Suspected infection of taxi driver by traveller raises fears virus could reach tourist areas
Thailand has recorded its first human-to-human transmission of the coronavirus after a taxi driver was apparently infected by a traveller, heightening concern over the virus’s potential to spread across the globe.
The taxi driver was among five new patients confirmed on Friday in the worst-hit country outside China, bringing the total number of cases in Thailand to 19.
Continue reading...Several incidents of xenophobia reported, along with long queues to buy face masks
Chinese people in Italy have been the target of racist abuse as paranoia mounts over the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
A number of people in the country have been tested for the virus in recent days and the results have so far been negative. Tests were carried out on Thursday on two passengers onboard a cruise ship in the port city of Civitavecchia.
Continue reading...More than 6,000 passengers and 1,000 crew members have been stopped from disembarking the Costa Smeralda ship over fears a woman onboard could have coronavirus. Footage shows passengers onboard the ship, which is docked at the Italian port city of Civitavecchia while tests are carried out
Left’s win in Emilia-Romagna averts threat of snap elections but could prove a brief reprieve
Matteo Salvini’s failure to overturn decades of leftwing rule in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna will bring some respite to the embattled national government, staving off the risk of snap elections.
The leader of the far-right League campaigned vigorously across the region in his attempt to use elections on Sunday as a platform for his return to power. But a high turnout ensured the Democratic party (PD), which rules nationally alongside the Five Star Movement (M5S), maintained control.
Continue reading...League’s Matteo Salvini has failed to wrest crucial Emilia-Romagna from centre-left, projections suggest
Matteo Salvini, the leader of Italy’s far-right League party, has failed to overturn decades of leftwing rule in the northern region of Emilia-Romagna in an election that brought relief to the embattled centre-left.
With 98% of the ballots counted, the incumbent Democratic party (PD) governor Stefano Bonaccini had won 51.4% of the vote compared to 43.7% for Lucia Borgonzoni, the candidate backed by the League and its allies, interior ministry data showed.
Continue reading...League leader hopes to secure political comeback via votes in Emilia-Romagna and Calabria
The far-right Italian politician Matteo Salvini has threatened to “evict” the national government if his coalition triumphs in two regional elections.
Italian newspapers reported a “boom” in turnout – up 23% in the wealthy northern region of Emilia-Romagna and 10% in Calabria, in the south – by midday, as voters headed to the polls in elections that could precipitate a return to national power for Salvini’s League.
Continue reading...Scientists discover vitrified remains caused by immense 520C heat of disaster in AD79
When Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD79, the damage wreaked in nearby towns was catastrophic. Now it appears the heat was so immense it turned one victim’s brain to glass – thought to be the first time this has been seen.
Experts say they have discovered that splatters of a shiny, solid black material found inside the skull of a victim at Herculaneum appear to be the remains of human brain tissue transformed by heat.
Continue reading...Gardeners discovered Portrait of a Lady while clearing ivy at gallery in Piacenza
A painting found hidden in an Italian gallery in December is an authentic Gustav Klimt piece stolen almost 23 years ago, experts have confirmed.
The Portrait of a Lady was one of the world’s most sought-after stolen artworks before it was found concealed in a wall of the Ricci Oddi modern art gallery, the same gallery from where it went missing in the northern city of Piacenza.
Continue reading...Hundreds of packets of hashish, worth €1m, also found on three Sicilian beaches
The recent discovery of the decomposed bodies of three scuba divers on the beaches of Sicily could be tied to drug trafficking, according to prosecutors.
The body of a third diver was found on Wednesday in Contrada Ginestra, in Termini Imerese, on the northern coast of Sicily. The first two washed ashore in the area of Cefalù and Castel di Tusa, on the northern coast, on 1 and 8 January. None of the bodies have been identified and local authorities have not received any reports of missing persons.
Continue reading...Judges find prolonged use can cause tumours, going against mass of scientific opinion
An Italian court has ruled that prolonged use of mobile phones can cause head tumours despite scientists overwhelmingly agreeing there is no evidence to back this up.
The Turin court of appeal on Tuesday upheld a ruling issued by a lower court in 2017 in relation to a man with neurinoma of the acoustic nerve, a benign but disabling tumour. The decision was based on studies provided by two court-appointed doctors that showed an increased risk of head tumours among those who talked on their phones for 30 minutes a day over a 10-year period.
