ROME - An Italian judge on Friday adjourned to May 7 the libel case brought against Italian Insider's chief editor John Phillips by FAO executives, after Phillips himself faced questions from his defense lawyer and those representing the plaintiffs.
A witness for the defense will be heard at the resumption of the case in May.
An initial hearing in the second case brought by the FAO over more recent instances of alleged defamation is due to take place on Feb. 7.
ROME - The American Academy in Rome (AAR) announced that scholar and curator Elizabeth Rodini has been selected as the next Andrew Heiskell Arts Director, a position based in the Eternal City.
Dr. Rodini will being a three-year term on July 1, 2019, succeeding Peter Benson Miller, who is completing a six-year term as Arts Director.
ROME - Torchlight processions will be held in over 100 squares across Italy to demonstrate the country’s determination to uncover the truth about Giulio Regeni’s disappearance which happened this time three years ago in Cairo, Il Fatto Quotidiano reported.
At 7.41pm on Friday, the time of the last contact with the 28-year-old Friulian researcher on Jan. 25, 2016, Italy will return to make its voice heard and prove Regeni has not been forgotten in a series of torchlight processions organised by Amnesty International.
ROME – Interior Minister Matteo Salvini is just a step away from facing trial after a court determined in a surprise ruling that he should be tried for kidnapping.
The League leader was put under investigation in August by Sicilian prosecutors for the alleged kidnapping and detention of 177 migrants, after he prevented them from disembarking the Italian coastguard ship Ubaldo Diciotti.
“I could face up to 15 years in jail because I’ve stopped the disembarking of illegals in Italy,” Salvini responded. “Am I afraid? Not at all,” the Deputy Prime Minister wrote on Twitter.
STRASBOURG – The European Court of Justice has ruled that Italy violated Amanda Knox’s right to defence when she was questioned in 2007 about the murder of Meredith Kercher, ordering the state to pay Knox 18,000 euros in damages and legal costs.
Knox, alongside former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, was accused and convicted, then later acquitted, of the murder of her British flatmate in Perugia on Nov. 1, 2007.
SYRACUSE – A vessel owned by the non-profit organisation SeaWatch has been given permission to enter Italian waters on Friday after unfavourable weather conditions became a threat to the safety of the 47 migrants on board.
The boat, SeaWatch 3, neared the port of Syracuse in Sicily to avoid the storms that hit the Mediterranean over the course of the week.
“Syracuse is ready to welcome the 47 migrants,” the city’s mayor Francesco Italia said on Friday, despite Interior Minister Matteo Salvini insisting that “no-one will disembark in Italy.”
NEW YORK - Politics in Algeria has always been opaque, with the winner of every presidential election appointed by “le pouvoir”, or “the power” – a shadowy group of kingmakers made up of army officials, business tycoons and intelligence. This process first began with the election of colonel Chadli Benjedid in February 1979 and has continued throughout the 20-year presidency of Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
ROME - Bambino Gesù hospital has successfully completed a hematopoietic stem cell transplant on baby Alessandro Maria Montresorwho was born with a rare genetic disease.
The patient, affected by hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), was transferred to Rome’s Bambino Gesù hospital from the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London at the end of November and underwent the transplant on Dec. 20.
ROME - The Ambassador of the Republic of South Africa, S.E. Prof. Shirish Soni explained some of the mutual benefits of increased cooperation between Italy and South Africa. These included the potential to increase trade, business investments and partnerships between the two countries.
The Ambassador shared an overview of recent political developments in South Africa as well as the Embassy programs for 2019, advocating South Africa’s growing economy as a potential market for Italy.
