Category Archives: Italy

Hiker killed after volcano erupts on Italian island

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Residents evacuated as fire crews tackle blaze on west coast of Stromboli

A volcano on the Italian island of Stromboli has erupted, killing a hiker, throwing ash high into the sky and enveloping the popular tourist destination in smoke.

Rescue services said Wednesday’s eruption on Mount Stromboli had started fires on the western side of the small Mediterranean island north of Sicily. Fire crews were being called in from nearby locations and a Canadair firefighting plane was already in action.

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More than €1m raised for rescue ship captain detained in Italy

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Money will go towards paying Carola Rackete’s legal fees if charges are brought

Two online campaigns to help the German captain of a rescue ship under house arrest in Italy have between them raised more than €1m.

Carola Rackete’s arrest on Saturday, after she forced her way into port in Lampedusa carrying migrants and refugees she had rescued off Libya, prompted a fundraising appeal by two prominent German TV stars that by Tuesday morning had raised €917,195 from more than 33,000 donors.

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Captain defends her decision to force rescue boat into Italian port

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Carola Rackete says act of ‘disobedience’ in Lampedusa was necessary to avert tragedy

An NGO rescue boat captain who has risked jail time after forcing her way into Lampedusa port in Italy with 40 migrants onboard has defended her act of “disobedience”, saying it was necessary to avert a tragedy.

“It wasn’t an act of violence, but only one of disobedience,” the Sea-Watch 3 skipper, Carola Rackete, told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera in an interview published on Sunday, as donations poured in for her legal defence.

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Captain of rescue ship carrying 42 migrants arrested in Italy – video

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The captain of an NGO rescue ship carrying 42 migrants has been arrested after more than two weeks in a standoff with Italian authorities. Carola Rackete reached Sicily on Saturday in defiance of a ban by the country’s far-right deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini. She was greeted by lengthy applause from hundreds of people who arrived on the quay to support her

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Number of asylum seekers sent back to Italy triples in five years

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EU countries sending growing numbers back to country of arrival in bloc

The number of asylum seekers returned to Italy from elsewhere in Europe under a controversial EU regulation has almost tripled in five years, amid concern over their treatment in Italy and Germany.

Under the terms of the Dublin regulation, member states can send people back to their country of arrival in the EU – usually Italy or Greece.

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Europe heatwave: cities take steps to limit effects of record temperatures

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Germany imposes speed limits on highways while schools in France remain closed

European cities are taking exceptional steps to limit the impact of a historic early summer heatwave as temperatures across the continent approached monthly and, in some places, all-time records.

Authorities have warned that temperatures could pass 40C and reach 45C in parts of the continent by Saturday as a plume of hot air moves north from the Sahara, sucked northwards by a stalled storm over the Atlantic and high pressure in central Europe.

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‘Cocaine king of Milan’ escapes from prison in Uruguay through hole in roof

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Rocco Morabito and three other prisoners let themselves down by rope to an adjacent farm, where they robbed the owner

An Italian mafia boss known as the “cocaine king of Milan” has escaped from prison in Uruguay where he was awaiting extradition to Italy, the South American country’s interior ministry has announced.

Rocco Morabito, 53, leader of Italy’s most powerful organised crime group – the Calabrian ’Ndrangheta – fled the prison in Uruguay’s capital, Montevideo, through a hole in the roof of the building.

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‘Hell is coming’: week-long heatwave begins across Europe

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Temperatures could hit 40C from Spain to Switzerland, with authorities urging children and older people to stay indoors

Authorities have urged children and older people to stay indoors and issued severe warnings against dehydration and heatstroke as an unprecedented week-long heatwave begins its advance across continental Europe.

Meteorologists said temperatures would reach or even exceed 40C from Spain to Switzerland as hot air was sucked up from the Sahara by the combination of a storm stalling over the Atlantic and high pressure over central Europe.

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Refugees Got Talent: UN-backed show aims to change perceptions

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Poet, dancer and a reggae singer were among those displaying their skills in Sicily

A teenage poet from Nigeria, a reggae singer from Sierra Leona and a Colombian dancer were among those competing in Sicily this weekend in a UN-backed talent show aimed at reshaping the narrative around migrants.

Refugees Got Talent, the first event of its kind to be held on an international level, featured dozens of people seeking shelter from war-torn countries, as well as victims of human trafficking. This weekend, 13 finalists showed off their skills in Catania, performing songs, music, art and theatre in front of a judging panel that included the British actor Douglas Booth.

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Love is in the prayer: Italian church to play host to singles’ event

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Friars at St Anthony’s basilica in Padua hope saint can help hundreds of people find love

Friars at one of Italy’s most revered and beautiful churches are endeavouring to play cupid to hundreds of single people due to converge on the building in search of a soulmate.

