The Dispatch

Sea Watch: Over €1 million donated by supporters for captain’s legal costs as Germany asks Italy to release her

Supporters of Sea-Watch 3 captain Carola Rackete raised over €1 million to cover legal costs for the German skipper, who was arrested Saturday for docking in the Italian port of…

Read More Here

UPDATED: Missile crashes in Cyprus, indication it’s a Russian built missile

No one was hurt after what turned out to be a missile crashed north of the Cypriot capital, Nicosia, early on Monday. Mustafa Akinci, the Turkish Cypriot leader, linked the…

Read More Here

Italian Guardia di Finanza issues video of the final moment as the Morandi Bridge collapses

The Italian Guardia di Finanza (GdF) issued CCTV video showing the moment the Morandi Bridge collapsed on 14 August 2018 in Genova, northern Italy, killing 43 people and injuring…

Read More Here

Heatwave alert for Paris withdrawn

Paris authorities on Monday morning announced that they had removed the amber-level heatwave alert that had been declared for the French capital since June 23. Paris had been spared…

Read More Here

Swiss footballer Florijana Ismaili missing in Lake Como in Italy

Florijana Ismaili, a female football player with the Swiss national team, has been declared missing after a swimming accident on Lake Como in Italy. Ismaili, 24, has played for the…

Read More Here

Pope praises Trump-Kim meeting

Pope Francis praised on Sunday the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and said he hoped it would lead to peace. He said…

Read More Here

Mediterranean Migrant Arrivals Reach 27,834 in 2019

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reports that 27,834 migrants and refugees have entered Europe by sea through 1 May, roughly a 35 per cent decrease from the 42,274 arriving…

Read More Here

Tension between the Vatican and China

The Vatican has told bishops and priests in China that they must follow their own consciences in deciding whether to register with the government, and it urged Catholics in the…

Read More Here

Italy fines Facebook €1 million over Cambridge Analytica case

Italy's privacy regulator said Friday that it was fining Facebook one million euros for offenses related to the Cambridge Analytica case. The disgraced and now-defunct British company harvested the personal…

Read More Here

Photo Story: The Pope and the Grand Master

Current Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, Fra' Giacomo Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto (L) kisses the hand of Pope Francis at the start…

Read More Here

Catania University dean, professors investigated

Nine Catania University professors and the institute's dean, Francesco Basile, were suspended by a preliminary investigations judge on Friday. The move relates to probe into the alleged rigging of…

Read More Here

France’s debt increases even more

The French national statistics bureau warned that the countries debt has slipped further into the red. The rise in the public sector debt was mostly due to central government spending,…

Read More Here

Photo Story: The Morandi Bridge demolition in Genova

A general view shows the demolition of the large towers '10' and '11' of the Morandi bridge using micro-explosive charges, in Genoa, northern Italy, 28 June 2019. Thousands of…

Read More Here

Experts prepare to demolish Morandi Bridge in Genova

Demolition experts are set to blow up what remains of the Morandi bridge on Friday in the Italian city of Genoa nearly a year after the structure collapsed. Around…

Read More Here

EU working on solution for Sea-Watch saga

European Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said Thursday that the European Union was working to find a solution for the 42 migrants on the Sea-Watch 3 ship but added that…

Read More Here

Salvini considers border wall in northeast Italy

Italian Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said he is considering the idea of erecting a border barrier in northeastern Italy. "The Balkan route (for migrant flows) has reopened,"…

Read More Here

Sea Watch ignores orders to stop, anchors in front of Lampedusa

The Sea-Watch 3 migrant-rescue ship on Wednesday defied an order from a tax police motor launch to stop and pressed on until it came close to the port of…

Read More Here

Italian Health Ministry issues heat alert for 6 cities, for 16 on Friday

The Italian health ministry has issued a heat alert for six Italian cities for Thursday and for 16 on Friday. The red alert indicates the maximum risk level for all…

Read More Here

Pope saddened by image of dead migrant father and baby at US-Mexico border

Reader's discretion is recommended due to the graphic nature of the photo attached to the story Pope Francis is profoundly saddened by the death of two migrants – a…

Read More Here

French consumer group launches class action against Google

A French consumer rights group has launched a class action lawsuit against US tech giant Google for violating the EU's strict data privacy laws. The compensation claim is a first…

