Category Archives: Italy

Italy’s parties scramble to form government by Tuesday deadline

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Choice of PM proves main obstacle as PD and M5S try to head off far-right coalition

The name of the next Italian prime minister is the main hurdle in talks between the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) and the centre-left Democratic party (PD) as they scramble to form a new government by Tuesday and avoid early elections that could put Matteo Salvini at the head of a far-right coalition.

The PD leader, Nicola Zingaretti, has objected to demands from his M5S counterpart, Luigi Di Maio, to reinstate Giuseppe Conte as prime minister. Conte resigned on Tuesday, ending the ill-fated 14-month alliance between M5S and the far-right League.

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Italy’s president gives parties four days to form stable government

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Sergio Mattarella said that without a stable coalition Italy would have to head to the polls

Italy’s president has given the country’s main political parties four more days to negotiate the formation of an alternative government after the collapse of the stormy alliance between the far-right League and anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S).

Sergio Mattarella said on Thursday night that the crisis must be “resolved quickly” and that without a solid majority the only other option would be new elections.

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Italy’s Democratic party leader warms to idea of M5S alliance

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Ex-PM Matteo Renzi’s plan may stave off elections that could lead to fully far-right government

The leader of Italy’s centre-left Democratic party (PD) has warmed to a potential alliance with its long-time rival, the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S), in an attempt to stave off snap elections that threaten to create western Europe’s first fully far-right government since the second world war.

Nicola Zingaretti, who was elected PD party leader in March, relented to the prospect of forming a government with M5S on condition it lasts until the end of the legislature in 2023. “A possible new government must be a turning point, lasting the term, or it is better to go to the polls,” he said after a meeting with PD members on Wednesday morning.

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Italy and Matteo Salvini face uncertainty after PM’s resignation

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President could call snap election, seek new coalition or install caretaker government

“This government ends here,” said Giuseppe Conte, as he announced his resignation as Italy’s prime minister on Tuesday. After almost two weeks of twists and turns, what happens next is far from clear.

The president, Sergio Mattarella, is now calling the shots in a crisis triggered when Matteo Salvini pulled the plug on the League’s tenuous relationship with the Five Star Movement (M5S) in an attempt to capitalise on his popularity and become PM.

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Italian PM Giuseppe Conte attacks Matteo Salvini in resignation speech – video

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Conte has told Italy's senate he is stepping down because of a decision by the far-right League, which is led by the interior minister, Matteo Salvini, to pull the plug on its populist alliance with the anti-establishment Five Star Movement. Conte says he will officially inform the country's president, Sergio Mattarella, of his decision later on Tuesday.

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Italian PM resigns with attack on ‘opportunist’ Salvini

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Giuseppe Conte tells Italian Senate that far-right leader has triggered political crisis to serve his own interests

Giuseppe Conte has resigned as Italy’s prime minister after blasting Matteo Salvini, the leader of the far-right League, as an “opportunist” for triggering a government crisis that could have “serious consequences” for Italy.

Conte said he would formally resign his mandate to the president, Sergio Mattarella, after the close of the debate in the Senate on Tuesday.

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French tourists face six years in jail over claims they stole Sardinia sand

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Couple in hot water as Italian authorities get tough on issue blighting island for years

A pair of French tourists could face up to six years in jail after allegedly stealing 40kg (6st 3lbs) of sand from one of Sardinia’s pristine beaches.

Border police found the white sand, taken from Chia beach in the south of the Italian island, stashed into 14 large plastic bottles in the boot of the couple’s car. The pair were about to board a ferry for Toulon, in southern France, from Porto Torres.

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People on rescue ship off Italy at breaking point, say doctors

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Ship carrying 107 people rescued from sea has been refused permission to dock

The medical and psychological condition of people onboard a rescue boat anchored off the Italian island of Lampedusa for 18 days has reached breaking point, doctors have said.

The vessel operated by the Spanish charity Proactiva Open Arms has been refused permission to dock by Italy’s far-right interior minister, Matteo Salvini. On Monday Open Arms suggested chartering a plane to fly the 107 migrants onboard to Spain.

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Back me to stop Salvini: Renzi casts himself as Italy’s saviour

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As political turmoil grips Rome, the former prime minister tells the Observer of his mission to thwart a far-right takeover

His energetic stint at the helm of Italy’s government was brought to a juddering halt when, in 2016, he was effectively sacked by voters after suffering an embarrassing defeat in a constitutional referendum. Now Matteo Renzi is back, casting himself as the man to save Italy from the potential grip of a far-right government led by the League’s Matteo Salvini and calling on all “responsible politicians” to back him to thwart the extremist threat. He is re-entering the fray, he insists, for the sake of the country’s future – and not to reignite his own career.

“For my personal rating and consensus it would be better to stay silent,” Renzi told the Observer in an exclusive interview last week. “But Salvini must be stopped, and it’s important to give a strong message – there is an alternative.”

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Migrant ship heads for Italy’s waters after judge overrules Salvini

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Spanish humanitarian ship Open Arms has 147 rescued people on board

The Spanish humanitarian ship Open Arms was headed for the Italian island of Lampedusa with 147 rescued migrants on board on Wednesday after a judge in Rome suspended far-right interior minister Matteo Salvini’s decree banning the vessel from Italy’s territorial waters.

The Proactiva Open Arms charity which operates the ship said it would not try to force entry to Lampedusa port, as another rescue vessel, the Sea-Watch 3, did in June, prompting its seizure and the arrest of its captain.

