(AFP) Italian far-right leader Matteo Salvini avoided trial on Friday on charges he illegally detained migrants at sea, ending one of his legal troubles even as another related case looms. Judge Nunzio Sarpietro in the Sicilian city of Catania threw out the […]
(AFP) Italy is pushing EU partners to revive migrant burden-sharing deals as it seeks to stave off a summertime surge in landings from North Africa, Prime Minister Mario Draghi said Wednesday. Migration has returned to the top of the political agenda in […]
(AP) Several hundred more migrants reached a tiny Italian island before dawn on Monday, swelling to past 2,100 the number of arrivals in around 24 hours and fueling calls from across the political spectrum for the Italian government to strengthen its migration […]
(Reuters) Fifteen boats packed with hundreds of migrants landed on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa on Sunday, and officials said they were expecting numbers to increase as the weather improved. More than 1,400 people got off the vessels at the Mediterranean […]
(Reuters) Matteo Salvini, leader of Italy’s right-wing League party, must stand trial on charges of kidnapping over his decision to prevent more than 100 migrants from landing in the country in 2019, a judge ordered on Saturday. Salvini, who was interior minister […]
(Reuters) A prosecutor said on Saturday that Italy’s right-wing League leader Matteo Salvini should not be sent to trial over illegally detaining migrants in a case being considered by a court in the Sicilian city of Catania. The high-profile case, for which […]
(ANSA) A man who hijacked and later torched a school bus with 50 children, two teachers and a janitor aboard near Milan in March 2019 on Friday saw his sentence for attempted murder cut from 24 years to 19 on appeal. Senegalese-Italian […]
(Reuters) An Italian prosecutor formally called on Saturday for right-wing League leader Matteo Salvini to be tried for kidnapping over his decision to prevent more than 100 migrants from landing in the country in 2019. Salvini’s decision, made when he was interior […]
(Politico) Rome is facing pressure to abolish its offshore quarantine system for migrants and refugees following a series of alarming incidents, including several deaths, over the past year. Since May, the Italian government has isolated asylum seekers on ships after they arrive, […]
(ANSA) Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese on Friday rejected opposition calls for her to resign because the Tunisian man who killed three people in Nice Thursday landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa last month. Lamorgese said it was time to “stop the […]
(Reuters) Italy has softened rules penalising aid groups that bring illegal migrants ashore and extended protection for refugees who risk persecution at home, drawing the fire of former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini who set the tough measures. Rescue boats which violate official […]
(AFP) An Italian judge reviewing charges against far-right leader Matteo Salvini that he illegally detained migrants at sea delayed the hearing until November 20 so he could hear from senior members of the government, including Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. Salvini made no […]
(AFP) Italy’s far-right chief Matteo Salvini stands trial Saturday for allegedly illegally detaining migrants at sea, in a case that could see him jailed for 15 years or serve him a political win. Prosecutors in the Sicilian city of Catania accuse Salvini […]
(Reuters) A migrant woman who tested positive to coronavirus has given birth to a baby on board a helicopter as she was flying to Sicily from the small southern Italian island of Lampedusa, the Sicilian regional government said on Tuesday. The woman […]
(AFP) A fishing boat carrying nearly 370 migrants landed overnight on the Italian island of Lampedusa, the country’s news agencies said on Sunday, fueling anger from local officials over a recent rise in illegal arrivals. Italy has been struggling in recent months […]
(AFP) Sudanese migrant Soulaimen has been sleeping on the beach in the Italian border town of Ventimiglia for 10 days now. With his only shelter a sleeping bag and pasta meals donated by a charity, the 20-year-old is getting by as best […]
(AFP) Out in the Mediterranean, under a baking sun, fisherman Ezio Billeci comes across a boat of vulnerable migrants and calls for help, but for hours the only response he gets from Italian authorities is to “stand by.” The episode off the […]
