FOGGIA - A 26-year-old man of Gambian descent who was denied asylum has died after a fire broke out in a refugee camp in Apulia where he sought refuge.
The victim, who was forced to leave an asylum centre after his application was rejected, had recently moved to the Borgo Mezzanone refugee camp, a few kilometres outside Foggia, where he sold clothes.
A fire broke out in the early hours of Friday and the victim’s house, built primarily of sheet metal and wood, was almost completely destroyed.
ROME - Only Germany received more migrants over the past year than Italy new statistics released by Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical office, have revealed.
Over the past year Italy has received more migrants than France for the first time in recent years, seeing it rise to second in the rankings.
Italy is said to have received 47,885 migrants to France’s 41,440, although both nations still welcome far fewer than their German counterparts who in the last 12 months opened their doors to 139,600 people.
ROME - Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to celebrate the anniversary of the fall of fascism in cities across Italy.
April 25, known as Liberation Day, marked the end of Nazi occupation in Italy in 1945 at the end of World War II, and the victory of resistance forces.
Italian President Sergio Mattarella led celebrations nationwide, appearing at the Altar of the Fatherland in Rome, a tribute to the unification of Italy, before he travelled to Vittorio Veneto to commemorate the occasion.
PANAMA CITY - The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) today warned that prolonged droughts and heavy rain have destroyed more than half of the maize and bean crops of the subsistence farmers along the Central American Dry Corridor, leaving them without food reserves and affecting their food security.
ŚWIDNIK - Leading aerospace, defence and security firm Leonardo Friday announced that it had signed a new deal with the Polish Navy worth an estimated 380 million euros.
Leonardo, acting through contractor PZL-Świdnik which it owns, will supply four AW101 helicopters and a comprehensive integrated logistics and training package to the Polish Ministry of National Defence (MoD).
The AW101 helicopter which is used by many NATO nations will be a welcome boost to the Polish Navy and their work after 2022, once the order is scheduled to be completed.
BEIJING - Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has arrived in China on a State visit set to last three days in which Italy will take part in a forum on the future of the Belt and Road initiative.
Conte will first meet with representatives at the Italian Embassy, before being welcomed by Chinese president Xi Jinping for a dinner attended by many Heads of Government from countries who have subscribed to the Belt and Road project.
An assortment of leaders and representatives from over 150 nations will then convene to discuss the 1,000 billion dollar project further.
ROME - Lazio and Atalanta are set to meet in the 2019 Coppa Italia final after both secured narrow second leg victories over AC Milan and Fiorentina respectively.
Lazio travelled away to Milan for the second time in ten days, looking for a change in fortune after they were beaten 1-0 by the Rossoneri at the San Siro in Serie A.
Filipo Inzaghi’s men are on a torrid run of form of late, but were quick out of the blocks on Wednesday night.
ROME - Annunziata Verità, a 93-year-old former partisan who feigned death to survive a firing squad in World War II, has warned Italians to reject renascent fascism and not make the same mistake their forefathers did.
In an interview with La Repubblica on the eve of Liberation Day, Verità opened up for the first time 65 years after her own fight against fascism to warn that the movement was “rearing its head again” and must be avoided.
“We have forgotten what fascism was, we never made the youth study it… thus the seeds [of the movement] have remained.”
TRIPOLI - The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Wednesday evacuated about 325 refugees from the Qaser Ben Gasheer detention center south of Tripoli, following the deterioration of security conditions and escalating violence.
The relocation, carried out together with International Organisation for Migration, was started following an episode of armed violence against prisoners who were protesting about the conditions in which they were held, during which gunshots were reported fired into the air.
