Category Archives: Italy

Global coronavirus deaths pass 1m with no sign rate is slowing

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Johns Hopkins University data points to rises in countries that seemed to have slowed spread

The number of people who have died from Covid-19 has exceeded 1 million, according to a tally of cases maintained by Johns Hopkins University, with no sign the global death rate is slowing and infections on the rise again in countries that were thought to be controlling their outbreaks months ago.

The milestone was reached early on Tuesday morning UK time, nine months since authorities in China first announced the detection of a cluster of pneumonia cases with an unknown cause in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. The first recorded death, that of a 61-year-old man in a hospital in the city, came 12 days later.

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Italian president rebuts Johnson’s ‘freedom’ remarks over restrictions

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Pushback comes after PM’s suggestion UK’s Covid-19 infection rate was worse than Italy because Britons loved their freedom more

Italy’s president, Sergio Mattarella, said its citizens “also love freedom, but we also care about seriousness”, responding to Boris Johnson’s suggestion that the UK’s rate of coronavirus infection was worse than both Italy and Germany’s because Britons loved their freedom more.

Mattarella’s comments came at the end of a ceremony in Sardinia, in memory of the former Italian president Francesco Cossiga.

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As Covid cases rise again, how are countries in Europe reacting?

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Tighter measures are being imposed, but they vary across the continent

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Far-right Brothers of Italy on course to gain Marche region from left

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Party set to end 27 years of leftist rule and take its second regional presidency in elections

A candidate for the far-right Brothers of Italy looks set to end 27 years of leftwing rule in the eastern Marche region, and take the party’s second regional presidency.

The centre-left is likely to retain its stronghold of Tuscany, however, according to exit polls for key Italian regional elections.

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Italian airport quashes claims of secret Boris Johnson trip

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President of Perugia airport contradicts press reports that PM visited on 11 September

An Italian airport has quashed reports the prime minister landed there to make a secretive trip to the country less than a fortnight ago, a claim described by Downing Street as “completely untrue”.

Related: From scandal to PR cock-up: how the Boris Johnson Perugia mystery unravelled

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Foreign offices: the Britons who work from home – abroad

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Covid has forced many people out of workplaces. Some have saved money by moving overseas

When the coronavirus lockdown forced Mason Palmer, 26, to start working from home, the digital content creator had a rethink about where that home was and in July he moved from Bristol to Milan. “I’ve always loved travelling to Italy,” he says. “I was always going over there; it was like an expensive hobby.”

He did not expect his boss to necessarily be on board with his plans and suggested that he move to working for the company, Working Word, on a freelance basis. But the firm was open to the idea and his boss kept him on staff. “Now I’m like the unofficial Milan branch,” he laughs.

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Dozens jump from NGO rescue ship in attempt to reach Sicily – video

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Dozens of people made a perilous jump from the Proactiva Open Arms in an attempt to reach Sicily, in the largest known incident of its kind this year.

The Spanish NGO said 124 of the 273 people on the boat jumped into the water between Thursday and Friday in an attempt to swim to Palermo's port.

They were rescued by the Italian coastguard and brought to safety after Proactiva's crew waited 10 days for authorisation to disembark their passengers

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Dozens jump from migrant rescue ship in attempt to reach Sicily

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Italian coastguard rescues 124 people, who had been waiting 10 days to disembark

Dozens of people have jumped from an NGO migrant rescue ship in an attempt to reach Sicily, after the crew waited 10 days for authorisation to disembark their passengers.

The Spanish NGO Open Arms said 124 of the 273 refugees and migrants on its Proactiva Open Arms boat, leaped into the water during the largest-known incident of its kind.

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US student accused of killing Italian policeman apologises in court

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Finnegan Lee Elder, 20, says fatal stabbing of Mario Cerciello Rega in Rome was ‘worst night of my life’

An American student accused of killing an Italian police officer has apologised in a Rome court.

Finnegan Lee Elder, 20, is on trial with his friend, Gabriel Christian Natale-Hjorth, 19, for the fatal stabbing of Mario Cerciello Rega on a street in central Rome in July last year. Elder referred to the night of the murder as “the worst of my life”.

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How a poet’s son is reclaiming Genoa from Italy’s tainted elite

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As Liguria prepares for next week’s regional elections, an unlikely candidate has energised the fight against the far right

A procession of about 100 people, most of them young, departs from the church of San Martino di Struppa, up a track into the mountains around Genoa. Above, every shade of green; below, the port and the sea, like an aqueous mirror reflecting the blue sky.

There’s history on these steep slopes, and that is why these people are here: the ancient paths were used by partisans during the war, and when they blew up a bridge, severing German troops from their supply lines, the priest of San Martino, Don Andrea Ricchini, was taken to Auschwitz in reprisal. He survived, and – after a funeral had been held, in absentia – returned to serve the parish for 30 more years.