(AFP) Italy’s Senate voted on Thursday to strip far-right chief Matteo Salvini of his parliamentary immunity, paving the way for him to face trial, for a second time, over allegedly illegally detaining migrants at sea. Salvini, a senator, now looks set for […]
(Reuters) About 100 migrants who crossed the Mediterranean in small boats landed on the southern island of Lampedusa during the night, the latest in a wave of arrivals straining an already overcrowded holding centre. Officials said the migrants, arriving from Libya, were […]
(ANSA) A man who hijacked and later torched a school bus with 50 children, two teachers and a janitor aboard near Milan in March 2019 on Wednesday got 24 years in jail for attempted murder. Ousseynou Sy, 47, was found guilty and […]
(AFP) Eight migrants who disembarked in Sicily this week after being rescued in the Mediterranean by a charity boat are in quarantine after testing positive for coronavirus, the group Mediterranea said. The eight migrants were part of a group of 43 people […]
(National-UAE) Italy has ratified an agreement with Qatar that will give the Gulf country an official platform to fund organisations and build mosques, a move that has bitterly divided politicians in Rome. Warnings that ratification of the accord would let Doha use […]
(Reuters) An Italian Senate committee on Tuesday rejected a request by magistrates to investigate Matteo Salvini, head of the rightwing League party, for refusing a migrant rescue boat permission to land last year when he was interior minister. Salvini refused to allow […]
(AFP) Italian police on Sunday corrected a report that a record 400 migrants had landed on a beach in Sicily, saying the number was only around 70, the ANSA news agency reported. A single wooden fishing boat some 10 metres (35 feet) […]
(Reuters) Italian coastguards have impounded two charity rescue boats at the port of Palermo citing “technical and operational” irregularities, which the owners denounced as an excuse to block life-saving missions at sea. The seizure of the German-flagged Alan Kurdi and Spanish-flagged Aita […]
(AFP) After rising to and falling from government with his “Italians first” rallying cry and anti-migrant diatribes, far-right leader Matteo Salvini remains hugely popular and has set his sights on a return to power despite an impending trial. The 46-year-old from Milan, […]
(Breitbart) According to new figures, Italy has seen a historically low birthrate in 2018, as the number of foreigners in the country has increased to nearly 9 per cent of the total population. The new statistics, released by the Italian statistics agency Istat, […]
(AFP) Half as many migrants landed on Italian shores in 2019 compared with the year before, the latest interior ministry figures show. Italy has struggled to cope with a flood of immigrants in recent years and has called on other European Union […]
(Breitbart) A 23-year-old Bangladeshi imam faces deportation from Italy after investigators confirmed he had physically assaulted young children at a religious school. The migrant, who lived in Italy on a work visa, is said to have created what investigators described as a […]
(AFP) Italy’s new Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese said in an interview published Friday that there was no migrant “invasion,” countering statements by her hardline anti-immigration predecessor Matteo Salvini. Lamorgese told the Repubblica newspaper that this year 9,600 migrants and asylum-seekers had arrived […]
(ANSA) The diocese of Bologna, which has ordered Muslim-friendly pork-free tortellini for Friday’s feast of patron saint Petronius, on Tuesday said the row over the case was “unacceptable.” The diocese has replaced pork, which Muslims do not eat for religious reasons, with […]
(Reuters) Interior ministers from five European Union countries said on Monday they had agreed a new scheme to distribute migrants saved from the Mediterranean in a deal aimed at relieving the pressure on southern EU states. The plan will be presented to […]
(Reuters) The European Union must introduce a new, automatic system of taking in migrants saved from the Mediterranean, the leaders of Italy and France said on Wednesday, as they sought to patch up bruised bilateral relations. Italy has long complained that it […]
(Deutsche Welle) Although the site is remote, it has plenty of symbolism: Beginning this Sunday, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders from some 15 countries will meet in the southern Italian city of Matera, one of Europe’s 2019 cultural capitals, to take part […]
