Singer suffers sudden illness while on tour and cancels remainder of dates
Patti Smith has been briefly hospitalised following an illness while on tour in Italy.
The 76-year-old singer had been due to perform in Bologna but she cancelled the concert after suffering what the city’s Teatro Duse venue described as a “sudden illness”.
Continue reading...Pontiff tells Mexican broadcaster he will break with tradition and simplify papal funeral
Pope Francis has said he has “already prepared” his tomb in a Rome basilica in a further sign of the pontiff’s quest to break from longstanding Vatican tradition.
Francis, who turns 87 on 17 December, told the Mexican broadcaster N+ that he would be laid to rest in the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in the Esquilino neighbourhood in Rome, where he goes to pray before and after trips overseas.
Continue reading...Matteo Lepore compares project to save 12th century Garisenda tower from collapse to 10-year effort to preserve the tower of Pisa
Work to prevent the collapse of a leaning medieval tower in the heart of the northern Italian city of Bologna will cost €20m ($21.5m) and take 10 years at least, its mayor has said.
Last weekend, the city unveiled a €4.3m (£3.7m) project to shore up the Garisenda tower – one of the city’s two towers that look out over central Bologna, providing inspiration over the centuries to painters and poets and a lookout spot during conflicts.
Continue reading...Virginia Museum of Fine Arts says it received ‘irrefutable evidence’ 44 ancient art objects had been stolen or looted
Virginia’s state-run fine arts museum has begun the process of returning 44 pieces of ancient art to their countries of origin after law enforcement officials presented the institution with what it called “irrefutable evidence” that the works had been stolen or looted.
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts announced in a news release on Tuesday that it had “safely delivered” the pieces to the Manhattan district attorney’s office in New York, which it said had conducted an inquiry into the artworks as part of a broader investigation, along with the Department of Homeland Security. The DA’s office will facilitate the return of the objects to Italy, Egypt and Turkey, according to the Richmond museum.
Continue reading...Decision of only G7 nation to join project reportedly communicated to Beijing three days ago
Italy has formally notified China of its withdrawal from Beijing’s ambitious belt and road infrastructure initiative (BRI), a significant trade and infrastructure project, according to two government sources.
The decision, which had been expected for some time, was reportedly communicated to Beijing three days ago, although no official communication has been released by either side.
Continue reading...Work to be carried out on Garisenda tower in new year after area around it was cordoned off due to collapse fears
Officials have announced plans to repair one of two 12th-century towers in the Italian city of Bologna after the area around it had to secured last month over fears its leaning could lead to collapse.
The city said the €4.3m (£3.7m) project to shore up the Garisenda tower – one of the Two Towers that look out over central Bologna, providing inspiration over the centuries to painters and poets and a lookout spot during conflicts – would proceed in January and February.
Continue reading...Restoration planned for renaissance master’s work that was last checked on half a century ago
A painting by Sandro Botticelli said to have been forgotten for more than 50 years after disappearing from the Italian state’s art records has been recovered from a family home near Naples.
The artwork, which dates to the 15th century and is believed to be worth about €100m, was initially housed in a church in the town of Santa Maria la Carità, before being entrusted to a local family who kept it at a private residence for generations.
Continue reading...Mafia informant Raffaele Imperiale hands over globe-shaped artificial isle to show willingness to cooperate
A former drug trafficker turned mafia informant has handed over an artificial island he owns off the coast of Dubai to the Italian authorities in the hope of receiving a reduced sentence.
The announcement was made during the trial in Naples on Monday, which involved about 20 defendants, including Raffaele Imperiale, nicknamed “the Van Gogh boss”, a notorious international drug trafficker for the Camorra, the Neapolitan mafia.
Continue reading...About 50 workers take part in action, claiming move from Rome would be tantamount to collective dismissal
About 50 Gucci employees in Italy have gone on strike in protest against plans to relocate a significant part of its design studio team from Rome to Milan in what they claim is a “mass redundancy in disguise”.
Gucci, which is owned by the French-based luxury goods group Kering, announced in October it would move 153 of its 219 design employees from the Italian capital to Milan, 380 miles away in Lombardy.
Continue reading...Pope cancelled Saturday activities due to ‘light flu’ a week before key climate address
Pope Francis has undergone hospital tests after he came down with the flu but the results ruled out any respiratory problems, the Vatican said.
Francis, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, underwent a Cat scan, the Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, said.
Continue reading...Dutch general election results show how populist and far-right parties are advancing into political mainstream
Geert Wilders’ shock victory in the Dutch general election confirms the upward trajectory of Europe’s populist and far-right parties, which – with the occasional setback – are continuing their steady march into the mainstream.