Read More Here

One in five churches in the Netherlands are no longer used for religious purposes

One in five churches in the Netherlands are no longer used as a place of worship and most have been turned into homes or cultural centres, according to research…

Read More Here

ECHR rejects Sea Watch appeal

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has rejected a request presented by migrant search-and-rescue vessel Sea Watch 3 for the ECHR to implement interim measures asking Italy to allow…

Read More Here

Photo Story: The Summit of of the Two Shores

French President Emmanuel Macron poses with foreign ministers of Spain, Italy, Portugal, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Mauritania, Malta, France and the members of civil society after the 'Summit of the…

Read More Here

Sea Watch case taken to the European Court of Human Rights

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said Monday it has received a request from the migrant search-and-rescue vessel Sea Watch 3 for the ECHR to implement interim measures asking…

Read More Here

Italian doctors say leaving overflowing garbage in the streets in the heat is dangerous

Doctors in the Italian capital Rome highlighted the health dangers from overflowing street rubbish brewing toxic fumes in the summer heat. "With the arrival of the heat in a…

Read More Here

Photo Story: Saint John’s Eve in Spain

Candles sit on steps during a vigil held on occasion of Saint John's Eve in Cordoba, Spain, 23 June 2019 (issued 24 June 2019). The San Juan Fiesta (Saint John's…

Read More Here

Spanish doctor suspended for claiming vaccines cause autism

A female Spanish doctor has been barred from practicing her profession after claiming vaccines cause autism. El Pais reports that the Madrid Medical Association (Icomem) has banned Spanish…

Read More Here

Italy holds Netherlands, EU ‘responsible’ for Sea Watch 3 issue

Italy's interior minister Matteo Salvini said he is holding the Netherlands and the European Union "responsible" for the fate of 42 migrants on board the Sea Watch 3. The Italian…

Read More Here

Three dead in Paris building fire

Police in Paris have not yet established the cause of a fire that left three people dead and another gravely injured on Saturday morning. The building they were in went…

Read More Here

Tourists fined for cycling bare-chested in Venice

Two British tourists were fined a total of 350 euros for cycling bare-chested around Venice Friday. The incident happened in the busy square outside the church of San Simeon Piccolo.…

Read More Here

Sea Watch kidnapping case against Salvini shelved

A Catania probe into Interior Minister Matteo Salvini for allegedly kidnapping migrants aboard the Sea-Watch3 NGO rescue ship in January has been shelved. About the case, Salvini said that…

Read More Here

Photo Story: Elton John gets top French award

Sir Elton John, a newly awarded Legion of Honor, France's highest award, pinned to his suit, joined a call Friday by French President Emmanuel Macron to fund AIDS research and…

Read More Here

Spanish Police disrupt criminal organisation which financed Al Qaeda

The Spanish National Police (Policia Nacional) disrupted a criminal organisation which was financing Al Qaeda terrorist militias. The complex operation was carried out in the Spanish cities of Madrid,…

Read More Here

EU threatens Turkey with sanctions over drilling off Cyprus

The EU has threatened to impose sanctions on Turkey if it continues "illegal drilling" in waters near Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean. The warning came at an EU summit…

Read More Here

Photo Story: 63 persons saved off Almeria in Spain

Sixty-three persons arrive on a Spanish sea rescue boat after being rescued while sailing on two small canoes on the Alboran Sea, in Almeria, southeastern Spain on the night of…

Read More Here

Italian top court decrees that a foetus is a ‘person’ during labour

Italy’s top court has declared that the foetus must be considered a person during its mother's labour. The decision concerns an obstetrician who was accused with negligence in the death…

Read More Here

The changing climate threatening Spain’s tourism industry

Though one might assume that hotter weather favours the tourism industry in certain countries, experts warned that such a situation is causing more harm than good to the Spanish tourism…

Read More Here

Salvini says will quit if government can’t cut 10 billion euros in taxes

Deputy Italian Prime Minister Matteo Salvini on Friday vowed to quit the government unless he was able to push through tax cuts for at least 10 billion euros. Salvini has…

