Category Archives: Giuseppe Conte

EU strikes €500bn relief deal for countries hit hardest by pandemic

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Compromise reached after Netherlands relents on ‘economic surveillance’ of beneficiary nations

A messy compromise to unlock €500bn (£438bn) of EU support for countries hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic has been struck after Italy’s prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, warned that the existence of the bloc was at stake.

EU finance ministers on a video conference call struck a deal late on Thursday after the Netherlands shifted on a demand for “economic surveillance” of countries benefiting from €240bn of credit lines via the European stability mechanism, a bailout fund for struggling member states.

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Pope’s blessing in empty St Peter’s Square watched by 11m on TV

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Hour-long address came as Italy said 969 people had died from Covid-19 in 24 hours

More than 11 million people tuned in to watch Pope Francis deliver a blessing in an empty Saint Peter’s Square, television bosses have said, as the Italian prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, said the EU risked losing its purpose.

The pope’s blessing, Urbi et Orbi (To the city and the world)is usually reserved for Christmas Day and Easter Sunday, with thousands flocking to take part.

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Shops and pubs close in Italy as prime minister praises citizens’ sacrifices – video

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The Italian prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, ordered on Wednesday night the closure of all non-essential commercial activities to counteract the spread of the coronavirus, which has so far claimed 827 lives, after a 31% rise in 24 hours.

The World Health Organization has formally declared a pandemic. After banning all but essential travel on Monday, Italy is allowing stores selling ‘basic necessities’, such as pharmacies and supermarkets, to remain open. Conte added that the impact of the new measures would only become clear in a few weeks

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St Peter’s Square before and after Italy’s coronavirus lockdown – video

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St Peter's Square and St Peter's Basilica in Vatican City have been closed to tourists after Italy's prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, placed a lockdown across the entire country because of coronavirus. More than 60 million people have been affected by the lockdown since the government extended restrictions on movement from the hard-hit north to the rest of Italy.

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Italy PM: ‘ We cannot let meetings become occasions of contagion’ – coronavirus video report

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Italy has extended its emergency coronavirus measures to the entire country. All movement across the country will be restricted to ‘reasons of work, reasons of necessity or health reasons’, says Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. Italy is the worst-hit country after China with more than 460 deaths. Additionally, six people died during riots across Italy’s prison system which were sparked as probation and visitation rights were restricted. 

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Italy lockdown: PM outlines new measures to prevent spread of coronavirus – video

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Giuseppe Conte announced a range of tough new measures in the early hours of Sunday to try to contain Italy's coronavirus outbreak, including the virtual lockdown of the country's wealthiest and most populous region. The new rules include telling people not to enter or leave Lombardy, which is home to about 10 million people, and dozen provinces in four of Italy's 19 other regions. The draconian steps come after the number of coronavirus cases in Europe's worst-hit country reached 5,883 on Saturday.

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Italy hit by largest coronavirus outbreak outside Asia – video

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Giuseppe Conte says cases of the the Covid-19 virus in Italy have risen dramatically in the past two days. The prime minister told a press conference Italy would not try to suspend the Schengen treaty as such a measure would be disproportionate.

Schools in Milan will be closed, however, and people will not be allowed in and out of affected areas. Social and sporting events in Lombardy and Veneto have also been cancelled. As of Sunday morning, there were 89 confirmed coronavirus cases in Lombardy – with two in its industrial centre, Milan – 16 in Veneto, three in Piedmont – including two in Turin – and two in Emilia-Romagna

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Coronavirus: window of containment ‘narrowing’ after Iran deaths, WHO warns

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Virus is spreading in Middle East, with confirmed cases in Lebanon and Israel

Four Iranians have died after contracting the coronavirus, with health authorities warning it has spread to multiple cities, while Israel and Lebanon declared their first domestic cases as the deadly epidemic spreads across the Middle East.

Asked on Friday if the new cases put the crisis at a tipping point, the World Health Organization director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the “window of opportunity is narrowing, so we need to act quickly before it closes completely”.

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Confusion clouds international efforts to reach Libya ceasefire

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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.

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Italy PM Conte and left-leaning coalition wins vote of confidence

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M5S and Democratic party could potentially reverse Salvini’s hardline policies

Italy’s prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, and his new left-leaning coalition have won a vote of confidence in the Senate – the final step needed for the new government to exercise its full powers.

The move paves the way for the coalition between the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) and the centre-left Democratic party (PD) to potentially reverse the hardline immigration policies of the former interior minister, Matteo Salvini.

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M5S holds online vote on whether to form Italy coalition

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Country could face fresh elections if party members reject pact with centre-left PD

Members of Itay’s anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) party are voting online on whether they want their party to attempt to form a coalition government with the Democratic party (PD).

Last week, the prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, was tasked with securing a pact between the two parties and staving off early elections after Matteo Salvini, the leader of the far-right League, collapsed its coalition with M5S.

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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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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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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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Italian PM’s threat to quit leaves ball in Salvini’s court

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Bickering between the League and M5S has intensified since European elections

The fate of Italy’s coalition government lies with the far-right deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini, a day after the prime minister threatened to resign if Salvini’s League and its coalition partner, the Five Star Movement (M5S), could not patch things up.

Giuseppe Conte, a law professor who was plucked from obscurity a year ago to steer the coalition, issued the ultimatum to Salvini and M5S’s Luigi Di Maio during a press conference on Monday night, urging them to set aside their many differences and “revive the spirit” of the coalition government’s early days, or seek new elections.

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Italy and China in plan for new Silk Road-style trade network

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Xi Jinping visits Rome as Italy becomes first G7 country to back Belt and Road initiative

Italy has become the first G7 country to endorse a contentious plan by China to build a Silk Road-style global trade network, irking its EU and US allies.

The prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, and the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) that could lead to Italy’s participation in China’s Belt and Road initiative (BRI), an ambitious project that envisages Chinese investment in a network of infrastructure projects connecting Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

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Italy rattles US and EU with likely support for China’s Belt and Road

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Leaders set to endorse Italy’s role in ‘Silk Road’ trade network during Xi Jinping’s visit this week

Italy has signalled its determination to play a central role in China’s grand plan to build a Silk Road-styled global trade network, despite rattling its EU and US allies with its plan.

The country’s populist government is poised to endorse its participation in Beijing’s $1tn Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a global trade project aimed at connecting Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe via a network of ports, railways, tunnels and other infrastructure, by signing a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) during the Chinese president Xi Jinping’s visit to Italy this week.

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