Category Archives: Italy

Prada and Max Mara bring strangeness and science to Milan fashion week

Posted on by

Raf Simons and Miuccia Prada celebrate idiosyncrasy, while Ian Griffiths foregrounds mathematical tailoring

A Prada show is never a straightforward beauty pageant, so when the co-designers Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons go out of their way to be contrary and challenging, the result is, frankly, pretty weird.

Thick woollen tights with belt loops. A boob tube with snap pockets on the nipples. Shoes that peel back at the heels like curls of butter. In the cavernous concrete of Prada’s Milanese headquarters, the catwalk was twisted into hairpin bends, so that the audience couldn’t see what was coming next. Each outfit was crazier than the last. A strapless lemon ballgown with sunglasses the size of a gas mask was followed by black jeans tucked into dirty white cowboy boots.

Continue reading...

Two missing and 1,000 evacuated as Storm Boris devastates northern Italy

Posted on by

Meloni government accused of lacking will to confront climate crisis as floods cause havoc in Emilia-Romagna

Two people are missing and about 1,000 people have been evacuated from their homes after devastating floods and landslides hit the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, prompting accusations that Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government lacks the will to confront the climate crisis.

The flooding was brought on by Storm Boris, which had earlier wreaked havoc in central and eastern Europe, killing at least 24 people. Several major cities in central Europe were bracing for swollen rivers to peak on Thursday but defences generally appeared to be holding.

Continue reading...

‘Frockgate’ and Starmer’s love-in with Meloni – Politics Weekly UK

Posted on by

The row over ‘frockgate’ continues to trouble the prime minister this week, while his decision to visit his far-right Italian counterpart, Giorgia Meloni, has upset many in his party. The Guardian’s John Harris talks to the political correspondent Aletha Adu, who was travelling with Keir Starmer. Also, the Guardian’s Europe correspondent, Jon Henley, joins John Harris to look at the rise of the far-right on the continent

Continue reading...

Storm Boris batters northern Italy bringing severe flooding and landslides

Posted on by

Homes evacuated in Emilia-Romagna region as pounding rain ‘well beyond the worst forecasts’ sweeps in

Homes are being evacuated in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna as Storm Boris, which has killed at least 24 people in central and eastern Europe since last week, swept into the country, causing severe flooding and landslides.

Pounding rain hit Emilia-Romagna late on Wednesday afternoon and the situation rapidly worsened as night fell.

Continue reading...

Giorgia Meloni: Starmer showed great interest in our Albania migration deal

Posted on by

Britain promises to send £4m to back Italian crackdown on irregular migration

Keir Starmer has shown “great interest” in the Italy-Albania migration deal, the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has said, as the UK vowed to send £4m to support her controversial crackdown on irregular migration.

Speaking at a press conference in Rome, the prime minister agreed with Meloni, stressing the importance of the relationship betwen the UK and Italy.

Continue reading...

Starmer puts ‘pragmatism’ before perceptions in meeting with Meloni

Posted on by

Some Labourites may see a hard-right populist but the British PM has an eye on the immigration policies of an ally

Keir Starmer will be under no illusions at the level of discomfort some in his party may have felt at the sight of their leader smiling and joking with Giorgia Meloni as they strolled through the gardens of the Villa Doria Pamphili on his trip to Rome on Monday.

The Italian prime minister’s brand of hard-right populism is far out of the comfort zone of many Labour MPs, and even though she governs, for the most part, from the centre-right, they are unable to shrug off her party’s neo-fascist roots.

Continue reading...

Starmer under pressure to distance UK from Italy’s hard-right immigration plans

Posted on by

Backbenchers and NGOs criticise decision to explore how country has cut migrant numbers at Rome talks

Keir Starmer is under pressure from Labour backbenchers and NGOs to distance his government from Giorgia Meloni’s hard-right immigration policies on the eve of bilateral talks in Rome.

After the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, said the UK would consider copying Italy’s plans to process asylum applicants in a third country such as Albania, one backbencher questioned why a Labour administration was “seeking to learn lessons from a neo-fascist government”.