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Richard Gere and Matteo Salvini clash over migrant crisis

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Row follows US actor urging Italian government to ‘stop demonising asylum seekers’

Italy’s far-right deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini, has clashed with Richard Gere over the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean, suggesting the Hollywood star should house himself those stranded on rescue ships after the US actor urged the Italian government to “stop demonising asylum seekers”.

Gere who is currently on the island of Lampedusa, Sicily, after a visit onboard a Spanish NGO ship, Proactiva Open Arms, where he met some of the 160 migrants the vessel rescued in the strait of Sicily. The ship has been stuck for 10 days off Lampedusa due to Italy’s ban on landing migrants.

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Italy moves closer to fresh elections that could bolster far right

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Matteo Salvini reiterates call for snap vote as his party plans motion to dismantle coalition

Italy appears set for fresh elections that could push the country further toward the far right.

Matteo Salvini, the deputy prime minister, reiterated his calls for a snap vote on Friday, adding that any attempt to block his wishes and install a new ruling coalition would be unacceptable. His League party said it would present a no-confidence motion in the senate in its push to dismantle the tempestuous coalition with the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S).

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Italy’s Matteo Salvini calls for fresh elections as coalition fractures

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Far-right leader says it is pointless continuing government with Five Star Movement

Matteo Salvini, Italy’s deputy prime minister and the leader of the far-right League party, has called for a snap election, urging the prime minister to reconvene parliament to confirm that the coalition government is no longer viable.

The dramatic move on Thursday came after months of fighting between the League and its coalition partners, the anti-establishement Five Star Movement (M5S).

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Venice cruise ships could be rerouted from city centre next month

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Italian minister proposes plan for diverting a third of big ships to other ports by next year

Italy’s transport minister has proposed a plan for diverting massive cruise ships from Venice’s historic centre, with a view to rerouting a third of the vessels by next year.

Danilo Toninelli told a parliamentary hearing on Wednesday that the ships could gradually be shifted away from the Marittima terminal and instead dock at Fusina, a small port on mainland Venice, or Lombardia, a privately owned terminal. The minister suggested that the rerouting process could begin in September.

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‘We are human beings too’: migrant-led walking tours tackle hate in Italian cities

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Guides show Italians the wealth of contributions made to their home cities by migrants

Essediya Magboul leads a group across the open-air market of Porta Palazzo in Turin on a windy Saturday morning. Stopping at a stall, she picks up a bottle of laban, and gives a detailed account of the meticulous mixing needed to prepare the Middle Eastern yoghurt drink. “It’s a Ramadan must,” she adds, smiling, before continuing to an Arab-owned bakery where the owners offer samples of ghoriba cookies and answer questions.

In the space of a few streets, she takes her guests from Eastern Europe to East Asia, via the Middle East. The walkers could easily be mistaken for tourists, but they are in fact locals.

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Matteo Salvini embarks on ‘beach tour’ amid election speculation

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Far-right leader takes unusual step in effort to drum up support in south of country

Matteo Salvini is taking his perennial campaign to Italy’s beaches as the far-right leader seeks to whip up more support before widely-anticipated new elections.

The Italian parliament officially begins its summer break at the end of the week, but Salvini, deputy prime minister and interior minister, is finishing on Wednesday to begin what the Italian media are calling his “beach tour”.

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Migrant rescue ship with 40 people arrives in Malta after EU deal

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Vessel allowed entry under agreement that other countries will look after those onboard

A group of 40 migrants rescued by a German charity ship have landed in Malta and will be taken care of by other EU member states after a deal negotiated by Berlin.

The 40 people were rescued on Wednesday from a small boat off the Libyan coast by the ship Alan Kurdi, which belongs to the NGO Sea-Eye. The NGO then sailed them to southern Italy, saying the port of Lampedusa was the closest and safest harbour.

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Venice asks other ports to help find solution to cruise ship problems

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Italian city’s port authority asks eight other port cities to ‘join forces’ to combat problem

Venice’s port authority has called on Europe’s most popular cruise ship destinations to close ranks in tackling the dangers posed by massive vessels.

The appeal to the ports of Barcelona, Amsterdam, Marseille, Dubrovnik, Zeebrugge, Hamburg, Palma and Málaga comes as Venice leaders clash with government officials over finding a solution to a problem that has long rankled Venetians.

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Italy grants asylum to Eritrean man mistaken for years for trafficker

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Medhanie Tesfamariam Berhe was put in deportation centre after acquittal but is now free

Italian authorities have granted refugee status to an Eritrean man who was the victim of one of the country’s most embarrassing cases of mistaken identity.

Last month a judge in Palermo acquitted Medhanie Tesfamariam Berhe of being a human trafficking kingpin, confirming he was the victim of mistaken identity when he was arrested more than three years ago in a joint operation by Italian and British authorities.

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Italians investigate blindfolding of teenage US murder suspect

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Photograph of Gabriel Hjorth, 18, at police barracks compared to Guantánamo Bay images

Italian police have opened an investigation after photographs emerged showing an American teenager blindfolded and handcuffed shortly after he was arrested on suspicion of killing an officer.

A photo of 18-year-old Gabriel Christian Natale Hjorth, with his head bowed and hands cuffed behind his back, was shown in the Italian press on Sunday, with Corriere della Sera comparing it to images of prisoners at the US military facility Guantánamo Bay.

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