Europe – Mediterranean

France reports 4,239 people in ICUs for Covid-19

PARIS, March 16 (Reuters) - French health authorities said on Tuesday there were 4,239 patients in intensive care units (ICUs) for Covid-19, up by 20 over 24 hours and setting…

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Italy reports 502 coronavirus deaths on and 20,396 new cases

MILAN, March 16 (Reuters) - Italy reported 502 coronavirus-related deaths on Tuesday against 354 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose to…

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Photo Story – Pope Francis reciting the Angelus prayer

Pope Francis reciting the prayer of the Angelus from the window of his study overlooking Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City, 14 March 2021. VIA EPA-EFE/FABIO FRUSTACI

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Suspension of AstraZeneca shots is ‘political decision’: Italy’s medicines regulator head

The decision by Germany, France and Italy to suspend AstraZeneca's COVID-19 shots after several countries reported possible serious side-effects is a "political one", the director general of Italy's medicines authority AIFA said on…

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In setback for gay Catholics, Vatican says church cannot bless same-sex unions

The Vatican said on Monday that priests cannot bless same-sex unions and that such blessings are not valid, in a ruling that greatly disappointed gay Catholics who had hoped their Church was becoming more…

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Spain, Germany, Italy, France to halt AstraZeneca shots, further hitting EU vaccination campaign

BERLIN/GENEVA/MADRID , March 15 (Reuters) - Spain will stop using AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine for at least 15 days, Cadena Ser radio reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources. Health Minister Carolina…

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Italy will hike budget deficit by further 20-30 billion euros

Italy will increase this year's budget deficit by a further 20-30 billion euros ($35.78 billion) to finance measures to support the economy hit by the coronavirus crisis, Economy Undersecretary Claudio…

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Danone board ousts boss Faber after activist pressure

Danone said on Monday that Emmanuel Faber would step down as chairman and CEO, ejected by the group's board after the Activia yoghurt maker faced growing calls from some shareholders…

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Italian priest recalls COVID-19 ‘nightmare’ of coffin-filled church

On the wall of St. Joseph’s Church hangs a black-and-white photograph with a caption remembering when the Italian parish of Seriate gave 270 people emergency “hospitality” last year - coffins…

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Italy suspends use of AstraZeneca COVID vaccine nationwide

ROME, March 15 (Reuters) - Italy on Monday suspended the use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, making it the latest European country to put the product on hold following reports…

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France to suspend AstraZeneca COVID vaccine pending EMA guidance

PARIS, March 15 (Reuters) - France will stop administering AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine pending an assessment by the European Union's medicine regulator due on Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron said on…

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Portuguese island in middle of Atlantic close to COVID-19 herd immunity

The small, lush green Portuguese island of Corvo, home to around 400 people, has vaccinated most of its population against COVID-19 and will soon reach herd immunity, according to its…

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Most of Italy enters red zone over increase in coronavirus infections

New measures against the Covid-19 pandemic came into force in most of Italy on Monday 15 March 2021. New restrictions came into effect from midnight as most of Italy will…

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Spain’s deputy PM Iglesias to resign

Spain's far-left Deputy Prime Minister Pablo Iglesias said on Monday he would resign from the coalition government to challenge Madrid's right-wing leadership in a regional election. Fellow Unidas Podemos party…

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Prescription mouthwash cuts viral load in saliva

A commercially available prescription mouthwash can decrease the amount of the coronavirus in saliva in adults with asymptomatic or mild COVID-19, helping to reduce their contagiousness, researchers found. They randomly…

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French must avoid lockdown as infections hold above 26,000 – PM says

PARIS, March 14 (Reuters) - France must do everything to avoid a new coronavirus lockdown as pressure on hospitals grows, Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Sunday as the country…

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Former Italian PM Letta takes helm of fractious Democrats (PD)

ROME, March 14 (Reuters) - Former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta urged the Democratic Party (PD) to end infighting and come together before the next national election as he took up the leadership…

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Italy reports 264 coronavirus deaths on Sunday, 21,315 new cases

ROME, March 14 (Reuters) - Italy reported 264 coronavirus-related deaths on Sunday against 317 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections was down…

