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.
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
Tim Wade
ROME – Liberi e Uguali officials and candidates were left pondering the future of the party on Tuesday after a calamitous result in the elections that saw them scrape into parliament and leaves unresolved questions on where the party heads from here.
Nicola Fratoianni, head of the Italian Left party that was one of the founding members of LeU, diagnosed the party’s failure by suggesting that they had “been unsuccessful in intercepting the voters leaving the Democratic Party” and promising: “we will reflect.”
6 Mar 2018
INSIDER NEWSDESK
ROME – Investors looked anxiously on after Italy’s elections, but it was the Berlusconi family’s Mediaset that suffered the biggest fall the day following the election, with the company registering a five percent fall in price.
Uncertainty over the shape of the next Italian government led to a slight fall in the Milan stock exchange of around half a percent.
6 Mar 2018
Tim Wade
ROME – The Democratic Party (PD) was in uproar on Tuesday after the party secretary, Matteo Renzi, resigned from the helm of the party but refused to relinquish control until a new government was formed as Italy’s leading parties began talks to decide on a future government.
Reports had surfaced on Monday morning that Renzi’s resignation was imminent and a press conference scheduled in the Via Nazareno headquarters of the party at 5pm. However, the conference was then delayed by more than an hour with uncertainty swirling about the nature of the speech.
6 Mar 2018
JAN FILIPOWICZ
ROME – The flamboyant Brazilian Ambassador to the FAO, João Carlos de Souza-Gomes, was expected to return to his post in the Eternal City this week despite a disciplinary inquiry into alleged sexual harassment and mobbing of embassy employees and a threat by staff at the mission to strike if he returns, the leading Brazilian Folha de Sao Paolo newspaper reports.
6 Mar 2018
Archie Farquharson
ROME – Italian football has been shaken by the sudden death of Fiorentina captain, Davide Astori. The 31-year-old defender passed away overnight and was found in his hotel room as the squad prepared for a Serie A match against Udinese.
The news was announced on the Fiorentina club website on Sunday, who have been “deeply shocked” by the immensely sad incident. A club masseur found the defender dead at 9.30 on the morning of their game after he had failed to appear for breakfast at the team’s hotel.
5 Mar 2018