There is no guarantee that Wilders, whose anti-Islam Party for Freedom (PVV) won 37 seats in Wednesday’s ballot – more than twice its 2021 total – will be able to form a government with a majority in the Netherlands’ 150-seat parliament.
Continue reading...Coastguard and fishing boat rescue dozens, including girl who later died, with search ongoing
A two-year-old girl has died and other eight people were reported missing after a boat carrying about 50 people across the central Mediterranean sank in waters off the coast of Lampedusa, Italian authorities said.
The Italian coastguard, aided by a local fishing boat, managed to rescue 42 people on Monday, including the baby girl, but she subsequently died onboard a rescue vessel en route to the island, the Italian foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, said on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Specially built courtroom in Calabria heard evidence of ruthless tactics of ’Ndrangheta crime syndicate
An Italian court has convicted and sentenced more than 200 people of crimes including criminal association, extortion and bribery in what has been described as Italy’s largest mafia trial in three decades.
The verdicts mark the end of a three-year “maxi trial” held in a high-security courtroom in the southern Calabria region built specifically to hold up to 350 defendants, accommodate 400 lawyers and hear from the 900 witnesses providing testimony against an extensive network of members belonging to the notorious ’Ndrangheta.
Continue reading...Meloni’s party is pleased by the appointment but Pietrangelo Buttafuoco has surprised before – not least by adopting Islam
When Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, the incoming new president of the Venice Biennale, was once asked in an interview whether he was a fascist, the Italian rightwing journalist and public intellectual replied: “I am not a fascist. I am something else.”
After Buttafuoco was this week officially nominated to lead the oldest and largest cultural exhibition in the world, it is not just the artists, actors, architects, film-makers, dancers and musicians whose work will be shown at the coming biennales’ six events who are asking themselves what exactly that “something else” may be.
Continue reading...Rare move comes after years of criticism from Strickland, a strong supporter of former US president Donald Trump
Pope Francis has dismissed a bishop in Texas, Joseph Strickland, one of his fiercest critics among US Roman Catholic conservatives, the Vatican has said.
It is very rare for a bishop to be relieved of his duties outright. Usually bishops in trouble with the Vatican are asked to resign before submitting a resignation, which the pope accepts.
Continue reading...Move comes hours after Italy unveils plan to build asylum reception centres in Albania for those arriving by sea
Stricter measures to deal with a large number of migrants arriving in Germany have been agreed by the chancellor Olaf Scholz and state leaders, as NGOs criticised Italy’s plans to create centres in Albania to accommodate asylum seekers.
After a marathon session of talks in Berlin which went on into the early hours of Tuesday, Scholz said the measures would help speed up asylum procedures, restrict social benefits for migrants, and provide more federal funding for local communities.
Continue reading...EU wants to discuss implications of deal after Italy announces new migration policy
Swedish ministers sent a letter today to EU institutions calling for strengthening security cooperation and implementing an effective migration returns policy.
Gunnar Strömmer, Sweden’s minister for justice, together with minister for migration Maria Malmer Stenergard, said “it is of utmost importance for the over-arching future security of the EU zone that the EU reaches an agreement on the EU pact on migration and asylum.”.
This entails both making more effective work within our own countries and in relation to our cooperation with third countries. More can be done realistically within the legal framework we have today. More discussions on cooperation on returns are necessary.
Continue reading...Neighbouring country would house up to 3,000 people rescued at sea by Italian boats, with some exceptions for vulnerable groups
Italy’s far-right government has announced plans to create centres in Albania to accommodate asylum seekers, the prime minister said on Monday, hailing it as a “historic” deal with Tirana to manage migration flows.
“I am pleased to announce with Albanian prime minister Edi Rama a memorandum of understanding between Italy and Albania concerning the management of migration flows,” said Giorgia Meloni. “Italy is Albania’s top trading partner. There is already close collaboration in the fight against illegality.”
Continue reading...Hundreds forced to evacuate homes and others left without power in Tuscany as storm sweeps across Europe
A seventh person has been found dead and another is still missing more than a day after rivers burst their banks following torrential rain in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the Ansa news agency reported.
The body of a 69-year-old man was found in the town of Campi Bisenzio, about 9 miles (15km) north-west of Florence, the news agency said. Officials earlier said six people had died in the deluge that started late on Thursday.
Continue reading...Fiuto restaurant offers poké-style bowls to attract Italy’s growing number of dog owners
In the kitchen of a restaurant in the north of Rome, chef Luca Grammatico delicately blends nuggets of chicken and courgette with pureed potato.
He then reaches for a fancy bowl, positions the mix inside and uses a shaper to fashion a food tower before garnishing it with courgette sauce. Grammatico’s next task is to create a biscuit, shaped like a bear, for a guest celebrating her birthday.
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