‘Nudity on the beach is normal’: how Sardinia is tapping into the naturist revival

The island’s plans also include special hotels, hiking trails and a village resort, but not all the locals are in favour

Sergio Cossu’s nude awakening came in 1972, when, at the age of 16 and needing a getaway from his family, he ventured to Santa Teresa Gallura, whose stretch of wild, pristine coastline in northern Sardinia was a mecca for hippies from across Europe.

“It was my first solo holiday away from the traditional family setting,” he said. “There was this feeling of an immense connection with nature; from that point on it was impossible to wear a costume on a beach again. There was less of a taboo about nudity back then but, paradoxically, naturism diminished in the 1990s with the explosion of gyms and this focus on having the perfect body. But over the last 20 years, there has been a revival.”

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The Uber files: how the leak prompted outrage across the world

From Europe to India and the US, the revelations have fuelled anger from across the spectrum, from the drivers to politicians

The release of the Uber files has prompted a frenzy of reaction around the world, piling pressure on senior politicians, fuelling calls for a crackdown on corporate lobbying and drawing outrage from groups including traditional taxi drivers.

The fuse was lit with the publication of revelations from a trove of more than 124,000 documents about Uber spanning from 2013 to 2017, leaked to the Guardian and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and international media.

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Italian government on brink of collapse amid fears Mario Draghi could resign

Crisis driven by decision of coalition partner Five Star to sit out confidence vote

Italy’s coalition government is teetering on the brink of collapse after the Five Star Movement refused to participate in a confidence vote, raising the spectre of a snap general election.

Five Star, headed by the former prime minister Giuseppe Conte, is a formerly anti-establishment party that has plummeted in the polls and lost parliamentarians since joining the government, hurt by policy U-turns and internal divisions.

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Italy’s government on the brink as 5-Star threatens to boycott confidence vote

Populist party says it won’t back cost of living package and could withdraw from fragile coalition

The Italian government is close to collapse after the 5-Star Movement said it would boycott a crucial confidence vote in parliament, prompting calls for early elections.

Giuseppe Conte, the former prime minister who leads the populist party, said the funds set aside for a cost of living support package were insufficient and that his senators could not support the bill on Thursday.

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Northern Italy drought threatens olive oil, risotto rice and passata supplies

The region’s worst drought in 70 years is expected to hit crop yields significantly, driving up prices by as much as 50%

Supplies of olive oil, risotto rice and passata are under threat as northern Italy suffers its worst drought in 70 years, stirring up the cost of living crisis further.

Specialist importers are preparing for price rises of as much as 50% or more for rice and tomatoes and are considering looking for new sources of supply, after growers in the Po valley, the home of arborio rice used in risotto, warned of a “significant reduction” in crop yields this year.

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Dior v Valentino: row breaks out after Rome show allegedly blocks boutique

Dior reportedly demands €100,000 compensation from Valentino after Spanish Steps show ‘hampered’ access to store

A row has broken out in the world of high fashion after the French house Dior demanded compensation from Italian rival Valentino for allegedly blocking access to a Dior boutique during a show on the Spanish Steps in Rome, according to a claim by fashion website Women’s Wear Daily.

Valentino positioned its audience of fashion editors, photographers and celebrities – among them Naomi Campbell, Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway – at the foot of the 18th-century travertine staircase in Piazza di Spagna. The Dior shop on Via Condotti looks on to the piazza.

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US tourist injured falling into Mount Vesuvius crater after taking selfie

Man, 23, was trying to retrieve mobile phone and he and his family now face charges for entering forbidden area

An American tourist sustained minor injuries after he fell into the crater of Mount Vesuvius as he scrambled to retrieve his phone.

The 23-year-old and his family reached the 1,281m-high (4,202ft) summit of the volcano towering over the southern Italian city of Naples after bypassing a visitor turnstile and proceeding along an out-of-bounds path.

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Weather tracker: heatwave to sweep northwards across Europe

Parts of France and Germany likely to experience temperatures above 40C this week, while highs in Iberia could touch 47C

Europe is once again entering a period of significant heatwave conditions this week, with the possibility of some record-breaking temperatures.

Sweltering heat has already been affecting Iberia over the past few days, with temperatures 4-5C above the seasonal norm, leading to highs above 40C (104F). Through the rest of this week, the heat is likely to build even more intensely to about 7C above average, with maximum temperatures touching 46-47C in Seville, for instance.

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Florence Pugh hits back at ‘vulgar’ criticism of her body on social media

Black Widow actor rails at ‘how easy it is for men to totally destroy a woman’s body, publicly, proudly, for everyone to see’

Florence Pugh has hit back at “vulgar” social media users who criticised her body, after she posted photographs of herself wearing a sheer dress at a fashion show.

“What happened to you to be so content on being so loudly upset by the size of my boobs and body?” said Pugh in an Instagram post on Sunday to her 7.4 million followers.

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Italy weighs up risks to lives and livelihoods after Marmolada tragedy

Authorities keen to avoid repeat of fatal glacier fall and avalanche but need to protect local tourism industry

The summer season was just getting into the swing in the mountain towns based around the Marmolada, the highest peak in the Italian Dolomites, when a huge mass of ice from a glacier on its north side snapped off last Sunday afternoon, causing a fatal avalanche.

