Italy

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Italy’s most-wanted Mafia boss nabbed after 30 years on run

ROME (AP) — Italy’s No. 1 fugitive, a Mafia boss convicted of helping to mastermind some of the nation’s most heinous slayings, was arrested Monday when he sought treatment at a private clinic in Sicily after three decades on the run.

https://apnews.com/article/crime-rome-italy-417d74874ff6f9469930a9336e4a3aec?

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Germany, Italy clamp down on Italian mob with raids, arrests

BERLIN (AP) — Police across Europe arrested dozens of people, raided homes and seized millions of euros in assets on Wednesday, in a coordinated crackdown on Italy’s ’ndrangheta organized crime syndicate, one of the world’s most powerful, extensive and wealthy drug-trafficking groups.

https://apnews.com/article/germany-europe-italy-raids-ndrangheta-96ef8b70d669ddc726dd0acaa426dbc6?

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Venice tests a 5-euro entry fee for day-trippers as the Italian city grapples with overtourism

VENICE, Italy (AP) — Under the gaze of the world’s media, the fragile lagoon city of Venice launched a pilot program Thursday to charge day-trippers a 5-euro ($5.35) entry fee that authorities hope will discourage visitors from arriving on peak days and make the city more livable for its dwindling residents.

https://apnews.com/article/venice-daytripper-tax-tourism-canals-e0a741e5e439fb8c027387534b086380?

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Italy’s migrant jails are squalid and chaotic. A young man from Guinea was desperate to escape

ROME (AP) — It was still dark and quiet outside when Ousmane Sylla performed his last prayer in the courtyard of an Italian migrant jail.

https://apnews.com/article/migration-italy-guinea-detention-ponte-galeria-fb0892f51b4df5dd9164cea763fc74e2?

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What to know about the latest trial involving Amanda Knox

FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — Seventeen years after she was accused of killing her British roommate, Amanda Knox was back in an Italian court Wednesday, this time to hear the outcome of a slander charge that has stuck long after she was exonerated of the murder.

https://apnews.com/article/amanda-knox-meredith-kercher-murder-slander-3225079371237c6960a8b1244474ac7b?

Amanda Knox reconvicted of slander in Italy for accusing innocent man in roommate’s 2007 murder

FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — An Italian court reconvicted Amanda Knox of slander Wednesday, quashing her hope of removing a legal stain against her that has persisted after her exoneration in the brutal 2007 murder of her British roommate while the two were exchange students in Italy.

https://apnews.com/article/italy-knox-slander-kercher-killing-bceb926ace28263036a10bf2dd77bc6e?

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In Italy’s Puglia region, women take the lead in challenging the local mafia at great personal risk Puglia is known for its olive groves, white-washed houses and spectacular coastlines that will provide the backdrop when Premier Giorgia Meloni hosts Group of Seven leaders for their annual summit this week. But the region is also home to the Sacra Corona Unita, Italy’s fourth organized crime group. Read more.

Why this matters: A remarkable array of women are challenging the mafia’s power structures. They are arresting and prosecuting clan members, exposing their crimes and confiscating their businesses, all while working to change local attitudes and cultural norms that have allowed this mafia to establish its roots.   In Italy, city hall administrations, town councils and local public health agencies are regularly involved with mafia infiltration or collusion. Puglia ranks fourth among Italian regions in the number of local administrations that have been dissolved because of mafia infiltration, with 26 decrees issued since 1991, out of a national total of 326, according to Avviso Pubblico, an Italian association that tracks the decrees.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Italy's Meloni will welcome the G7 summit fortified by an EU vote that shook French, German leaders   Beyond gangland shootouts and drug trafficking, Italy’s mafia is a threat to democracy   WATCH: As G7 leaders gather in Puglia, AP explains as a group of women fight the local mafia

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Sicilians deal so well with drought that tourists don’t notice. A record dry year could alter that

AGRIGENTO, Italy (AP) — Lakes are dry and fields are scorched by heat in Sicily, but water is still gushing copiously for tourists.

https://apnews.com/article/italy-sicily-drought-tourism-climate-change-water-63b272f105b49b78e59d6bd6fa1754c9?

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Yacht disaster

 

At least one person is dead and six others are missing after a luxury yacht sank off the coast of Sicily today, Italian authorities said. A tornado hit the vessel around 5 a.m. local time while the yacht was anchored about half a mile from the port of Porticello on the Mediterranean island. Fifteen people have been rescued from the scene and one child was airlifted to a children's hospital. The captain is among the survivors, according to a spokesperson for Italy's Coast Guard. The 56-meter yacht called the "Bayesian," which flies under a British flag, had mostly British passengers and crew, in addition to two Anglo-French, one New Zealander, one Irish and one Sri Lankan.

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Yacht that sank off Sicily was carrying people celebrating tech magnate’s acquittal

Police divers resumed searching Tuesday for six people believed trapped in the hull of a superyacht that sank in deep seas off Sicily, including British tech magnate Mike Lynch who was celebrating his recent acquittal on fraud charges with the people who had defended him at trial. Read More.   Superyacht sinks   Italian authorities continued their search today for six missing people after a tornado sank a luxury yacht Monday off the coast of Sicily. Fifteen passengers were rescued from the boat shortly after it capsized, according to Italy's Coast Guard. One body was later recovered from the hull of the stricken vessel, called the "Bayesian." Two Americans and four Britons are among those missing — including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of Morgan Stanley International, and Chris Morvillo, a prominent lawyer. Initial reports suggest a small waterspout, which developed over the area Monday, could have been behind the yacht's sinking.