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Frances McDormand starrer Nomadland wins the Golden Lion at Venice film festival

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Drama featuring McDormand as a retiree forced on the road after the 2008 recession takes top honours on the Lido, while Vanessa Kirby is named best actress

Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland, a recession-era road trip drama starring Frances McDormand, won the Golden Lion for best film on Saturday at a slimmed-down Venice film festival, which was held against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.

Zhao and McDormand appeared by video from the United States to accept the award, as en virus-related travel restrictions made reaching the Lido in the Italian lagoon city difficult if not impossible for many Hollywood filmmakers and actors.

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Italian police arrest four people over alleged rape of two British girls

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Minors were at house party in a villa in Marconia di Pisticci in southern Basilicata region

Italian police have arrested four people in connection with the alleged gang-rape of two British girls in the south of the country.

The rape reportedly took place on Monday night at a house party in Marconia di Pisticci, a town of about 8,000 people in the Basilicata province of Matera.

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‘Not a game’: Europe pleads with young people to halt Covid-19 spread

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Health authorities across continent try to reach under 30s as cases among younger people rise

As the number of Covid-19 cases rises sharply in parts of Europe, health authorities from the UK to Spain are calling on young people to do more to halt the spread of the virus. This is how the situation looks in a number of major European countries and how it is being tackled.

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Cate Blanchett says she would rather be called an actor than an actress

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Venice film festival jury chief backs Berlin event’s move towards gender-neutral prizes

The Hollywood star Cate Blanchett has said she would rather be called an actor than an actress.

The Australian, who is heading the jury at the Venice film festival, gave her backing to Berlin festival’s controversial decision last week to do away with gendered prizes and only give a best actor award.

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European tour tests Chinese foreign minister’s pulling power

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The reassessment of China highlighted by Wang Yi’s trip has political, economic and security implications

The Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi did not exactly end his week-long European tour with his tail between his legs but he may have been chastened if he ever believed Beijing could simply win over Europe by pointing to the extremist cold war rhetoric of Europe’s natural ally America.

The five-nation tour surely marked the end of an era where China can any longer get away with simple homilies on win-win solutions, multilateralism and non-interference in another’s internal affairs. Pointing to Donald Trump is also no longer enough to win European friends.

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Global report: schools across Europe reopen as Covid cases grow

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Parents and teachers fear face masks and other measures not enough to prevent second wave

Tens of millions of pupils, most wearing face masks, have headed back to class in France, Belgium, Poland and Russia, as schools across Europe cautiously reopened amid spiralling numbers of new coronavirus cases in several countries.

Parents and teachers around the continent have expressed fears that strict physical distancing and hygiene measures such as hand cleansing stations will not be able to prevent a second Covid-19 wave, maybe coinciding with the autumn flu season.

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Migrant woman gives birth in a helicopter flying to Sicily

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The woman tested positive for Covid-19 and health officials decided to transfer her to Palermo

A migrant woman, who tested positive for coronavirus, has given birth to a baby on board a helicopter as she was flying to Sicily from the small southern Italian island of Lampedusa.

The woman was staying at a migrant centre designed to hold about 100 people, which in recent days has been home to nearly 10 times as many due to a pickup in arrivals.

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Hundreds of people evacuated from Banksy-funded rescue ship after overcrowding – video

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German charity Sea-Watch and the Italian coastguard sent vessels to a rescue boat funded by the British street artist after it issued urgent calls for assistance, saying it was stranded in the Mediterranean and overloaded with people.

Hundreds of people on board the MV Louise Michel were transferred to safety on to the Sea-Watch 4, while an Italian coastguard patrol boat took 49 of those considered most vulnerable on board, transferring them to the southern Italian island of Lampedusa

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Migrant boat bursts into flames off southern Italian coast

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Vessel suddenly caught fire as Italian naval ship was in the process of taking people onboard

A boat carrying dozens of refugees has burst into flames off the coast of southern Italy as its passengers were being transferred to Italian naval vessels to take them to port.

Between five and seven people are believed to be missing. Six people are in hospital with serious burns injuries, including two Italian officials who were taking the people off the boat.

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Coronavirus live news: India records its highest daily toll, WHO to review emergency alert rules

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Spanish children over six to wear masks at school; Tour de France in doubt; US Midwest states report record tallies. Follow latest updates

The UK on Thursday recorded the highest number of new coronavirus cases since 12 June, with government figures reporting 1,522 positive cases.

The number of new cases, which cover the 24 hours to 9am on 27 August, were up 474 on the previous day.

Related: UK sees highest number of new Covid-19 cases since mid-June

The risk of severe illness and death to children from Covid-19 is “vanishingly rare”, according to the biggest study yet of those admitted to hospital, which the researchers say should reassure parents as they return to school.

The study included two-thirds of all patients admitted to hospitals across England, Scotland and Wales with Covid-19. Of these, 651 – less than 1% – were children and young people under 19. Six of these patients – less than 1% – died. All had severe underlying health conditions.

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