LAMPEDUSA - At least 26 people have died in a shipwreck about 14 nautical miles south of Lampedusa. Two boats carrying 97 people capsized, with 60 of them being rescued and brought ashore. However, the toll is “still provisional and being updated”, the Coast Guard revealed in a statement, Wednesday afternoon.

 Several migrants, more than 10, are still missing. Among the bodies recovered were those of a newborn baby, three teenagers (two boys and one girl), two adult men and two women.

 ROME - “I find it shameful that, in order to attack the government, certain opposition parties are spreading false news, damaging Italy's image and interests.” Giorgia Meloni lashes out at her political opponents, denying that there is a summer tourism crisis, despite complaints from beach resorts and images of empty beaches and closed umbrellas across the country. The prime minister was particularly annoyed by the attack from PD secretary Elly Schlein, who in an interview with La Stampa described the empty beaches as “the Meloni government's postcard”.

 CHENGDU, China - Mattia Debertolis, an Italian athlete who had been hospitalised in Chengdu, China, after falling ill during the opening race of the World Games, has died at the age of 29.

 ROME - There has been a decline in numbers along the entire Lazio coast, both in beach resorts with their empty sunbeds and closed umbrellas, and in holiday homes and B&Bs, which are increasingly being booked for shorter periods. This is a sign of the economic problems caused by price increases which, although slight, are affecting the purchasing power of families, many of whom choose to go to the beach only between Friday and Sunday in order to save money.