ROME – Diplomatic tensions were raised on Thursday morning as Italy’s ambassador to Austria was instructed not to attend a meeting in Vienna, scheduled for March 23, over the thorny issue of dual-citizenship for German or Ladin speakers in South Tyrol.
Archie Farquharson
ROME – Italy and Nice footballer Mario Balotelli has hit out at Toni Iwobi, member of the League party and the first black senator of the Italian Republic, and Salvini, the far-right party leader. Balotelli posted a picture on Instagram of the pair at in anti-immigration rally with clenched fists and arms raised, branding t-shirts with the slogan “Stop Invasion”.
7 Mar 2018
Archie Farquharson
ROME – The Commonwealth Club of Rome will be hosting their annual lunch to commemorate Commonwealth Day.
As always, the Commonwealth Day Message by Her Majesty the Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, will be read out, followed by updates from several Ambassadors of commonwealth countries, as listed below, who are here in Rome.
7 Mar 2018
INSIDER NEWSDESK
ROME – The final results of Italy’s elections have begun to be announced on Wednesday with the final 18 seats coming from Italian citizens living abroad bucking the trend of the election in general and seeing the centre-left take the largest number of seats.
The Democratic Party, (PD) is on course to win seven seats, with the centre-right coalition picking up five, and the Five Star Movement (M5S) securing only one.
7 Mar 2018
Archie Farquharson
ROME – The complex issues covering the roots of the revolt in Syria and their constant transformation over the past seven years were analysed in the book launch of “Siria: Il perché di una guerra” at the Euro-Gulf Information Centre headquarters on Via Gregoriana.
7 Mar 2018
Antonino Occhiuto
ROME - The current course of Turkey’s foreign policy is causing significant tensions with powerful traditional allies such as the United States or increasingly powerful players in the Middle East, namely Russia, as Ankara continues its military offensive in North-West Syria. As such, the Eastern Mediterranean standoff with Italy might erroneously seem as a minor issue for Turkey’s political establishment. However, the latest events are really significant.
7 Mar 2018
Tim Wade
ROME – Silvio Berlusconi finally emerged after two days of silence following Forza Italia’s disappointing showing at the elections to say he was “happy” with the result, while his coalition partner, Matteo Salvini, made overtures to the left on Wednesday in the hope of becoming prime minister.
The octogenarian Berlusconi was the only leader not to give a press conference following the result with his party slipping into second place in the right-wing coalition after collecting only 14 percent of the vote.
7 Mar 2018
Insider reporters
ROME -- The already troubled relations between staff and management at the FAO plummeted this week after Director General José Graziano da Silva dismissed the head of the AP-in-FAO professional association, Roberto Bonafede, allegedly in connection with his previous role as manager of the Commissary.
7 Mar 2018
Archie Farquharson
ROME – An enraged Senegalese community took to the streets of Florence protesting the mindless killing of 54-year-old, Idy Diene, as Chief Prosecutor declares “racist motives should be ruled out.”
Roberto Pirrone, the 65-year-old killer, has stated that “the first one who passed by, I shot him,” firing several times into the Diene’s chest as he crossed the Vespucci Bridge on Monday morning. Despite the efforts of a medical team, who were temporarily able to revive the man, he passed away soon after the shooting.
6 Mar 2018