Europe – Mediterranean

Photo Story: Aftermath of Storm Elias in central Greece

A resident wades through the water and mud on a flooded road, in the village of Sotirio after Storm Elias swept across the region, near Larissa, Greece, 29 September 2023.…

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Spain’s conservative leader says he has failed to form government

MADRID, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Spain's conservative opposition leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo said he expected to lose a vote on Friday on his bid to become prime minister, effectively clearing the way for acting premier Pedro Sanchez to…

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Italy agrees steps with retailers to control prices of staple goods

ROME, (Reuters) - Italy signed off a deal with distributors' associations to try to control the prices of essential goods in the last quarter of this year, though the last…

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More than a third of Italy’s population will be over 65 in 2050

ROME, Sept 28 (Reuters) - More than a third of Italy's population will be over 65 by 2050, up from about a quarter last year, the country's statistics office ISTAT…

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Italy’s top court removes block to Regeni murder trial

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's top court ruled that the trial of four Egyptian security officials over the disappearance and murder of an Italian student could go ahead, despite concerns the…

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Italy business and consumer morale fall again in September, as economy weakens

ROME, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Morale amongst Italian businesses and consumers continued to slide in September, data showed on Thursday, amid growing signs of weakness in the euro zone's third…

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Aim to start Messina Bridge work summer 2024 – Salvini

Deputy Premier and Transport and Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini said that he is hopeful work will start next summer on a bridge across the Strait of Messina to connect Sicily…

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Cyprus says Lebanon needs EU aid to deal with migration crisis

NICOSIA, Sept 27 (Reuters) - EU member Cyprus wants Brussels to offer financial and technical aid to Lebanon to help it cope with an influx of Syrian refugees and keep…

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Flooded homes, streets as another storm hits battered central Greece

VOLOS, Greece Sept 28 (Reuters) - Torrential rain battered central Greece, flooding streets, homes and businesses in the city of Volos just three weeks after devastating Storm Daniel killed 16…

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Earthquakes hit Italy super volcano, raising spectre of evacuations

By Crispian Balmer ROME, (Reuters) - A leading volcanologist has warned that mass evacuations might be needed in a town close to Naples, which sits on a so-called Super Volcano…

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Teenager attacks teachers, pupil with knife in Spain

MADRID, Sept 28 (Reuters) - A teenager on Thursday stabbed three teachers and at least one pupil in a high school in Jerez de la Frontera, southern Spain, police told…

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Flight disruptions in Italy on Friday due to 24h baggage handlers strike

Air passengers in Italy are facing major disruptions on Friday due to a 24-hour nationwide strike by baggage handlers over a delay in renewal of their collective contract agreement. ITA…

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Greece to tap into undocumented migrants to curb labour squeeze

ATHENS, (Reuters) - Greece's conservative government is working on a plan to integrate hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants to fill worker shortages in agriculture, construction and tourism, ministry officials…

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Italian FM Tajani: We want Albania in EU before 2030

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told visiting Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama at the foreign ministry Wednesday that Italy wants to see the Balkan country join the EU even ahead of…

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Cyprus’s cabinet prepares surplus-yielding budget

NICOSIA, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Cyprus's cabinet approved its 2024 draft budgetary plan on Wednesday which is expected to yield a surplus of 2.2% of national output, authorities said. Growth…

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UPDATED: Spain’s conservative leader Feijoo fails in first bid to become prime minister

MADRID, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Spanish conservative leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo failed on Wednesday to secure enough votes in the lower house to become prime minister. Feijoo, whose People's Party…

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Private Sicilian funeral for Italian Mafia boss Messina Denaro

CASTELVETRANO, Italy, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Italian Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro, who once claimed to have murdered enough people to fill a cemetery, was laid to rest on Wednesday…

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Italy’s energy authority expects rise in electricity bills

MILAN, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Italy's regulated household prices are expected to rise in the next quarterly update, the head of the country's energy authority ARERA said on Wednesday. "There…

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Italy to allow migrant expulsions on public order grounds – draft

ROME, (Reuters) - Foreigners who live legally in Italy could in future be kicked out of the country if they pose a threat to public order or national security, according…

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Youth vs Europe: ‘Unprecedented’ climate trial to kick off at rights court