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Italy’s Piemonte region stops use of AstraZeneca vaccine batch

ROME, March 14 (Reuters) - Italy's northern region of Piedmont said on Sunday said it would stop using a batch of AstraZeneca coronavirus shots after a teacher died following his…

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Pope Francis laments decade of Syria’s destructive civil war

Pope Francis on Sunday joined the Church in the Philippines in commemorating 500 years of Christianity in the Southeast Asian nation. He celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica with several…

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Parisian Police shoot knife-wielding person

A French police officer on Sunday shot dead a person who threatened him with a knife. The incident took place in Paris' 18th district, police said on Twitter. The area has…

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Italy’s health minister expects COVID cases to start falling in late spring

ROME, March 14 (Reuters) - Italy is seeing a steady rise in coronavirus infections but a national vaccination campaign and tougher restrictions mean numbers should start improving in late spring,…

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4-year-old girl rescued after falling in a well on Monte Grappa, Italy

The Alpine Rescue rescued a 4-year-old girl who had fallen into a well 15 meters deep, on Mount Grappa. The girl was with her family (father, mother and 4 children)…

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Italy reports 317 coronavirus deaths on Saturday, 26,062 new cases

MILAN, March 13 (Reuters) - Italy reported 317 coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday against 380 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections fell to…

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Up to 60 detained in operation against international drug organisation in Spain

Handout photos made available by the Civil Guard shows Civil Guard agents detaining a suspect during the anti-drugs operation held in Huelva, Spain, against an international organization dedicated to the…

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Italy announces plan to vaccinate at least 80% of population by September

ROME (Reuters) - Italy said on Saturday it aims to vaccinate at least 80% of its population by September through ramping up the daily vaccination campaign. Francesco Paolo Figliuolo, the…

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Habemus Papam – Eight years of Pope Francis

Vatican News / Rome Reports - On March 13, 2013, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected Pope. It was at 7:06pm when the white smoke emerged from atop the Sistine Chapel,…

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Amazon workers in Italy call first company-wide strike for March 22

Amazon's workers in Italy will go on a 24-hour strike on March 22 after negotiations with the U.S. online giant over working conditions broke down, trade unions announced. The world's…

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Some Spanish regions hold back AstraZeneca vaccine

Four Spanish regions have stopped administering doses from a batch of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine following reports of the formation of blood clots in some people who had been vaccinated, although…

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Italy and France approve J&J’s COVID-19 vaccine, also gets WHO emergency listing approval

Italy’s medicines agency AIFA and France’s health regulator, the Haute Autorite de Sante (HAS), said on Friday they have approved the use of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by Johnson &…

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Cyprus halts moves to loosen restrictions

Plans to relax Covid-19 measures in Cyprus have been put on hold as case numbers on the island remain high. Middle school pupils will have to stay at home for…

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Italy toughens COVID restrictions

Most of Italy, including its capital Rome and its financial centre Milan, will have curbs on business and movement intensified from Monday as the government ramps up its efforts to…

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Doses of Russia’s Sputnik V, made in Italy, to go on sale no sooner than late 2021

Doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 produced in Italy by Swiss-based pharmaceutical company Adienne Pharma & Biotech will not be available on the market until at least late…

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UPDATE – Earthquake of magnitude 5.7 strikes central Greece – GFZ

ATHENS (Reuters) - A powerful earthquake hit central Greece on Friday but there were no immediate reports of any injuries or of serious damage to buildings. The GFZ German Research Centre…

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Etna belches out 6 km high lava plume

Etna on Friday belched out a six km high lava plume in the latest of a string of spectacular eruptions from Europe's tallest active volcano. The volcano spewed ash and…

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Former PM Letta says ready to head Italy’s troubled PD party

Former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta announced on Friday he would seek the leadership of the troubled centre-left Democratic Party (PD), seven years after he was ousted from power in…

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UPDATED: Italy to impose nationwide coronavirus lockdown over Easter weekend

Italy will be placed under a nationwide lockdown over the Easter weekend for the second year running, a draft decree law seen by Reuters said on Friday, underlining the struggle…

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Sanofi, Translate Bio launch human trial of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine

