ROME – The British security company said to have received half a million euros from the Vatican at the behest of an Italian woman arrested for fraud once gave employment to a notorious conman who bilked a charitable fund set up to finance the hunt for a missing British child.

 ROME – Italy has introduced a raft of new measures to curb the surge in COVID-19 cases, government officials said on Monday.

 Among the new rules announced on Sunday, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has given power to local mayors to close streets and squares from 9 p.m.

 The measures, which come into effect Monday, were announced as Italy’s daily infections continue to climb, hitting a new record of 11,705 on Sunday.

 ROME – After camping outside Palazzo Chigi for almost four weeks, the families of the Sicilian fishermen kidnapped by Libya’s Haftar regime for ‘illegal fishing’ are no closer to being reunited with their loved ones and feel abandoned by Italy, diplomatic sources said on Friday.

 It’s been 45 days since the ‘red prawn’ sailors accused of fishing in Libya’s territorial waters were detained in Benghazi. Their families are growing increasingly frustrated by the Italian government’s inaction. Some of them have been sleeping in tents outside Italian parliament for 25 days.