VATICAN CITY – Sister Maria Laura Mainetti of the congregation of the Daughters of the Cross, who was brutally murdered by three girls during a satanic ritual in 2000, has been determined to have been martyred because of her faith, according to Holy See sources. On June 19, Pope Francis authorized Cardinal Angelo Becciu, prefect for the Causes of Saints, to look into a decree for her beatification, recognizing the martyrdom, and stated that she was killed out of "hatred for the faith."

 ROME -- The International Fund for Agricultural Development IFAD has defended a decision by President Gilbert Houngbo to recall to the Eternal City employees who had left Italy to work remotely from their home countries because of the Coronavirus epidemic, noting that the crisis has eased on the peninsula.  

LAMEZIA – EasyJet airlines were forced to issue an apology over their ‘Inspire Me’ section of their website for potential holiday-makers, which describes Calabria as suffering from an absence of tourists due to its history of “mafia activity and earthquakes.” EasyJet issued the apology to Calabria on Tuesday morning, stating that their intent had been to promote the region as an underestimated one by tourists.

SIENA – Alex Zanardi, the Italian paralympic champion and ex professional race car driver, has spent a third night in hospital in a medically induced coma after a devastating accident in Pienza for which he required neurosurgery, reports Il Fatto Quotidiano. An investigation into the collision is underway, and disconfirms the hypothesis that Zanardi had been on his phone at the time of the accident. Zanardi’s helmet is said to have slipped off in the collision, and he beat his head violently against the metal over the mudguard and then the asphalt, reports Il Messaggero.