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Man smashes Ai Weiwei sculpture at exhibition opening in Italy

ROME (AP) — A man smashed a sculpture by Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei during the private opening of his exhibition in the northern Italian city of Bologna, in an act of vandalism that the show’s curator described Tuesday as a “reckless and senseless act.”

https://apnews.com/article/italy-ai-weiwei-work-smashed-artist-bologna-3be001c81eb64991c92cdc98484a2534?

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Italian family believes painting found in a dump in 1960s is a Picasso and seeks authentication

MILAN (AP) — An Italian family hopes to prove definitively that a painting discarded from a villa on the island of Capri more than 60 years ago is a Picasso, and has been gathering scientific data to persuade Picasso’s estate administration in Paris to make the definitive call.

https://apnews.com/article/picasso-painting-suspected-capri-italy-2bf9ccc657bee35cb9bb4a6b934864b5?

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Italy expands its ban on surrogacy to overseas as critics say it targets same-sex couples

ROME (AP) — Italy on Wednesday criminalized citizens who go abroad to have children through surrogacy, a measure slammed by opponents as “medieval” and discriminatory to same-sex couples.

https://apnews.com/article/italy-surrogacy-pregnancy-overseas-ban-lgbtq-3f1181480a71a01166b38540e7c25103?

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A criticized Airbnb deal will let users play gladiator in Rome’s Colosseum

ROME (AP) — The ancient Roman Colosseum will be the venue of gladiator fights — albeit staged — for the first time in two millennia under a $1.5 million sponsorship deal with Airbnb that aims to promote “a more conscious tourism.”

https://apnews.com/article/rome-colosseum-gladiators-airbnb-ac44f85f856293c5c8083e7e91662186?

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Italy’s top court upholds Amanda Knox’s conviction for falsely accusing innocent man of murder

ROME (AP) — Italy’s highest court on Thursday confirmed a slander conviction against U.S. defendant Amanda Knox for accusing an innocent man of murdering her British flatmate 17 years ago in a sensational case that polarized trial watchers on both sides of the Atlantic.

https://apnews.com/article/italy-knox-slander-conviction-murder-667277a1872206590e5f3737535811bf?

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Weaponizing wildfires

Thousands of wildfires tear through southern Italy every year, fueled by scorching temperatures and dry winds. The climate crisis is pouring gasoline on these blazes, but new research suggests the Mafia is exploiting them for power and profit.

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Big bargains

An Italian town that’s been selling homes for less than the price of an espresso is about to release another batch of real estate. Penne, in the central region of Abruzzo, offers the deals in an attempt to stop depopulation.

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Citizenship crackdown

Italy is tightening regulations for claiming citizenship to cut down on people who abuse the system. Applicants must now have at least one Italian parent or grandparent and demonstrate language proficiency. Previously, anyone with an Italian ancestor alive after March 17, 1861, qualified.

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Zen the Border collie teaches other dogs how to rescue people in Italy's avalanche-prone Dolomites

The role of dogs in Italian alpine rescues is becoming more important as the number of people caught by avalanches increases — up by 50% over the past 25 years. A trained avalanche rescue dog's nose can locate someone buried deep in the snow more accurately than any transponder. Read More.

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Venice expands day-tripper tax in bid to combat overtourism

VENICE, Italy (AP) — Venice is charging day-trippers to the famed canal city an arrivals tax for the second year starting Friday, a measure aimed at combating the kind of overtourism that put the city’s UNESCO World Cultural Heritage status at risk.

https://apnews.com/article/venice-day-tripper-tax-ef31062e7a6b9e3c831d6a8b746eae1a?

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Sicily's Mount Etna erupts in a fiery show of smoke and ash miles high

Italy’s INGV National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology said the spectacle on Europe’s most active volcano was caused when part of the southeast crater collapsed, resulting in hot lava flows. It was the 14th eruptive phase in recent months. Read More.

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Trevi Fountain Fee

Tourists visiting Rome’s Trevi Fountain must now pay a roughly $2.35 fee, implemented yesterday, to manage crowds and offset maintenance costs. A handful of city-owned museums also introduced a nearly $6 tourist ticket.  Officials estimate the fees could generate an extra $7.6M annually. Some revenue would expand free museum access for Roman residents, many of whom have expressed frustration over rising living costs and declining quality of life amid surging tourism. Last year, the “Eternal City” attracted a record 22.9 million visitors—up from 19.5 million in 2019—and the fountain drew roughly 10 million people. Rome experimented with lines and designated pathways to limit access to the 18th-century fountain's basin before imposing the new fee. Over $1M is fished from the Trevi Fountain annually as visitors toss coins over their left shoulder with their right hand—a ritual popularized by the Oscar-winning film "Three Coins in the Fountain” that supposedly guarantees a return to Rome. Learn where the money goes.

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• 🖼️ Art thieves nabbed paintings by Renoir, Cézanne and Matisse worth millions from a northern Italian museum in a brazen three-minute heist, police say. Go deeper.