Italy

Italian police net record 5-tonne cocaine haul off Sicilian coast

ROME, July 21 (Reuters) - Italian authorities have seized a record 5.3 tonne cocaine haul being transferred between ships off the southern coast of Sicily, police said on Friday. …

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Nearly all major Italian cities on red heat alert

The number of major Italian cities on red alert due to the country's third heatwave of the summer climbed from 20 to 23 on Wednesday. They are Ancona, Bari, Bologna,…

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Italy pays tribute to anti-mafia judge Paolo Borsellino

President Sergio Mattarella and Premier Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday led the tributes on the 31st anniversary of the Via d'Amelio Cosa Nostra bombing in which anti-mafia magistrate Paolo Borsellino and…

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Italy’s antitrust investigates inflated prices for Colosseum tickets

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's antitrust authorities are going into combat over Rome's Colosseum, opening an investigation into ticketing operations that have seen tourists paying inflated prices to visit the ancient…

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Italian fishing boat returns to port after Libyan coast guard attack

ROME, (Reuters) - An Italian fishing boat was attacked in international waters by machine gun fire from the Libyan coastguard, the head of an Italian ship-owners group said on Tuesday,…

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Hotter temperatures driving tourists away from Mediterranean – report

Soaring summer temperatures across southern Europe could prompt a lasting shift in tourist habits, with more travellers choosing cooler destinations or taking their holidays in spring or autumn to dodge…

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UPDATED: ‘Heat storm’ stretches into southern Europe, health alerts issued

ROME (Reuters) - Italy issued hot weather red alerts for 16 cities on Sunday, with meteorologists warning that temperatures will hit record highs across southern Europe in the coming days.…

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UPDATED: Flights suspended after fire at Catania airport

A fire broke out on Sunday evening at the Vincenzo Bellini international airport in Catania, in Sicily, Italy, leading to a suspension of flights. This has resulted in the cancellation…

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Air traffic strikes in Italy leave nearly 1,000 flights grounded

Rome, Jul. 16, (dpa/ANSA) - Italy’s nationwide air traffic strike on Saturday resulted in nearly 1,000 flight cancellations, the news agency ANSA reported on Sunday. According to the unions, which had called for the…

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Italy’s Meloni faces reality check as migrant flows rise relentlessly

Migrant numbers double since Meloni becomes prime minister Restrictive measures to halt flows largely fail Deals with Tunisia, Libya cannot prevent boat departures Italian businesses clamour for migrant workers By…

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Italy foreign minister Tajani succeeds Berlusconi as Forza Italia chief

ROME, July 15 (Reuters) - Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani was elected on Saturday as leader of Forza Italia, the conservative party founded 29 years ago by billionaire media tycoon…

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Another twist in the 40-year-old case of Emanuela Orlandi

The case of Emanuela Orlandi, the 15-year-old daughter of a Vatican employee who went missing in Rome 40 years ago, has taken another twist as her brother dismissed what he…

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Italian air-transport workers, among them pilots for Malta Air, go on strike

Around 250,000 people are set to be grounded after around 1,000 flights scheduled for Saturday were cancelled due to a strike by air-transport workers, consumer association Codacons said. On Saturday…

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Outrage in Italy after cleaner escapes prosecution for groping schoolgirl ‘because it only lasted 10 seconds’

Italians have reacted with outrage after a 66-year-old school cleaner escaped punishment for groping a female pupil because it “only lasted about ten seconds”. The 17-year-old schoolgirl was walking up…

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Biden to host Italian PM Meloni at White House on July 27

By Angelo Amante and Kanishka Singh VILNIUS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will host Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Washington on July 27, and the two leaders will…

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Italy impounds migrant charity’s rescue vessel Ocean Viking

ROME (Reuters) - Italian authorities on Wednesday impounded a ship involved in migrant rescue operations in the central Mediterranean Sea, citing safety procedure irregularities. Under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing…

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Italian artist Pistoletto’s ‘Venus of the Rags’ destroyed in arson attack

By Federica Urso and Alvise Armellini ROME, July 12 (Reuters) - An open-air installation of "Venus of the Rags", one of the most famous works by Italian contemporary artist…

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Transport strikes in Italy on July 13 and 15, Malta Air pilots in Italy to stage a four-hour walk-out

