Tunisian navy had to end rescue effort early due to bad weather but pulled one body from the water
One migrant is dead and 22 others are missing after their boat sank in the Mediterranean sea off the Italian island of Lampedusa, the Tunisian navy has said.
Bad weather interrupted rescue operations around 100 kilometres (62 miles) north-west of Lampedusa, the navy said on Saturday, adding that the body of one migrant had been pulled from the water, while 22 were missing.
Continue reading...Former European Central Bank chief to lead unity government as it tackles Covid and economic slump
The former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi has been sworn in as Italy’s prime minister at the head of a unity government called on to confront the coronavirus crisis and economic slump.
Draghi, a respected figure at home and internationally, managed to convince almost all of the country’s main parties to support his government, with leaders from the far-right League and populist Five Star Movement (M5S) adopting more moderate, pro-European tones in recent days.
Continue reading...Italians optimistic as former ECB chief appoints mix of political and technocratic ministers to cabinet
Italy’s new government, led by former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi, will be sworn in on Saturday, ending weeks of political turmoil.
Draghi, 73, announced his cabinet, which contains a mix of political and technocratic ministers, to president Sergio Mattarella on Friday.
Continue reading...Lancet commission review condemns Trump’s virus response; Two masks ‘substantially reduce expose US CDC says; cheap asthma drug appears to reduce risk of severe illness. Follow latest updates
The Czech Republic on Thursday announced a stricter lockdown in three districts from east to west where coronavirus infections have soared and hospitals are struggling to cope.
The order means a ban on movement from and into the eastern district of Trutnov on the border with Poland and the western districts of Cheb and Sokolov on the border with Germany, the health minister Jan Blatny said.
CNA is reporting three community cases among 12 new Covid-19 infections in Singapore.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) said the remaining nine infections were imported and had been placed on stay-home notice upon arrival in Singapore. No new infections were reported in foreign worker dormitories.
Continue reading...Police arrest three men accused of demanding money from mourning relatives for spaces in Tropea graves
Italian police have arrested three cemetery workers in Calabria accused of illegally removing bodies from tombs to make way for new corpses, as the country struggles with a shortage of burial space.
According to military police investigators, the suspects allegedly demanded money from mourning relatives to get the deceased a place in the local cemetery in Tropea, a seaside resort town near Vibo Valentia.
Continue reading...Called on to lead Italy’s government in crisis, the former central banker will need all the skills he honed saving the European currency
“Whatever it takes.” Three simple words that tamed the financial markets, saved the euro from possible collapse and turned Mario Draghi from an Italian technocrat into the central banker of his generation.
And an obvious choice to head a new coalition government in Rome at a time when the country is facing the triple whammy of Covid-19, economic collapse and political chaos.
Continue reading...Former ECB chief summoned by President Mattarella after collapse of Conte’s coalition in January
Mario Draghi, the former European Central Bank chief, has accepted a mandate to try to form a new Italian government as the country seeks a way out of the political crisis triggered by the collapse of its most recent coalition.
Draghi, nicknamed “Super Mario” for his role in saving the European single currency, will have to galvanise support in parliament to quickly build a technical administration needed to manage the coronavirus pandemic and revive its battered economy.
Continue reading...Media speculations suggest former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi could become prime minister
Italy’s president, Sergio Mattarella, has said he would seek a “high profile” government, as speculation grew that it may be led by the former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi.
Mattarella made the announcement after ruling coalition partners failed to form a majority following Giuseppe Conte’s resignation as prime minister last week.
Continue reading...The great-grandson of Italy’s fascist dictator Benito Mussolini has officially joined Lazio’s under-19 team.
Romano Floriani Mussolini, son of the former European parliamentarian Alessandra Mussolini, plays as a right-back and has already been called up twice by Lazio’s youth team.
Continue reading...Seven centuries after the poet was found guilty in Florence, Sperello di Serego Alighieri has begun a campaign to clear his ancestor’s name
The reputation of Dante Alighieri needs little burnishing: his Divine Comedy, tracing the poet’s journey through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise, is widely regarded as one of the greatest works ever written. But more than 700 years after Dante was accused of corruption and condemned to be burned to death, his descendant is looking to clear his name.
Sperello di Serego Alighieri, an astrophysicist, and the law professor Alessandro Traversi are working to see if Dante’s 1302 sentencing for corruption in political office can be reversed.
