ROME—Former premier Silvio Berlusconi on Saturday bowed out of Italy’s presidential election set for next week, though he insisted he had nailed down enough voters to become head of state. Berlusconi, 85, said in a statement that after much reflection he had opted to “take another step on the path of national responsibility.” The media…
Don’t Discriminate Against the Unvaccinated, Amnesty International Tells Italy
MILAN—Human rights group Amnesty International urged Italy to change tough anti-COVID restrictions to avoid discrimination against unvaccinated people. In a recent decree Mario Draghi’s government made vaccination mandatory for everyone over the age of 50 and for use of public transport and a range of other services, one of very few countries to take similar…
Italy Marks 10 Years Since Deadly Costa Concordia Shipwreck
GIGLIO, Italy—Italy on Thursday marked the 10th anniversary of the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster with a daylong commemoration ending with a candlelight vigil marking the moment the ship slammed into a reef and then capsized off the Tuscan island of Giglio. Church bells rang out as a commemorative Mass got underway in the Giglio…
Italy to Receive 40,000 Merck Antiviral Drug Doses Next Week: Official
MILAN—Italy will receive around 40,000 doses of Merck & Co.’s COVID-19 antiviral drug next week, which will add to nearly 12,000 already distributed to hospitals, the special COVID-19 commissioner said on Sunday. “They are intended for clinical cases that risk a serious outcome of the disease,” Commissioner Francesco Figliuolo told a television program on Italy’s…
Italy Is Making COVID-19 Vaccines Mandatory for Everyone Aged 50 and Older
The Italian government announced it will make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for people aged 50 and older starting next month. “We want to slow down the growth of the contagion curve and push Italians who still aren’t vaccinated to do so,” Prime Minister Mario Draghi said during a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, according to a statement…
Olive Oil Ology
A few years ago in Rome, I found myself in a cramped room drinking olive oil from a cup. I was with a group of food writers, learning how to properly taste olive oil before traveling to the hilltop city of Perugia, where we would put our new tasting skills to work at an annual…
Calisto Tanzi, Parmalat Founder Convicted Over Huge 2003 Bankruptcy, Dies at 83
ROME-—Businessman Calisto Tanzi, who transformed a small family milk company into the multi-national food powerhouse Parmalat only to see it collapse in one of Italy’s biggest fraudulent bankruptcies, died on Saturday, aged 83. Tanzi died of pneumonia in a hospital in Parma, the city in central Italy where he had made his fortune, his family…
Italy Court Awards Costa Concordia Passenger Over $100,000
ROME—An Italian court has ordered Costa Crociere cruise line to pay 92,700 euros ($105,000) to a passenger who was aboard the Costa Concordia when it crashed and capsized off Tuscany in 2012, in one of the few civil lawsuits to have reached a verdict against the company. The Genoa court recognized that passenger Ernesto Carusotti…
Italy Gives Safe Port to 558 Migrants Rescued at Sea
CATANIA, Italy—Italy on Tuesday allowed a charity boat carrying hundreds of migrants rescued at sea to dock in the Sicilian port of Augusta, with another vessel waiting offshore for permission to bring 440 more to land. The Geo Barents ship, run by charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF), took onboard 558 people, mainly Africans, in eight…
Greece, Italy, Spain Reimpose Outdoor Mask Mandates, Increase Restrictions, Citing Omicron
The governments of Greece, Italy, and Spain have reimposed outdoor mask mandates and introduced some new COVID-19 rules ahead of Christmas, citing the spread of the Omicron variant. Greece announced new restrictions on Thursday that include requiring people to wear masks for all outdoor and public areas. Meanwhile, double-masking or more protective filtering facepiece (FFP2) masks will…
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