Italy

Italy calls on West African states (ECOWAS) to extend Niger ultimatum

ROME, Aug 7 (Reuters) - The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) should prolong their deadline for the reinstatement of Niger's ousted president, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said…

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Italy’s clam industry under threat from blue crab ‘invasion’

By Alvise Armellini ROME, (Reuters) - A particularly aggressive crab species from the western Atlantic is threatening Italy's role as one of the world's top producers of clams - as…

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Italy plans measures to support key sectors including microelectronics

By Elvira Pollina and Giuseppe Fonte Decree to be discussed by cabinet on Monday Italy earmarks 630 mln euros for microelectronics Govt in talks with Intel over packaging factory ROME…

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Two dead, 57 rescued from migrant shipwrecks off Italy’s Lampedusa

ROME, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Italy's coastguard said on Sunday it had recovered two bodies and rescued 57 people off the southern island of Lampedusa, amid reports that more than…

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Catania airport in Sicily cleared to reopen main terminal

(Reuters) - The Italian Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC) on Saturday gave its green light to reopen the main terminal at Sicily's Catania airport, a statement said, nearly three weeks after…

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Italy’s lower house approves ‘right to be forgotten’ law for cancer survivors

ROME, Aug 4 (Reuters) - An Italian law giving cancer survivors the right not to declare their past condition to banks and insurance agencies, shielding them from discrimination, has been…

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Italy braced for three days of extreme weather

Italy is braced for three days of potentially extreme weather, starting on Friday, when Cyclone Circe is forecast to hit the country, bringing storms with torrential rain and powerful winds.…

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UNESCO recommends adding Venice to list of world heritage sites in danger

(Reuters) - UNESCO experts have recommended that Venice and its lagoon be added to its list of World Heritage in Danger as Italy is not doing enough to protect the…

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Italy’s parliament poised to approve fiscal reform plan

Bill gives tax-dodgers more leeway to cut deals PM Meloni also plans income tax cuts Aims for single tax band by 2027 Opposition parties, unions criticise plans By Giuseppe Fonte…

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Italian government plans to put more taxis on the road

By Alvise Armellini and Keith Weir ROME (Reuters) - The Italian government proposed steps to improve taxi services after the country's antitrust authority (AGCM) said it was looking into problems…

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Russian hackers crash Italian bank websites

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's cyber security agency said it had detected hacker attacks against websites of at least five banks, which temporarily made it impossible to access some of their…

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Call to restrict public access to Trevi Fountain

Access to the Trevi Fountain should be limited and controlled, Rome's tourism pointman said in the wake of a social media video showing a man climbing onto the iconic monument…

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Italy minister: joining China’s Belt and Road was ‘atrocious’ decision

By Alvise Armellini Italy entered pact in 2019 under a previous government Current administration is considering how to pull out PM Meloni says a decision will be taken by December…

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Consumption of meat, eggs banned in Palermo due to dioxin alert

An alert over dioxin from a recent waste dump fire in Palermo on Sunday spurred an ordinance from the Sicilian capital's council banning citizens from eating eggs and meat for…

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Mediterranean diet followed by only one in 10 Italians

The UNESCO-listed famously healthy Mediterranean Diet is followed by only one in 10 Italians, according to Legacoop Alimentare in a report this week. The healthy elixir and emblems of the…

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Sicily bears the largest brunt due to wildfires

Some 51,386 hectares of crops, woodland and other vegetation have gone up in smoke in Italy due to mainly arson-caused wildfires since the start of the year, environmental group Legambiente…

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Italy eyes deal with supermarkets to control prices of essential goods

By Giuseppe Fonte Industry Minister also holding talks with producers over plan Prices on certain food and non-food goods would be capped Plan would be implemented in Oct-Dec 'anti-inflation quarter'…

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Italy wins EU nod to clinch 18.5 billion euros in post-COVID funds

ROME, (Reuters) - The European Commission said it had provisionally approved the payment to Italy of a third tranche of 18.5 billion euros ($20.43 billion) in post-COVID recovery funds. The…

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Italy eyes 19 billion euros in energy investments as it reviews post-COVID plan

By Giuseppe Fonte Italy in talks with EU to overhaul post-COVID plan Some 2.3 bln euros would go to power and gas grids Italy reiterates commitment not to lose any…

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‘Record heat’, wildfires in Italy’s southern regions

Italy's southern regions have seen record heat in terms of both intensity and duration, Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci said in an urgent briefing to the Lower House on Thursday.Temperatures…

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China tops agenda as Biden welcomes Italy’s Meloni to Washington

U.S. President Joe Biden hosts Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the White House on Thursday, with the Ukraine war and Italy's relations with China expected to be among the…

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Three dead as Sicily counts losses from ‘devastating’ fires

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's southern island of Sicily has been devastated by wildfires that have killed three elderly people, its regional president said, as a heatwave and severe storms further…

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Italian e-scooter road accidents up 40% last year – stats office

ROME, (Reuters) - Road accidents in Italy involving e-scooters increased by almost 40% last year, statistics bureau ISTAT said, weeks after the government announced a crackdown on their use on…

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Catania airport to resume normal service next week

Catania airport will resume normal service next week -after a recent closure due to a fire, Sicily Governor Renato Schifani announced. He said that from Wednesday the operation of Catania…

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UPDATED: Five dead as Sicily counts losses from ‘devastating’ fires

By Alvise Armellini ROME, July 26 (Reuters) - Italy's southern island of Sicily has been devastated by wildfires that have killed at least five persons. The charred bodies of a…

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Don’t go out warns Palermo amid heat and fires; Two charred bodies found in Sicilian capital

The Palermo provincial health authority (ASP) advised locals not to go out amid sweltering heat and wildfires in and around the Sicilian capital. The ASP said it recommends avoiding prolonged…

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Italy readies special furlough scheme to save workers from heatwave

ROME, (Reuters) - Italy is preparing special measures to help construction and agricultural firms keep staff at home during an intense summer heatwave, government officials and trade unionists said. Giorgia…

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Storms kill two in northern Italy, Palermo airport reopens after fire

Palermo's airport reopened on Tuesday after wildfires in Sicily forced its closure for a few hours as extreme weather continued to batter Italy, with severe storms causing damage and at…

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Italy PM Meloni says right made strong gains in Spain

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Tuesday the poor showing by her Spanish far-right ally Vox was expected in Sunday's general elections, but noted that conservatives overall made strong…

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Italy PM Meloni builds alliance to tackle illegal migration

Nations from the Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa agreed steps on Sunday to try to slow unauthorised migration and to tackle some of the pressures driving people to leave their…

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Italian region of Calabria hit by wild fires, heat to intensify

ROME, July 23 (Reuters) - Firefighters battled blazes in the southern Italian region of Calabria on Sunday and forecasters warned that temperatures were set to soar again in parts of…

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Italy’s holds migration conference to stem flows by helping Africa

ROME, July 21 (Reuters) - Mediterranean and Middle East countries will meet in Rome on Sunday to boost efforts to stem illegal migration flows, with Italy saying the aim is…

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Lampedusa remains under strain as over 2,500 migrant arrivals are registered on Saturday

(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 22 - Reception capacity on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa remained under strain on Saturday morning following the arrival of 266 migrants and refugees since midnight. …

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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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