Hotels, restaurants and mountain refuges were packed, and trails busy with hikers, climbers and cyclists, many flocking to the mountains in search of slightly fresher temperatures during Italy’s intense heatwave.

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Holidaymakers warned of rising coronavirus cases at European destinations

Increases reported in countries including Greece, Spain, France and Germany as Omicron variant BA.5 spreads

Holidaymakers heading to and from the European mainland are being warned of a growing incidence of coronavirus, especially in tourist hotspots, which risks hampering travel plans.

Health officials are calling in some cases for a reintroduction of face masks and other measures, and are urging travellers to exercise personal responsibility, warning that an escalation of the virus could lead to the swift return of restrictions.

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Director Paul Haggis released from hotel detention following sexual abuse claim

Director’s lawyer says prosecutors in Italy are deciding whether to investigate allegation he had sex with a woman without consent

A judge in southern Italy on Monday ordered the film director Paul Haggis released from detention at his hotel while prosecutors decide whether to pursue their investigation of whether he allegedly had sex with a woman without her consent over two days, his lawyer said.

Michele Laforgia told the Associated Press that his client Haggis, who is also a screenwriter and an Academy Award winner, was still in Italy. The ruling was made by Judge Vilma Gilli, based in Puglia, which is the region that forms the “heel” of the Italian peninsula.

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Italian glacier collapse: rescuers hampered by thunderstorms

Visiting scene, Italian PM says country must take measures to ensure such a tragedy does not happen again

Thunderstorms have hampered the search for more than a dozen hikers who remain unaccounted for a day after a huge chunk of an Alpine glacier in Italy broke off, sending an avalanche of ice, snow and rocks down the slope.

The Italian prime minister, Mario Draghi, pledged on Monday night that his government would work to avoid a repeat of the tragedy in which at least seven people were killed.

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At least six dead after chunk of glacier breaks loose on Italian mountain

Authorities say another eight hikers injured following fall of ice, snow and rock on popular trail in Dolomites

At least six people have died after a large chunk of Alpine glacier broke loose and slid down a mountainside in Italy.

The collapse on Sunday afternoon sent ice, snow and rock slamming into hikers on a popular trail on the Marmolada peak, killing at least six and injuring eight, authorities said.

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Venice day-trippers will have to make reservations and pay fee

Rules designed to better manage visitors – who often far outnumber residents – will come into force in January

Venice will oblige day-trippers to make reservations and pay a fee to visit the historic lagoon city, in an attempt to better manage visitors who often far outnumber residents in the historic centre.

Venice officials on Friday unveiled new rules for day-trippers, which will be in effect from 16 January 2023.

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Italian hairdressers face fines for shampooing amid heatwave

Mayor of town near Bologna says thousands of litres of water wasted due to double-shampooing of customers’ hair

The mayor of an Italian town has banned hairdressers and barbers from shampooing their customers’ hair twice in an attempt to conserve water during one of the most severe droughts in decades.

Carlo Gubellini, the mayor of Castenaso, near Bologna in the Emilia-Romagna region, said thousands of litres of water was squandered each day through double-shampooing, which many hairdressers believe is beneficial, and hence double-rinsing.

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Pope Francis orders online release of second world war-era ‘Jewish’ files

Vatican archive of 2,700 cases of requests for help by Jewish people renews debate on Pope Pius XII legacy

Pope Francis has ordered the online publication of 170 volumes of files relating to Jewish people from the recently opened Pope Pius XII archives, amid renewed debate about the legacy of the second world war-era pope.

The archive of 2,700 cases “gathers the requests for help sent to Pope Pius XII by Jewish people … after the beginning of Nazi and fascist persecution”, said the Vatican’s secretary for relations with states, Paul Richard Gallagher, in a statement.

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Italy: foreign minister leaves 5-Star to form new group backing PM

Luigi Di Maio’s move comes after he accused 5-Star leader Giuseppe Conte of undermining government support for Ukraine

Italy’s foreign minister Luigi Di Maio has announced that he is leaving the 5-Star Movement to form a new parliamentary group backing the government of prime minister Mario Draghi.

Di Maio’s move comes after he accused 5-Star leader and former prime minister Giuseppe Conte of undermining government efforts to support Ukraine and weakening Rome’s standing within the EU.

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France and Turkey propose rival plans to get grain out of Ukraine

Macron favours land routes to Romania from Odesa whereas Ankara wants to use shipping lanes through Black Sea

Rival plans to export Ukraine’s vitally needed grain have been drawn up by France and Turkey, as concern grows over the potential impact on the world’s poorest people of failures so far to get the grain out of the country.

The Italian prime minister, Mario Draghi, said it was vital a timeline to release the grain is prepared by the time the G7 summit starts next weekend. “A series of deadlines are fast approaching and the drama of a world famine naturally concentrated in the poorest parts of the world, especially Africa, is approaching,” he said following talks with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on Thursday.

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Museum of Rescued Art showcases stolen relics that have returned to Italy

Etruscan, Greek and Roman artefacts that are being returned have gone on display in Rome

A museum to showcase dozens of relics that were stolen from cultural sites in Italy and trafficked to the US has opened in Rome.

About 100 of the 260 Etruscan, Greek and Roman artefacts that are gradually being returned to Italy have gone on display as part of the first exhibit in the Museum of Rescued Art, which is being hosted in a space among the ruins of the ancient Baths of Diocletian.

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