By Catarina Demony Sept 27 (Reuters) - Six young people from areas in Portugal ravaged by wildfires and heatwaves will on Wednesday take 32 European governments to court over what…

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4.2 magnitude tremor shakes the Campi Flegrei in Naples

An earthquake swarm on Wednesday morning shook the Campi Flegrei area, near Naples. The strongest tremor was of magnitude 4.2, occurred at 3.35 am and was clearly felt in some…

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Napolitano laid to rest in Italy’s first secular funeral for president

Italy held its first non-religious funeral for a head of state on Tuesday with a secular service in parliament for Giorgio Napolitano, a two-time president who died last week aged…

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Shakira owes $7 million in second Spanish tax fraud case, prosecutor says

A Spanish prosecutor has lodged a second tax claim against Colombian singer Shakira, accusing her of defrauding the state of 6.6 million euros ($7.0 million) in 2018, according to a request…

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French retailers divided over government call to sell fuel at cost

Two leading French retailers were at odds on Tuesday over the government's call for petrol and diesel to be sold at cost price at the fuel pump, ahead of a meeting between the…

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Italy learned with “astonishment” of German funding to migrant charities

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has written to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz telling him she learned with "astonishment" of a German government initiative to finance migrant charity groups operating in…

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Italian Mafia boss Messina Denaro dies of cancer months after capture

Italian Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro, who was convicted of multiple murders and was arrested in January after spending 30 years on the run, has died of cancer, officials said…

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EU, Italy talk tough on migration but action won’t be easy

By Alvise Armellini ROME, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Three years ago, when EU naval mission "Sophia" was shut down after rescuing 45,000 migrants in the central Mediterranean, Italian opposition leader…

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Pope Francis hammers home his message that Europe do more for migrants crossing the Mediterranean

By Philip Pullella MARSEILLES, France, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Saturday condemned "belligerent nationalisms" and called for a pan-European response to migration to stop the Mediterranean, where thousands…

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Former Italian president Napolitano dies aged 98

ROME, (Reuters) - Former Italian president Giorgio Napolitano, a onetime communist who helped to steer his country through a debt crisis in 2011, died on Friday aged 98. Condolences poured…

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Pope says impeding migrant rescues at sea is ‘gesture of hate’

MARSEILLE, France (Reuters) - Pope Francis said that migrants who risk drowning at sea "must be rescued," calling it "a duty of humanity, a duty of civilisation". Speaking at the…

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Marine Le Pen faces trial over ‘fake jobs’ EU scandal

PARIS (Reuters) - The Paris prosecutor's office said that far-right leader Marine Le Pen and 23 other members of her party should stand trial over alleged misuse of EU funds,…

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Asylum seekers in Italy told to pay to avoid detention

By Crispian Balmer ROME (Reuters) - Asylum seekers in Italy will have to pay 4,938 euros ($5,259) to avoid detention while their request for protection is being processed, the government…

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Cosa Nostra superboss Messina Denaro in irreversible coma

One-time top Mafia fugitive Matteo Messina Denaro, caught after 30 years on the run in a Palermo cancer clinic in mid-January, is now in an irreversible coma, sources at L'Aquila…

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Council of Europe expresses concern at Italy’s violence-against-women data

The Council of Europe said Friday that it was worried about Italy's figures regarding violence against women. The human rights body's Committee of Ministers said that it "notes with concern"…

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More than 50 arrested in latest Italy raid against ‘Ndrangheta mafia

MILAN, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Over 50 people have been arrested in a new police raid against the 'Ndrangheta mafia in Italy, Carabinieri police said in a statement on Friday.…

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Socialists would win Spain election over conservative PP, poll shows

MADRID, (Reuters) - Spain's Socialists would win a new general election by a narrow margin and fall short of a parliamentary majority, beating the conservative People's Party (PP) that secured…

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Pope visit to Marseille to shine light on latest EU migration crisis

By Philip Pullella and Layli Foroudi VATICAN CITY, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Pope Francis arrives on Friday in the French port city of Marseille for a lightning visit that will…

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Greek state workers strike against government labour law plans

By Renee Maltezou ATHENS, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Greek public sector workers including teachers, doctors and transport staff walked off the job on Thursday to protest against labour law changes…

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World War One cemeteries, Rwanda genocide sites, Argentine torture center declared UNESCO World Heritage