Sanofi and Translate Bio said on Friday they had started a human trial of their mRNA COVID-19 vaccine candidate, the French drugmaker’s second vaccine project, which follows a protein-based shot…

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Portugal to gradually lift lockdown rules

Nearly two months into a lockdown imposed in mid-January to tackle what was then the world’s worst coronavirus surge, Portugal’s government announced it would start to gradually ease its strict…

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French vaccines chief says AstraZeneca COVID vaccine shows great efficacy

French vaccination chief Alain Fischer said on Friday the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine had shown great efficacy, reaffirming France's commitment to an inoculation which has been suspended in several other countries.…

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Italian singer Gianni Morandi hospitalized

Renowned Italian singer Gianni Morandi had to be hospitalized on Thursday after an accident in his countryside residence. The singer spent the night hospitalized in Cesena following burns he suffered…

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Italy bans a different AstraZeneca batch following two deaths in Sicily: reports

ROME (Reuters/ANSA) - Italian health authorities have ordered the withdrawal of a batch of AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine following the deaths of two men in Sicily who had recently been inoculated,…

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Italy set to launch 40-bln euro fund for virus-hit companies – sources

ROME, March 11 (Reuters) - Italy plans to launch a fund worth up to 40 billion euros ($47.8 billion) this month to help its companies hit by the coronavirus crisis…

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Spain ups direct aid to SMEs to 7 bln euros in relief plan, source says

MADRID, March 11 (Reuters) - The Spanish government's direct aid to small and medium-sized companies, to be approved by the cabinet on Friday, will likely total 7 billion euros ($8.4…

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Italian insurer Generali posts record operating profit despite COVID

Italy's biggest insurer Generali is confident it can achieve targets set for this year after posting a record operating profit for 2020 despite the impact of the COVID emergency, the…

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Italian life expectancy fell by almost a year in 2020 due to pandemic: ISTAT

Life expectancy in Italy fell by almost a year in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, national statistics agency ISTAT said. Nationwide, life expectancy at birth was 82.3 years in…

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Italy plans to cut carbon emissions by around 60% by 2030

Italy plans to cut its carbon emissions by around 60% by 2030 after using 80 billion euros ($96 billion) of EU funds for energy transition in the next five years,…

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UPDATED: Spain to keep using AstraZeneca vaccine, no blood clot cases reported

Spain has not registered any cases of blood clots related to AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine so far and will continue administering the shots, Health Minister Carolina Darias said on Thursday. She…

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Italy registers another 300 deaths from Covid-19

Italy reported 332 coronavirus-related deaths on Wednesday against 376 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 22,409 from 19,749 the day…

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Millions of websites offline after fire at French cloud services firm

PARIS (Reuters) - A fire at a French cloud services firm has disrupted millions of websites, knocking out government agencies' portals, banks, shops, news websites and taking out a chunk…

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Renault to supply Mitsubishi with two European car models

France's Renault will supply two car models for Japan's Mitsubishi Motors to sell on the European market, the carmakers said on Wednesday, even as the Japanese firm stops developing its…

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Spain says vaccine passport could start in May

Spain's Tourism minister Reyes Maroto said on Wednesday that the country could start using the vaccine passport in May, when the international tourism fair FITUR is due to take place…

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Italy reports 376 more coronavirus deaths

Italy reported 376 coronavirus-related deaths on Tuesday against 318 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 19,749 from 13,902 the day…

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Photo Story: Violent clashes in the streets of Athens

Demonstrators clash with riot policemen in Nea Smyrni, south district of Athens, Greece on Tuesday evening. The protest was organized as a result of a footage that was shared widely…

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France says no contract signed to produce Russian COVID-19 vaccine

No company in France has signed a contract with Russia to produce its Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, a spokesman for France’s industry minister said, appearing to contradict the head of…

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Clashes break out in Greece after march against police

ATHENS (Reuters) - A Greek police officer was hurt on Tuesday after clashes broke out during a demonstration against police brutality in an Athens suburb, prompted by a video that…

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Photo Story – Italian President gets vaccine

Italian President Sergio Mattarella was vaccinated against COVID-19 Tuesday at Italy's premier infectious disease hospital, the Spallanzani in Rome. This came as vaccinations got into full swing for 79-year-olds and…

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