ROME – Roberto Spada, a clan member who head-butted a journalist in the seaside town of Ostia, received a six-year jail term for his brutal attack in November, officials said. Ruben Nelson Alvez del Puerto, Spada’s Uruguayan bodyguard, was dealt the same verdict for participation in the assault on two crew members of the State broadcaster RAI.

 The Rome court ruled that the pair, accused of private violence, had also used mafia methods in the beating of RAI reporter Daniele Piervincenzi and cameraman Edoardo Anselmi on Nov 7.

VATICAN CITY – During a mass at Santa Marta, Pope Francis spoke about the root of dictatorships, a reflection that some observers felt was directed at the Trump administration.

 In his Monday address, which Italian media have hailed a strong homily, the pontiff recalled the “destructive power of slanderous communication.”

 He also said: “Just think of the persecution of the Jews in the last century. A horror that still happens today.”