Continue reading...Countries have adopted different rules on business activity, education, socialising and travel
Curfews and lockdowns Restrictions have largely been relaxed in most of Brazil’s 26 states, although several continue to limit opening hours for bars, restaurants and shops. A round-the-clock curfew was imposed this week in Brazil’s biggest state, Amazonas, after hospitals were overwhelmed.
Continue reading...Berlin planning to ban travel from UK, Portugal, Brazil and South Africa to stop spread of variants
Germany is planning a near-total ban on travellers from Britain, Portugal, Brazil and South Africa as European governments increasingly move to bar entry from countries where more contagious Covid-19 variants are rampant.
Berlin’s initiative came as EU interior ministers met to discuss a more coordinated approach to international travel restrictions.
Continue reading...Authorities had duty under international law to respond immediately to calls from boat that came under fire and capsized
Italy failed in its duty to protect human life by delaying a rescue mission for a sinking boat in the Mediterranean, the UN Human Rights Committee found on Wednesday.
More than 200 people who had been on board drowned on 11 October 2013 after repeated requests for help were ignored, according to a ruling by the committee on a case brought by Syrian and Palestinian survivors who lost their relatives.
Continue reading...Man also alleges hearing Egyptian security officials discuss tampering with Italian student’s mobile phone
A man who claims to have witnessed the arrest of Giulio Regeni has told the Guardian how he heard and saw the Cambridge PhD student inside a police station in Cairo before he was found dead by a roadside.
The witness, who is regarded as credible by investigators in Rome, said the security officials alleged to have detained the Italian behaved as if they were above the law. “Those people that took Giulio were different,” he said. “Everyone is afraid of [Egypt’s] National Security Agency.”
Continue reading...Italians struggle to fathom Giuseppe Conte’s resignation as prime minister and resulting political limbo
Italy’s political crisis has left the country in limbo in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, raising fears that a power struggle in the heart of government will hamper its economic recovery plan.
The prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, resigned on Tuesday after weeks of feuding with former prime minister Matteo Renzi, who withdrew his small Italia Viva party from the ruling coalition following clashes over the handling of the pandemic and a spending plan for the €209bn (£185bn) Italy is due to receive from the EU’s economic recovery plan.
Continue reading...Resignation expected to be handed in to president Sergio Mattarella on Tuesday morning
Italy’s prime minister Giuseppe Conte will resign on Tuesday in a tactical move aimed at maximising his chances of leading a new government.
Conte will hold a cabinet meeting at 9am CET before officially handing in his resignation to president Sergio Mattarella, his office announced in a statement.
Continue reading...Probe launched after girl’s sister reportedly told parents she had been ‘playing the blackout game’ before her death
Italian prosecutors have opened an investigation into the accidental death of a 10-year-old girl who allegedly took part in a “blackout challenge” on the video-sharing network TikTok.
The probe came as Italy announced it had temporarily blocked access to TikTok for users whose age could not be proved definitively.
Continue reading...Leaders say Europe again has a friend in the White House but differences with US will not disappear
European leaders have voiced relief at Joe Biden’s inauguration, hailing a “new dawn” for Europe and the US, but warned that the world has changed after four years of Donald Trump’s presidency and that transatlantic ties will be different in future.
“This new dawn in America is the moment we’ve been awaiting for so long,” Ursula von der Leyen, the European commission president, told MEPs. “Once again, after four long years, Europe has a friend in the White House.”
Continue reading...Prime minister faces leading an even more unstable coalition after exit of Matteo Renzi’s party
Italy’s prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, has managed to cling to power, but he will plough ahead with an even more fragile government as the country battles to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic and recession.
Conte, who has led two different administrations since 2018, was supported by 156 lawmakers in the senate on Tuesday, with 140 voting against and 16 abstaining. Conte also won a vote of confidence in the lower house on Monday.
Continue reading...Museum shut due to coronavirus was unaware that 500-year-old Salvator Mundi had been missing
Italian police has found a 500-year-old copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi in a Naples flat and returned it to a museum that had no idea it had been stolen.
Officers said late Monday they had arrested the 36-year-old owner of the flat on suspicion of receiving stolen goods, after the painting was discovered in his bedroom cupboard.
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