VATICAN CITY – Swiss holding companies worth hundreds of millions of euros and created through the Lateran Pact, have been dismantled, closed, and their assets transferred into the oldest Vatican holdings in Switzerland, the ‘Profima Société Immobilière et de Participations of Geneva’, established in 1929 on behalf of Pope Pius XI, reports Corriere Della Sera.
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FLORENCE – The 21 virtual exhibitions of the Uffizi have produced more than 3.8 million views since the Uffizi Gallery closed on March 8, amounting to 55,000 per day, with a 360-degree virtual tour of the museum's new Venetian halls proving to be particularly popular, according to a museum press release.
22 May 2020
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ROME – Lombardy is the only region in Italy to have registered an increase in coronavirus positive cases on Thursday, and after M5S deputy Riccardo Ricciardi gave a speech in the Chamber of Deputies attacking those opposing the measures of the Italian government, and sardonically said they should propose Lombardy as a model, a near brawl occurred in amongst the parliamentarians, with much shouting, gesticulating, and reports of a punch having been thrown, with televised video footage showing the tussling politicians. The President of the Chamber, Roberto Fico, was forced to suspend the sess
22 May 2020
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ROME – The China ambassador to Italy, Li Junhua, has said that China respects the US-Italy alliance, and that it should not be an obstacle to the Italy China partnership, and further said that China were not warrior Wolves, but rather Kungfu pandas, in response to a question about aggressive Chinese diplomacy during an interview with Corriere della Sera. The idea of ‘Kung Fu Panda diplomacy' was termed by Wang Peng in 2017 in China Daily, following the 19th National Congress of the CCP which restyled China as a benign influence on the international stage without hegemonic ambitions.
20 May 2020
LISA COLLETTA
ROME – COVID-19 isn’t the only thing that has been raging in Italy, though it is tragically the main story. On another front, a battle has been fulminating for weeks about the hair and make-up of the RAI UNO’s China correspondent, Giovanna Botteri. Botteri suddenly became a household name as she started reporting every evening from Beijing about the pandemic and its effects throughout Asia.
20 May 2020
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ROME – Coronavirus may push an additional 10 million of the world’s children into acute malnutrition, accounting for a potential increase by 20 per cent, according to estimates from The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). Malnourished children, especially those under five years of age, are at risk due to the pandemic and its socio-economic fallout, and although the WFP is ready to scale up its response it has put out an urgent request of 300 million dollars to do so.
20 May 2020
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ROME – The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) wants to settle the Serie A in August and will look to table the notion on Wednesday to create play-offs to decide the championship, a solution aimed at resolving the health protocol difficulties and the lack of time available to complete the 127 games as originally planned, reports La Repubblica. The government ‘Rilancia Italia’ decree means that tournaments can be changed in order to end them, and there is speculation that the playoffs will be based on table rankings from March 9, according to Calcio Today.
20 May 2020
Gianfranco Nitti
ROME - The Galleria Borghese, the famous Museum which houses and displays a collection of ancient sculptures, reliefs, mosaics, paintings, and sculptures dating from the 15th through the 19th centuries, has reorganized its spaces and implemented all measures necessary to provide an enjoyable and safe experience for its visitors as it reopens on Tuesday, according to a museum press release.
19 May 2020
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FLORENCE – After over ten weeks of closure due to the coronavirus crisis, the Boboli Gardens are to reopen from Thursday at 9:00 a.m., according to a press release from the Uffizi. The garden is a unique open-air museum, with an extraordinary botanical heritage, and a landscape and architectural layout replete with flower beds, groves, and a collection of over 300 classical sculptures.
As Italy starts to re-open and with the approaching summer comes the good weather, the gardens will be opening every day of the week from 8:45 a.m., with last entries made at 5:15 p.m.
19 May 2020