Continue reading...A surreal take on tailoring echoed masculine workwear themes seen elsewhere
On the third day of Milan men’s fashion week, the concept of the working man emerged as a theme in the newest collection from Prada.
The brand, which skipped Milan last season to show instead in Shanghai, showcased a collection which focused on formality and tailoring but with Miuccia Prada’s surreal touches. On a set that was designed to replicate a futuristic town square (a white statue of a man on a horse stood in the centre of the box-like runway), models replicated Prada-ised commuters on their way to work.
Continue reading...Pregnant women and children among dozens forced into perilous Mediterranean crossing to escape overcrowded centre in Libya
Dozens of people who were put under pressure to leave a failing EU-funded UN refugee agency centre in Tripoli have used smugglers to cross the sea to Italy in the last month, according to refugees and aid workers.
One Somali man who spoke to the Guardian said he was among a group of more than 50 who left Libya in November and December and were rescued by ships including the Ocean Viking, the Médecins Sans Frontières and SOS Méditerranée ship, in the Mediterranean. He is now in Italy.
Continue reading...Erdoğan and Putin make call for ceasefire, as Italian PM hosts Libyan factions in Rome
An unprecedented drive involving Europe, Russia and Turkey has been launched to broker a Libyan ceasefire, and end the risk of the country collapsing into total all-out war.
However, it is unclear to which extent the joint Russian-Turkish call for a ceasefire by 12 January should be seen as complementary or in competition to an intensified Italian-led European push to end the fighting.
Continue reading...Pope Francis tells enthusiastic worshipper: ‘I’ll give you a kiss but stay calm’
Pope Francis jokingly told a woman not to bite him as he greeted pilgrims before his weekly general audience.
It was the pontiff’s first walkabout among worshippers after he angrily slapped the hand of a woman in response to her abruptly grabbing his arm on New Year’s Eve.
Continue reading...Group of 17 German tourists were struck by speeding Audi TT in early hours in Alto Adige
Six people have been killed and 11 injured after a suspected drunk driver hit a crowd of German tourists in the northern Italian region of Alto Adige.
Those who died, all in their early 20s, were among a group of 17 people when they were struck by the speeding Audi TT as they crossed a road at about 1am on Sunday near the mountain village of Lutago in Valle Aurina. Three of the injured are in a serious condition. One woman was transported by helicopter to a hospital in Innsbruck, Austria.
Continue reading...Two flightless rhea birds managed to hitch a ride with their owners on a train from San Donà di Piave to Venice, where they were filmed walking among tourists on the streets
Police received dozens of calls about two rheas wandering among tourists
Two ostrich-like birds have provoked the ire of Venetian authorities after they brazenly roamed around the lagoon city’s narrow streets.
The rheas, which are native to South America, arrived in the city by train on Thursday with their Slovenian owners from nearby San Donà del Piave, where a circus is in town.
Continue reading...Illustrated covers intended to highlight environmental impact of shoots
Vogue Italia will not feature any photoshoots in its January 2020 issue in a bid to make a statement about sustainability. The move is intended to highlight the environmental impact of photoshoots in print magazines.
In his editor’s letter, Emanuele Farneti listed some of the resources it took to fill the September 2019 issue, the biggest of the year, with original photographs: “One hundred and fifty people involved. About 20 flights and a dozen or so train journeys. Forty cars on standby. Sixty international deliveries. Lights switched on for at least ten hours nonstop, partly powered by gasoline-fuelled generators. Food waste from the catering services. Plastic to wrap the garments. Electricity to recharge phones, cameras … ”
Continue reading...Pontiff admits ‘sometime even I lose patience’, referring to incident with pilgrim at Vatican
Pope Francis has apologised after slapping a woman’s hand as he greeted pilgrims at the Vatican on New Year’s Eve.
Francis lost his cool when the woman abruptly grabbed his hand and yanked him towards her just after he reached out to greet a child during a visit to the Vatican’s nativity scene on Tuesday night.
Continue reading...Guardian investigation in 2017 revealed Romanian women were being exploited on farms
An Italian court has sentenced a Romanian man to 20 years in prison for human trafficking after a Guardian investigation revealed that thousands of women from Romania were being raped and used as forced labour on farms in Sicily.
In what investigators claim is Italy’s first conviction for labour trafficking of European citizens, Lucian Milea, 41, was convicted last week of running a trafficking ring that recruited dozens of women in Romania who were then forced into exploitation and prostitution on farms in Ragusa, Sicily.
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