Italian court jails people smuggler over shipwreck that killed at least 94 migrants

Posted on February 8, 2024 by Admin

Gun Ufuk, 29, sentenced to 20 years in prison over deadly sinking that occurred metres from shore

An Italian court has sentenced a people smuggler to 20 years in prison for involvement in a shipwreck last year that killed at least 94 migrants.

The court in the southern city of Crotone found Gun Ufuk, a 29-year-old Turkish national, guilty of crimes including causing a shipwreck and aiding illegal immigration. It also ordered him to pay a €3m fine and pay damages to civil plaintiffs.

Italian minister investigated over alleged art theft quits

Posted on February 2, 2024 by Admin

Vittorio Sgarbi, who denies allegations over painting, cites separate antitrust investigation in resignation

An Italian art critic who was recently placed under investigation over allegations that a 17th-century painting in his possession was stolen from a castle more than a decade ago has resigned as a junior culture minister.

“I am resigning with immediate effect as undersecretary of the government and will inform [the prime minister, Giorgia] Meloni in the next few hours,” Vittorio Sgarbi said on the sidelines of a conference in Milan.

Mafia boss who escaped prison using bedsheets recaptured in France

Posted on February 2, 2024 by Admin

Marco Raduano broke out of high-security wing of a prison in Sardinia in February 2023

A notorious mafia boss who escaped from a high-security prison in Italy last year using bedsheets has been recaptured in France, according to authorities in both countries.

Marco Raduano, recognized as dangerous on Europol’s list of most wanted criminals, was captured in Bastia on the French island of Corsica, authorities said on Friday.

‘It’s unfathomable’: speed hump saboteurs join Italy’s pro-car vandals

Posted on February 2, 2024 by Admin

First cameras were torn down by someone calling themselves Fleximan – now traffic calming measures are being targeted

Renzo Bergamini, the mayor of Gualtieri, was on his way to buy the newspapers on Tuesday morning when he noticed something was amiss with one of the two speed humps positioned on the town’s ring road.

“I saw that the sections of the hump were slightly misaligned,” he said. “The bolts had been unscrewed.”

Yes, it is cricket: Italy gives go-ahead to insect flour for human use

Posted on January 31, 2024 by Admin

Nutrinsect defies Italian food purists with cricket flour that can be incorporated into range of foods

A company that produces flour made from crickets has become the first in Italy to be given the green light to sell food made from insects for human consumption, defying Italian food purists and even a government attempt to curb its use.

Josè Francesco Cianni, the chief executive of Nutrinsect, said: “a new page in the history of food has been opened” now that his nutrient-packed flour can be incorporated into an array of food items.

Ethiopia hails return of its first plane, stolen by Mussolini in 1930s

Posted on January 31, 2024 by Admin

Red two-seater named after Emperor Haile Selassie’s daughter abandoned in 1936 after Italy invaded country

Almost nine decades after it was stolen by Benito Mussolini’s fascist regime, the Italian government has officially returned Ethiopia’s first plane.

The official handover of the aircraft, named Tsehay in honour of the princess daughter of Emperor Haile Selassie, was celebrated on Tuesday by the Ethiopian prime minister, Abiy Ahmed.

Italy lodges protest after citizen led in chains into Budapest court

Posted on January 30, 2024 by Admin

Hungarian ambassador summoned amid national uproar at treatment of Ilaria Salis, accused of attacking neo-Nazis

Italy’s government has said that authorities in Hungary went “too far” in putting in chains an Italian woman who is awaiting trial for allegedly attacking neo-Nazis.

Italian ministers summoned Budapest’s ambassador in protest on Tuesday.

Belgian port blockaded as farmer protests spread across Europe

Posted on January 30, 2024 by Admin

Roads around Zeebrugge could be obstructed until midnight on Wednesday, hitting commercial trade

The Belgian port of Zeebrugge was blockaded on Tuesday, causing gridlock on surrounding roads as a wave of farmer protests spread across Europe.

Authorities at the North Sea port, one of the biggest in Europe, said all access roads were blocked by 5pm (1600 GMT) on Tuesday, in a demonstration that will hit commercial trade, including imports and exports of food to and from the UK, Ireland and Scandinavia.

Museum chief brands Florence a ‘prostitute’ over tourist numbers

Posted on January 29, 2024 by Admin

Cecilie Hollberg sparks outrage in remarks about capital city of Tuscan region being ‘crushed by tourism’

Mass tourism has turned Florence into a “prostitute”, one of the city museum’s directors has said, sparking outrage from politicians including Italy’s culture minister.

“Once a city becomes a prostitute, it is difficult for it to become a virgin again,” Cecilie Hollberg, director of the Galleria dell’Accademia, which houses Michelangelo’s statue of David, told reporters on the sidelines of an event.

African Union Commission calls for ‘paradigm shift’ at Italy-Africa summit

Posted on January 29, 2024 by Admin

Moussa Faki welcomes Giorgia Meloni’s plan to strengthen relations but says ‘we are not beggars’

The chair of the African Union Commission has said “we are not beggars” as the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, outlined a plan aimed at helping African countries to prosper in return for curbing illegal immigration.

Speaking at the much anticipated Italy-Africa summit in Rome, Moussa Faki welcomed Italy’s overtures for a mutually beneficial strengthening of relations with the African continent, but said: “We cannot be satisfied with mere promises that can’t be kept.”

Italian actor Sandra Milo, star of Federico Fellini’s 8½, dies aged 90

Posted on January 29, 2024 by Admin

Renowned figure in Italian film died in her sleep at her residence in Rome, according to a family statement

The Italian actor Sandra Milo, a renowned figure in Italy’s film industry known for her performance in Federico Fellini’s 8½, has died aged 90.