The friars at St Anthony’s basilica in the northern Italian city of Padua have organised a festival inspired by the tradition among the faithful in the saint’s homeland of Portugal, as well as Latin America, who invoke his intercession to help them find a life partner.

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Giulio Regeni’s parents demand Italy recall Cairo ambassador

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Family of researcher say Egypt is impeding investigation into Regeni’s death

The family of Giulio Regeni, the Italian doctoral student who was murdered in Egypt in 2016, are demanding that Rome withdraw its ambassador to Cairo for a second time in response to what they say is Egyptian pressure on their lawyers and efforts to prevent investigation into their son’s death.

“Enough is enough,” Paola and Claudio Regeni said in a joint statement with their lawyer, Alessandra Ballerini. “The withdrawal of the Italian ambassador from Cairo can no longer be postponed.”

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La Scala poised to name Dominique Meyer as manager

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Milan opera house expected to choose Frenchman to replace Alexander Pereira

Dominique Meyer, the French director of the Vienna State Opera, is poised to be named as general manager of Milan’s La Scala opera house.

Giuseppe Sala, La Scala’s president and the mayor of Milan, said the board had reached an agreement on who would replace the Austrian Alexander Pereira, and that an official decision would be made on 28 June.

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Matteo Salvini: Italy wants to be Washington’s closest partner in Europe

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Hard-right leader speaks on arrival in US of ‘common vision’ with Trump administration amid EU turmoil

Matteo Salvini has said Italy wants to be Washington’s closest partner in Europe during the hard-right leader’s visit to the US capital for talks with the Trump administration.

Salvini made it clear that he sees an opportunity to forge a closer US-Italian relationship at a time of European turmoil and alignment between populist governments in both countries.

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Knox accuses media of depicting her falsely as ‘maneating murderer’ – video

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Amanda Knox, who was twice convicted and twice acquitted of the murder of Meredith Kercher, has castigated the media for portraying her as a "dirty maneater" during the trial. In an emotional speech, she also described the impact the case continues to have on her life

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Italy adopts decree that could fine migrant rescuers up to €50,000

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New bill would fine NGOs bringing migrants on shore without permission but UN says it penalises rescues at sea

The Italian government has introduced a new security decree that would mean non-governmental organisation (NGO) rescue boats that bring migrants to Italy without permission could face fines of up to €50,000.

On Friday night the Italian president, Sergio Mattarella, signed a bill on security and immigration drafted by Matteo Salvini, the far-right interior minister and leader of the Northern League party, which has been described by aid groups as a “declaration of war against the NGOs who are saving lives at sea”.

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Amanda Knox says media depicted her as man-eating murderer

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Acquitted woman says media created story about her role in death of Meredith Kercher

An emotional Amanda Knox has castigated the media for depicting her as a “dirty man-eater” when she was on trial for the murder of the British student Meredith Kercher.

Knox, now 31, was twice convicted and twice acquitted of killing Kercher, 21, in the home they shared in the Italian university town of Perugia in November 2007.

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Captain of migrant rescue ship says Italy ‘criminalising solidarity’

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Pia Klemp, one of the Iuventa 10, says it is ‘ridiculous’ that she could face jail

A captain of a search-and-rescue ship potentially facing up to 20 years in jail in connection with her role in saving 6,000 people from drowning in the Mediterranean has accused the EU of letting people die and the Italian authorities of “criminalising solidarity”.

Pia Klemp, 35, who skippered the Iuventa, a vessel run by an NGO, stands accused with nine others of aiding and abetting illegal migration in relation to their role in seeking to rescue people in danger after fleeing the Libyan coast for Europe.

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Argentinian ex-army officer accused of murder found on holiday in Sicily

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Reporters discovered Carlos Luis Malatto, accused of five counts of crimes against humanity, in Messina

Human rights groups have expressed outrage after a former Argentinian army officer accused of committing murder and forced disappearances during the 1976-83 military dictatorship was found enjoying a beach holiday in Sicily.

Reporters from la Repubblica discovered Lt Colonel Carlos Luis Malatto in a tourist village in the province of Messina, even though he is currently on trial in Rome for crimes committed in Argentina, which is also seeking his extradition.

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Amanda Knox: Kercher family lawyer labels return to Italy ‘inappropriate’

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Knox, twice acquitted of killing Meredith Kercher, is to attend a debate on ‘trial by media’

Amanda Knox’s return to Italy has been described as “inappropriate” and “very painful” by a lawyer for the family of the murdered British student Meredith Kercher.

Knox was twice convicted and twice acquitted of killing Kercher, 21, in the home they shared in the university town of Perugia in November 2007. The body of Kercher, a student from Coulsdon, Surrey, who was in Italy on an Erasmus programme, was found under a duvet in her bedroom, partly undressed with multiple stab wounds. She had also been sexually assaulted.

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