GENOA – The remainder of the Morandi viaduct, which partially collapsed some 11 months ago killing 43 people, has been demolished in a controlled explosion, reports Ansa. This means reconstruction can begin in earnest.
INSIDER NEWSDESK
ROME – The Brazilian Director General of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Jose Graziano da Silva, is set to visit Cuba from June 29 to July 1, according to a press release from the FAO’s Havana headquarters reported by Prensa Latina.
27 Jun 2019
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CASTELVETRANO – A renewed effort to capture the Sicilian mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro, considered the capo dei capi (boss of bosses) within Cosa Notra, has been launched, reports Il Fatto Quotidiano. The hunt will target those surrounding the playboy Mafioso and his network of support.
27 Jun 2019
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ROME – The captain of Sea Watch 3, the migrant-rescue ship at sea for two weeks after it was denied entry into Italy, has decided to defy authorities and land in Lampedusa anyway, reports Il Messaggero. The boat is currently moored outside the harbour.
In a show of solidarity, the mayor of Palermo Leoluca Orlando has offered the crew and staff of Sea Watch honorary citizenship for "saving human lives" in the face of "logic, politics and laws which have little human and civil worth."
26 Jun 2019
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ROME – Italy’s women dispatched a disciplined Chinese side 2-0 to burst into the last 8 in the women's World Cup in France. For head coach Milena Bertolini, it is all part of their “mission” to help Italy “discover and appreciate the women’s game.”
An offside goal didn’t put off striker Valentina Giacinti who converted again with an opportunistic goal after just 15 minutes of play. Giacinti, who was named FIFA’s player of the match, was first to a loose ball off a blocked shot from teammate Eliza Bartoli after a beautiful build-up.
26 Jun 2019
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ROME – Cardinal Raymond Burke has severed ties with his once-ally, former White House adviser Steve Bannon, and his institute designed to train future populist leaders. The apparent cause of discontent was Mr. Bannon’s desire to make a film about the Vatican’s homosexual subculture, according to Inside the Vatican.
26 Jun 2019
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ROME – The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rejected an appeal from the search-and-rescue NGO Sea Watch to force Italy to allow migrants to disembark, according to sources at the interior ministry reported in Il Fatto Quotidiano.
The ECHR did, however, insist Tuesday that Italy “is expected to provide assistance to persons on board who are vulnerable because of their age or state of health.”
26 Jun 2019
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ROME – The Repubblica metro station finally reopened Wednesday afternoon. It had been shut for over eight months because of problems with its escalators, setting something of a trend in the central Rome metro as Spagna and Barberini followed suit.
The station on line A was closed on October 23. It has remained shut to the public for 246 days, since an accident injured some 24 CSKA Moscow fans when an escalator collapsed. In the interim period, transport authorities have managed to get four of the six escalators working again.
26 Jun 2019
JAN FILIPOWICZ
ROME — Western nations are considering asking the World Food Programme to hold the next Food and Agriculture Organization election for director general after pro-Chinese FAO executives refused to ban electronic devices during polling as China reputedly demanded photos of ballot sheets as proof before rewarding countries supporting Beijing’s Communist candidate for the head of the UN agency, UN sources said Tuesday.
25 Jun 2019