Milo died in her sleep at her residence in Rome surrounded by her family and her dogs, Jim and Lady, according to a statement from the family carried by state-run RAI television.

Ursula von der Leyen says Africa and Europe’s ‘interests are aligned more than ever before’ – as it happened

Posted on January 29, 2024 by Admin

European Commission president says this is ‘moment of intense cooperation’ at Italy-Africa summit as Meloni announces plans. This live blog is now closed

Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairman of the African Union Commission, said at the Italy-Africa summit today that partnership is based on liberty and consensus, with no side imposing anything.

Africa engages in partnership based on mutual advantages, he added.

People smugglers recruiting skippers from central Asia on Turkey to Italy route

Posted on January 29, 2024 by Admin

Boat drivers from former Soviet republics often have very little experience and no idea what they are doing is illegal, say NGOs

People smugglers are increasingly recruiting people from former Soviet republics in central Asia to pilot boats carrying migrants from Turkey to Italy, say NGOs and lawyers.

The migrants are taken by sea from Turkey to Italy, often using sailing boats, as an alternative to the longer overland route through the Balkans where border guards in Croatia and Slovenia have engaged in illegal pushbacks of asylum seekers at the EU border.

Meloni to unveil plan to expand Italian influence in Africa

Posted on January 29, 2024 by Admin

Scheme to help African economies aimed at curbing illegal migration from continent

The Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, is poised to announce her grand plan for Italy in Africa as she strives to position her country at the forefront of European cooperation on the African continent in return for curbing illegal migration.

The so-called Mattei plan, named after Enrico Mattei, the founder of the oil company Eni, will be presented in Rome on Monday to a host of leaders from Africa and Europe, including the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen.

‘Anti-European’ populists on track for big gains in EU elections, says report

Posted on January 24, 2024 by Admin

France, Poland and Austria among nine countries where radical rightwing parties predicted to finish first

Populist “anti-European” parties are heading for big gains in June’s European elections that could shift the parliament’s balance sharply to the right and jeopardise key pillars of the EU’s agenda including climate action, polling suggests.

Polling in all 27 EU member states, combined with modelling of how national parties performed in past European parliament elections, shows radical right parties are on course to finish first in nine countries including Austria, France and Poland.

Fascist salute not a crime unless a risk to public order, Italy’s top court says

Posted on January 18, 2024 by Admin

Ruling by court of cassation allows gesture at rallies but not where it risks ‘revival of fascist party’

Performing the fascist salute is only a crime if it endangers public order or risks leading to a revival of the banned fascist party, Italy’s top court said in a ruling that has been hailed by neofascists.

In making its ruling on Thursday, the court of cassation ordered a second appeals trial for eight neofascist militants who made the salute during a commemorative event in Milan in 2016 marking the anniversary of the killing of a fellow militant in the city in 1975.

Albanian court to rule on migration deal with Italian government

Posted on January 18, 2024 by Admin

Judge to determine whether agreement criticised by human rights groups violates constitution

A court in Albania is due to rule on whether a deal with Italy’s far-right government would violate the constitution by allowing Albanian territory to be used for reception centres for people seeking to enter the EU by sea.

The agreement, announced in November by the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, would result initially in the non-EU member state hosting about 3,000 people but ultimately processing up to 36,000 a year.

‘Sexual pleasure a gift from God’ but avoid porn, Pope Francis advises

Posted on January 17, 2024 by Admin

Pontiff thought be be responding to conservative critics after sexually explicit book by cardinal resurfaces

“Sexual pleasure is a gift from God” but Catholics must avoid pornography, Pope Francis has said.

The pontiff made the remarks during a catechesis devoted to the “vice of lust” at his general audience in Saint Peter’s Square on Wednesday.

Italy refuses to extradite priest accused of murder and torture to Argentina

Posted on January 12, 2024 by Admin

Rev Franco Reverberi is accused of crimes against humanity during country’s military dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s

Italy’s justice minister has refused Argentina’s request to extradite a priest accused of crimes against humanity during the country’s military dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s.

The Rev Franco Reverberi, 86, who served as military chaplain during Argentina’s 1976-1983 military regime, faces charges related to the alleged murder in 1976 of the 20-year-old political activist José Guillermo Berón, and his alleged participation in torture.

Roundup Newswires

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Category Archives: Italy

Italian court jails people smuggler over shipwreck that killed at least 94 migrants

Italian minister investigated over alleged art theft quits

Mafia boss who escaped prison using bedsheets recaptured in France

‘It’s unfathomable’: speed hump saboteurs join Italy’s pro-car vandals

Yes, it is cricket: Italy gives go-ahead to insect flour for human use

Ethiopia hails return of its first plane, stolen by Mussolini in 1930s

Italy lodges protest after citizen led in chains into Budapest court

Belgian port blockaded as farmer protests spread across Europe

Museum chief brands Florence a ‘prostitute’ over tourist numbers

African Union Commission calls for ‘paradigm shift’ at Italy-Africa summit

Italian actor Sandra Milo, star of Federico Fellini’s 8½, dies aged 90

Ursula von der Leyen says Africa and Europe’s ‘interests are aligned more than ever before’ – as it happened

People smugglers recruiting skippers from central Asia on Turkey to Italy route

Meloni to unveil plan to expand Italian influence in Africa

‘Anti-European’ populists on track for big gains in EU elections, says report

Fascist salute not a crime unless a risk to public order, Italy’s top court says

Albanian court to rule on migration deal with Italian government

‘Sexual pleasure a gift from God’ but avoid porn, Pope Francis advises

Italy refuses to extradite priest accused of murder and torture to Argentina