Unions representing transport workers have announced two days of transport strikes on July 13 and 15, union sources said on Saturday. On Thursday, the protest will involve rail workers employed…

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Eight Italian cities on red alert as heatwave intensifies

Eight major Italian cities are on red alert as the heatwave the nation is enduing intensifies. Bolzano, Florence, Frosinone, Latina, Perugia and Turin have joined Rome and Rieti, which were…

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Stalled EU post-COVID funds ‘clearly a problem’ for Italy, minister says

Italy's delay in securing loans and grants from the European Union's post-COVID fund is "clearly a problem," Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said on Tuesday, amid rising challenges for the country's…

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Fire in Milan retirement home kills 6 people, injures 81 – reports

ROME (Reuters) - Six people have died and more than 80 have been injured following a fire in a retirement home in Milan, Italian news agencies reported on Friday. The…

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Berlusconi leaves control of family business to two eldest children

Silvio Berlusconi's eldest children Marina and Pier Silvio will jointly share majority control of the business empire he founded, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday, after the…

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Poland, Italy call for strong security guarantees for Ukraine

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland and Italy believe Ukraine must receive real security guarantees, the countries' prime ministers said on Wednesday, ahead of a NATO summit where Kyiv hopes to receive…

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Italy minister wants airlines to explain “unjustified” fare hikes

Italy's Industry Minister Adolfo Urso has lamented that airlines benefiting from the country's tourist boom have hiked their prices too much, and demanded an explanation. Urso instructed the government-appointed inflation…

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Italy sees 2023 GDP growth up to 1.2%, above target, PM Meloni says

MILAN, July 3 (Reuters) - Italy's economy could grow by 1.2% this year, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Monday, a figure above the official target set at 1% in…

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Ancient Roman Pantheon to start charging entry from Monday

ROME, (Reuters) - Visitors to Rome's Pantheon, one of the ancient world's best preserved monuments, will have to pay a 5 euro ($5.45) entrance fee from Monday, Italy's tourism ministry…

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Italy aims to turn up renewable power to two thirds of total by 2030

MILAN (Reuters) - Italy aims to generate nearly two thirds of its electricity from renewable energy sources by the end of the decade, the energy ministry said, slightly improving targets…

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UK’s Sunak plans deal with Italy on Mediterranean migrants

Adds details from Telegraph and background, paragraphs 2-8 June 30 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is planning a deal with Italy to stem the flow of migrants across…

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Italy’s coalition postpones debate over European bailout fund for 4 months

ROME, June 30 (Reuters) - Italy's governing coalition parties will suspend for four months the parliamentary debate over the ratification of a reform to a euro zone bailout fund, a…

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Italian police blame couple from England for Colosseum graffiti

ROME, (Reuters) - Italian police have identified a couple from England as the likely culprits after graffiti was scribbled on a wall at the Colosseum in Rome last week, prompting…

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Deep distrust of EU leaves Italy’s Meloni in a corner over bailout fund

Italy dragging its feet on ESM reform approval Euro scepticism still lurking in the coalition Rome hopes for favourable deal on EU budget rules By Angelo Amante and Giuseppe Fonte…

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Italian Police dismantle international migrant smuggling network

Investigators in the northeastern Italian border city of Trieste have dismantled an international migrant smuggling network that reportedly beat migrants to make them walk and gave sleeping tablets to children…

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Italy energy minister sees LNG terminals covering 50% of gas needs

ROME, June 28 (Reuters) - Italy's Environment and Energy Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin said on Wednesday that deliveries by ship of liquefied natural gas (LNG) were a reliable source of…

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3.7 earthquake rattles Siena

A magnitude 3.7 earthquake rattled the Italian province of Siena on Wednesday afternoon. The epicentre, according to Ingv data, was recorded 4 kilometres northeast of Poggibonsi, at a depth of…

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Police in Italy searching for tourist who defaced Colosseum wall

ROME, (Reuters) - Italian authorities are looking for a tourist who scribbled graffiti on a wall of the Colosseum, with Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano calling for exemplary punishment for the…

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Italy to crack down on e-scooters after deaths and accidents

ROME, (Reuters) - The Italian government announced a crackdown on the use of electric scooters on city streets, looking to cut accidents, reduce injuries and prevent pavements from becoming cluttered…

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Italy’s competition watchdog urges banks to boost deposit rates

Italy's competition authority on Tuesday urged banks to better reward depositors when rampant inflation is eroding the value of savings and higher rates are helping to lift profits for the…