Continue reading...

Call for army to protect Italian hospital staff after spate of attacks

Posted on by

Patients and relatives turn on doctors and nurses, with 16,000 reports of physical and verbal assaults in 2023 alone

Doctors’ and nurses’ unions in Italy have called for authorities to consider bringing the army into hospitals in response to an increase in attacks by patients and their relatives that provoked outrage across the country.

In one of the latest, captured on video and widely shared on social media, doctors and nurses were forced to barricade themselves in a room at the Policlinico hospital in Foggia, in the southern region of Puglia, on Friday after about 50 relatives and friends of a 23-year-old woman who died after an emergency operation turned on medical staff. Some healthcare workers were injured, with bloodstains visible on the emergency room floor.

Continue reading...

Italy’s Marmolada glacier could disappear by 2040, experts say

Posted on by

Rising temperatures causing largest glacier in Dolomites to lose 7-10cm of depth a day, according to scientists

The Marmolada glacier, the largest and most symbolic of the Dolomites, could melt completely by 2040 owing to rising average temperatures, experts have said.

Italian scientists who are monitoring glaciers and the impact of climate emergency, and who took part in a campaign launched by environmentalist group Legambiente, the international commission for the protection of the Alps (Cipra), with the scientific partnership of the Italian Glacier Committee, said on Monday the Marmolada was losing between 7 and 10cm of depth a day.

Continue reading...

Constantine Arch in Rome damaged by lightning during violent storm

Posted on by

Residents tell of ‘apocalyptic scenes’ after more than 60mm of rainfall falls on Italian capital in less than an hour

Lightning has struck the Constantine Arch near the Colosseum in Rome during a violent thunderstorm, breaking off fragments from the ancient structure, officials have said.

The fragments were immediately gathered and secured by workers at the Colosseum Archeological Park, authorities in the Italian capital said. The extent of the damage, which occurred on Tuesday, was being evaluated.

“The recovery work by technicians was timely. Our workers arrived immediately after the lightning strike. All of the fragments were recovered and secured,” the park said in a statement.

Rome was hit by a sudden and powerful storm that dumped more than 60mm of rain in less than an hour, equivalent to a month’s rainfall in autumn. The city’s mayor, Roberto Gualtieri, described it as a “downburst”.

Continue reading...

Nicole Kidman’s erotic drama Babygirl sets pulses racing at Venice film festival

Posted on by

Film among host of sexually explicit features on this year’s lineup as erotica returns to screens after years of chastity

It’s been 25 years since Nicole Kidman starred in Stanley Kubrick’s erotic classic Eyes Wide Shut opposite her then husband, Tom Cruise.

Although the Oscar-winner has evaded sexually explicit roles in recent years, she is making a comeback to the genre by playing the lead in one of the most risque feature films to premiere at the Venice film festival this year.

Continue reading...

Former Red Brigades member arrested in Argentina after four decades on run

Posted on by

Leonardo Bertulazzi, 65, wanted in Italy for kidnapping and other crimes allegedly committed as part of far-left group

Police in Argentina have arrested a former Red Brigades member who has spent more than 40 years on the run from the justice system in Italy, where he is wanted for crimes including kidnapping and criminal association that he allegedly committed as part of the far-left guerrilla group.

Leonardo Bertulazzi had been living in Argentina for years as a refugee, a status he lost under the administration of the country’s radical rightwing president, Javier Milei. He was previously sentenced in absentia to 27 years in prison, and Italian police officers were present in Buenos Aires during his capture.

Continue reading...

Refugee NGOs attack EU shipwreck ‘double standard’ after Bayesian effort

Posted on by

Organisations who try to save lives in Mediterranean say Sicily response showed what can be done

The tremendous resources and global attention dedicated to the tragedy of the Bayesian superyacht hint at a double standard for shipwrecks in the Mediterranean, several NGOs dedicated to assisting asylum seekers have said, citing the barriers they regularly face as they attempt to save lives in the same waters.

