ROME – The Venezuelan President, Nicolás Maduro, has become embroiled in a brewing Italian corruption scandal, with allegations that he sent 3.5 million euros to finance the Italian political party Five Star (M5S) in 2010 when he was foreign affairs minister, according to Spanish newspaper ABC. While the ex-Italian Minister of the Interior, Matteo Salvini, has demanded an explanation, the allegations have been rejected outright by M5S and the Venezuelan government.
Gianfranco Nitti
ROME – ‘AstraZeneca’, a science-led biopharmaceutical company based in the UK, has reached an agreement with Europe’s ‘Inclusive Vaccines Alliance’ (IVA) to supply up to 400 million doses of the University of Oxford’s COVID-19 vaccine, with deliveries starting by the end of 2020 following approval, according to a press release. In May, Oxford University announced the start of a Phase II/III UK trial of AZD1222 with about 10,000 volunteers, with later-stage trials due to begin in a number of other countries.
15 Jun 2020
INSIDER NEWSDESK
VATICAN CITY – For the Angelus from St Peter’s Square, Pope Francis urged the international community to strive to restore peace in Libya, and said that he hoped a path would be forged towards peace, stability, and unity. “I am following with great concern the dramatic situation in Libya. It has been present in my prayers for the last few days.”
“I invite the international community, please,” reiterated Francis on his Sunday address, “to take their condition to heart, and to identify paths and provide means to ensure the protection they need.”
15 Jun 2020
INSIDER NEWSDESK
ROME – Seven people have been arrested on charges of terrorism, having been alleged responsible for the bomb attack on the San Giovanni Carabinieri Station in Dec 2017, according to police sources. Although there were 10 people inside the station at the time, nobody was injured by the early morning explosion, claimed at the time by a cell from the 'Informal Anarchist Federation' (FAI) and the 'International Revolutionary Front' (FRI), reports Il Globo.
12 Jun 2020
INSIDER NEWSDESK
VATICAN CITY – Gianluigi Torzi was arrested on June 6 after an investigation uncovered that the Vatican middleman had been part of a property deal in London which allegedly involved financial crimes such as fraud, embezzlement, and money laundering, announced by the Holy See in a press statement. “The order was issued in relation to the events connected with the sale of the London property on Sloane Avenue, which involved a network of companies in which some officials of the Secretariat of State were present,” read the statement, as quoted from Vatican News.
12 Jun 2020
Jack Morgan Jones
ROME – The Italian Insider interviewed Roberto Ciccioli, Head of Tax and Advisory Services at the ‘Consulting Centre’, a firm that plays a key role in supporting football players and clubs in tax, legal, and corporate finance, and which is working on an Italian football club data project.
11 Jun 2020
INSIDER NEWSDESK
BENGHAZI – A Greek frigate called the ‘Spetsai’, under Italian command, tried to intercept a merchant ship bound for Libya, but a military vessel sent from Ankara intervened as tensions spiked in the Mediterranean on Wednesday, reports La Repubblica.
11 Jun 2020
INSIDER NEWSDESK
ROME - The Italian Insider interviewed Marianne Palladino, School Head at the Castelli International School of Rome, to find out about the school’s home-learning programme, the school’s unique experiential language learning approach to Italian, the school’s campus replete with vineyards and olive groves, and the school’s motto…
When I hear, I forget,
When I see, I remember,
When I do, I understand.
10 Jun 2020
INSIDER NEWSDESK
COSENZA – The Guardia di Finanza of Cosenza have arrested 52 people in connection with 14 seized farms where illegally employed foreign workers were subject to mistreatment, 12 of which were in the forrest region of Basilicata, and two of which were in the province of Cosenza, according to judicial sources. An operation on Wednesday morning involving over 300 officers occured after the request of the prosecutor Flavio Serracchiani, on the basis of alleged crimes aimed at worker exploitation and the facilitation of illegal immigration.
10 Jun 2020