Regional governors rail against Covid colour zoning

INSIDER NEWSDESK

ROME – Tougher new measures to combat Covid-19 that sees Italy divided into three colour-coded areas based on contagion risk, have drawn the ire of regional governors, political sources said on Thursday.

 Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte Wednesday night announced the measures, which come into force from Nov. 6 to Dec. 3, as the country records 352 deaths in 24 hours, taking total fatalities to almost 40,000.

 The new decree orders a nightly curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. and divides Italy into ‘red,’ ‘orange’ and ‘yellow’ zones according to contagion risk (Rt).

Rome, Italy
5 Nov 2020
Read More

Rome mayor Virginia Raggi tests positive for Covid

INSIDER NEWSDESK

 ROME - Mayor of Rome Virginia Raggi is the latest political figure to self-isolate after testing positive for coronavirus.

 Ms Raggi broke the news on her Facebook page Wednesday afternoon, informing friends and constituents that she had come into contact with a person who had contracted the virus.

 “I want to inform you that last week I was in contact with a person who today tested positive for Covid-19,” she wrote.

Rome, Italy
5 Nov 2020
Read More

Night curfew and colour-coded zones, Italy's new anti-covid measures

INSIDER NEWSDESK

 ROME – Italy’s government is introducing tougher measures – including a nationwide curfew – to stem coronavirus contagion following the latest daily figures that saw Covid-related deaths jump to 353, the highest since May, Palazzo Chigi sources said on Wednesday.

Italy
4 Nov 2020
Read More

Former senator Verdini begins six-and-a-half year jail term

INSIDER NEWSDESK

 ROME – Former Forza Italia senator Denis Verdini, for years a close advisor to Silvio Berlusconi, Wednesday began his first full day behind bars after losing his final appeal against a bank failure conviction, judicial sources said on Wednesday.

Rome, Italy
4 Nov 2020
Read More

Bank bandits escape via sewers

INSIDER NEWSDESK

 MILAN – Police are hunting a gang of armed bandits that held up a Milan bank and escaped via the sewers, police sources said on Tuesday.

 The robbers entered the Credit Agricole agency in Piazza Ascoli at opening time, 8.35 a.m., through a hole that had been dug from an adjacent building, investigators said.  

 Once inside, the robbers threatened the manager and two employees, demanding all cash be handed over.

 "They entered from the basement, there were three of us inside the agency,” the branch manager, 48, said.

Italy
3 Nov 2020
Read More

Covid, Cardinal Bassetti moved to ICU

INSIDER NEWSDESK

 PERUGIA – After testing positive for COVID-19 a few days ago, Archbishop of Perugia-Città della Pieve and president of the Italian Bishop’s Conference (CEI), Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, has been transferred to ICU, the bishops’ conference said in a statement on Tuesday.

 Bassetti, 78, was admitted to Perugia’s Santa Maria della Misericordia with coronavirus on Oct. 31 but was transferred into intenstive care "during the night, after a change in vital signs,” the CEI said.

Italy
3 Nov 2020
Read More

Totti positive for Covid, felt fever and weakness

INSIDER NEWSDESK

 ROME – Former Roma football club captain Francesco Totti said he had a fever and a feeling of weakness before getting a test that returned a positive result for COVID-19, sources close to the soccer icon said on Tuesday.

 Just a few weeks ago, Totti, 44, lost his father, Enzo, who had also contracted the coronavirus. The 76-year-old, whom Totti and his former Giallorossi teammates nicknamed ‘The Sheriff,’ was hospitalized before losing his battle with the disease on Oct. 12.

Rome, Italy
3 Nov 2020
Read More

Conte in tug-of-war with regional governors over curfew

INSIDER NEWSDESK

 ROME – Italian PM Giuseppe Conte is stuck in a tug-of-war with regional governors as details of a new government decree to combat the surge of COVID-19 were being ironed out, Palazzo Chigi sources said on Monday.

 With 30,000 new cases of coronavirus recorded daily in the past few days, regional governors are pushing for a nationwide curfew at 6 p.m.

Rome, Italy
2 Nov 2020
Read More

Italian comedic actor Gigi Proietti dies on 80th birthday

INSIDER NEWSDESK

 ROME – After a film and stage career spanning more than five decades, much loved Italian actor, comedian and director Gigi Proietti has died on his 80th birthday, family sources said on Monday.

 The Roman actor, who had been hospitalized for tests just days ago, developed heart failure Sunday, passing away in the early hours of Monday.

Rome, Italy
2 Nov 2020
Read More

Pages