By Geert De Clercq PARIS, (Reuters) - World War One cemeteries in Belgium and France, the hills of Rwanda's 1994 genocide and a former torture center in Argentina have been…

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UPDATED: King Charles speaks on Ukraine, climate, in French Senate address

PARIS, Sept 21 (Reuters) - King Charles underscored the importance of the relationship between Britain and France on the second day of a state visit to France, which both nations…

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Over 30,000 pigs culled in Italy’s north to counter swine fever

MILAN, (Reuters) - Almost 34,000 pigs at 12 farms in the northern Italian region of Lombardy have been culled to counter the spread of African swine fever (ASF), a spokesperson…

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I won’t let Italy become Europe’s refugee camp – Meloni

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said that "I will not allow Italy to become Europe's refugee camp" in New York, where she is taking part in the United Nations…

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Photo Story: Protest against real-estate sector at the District World Summit in Barcelona

A demonstrator (R) splashes coloured powder on an attendant (C) at a protest outside the facilities during the opening day of real-estate sector 'The District World Summit', at Fira Barcelona…

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UPDATED: King Charles greeted in France with pomp, diplomacy on state visit

By Elizabeth Pineau and Louise Dalmasso PARIS, Sept 20 (Reuters) - King Charles arrived in France on Wednesday for a three-day state visit, during which he and President Emmanuel Macron…

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UPDATED: Pope hopes critically ill Napolitano finds ‘comfort’

Pope Francis said on Wednesday that he was thinking of former Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, whose already serious health condition has deteriorated over the last few days. "I urge you…

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King Charles and France’s Macron hope to build on personal bond post Brexit

After flames engulfed France's Notre-Dame cathedral in 2019, Britain's future King Charles III sat down to write to President Emmanuel Macron, describing his heartbreak and offering his help and advice…

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Photo Story: Spain’s first prototype of floating offshore wind turbine connected to the grid

A view of Spain's first prototype of floating offshore wind turbine connected to the grid, named DemoSATH and created by Saitec, during the official commissioning at the BIMEP experimental field…

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Italy to pass tougher measures to deter migrant arrivals

By Angelo Amante ROME, Sept 18 (Reuters) - The Italian government, struggling with a surge in migrant arrivals, will pass measures on Monday to lengthen the time migrants can be…

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Migrant situation is not explosive, it has exploded: Italian FM Tajani

Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Monday that the situation regarding the arrival of migrants from Africa "is not explosive, it has already exploded". Speaking to reporters at…

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Italy investigates if acrobatic plane struck birds before it crashed

The Italian Air Force said it was investigating whether an aircraft of its acrobatic team, Frecce Tricolori, struck birds before it crashed near an airport, killing a child on the…

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UPDATED: Earthquake jolts parts of Northern Italy

ROME, Sept 18 (Reuters) - A 4.8 magnitude earthquake struck early on Monday near Florence in central Italy, but regional authorities said it did not seem to have caused significant…

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Spain to invest $12.85 billion to alleviate drought impact

MADRID, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Spain will spend more than 12 billion euros ($12.85 billion) to alleviate the impact of the long-running drought afflicting the country, Environment Minister Teresa Ribera…

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Photo Story: Spain’s emeritus Queen Sofia helps to clean a beach

Spain's emeritus Queen Sofia (C) helps to clean a beach as part of the Libera project against garbage in the nature promoted by the SEO bird organization, in San Javier…

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Berlusconi heirs accept will, agree five-year freeze on stakes

MILAN, Sept 11 (Reuters) - The five children of the late media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi this week accepted "in full harmony" their father's will, the former prime minister's heirs said,…

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Greek PM pledges state reforms, disaster relief within fiscal limits

By Renee Maltezou and Karolina Tagaris ATHENS, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Greece will push ahead with state reforms to boost economic growth and offer relief measures to those hit by…

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Letter shows Pope Pius XII probably knew about Holocaust early on

Newly discovered correspondence suggests that World War II-era Pope Pius XII had detailed information from a trusted German Jesuit that up to 6,000 Jews and Poles were being gassed each…

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UPDATED: Von der Leyen presents 10-point plan to address the migrant emergency Lampedusa

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday presented a 10-point action plan to address the migrant emergency during her visit to the Italian island of Lampedusa with Premier…

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