ROME – A 24-year-old man with previous convictions for sexual violence has been arrested for attacking a woman in the Eternal City’s Ostiense station.
On Monday afternoon, the man approached a 50-year-old Roman woman who was walking down the underpass of the railway station. He blocked her with her back to the wall and started to abuse her.
ROME - The Ministry of Defence has announced that Italian troops are to be withdrawn from Afghanistan. Some 900 soldiers have been in the area for 17 years as part of a NATO-led mission.
The Minister of Defense, Elisabetta Trenta, has given directives to her ministry to coordinate the planned return of Italian troops with other NATO countries. It has been reported that the withdrawal of these troops could take place within a year.
UMBRIA - The 15th edition of the Trasimeno Music Festival (TMF) will be held from June 29 to July 5 2019, with the artistic direction of the Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt. The festival unites music-lovers and musicians from all over the world for a week in an intimate setting.
ROME – The Sant’Egidio Community has expressed its sorrow for the Catholic Church in the Philippines after an attack on a church during Sunday Mass that killed 20 people and left many more injured.
A statement from the Community insisted that the condemnation of such acts of violence must be “firm and total.”
Sant’Egidio took part in negotiations that brought peace in the Mindanao region of the Philippines and has reaffirmed its commitment to support the Church in the country and strive for peace.
SYRACUSE – Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has conceded that a deal needs to be reached to bring the SeaWatch deadlock to an end.
He has agreed that the 47 migrants on board the rescue vessel can disembark in Italy, on the condition that they be transferred to another country immediately. “They can go to Holland … or Germany, the NGO’s home country,” Salvini said.
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis has returned to Italy after the World Youth Day (WYD) Thursday in Panama where he addressed 700,000 people, urging the need to put a stop to using social media to “foment hatred and prejudice.”
“Dear young people, you are not the future, but the now of God”, said the Pope as he was welcomed by an enthusiastic applause. Francis took the opportunity of WYD to talk to young people about the language of social media.
ROME – The anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) and the far-right League party locked horns over their opposing positions on Venezuela’s political crisis, La Stampa reported.
Fierce opposition from M5S leader Luigi Di Maio resulted in Rome’s absence from a joint statement by France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom which called for new elections in Venezuela within eight days.
FLORENCE -- The German government has acknowledged that a painting looted by Nazi soldiers during the Second World War does indeed belong to the Uffizi Galleries in Florence.
"It is certainly clear that the painting belongs to the Uffizi collection," German Foreign Minister Michael Roth, speaking on behalf of Angela Merkel's government, said, adding his support for the galleries' numerous attempts to have the artwork returned.
ROME – The Italian energy company Eni has agreed a deal to purchase a 20 percent share of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) for around dlrs 3.3 bln, confirming its competitiveness in the Middle East.
Austrian oil and gas provider OMV also joined the deal, contributing 2.5 bln in return for a 15 percent stake in the refinery unit.