Read More Here

13 arrested for sexual exploitation of young women in French-Romanian operation

A large-scale joint investigation, led by the French Gendarmerie Nationale in cooperation with the Romanian DIICOT (Directorate for the Investigation of Organised Crime and Terrorism), and supported by Europol and…

Read More Here

Italian writer Camilleri still in critical condition

According to the latest hospital bulletin, Italian writer Andrea Camilleri remains critical after suffering cardiac arrest. "The patient is having mechanical and pharmacological respiratory support and is under pharmacological sedation,"…

Read More Here

About 5 million Italians live in absolute poverty

The number of Italians living in absolute poverty held steady in 2018 after three straight years of growth, though the problem remains at a record high. About 5 million…

Read More Here

France calls for the protection of underwater cultural heritage

Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, opened, together with Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, the International Conference on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage, hosted jointly by…

Read More Here

Turkey to launch second drilling vessel for natural gas operations near Cyprus

Reuters reports that Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez announced that Turkey will launch a second drilling vessel, the Yavuz, on Thursday that will begin natural gas operations near Cyprus at…

Read More Here

Photo Story: Paris Airshow kicks off

The Paris Air Show, one of the world’s most important air shows, kicked off Monday in the French capital. There is much attention on Boeing, which was plunged into crisis…

Read More Here

French art expert insists lost painting is a Caravaggio

French art expert Eric Turquin is not only convinced that a canvas found in the attic of an old house in southwest France is a Caravaggio but also that it…

Read More Here

Franco Zeffirelli’s funeral to be held on the 18th June

The funeral of world-renowned Italian movie director Franco Zeffirelli will be held next Tuesday at the Duomo in Florence, his hometown. Before the funeral, Zeffirelli will be lying-in-state at…

Read More Here

Italy lets 10 stranded migrants disembark, moves to ban rescue ships from its waters

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini allowed 10 of the 53 migrants stranded on the Sea-Watch 3 rescue ship to disembark but pressed ahead with plans to ban such boats…

Read More Here

Ash emissions from central summit crater on Etna

The Etna volcano in Sicily once more is showing signs of activity after the recent, short-lived eruption ended last week Italian experts report that the volcano remains restless with dense…

Read More Here

Tourist bookings in Italy drop for 1st time in 5 years

Tourist bookings to Italy this summer have dropped for the first time in five years, the Cst-Assoturismo Confesercenti business group said Thursday. Some 205 million tourists are expected to come…

Read More Here

EU-wide operation against counterfeit products, Law enforcement agencies in Malta involved in the operation

More than 4.7 million counterfeit products seized, over 16 400 social media accounts suspended and 3 300 websites closed in the EU-wide operation Aphrodite II against trafficking of counterfeit goods.…

Read More Here

Conte in favour of Merkel as the next president of the European Commission

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said that German Chancellor Angela Merkel would be a good candidate to be the next president of the European Commission, while adding that he does…

Read More Here

Police in Cyprus find remains of six-year-old, the seventh victim of a serial killer

Police in Cyprus have discovered the seventh victim of what is believed to be the island's first serial killer. The body of six-year-old Sierra Granze was found at the bottom…

Read More Here

Former senior Italian League party official arrested on corruption charges

Italian police on Wednesday arrested Paolo Arata, former League party energy consultant and former Forza Italia (FI) MP, and his son Francesco, on suspicion of corruption. The pair are accused…

Read More Here

Italy shuts Mineo migrant camp in Sicily

Interior minister Matteo Salvini announced the closure of a reception centre for asylum seekers in Sicily. The decision to close the Mineo asylum camp in Sicily came after the number…

Read More Here

Italian Police smash international alcohol smuggling group

Italian police on Wednesday smashed a huge contraband alcohol ring based in the UK and operating in 17 European countries. Police from Udine arrested 20 people in seven Italian…

Read More Here

Macron ready to back Merkel for new European Commission President post

French President Emmanuel Macron told Swiss TV station RTS that he would back German Chancellor Angela Merkel for European Commission president. Politico reports that Macron, when asked about his…

Read More Here

Boys who averted a tragedy on hijacked bus to get Italian citizenship

Italian news agency ANSA reports that the two Egyptian boys who helped avert a massacre on a hijacked bus near Milan in March will receive Italian citizenship. The citizenship proposal…

Read More Here