising temperatures expected to present danger to health

Two children aged four and two have been found dead in their family’s car in south-eastern France, the local prosecutor said, as a large swathe of western Europe suffers a ferocious heatwave forecast to shatter absolute temperature records.

“The causes of death are yet to be determined, but the heat is the leading line of inquiry,” said Hélène Mourges, the prosecutor in the town of Carpentras, where the temperature was expected to exceed 39C (102.2F) on Monday afternoon.

Continue reading...

France cancels events and restricts alcohol consumption amid brutal heatwave

Posted on by

Sports and nationwide music festival affected, with temperatures for some expected to reach 42C from Monday

Authorities in France have placed more than a third of the country under a red heat alert, cancelled some outdoor sports events and restricted alcohol consumption at the nationwide Fête de la Musique event amid a brutal heatwave forecast to push temperatures above 40C.

Level 1 or 2 heat alerts were issued on Sunday for about 53 million people, just over 75% of the population. A record 35 of the country’s 96 mainland departments were put on danger-to-life red alert, with another 45 under an orange warning.

Continue reading...

Two-thirds of EU citizens back UK rejoining bloc, survey finds

Posted on by

Poll also finds three quarters of people in Britain want closer ties, with majority accepting free movement

Two-thirds of EU citizens would back Britain rejoining the bloc, while most UK voters say Brexit has been bad for the issues they care about and want closer ties, including levels of integration – such as free movement – long seen as toxic, a survey has found.

Ten years after the Brexit referendum, the polling by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), a thinktank, found 66% of respondents across 15 countries said they either “strongly supported” or “tended to support” UK membership.

Continue reading...

Nothing succeeds like excess at Dolce & Gabbana’s Milan menswear show

Posted on by

Italian house’s catwalk emphasised the brand’s ‘molto sexy’ look with flamboyant, sometimes revealing outfits

Dolce & Gabbana leaned heavily into the art of theatrical misdirection on the second day of Milan fashion week as it aimed to draw attention away from its debt issues, catwalk controversies and management reshuffles.

On the catwalk its signature “molto sexy” Italian aesthetic that comes served with a generous scoop of la dolce vita was in full swing. This was Euro summer on steroids. There were clingy muscle vests and micro shorts that made short shorts look modest while some models simply went topless. Jeans came ripped, shredded or smothered in sparkling jewels while T-shirts featured everything from giant prints of Sicilian lemons and ancient amphitheatres to a mosaic depiction of Christ.

Continue reading...

Ralph Lauren bridges generations with menswear tie-up in Milan

Posted on by

Designer turns to the accessory that launched his empire as he invokes the golden age of Italian sport

For his second standalone menswear show in Milan, Ralph Lauren reverted to the accessory that launched his empire in 1967 – ties.

Skinny silk ties featuring subtle swirly prints were neatly knotted and used as the finishing touch to elegant pinstripe suits, while more brightly printed or striped cravats were whirled and worn like ties peeking out from under knitwear and rugby shirts.

Continue reading...

Bologna’s niche festival of forgotten films captures the streaming generation

Posted on by

Over 40 years, Italy’s Il Cinema Ritrovato – or ‘rediscovered cinema’ – has evolved into an influential international gathering

Bologna will be transformed into an open-air museum of cinema on Saturday as a nine-day festival dedicated to restored, rediscovered and overlooked films – some dating back more than a century – gets under way in the northern Italian city.

Now celebrating its 40th anniversary, Il Cinema Ritrovato, or “rediscovered cinema”, has evolved from its niche origins into an influential international gathering captivating a new generation of cinephiles.

Continue reading...

Western Europeans believe crime is rising despite fall in overall rates, poll finds

Posted on by

YouGov survey of six countries shows respondents think crime is increasing – though most trust their national police

Western Europeans believe crime is rising in their country, according to a survey, despite long-term overall crime rates falling across the region since the mid-1990s.

The YouGov poll of Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and Spain found most countries trusted their national police, led by Denmark where 74% of respondents said they had a lot or a fair amount of confidence in police nationally.

Continue reading...

Milan tram drivers ‘used WhatsApp for sexist chat about female passengers’

Posted on by

Drivers suspended as prosecutors investigate group said to have been used to share and comment on CCTV images

A group of tram drivers in Milan have been suspended from their jobs amid an investigation into a WhatsApp group in which they allegedly exchanged sexist and vulgar comments about images of female passengers.

Milan prosecutors placed at least one employee of ATM, the city’s public transport firm, under investigation on Tuesday for allegedly accessing an IT system without authorisation and for hacking a CCTV system to obtain images of female passengers.

Continue reading...

Wheels of justice turn (very) slowly: moped stolen in 1984 returned to owner

Posted on by

Garelli bike recovered by police in Italy after they spotted it without licence plate during roadside check

A moped stolen from a northern Italian town in 1984 has been traced and returned to its rightful owner after four decades.

The case of the missing moped – a dark grey Garelli that these days might be classified as vintage – was finally cracked by police in Volpiano, a suburb of Turin, after they spotted a 64-year-old man travelling without a licence plate during a roadside check.

Continue reading...

DNA from 2,000-year-old grape seeds points to origins of modern winemaking

Posted on by

Researchers also discover that the ancient vines of Chianti, famed for its red wines, produced white fruit

DNA extracted from 2,000-year-old grape seeds found in ancient wells in Tuscany has enabled scientists to map the most extensive genetic history of grapevines recovered from a single site, revealing that vineyards of the Roman era formed part of the empire’s sophisticated agricultural network that might have influenced the development of modern winemaking.

The research led by scientists at the University of York also found that white grapes once dominated the site in Chianti, an area of Tuscany famous for its red Sangiovese wines.

Continue reading...