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Biden invites Italian PM Meloni to visit White House in July

U.S. President Joe Biden spoke on Monday with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni about the brief uprising by Russian mercenaries against the Kremlin and also invited her to visit the…

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Row in Italy over mountain crosses

The Italian Alpine Club (CAI) has caused a row after proposing that crosses should no longer be placed on mountain peaks. Tourism Minister Daniela Santanché said she was "stunned" by…

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Italy may grant ‘amnesty’ on surrogacy as stricter ban comes into force

ROME, June 23 (Reuters) - Italy may grant an "amnesty" to people who had children through surrogacy following the passage of a law extending criminal penalties to those who seek…

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Italy sees no need for new anti-inflation package as energy prices fall

Energy price spike has largely reversed Italy's Treasury has budget leeway to renew some measures New EU budget rules require fiscal prudence ROME (Reuters) - Italy does not plan to…

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New road safety rules in Italy, helmets, license plates and insurance mandatory for e-scooters

New road safety rules that are expected to come before the government on Thursday include lifetime revocation of driving privileges for repeat drink or drug drive offenders involved in fatal…

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Heat warning in 13 cities in Italy

A heat warning due to Italy's first heatwave of the summer will be in force in 13 cities Thursday as the 10 cities of Ancona, Bologna, Brescia, Florence, Frosinone, Latina,…

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Italy says ECB war against inflation will hit growth

Interest rate rises set by the European Central Bank (ECB) to curb inflation will take their toll in terms of lower economic growth, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said on Monday.…

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Italy braces for first heatwave of the year

The first heatwave of the year is set to hit Italy on Monday, with temperatures rising to 40 degrees Celsius in Sardinia and reaching 33-37 degrees Celsius in other parts,…

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Italy PM Meloni in Paris next week to support Rome’s Expo 2030 bid

ROME, June 17 (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will travel to France next week to show support for Rome's bid to host the Expo 2030, a government source…

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A quarter of Italians at risk of poverty or social exclusion

Just under a quarter of the Italian population, 24.4%, was at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2022, Istat said this week. The national statistics agency said this was…

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Italy launches ‘Berlusconi’ legal reform to bolster rights of accused

By Emilio Parodi MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's cabinet approved a justice reform aimed at strengthening the rights of defendants, measures long advocated by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi who died…

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Tajani to be Forza Italia interim leader

Deputy Premier, Foreign Minister and centre-right Forza Italia (FI) national coordinator, Antonio Tajani, is to step up to become interim FI leader after the death of founder and leader Silvio…

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Telecom Italia CEO confident grid sale will go well

Telecom Italia's (TIM) plan to sell its prized landline grid asset to reduce debt "should and can go well", CEO Pietro Labriola said on Thursday, as sources said bids have…

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Italy bids farewell to Berlusconi on contested day of mourning

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi continued to divide his country even after death, as a decision by the government, which includes his former party, to honour him with a…

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Berlusconi’s funeral to be held on Wednesday

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will have a state funeral at Milan's Cathedral Il Duomo , to be held on Wednesday at 1300 GMT, a spokesman for the Catholic…

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UPDATED: Italy’s former PM Silvio Berlusconi has died; State funeral on Wednesday

MILAN, June 12 (Reuters) - Silvio Berlusconi, the billionaire media mogul and former Italian prime minister who transformed the nation's politics with polarising policies and often alarmed his allies with his brazen…

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Extreme weather events register 135% increase in Italy

Italy suffered 122 extreme weather events in the first five months of 2023, a 135% increase on the 52 registered in the equivalent period last year, Legambiente said in a…

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UPDATED: Big search underway for 5-year-old girl that disappeared in Florence

A big search in underway in the Italian city of Florence for five-year-old Cataleya Alvarez, known as Cata, of Peruvian origins. The girl went missing in the Novoli district of…

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Italy’s former PM Berlusconi back in hospital for leukaemia scheduled checks

MILAN (Reuters) - Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was re-admitted to hospital in Milan for a scheduled medical checkup at the begining of the weekend and will remain there…

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Italy special forces board Turkish vessel after alert over unidentified passengers

ROME, June 10 (Reuters) - A Turkish cargo vessel that Italian special forces boarded after the crew detected a group of unidentified people on board is now sitting off the southern city…

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