The groups that spoke to the Guardian were swift to express their regret and extend their sympathies for the deaths of seven people after the luxury vessel was hit by violent storms off the coast of Italy.

Continue reading...

Two more crew members from Mike Lynch yacht under investigation

Posted on by

Italian prosecutors said to be investigating engineer and sailor as well as captain over sinking in which seven died

Italian prosecutors are investigating two more crew members from the British tech tycoon Mike Lynch’s yacht, along with its captain, in connection with the vessel’s sinking more than a week ago, a judicial source has said.

Lynch and six other people were killed when the British-flagged Bayesian, a 56-metre (184ft) yacht, capsized and sank off the coast of Porticello, a fishing village near Palermo in Sicily, in the early hours of 19 August, within minutes of being hit by a pre-dawn storm.

Continue reading...

Captain of Mike Lynch’s yacht under investigation for manslaughter

Posted on by

James Cutfield is asked to appoint a lawyer after prosecutors question him a second time over sinking of Bayesian

The captain of a luxury yacht which sank in a storm off the coast of Sicily last week, killing the British tech magnate Mike Lynch and six others, has been placed under investigation for charges of manslaughter and shipwreck.

The 56-metre (184ft) superyacht Bayesian, carrying 22 passengers, sank off the coast of Porticello, a fishing village near Palermo, in the early hours of 19 August. It is thought that it was struck by a downburst, a gusty wind associated with storms.

Continue reading...

Mike Lynch’s court-appointed guard praises tycoon’s ‘loving and caring heart’

Posted on by

Protection agent says it was impossible to keep a professional distance from ‘genuine and loving’ family

The armed guard assigned to Mike Lynch while he faced fraud charges has described how close he became to the “loving” tech entrepreneur and his family.

Appointed by the court, Rolo Igno, said he was supposed to stay distant but that the professional relationship “quickly dissolved” when Lynch invited him to spend time with his family.

Continue reading...

Sicily yacht sinking: manslaughter investigation opened

Posted on by

Public prosecutor launches inquiry into deaths of seven people in sinking off coast of Italian island

A manslaughter investigation has been opened into the deaths of seven people, including the British technology tycoon Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah, in the sinking of a luxury yacht off the coast of Sicily, an Italian prosecutor has said.

Ambrogio Cartosio, the public prosecutor of Termini Imerese, said in a press conference at the town’s court on Saturday that his office has opened an initial investigation into manslaughter, according to a translation.

Continue reading...

‘She was easy to love’: friends and family pay tribute to Hannah Lynch

Posted on by

Daughter, 18, of tech tycoon Mike Lynch was one of seven people to die when the Bayesian sank off Sicily

The 18-year-old daughter of the British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, whose body was recovered on Friday from the wreck of her father’s yacht, was “fiercely intelligent and genuinely kind” and had a promising future, friends and teachers have said.

Hannah Lynch was described as “one of the best English students in the country”. She was one of seven people, including her father, who died after his yacht Bayesian sank during a storm off the coast of Sicily on Monday.

Continue reading...

Manslaughter charges considered as final body recovered from Sicily yacht

Posted on by

Coastguard confirms body of Hannah Lynch, 18, found after four-day search, bringing number of dead to seven

Prosecutors in Italy are investigating potential manslaughter charges relating to the sinking of the superyacht Bayesian as the body of Mike Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, was recovered.

The Bayesian sank off the coast of Sicily early on Monday morning when the area was hit by violent storms. Seven people died, including the British tech entrepreneur Lynch.

Continue reading...

Mike Lynch confirmed dead after yacht sank off Sicily coast during storm

Posted on by

Tech tycoon, 59, was among six people missing since early hours of Monday morning when Bayesian yacht capsized

The British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch has been confirmed dead by search and rescue authorities after his yacht sank off the coast of Sicily during a violent storm, according to officials.

Lynch, 59, the founder of Autonomy Corporation, was among six people missing after the British-flagged 56-metre sailing boat Bayesian capsized at about 5am local time on Monday off the coast of Palermo when the area was hit by a tornado.

Continue reading...