(AFP) Italy on Saturday allowed rescue ship Ocean Viking to disembark 82 migrants on Lampedusa, in a reversal of the hardline policy under the country’s ex-interior minister Matteo Salvini. Far-right leader Salvini was forced out of office last month after bringing the […]
(Breitbart) An Italian think-tank has predicted that due to mass migration and differing birthrates, half of all Italians could be Muslims by the end of the century. The FareFuturo foundation released its findings this week as part of their “First report on […]
(AFP) The German captain of rescue vessel Sea-Watch 3, Carola Rackete, who was temporarily arrested in Italy for docking without permission so she could let rescued migrants land, said Tuesday her “actions were justified.” Rackete, 31, was arrested on June 29 and […]
(AFP) Far-right Dutch MEP Geert Wilders on Saturday said nationalist parties were experiencing “tough” times but predicted that they would make a come-back. “It’s a tough time. We will come back,” Wilders said, speaking at an event in northern Italy. “I believe […]
(AFP) Talks between Italy’s anti-establishment Five Star Movement and the Democratic Party resumed on Saturday after a quarrel that had threatened to stop the nascent coalition in its tracks. Tensions remained however on the hot-button issue of migration, a highly emotive subject […]
(Reuters) The Italian government on Monday won a confidence vote in the Senate on a decree targeting charities operating migrant rescue ships, in a victory for Interior Minister Matteo Salvini and his far-right League party. The government of the League and the […]
(AFP) What was once Europe’s biggest migrant reception centre, in Mineo in Sicily, officially closed on Tuesday in the presence of its biggest critic, far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini. “We’re saving quite a bit of money, we’re working to find new jobs […]
(AFP) A charity rescue vessel on Saturday brought 41 shipwrecked migrants into port in Lampedusa, the second boat to defy far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini’s bid to close Italian ports to them. Mediterranea’s Italian-flagged Alex was met by a strong police presence […]
(AFP) The captain of detained migrant rescue ship Sea-Watch 3, Carola Rackete, will sue Matteo Salvini for defamation after a tirade of insults from Italy’s far-right interior minister, her lawyer said Friday. “We have prepared the legal complaint against minister Salvini,” Alessandro […]
(AFP) An Italian judge said Tuesday that Sea-Watch 3 captain Carola Rackete was free to go, three days after her arrest for docking with 40 migrants aboard her rescue ship in defiance of an Italian ban. Rackete was arrested after hitting a […]
(AFP) Sea-Watch 3 skipper Carola Rackete faced jail time Saturday after forcing her way into Italy’s Lampedusa port with rescued migrants to end a lengthy standoff with authorities. Sea-Watch spokesman Ruben Neugebauer told AFP the 31-year-old German captain was seized after bringing […]
(Politico) German MP Beatrix von Storch reckons Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini should be given the Nobel Peace Prize for his “great contribution to the security and stability of Europe.” “I propose Matteo Salvini for the Nobel Peace Prize because he […]
(AFP) The populist Italian government is stepping up a crackdown against migrant ships and assaults on police with a tough new decree led by Interior Minister Matteo Salvini. The 18-article decree brings in fines of up to 50,000 euros ($57,000) for the […]
(AFP) A court on Tuesday adjourned the trial of a high-profile pro-migrant former mayor in populist-ruled Italy on charges he set up fake marriages to help asylum seekers stay in the country. Domenico Lucano has been under house arrest since being apprehended […]
(AFP) The sign reading “Riace, land of welcome” still hangs in the small town, but its dream of migrant integration is over after the far-right’s “Italians first” election victory. The new mayor of the one-time “global village” in southern Italy’s rural Calabria […]
(Reuters) Migrant arrivals to Italy have almost dried up, new asylum requests across the European Union have more than halved in three years and at the end of 2018, Hungary’s reception centers housed just three refugees. On the face of it, Europe’s […]
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