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☆ We were drawn to Sicily's viral $1 homes. We ended up spending $30K for 2, but it was worth every penny.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

AdvertisementThis as-told-to essay is based on an interview with Tam and Gary Holm, a Californian couple who bought homes in Sambuca di Sicilia, Italy. I wrote to the email address provided in the article and got a response from the actual mayor of Sambuca di Sicilia. Gary and Tam Holm walk with their child in Sambuca di Sicilia. Gary and Tam Holm enter their home in Sambuca di Sicilia. Falling in love with SicilyDrone footage of Sambuca di Sicilia.

Persons: Tam, Gary Holm, —, It's, Gary, Tam Holm, Sambuca di Sicilia, Luke Renard, We'd, hadn't, it's, Sambuca, Sicilia, I'd Organizations: BI, Service, Business Locations: Sicily, Sambuca di Sicilia, Italy, England, Los Angeles, Sambuca, Sicilia, Sambuca di, America, Gary, Washington ,, Tam, Palermo

Mickey Todiwala | CNBC Make ItShe first learned about the program from her husband, who'd read about it online. Mickey Todiwala | CNBC Make ItRubia Daniels says her background in construction is helpful to envision what her final space will look like. On one recent visit to Mussomeli, Daniels brought along two fellow Californians, Alfredo Ramirez and his mother, Elena, to tour the houses. Meredith Tabbone 1-euro homeowner from ChicagoTabbone flew to see her new home for the first time in June 2019. Mussomeli, Sicily, has seen its population decline from roughly 16,000 in the 1950s to less than 10,000 today.

Persons: Rubia Daniels, Daniels, who've, Vittorio Sgarbi, Mickey Todiwala, Toti, who'd, didn't, she's, Alfredo Ramirez, Elena, Meredith Tabbone, Tabbone, Chicago Tabbone, I've, Danny McCubbin, who's, Jamie Oliver, McCubbin, Mussomeli, Prezioso, Natalie Milazzo, Milazzo, Nigrelli, Martina Giracello, Gianluca Militello, Giracello, It's, Meredith Tabbone Tabbone Organizations: CNBC, realtors, U.S Locations: Sicily, Berkeley, Calif, Italy, Salemi, Towns, Sicily's, Palermo, Belgian, Mussomeli, California, Petaluma , Calif, Sambuca, Sicilia, Chicago, United States, Australia, London, Mussomeli's, Milan, Cammarata, Caltanissetta, Europe, Africa, Airbnbs

☆ Mount Etna eruption disrupts Sicily's troubled Catania airport
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] Mount Etna, Europe's most active volcano, lights up the night sky with eruptions as seen from Rocca Della Valle, Italy, August 13, 2023. Etna Walk/Marco Restivo/ Handout via REUTERSCATANIA, Sicily, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Flights serving the eastern Sicilian city of Catania were halted on Monday after an eruption from nearby Mount Etna, local authorities said, bringing fresh travel woe to the crisis-plagued Italian airport. The 3,330 metre (10,925 ft) high volcano burst into action overnight, firing lava and ash high over the Mediterranean island. Flights to and from Catania, a popular tourist destination, would be suspended until 8:00 p.m. (1800 GMT), the airport said on Twitter. The latest cancellations at Catania airport, which attracts more arrivals than the island's capital, Palermo, came a month after a fire at a terminal building led to weeks of disruptions for passengers.

Persons: Rocca Della Valle, Marco Restivo, Enrico Trantino, Crispian Balmer, Conor Humphries Organizations: REUTERS, Twitter, Catania, Thomson Locations: Etna, Italy, Handout, REUTERS CATANIA, Sicily, Sicilian, Catania, Mount Etna, Palermo

During Greece's peak power demand this year, also on July 24, solar photovoltaics covered 3.5GW of the total 10.35GW demand, grid operator IPTO said. Even in cooler and less sunny western countries such as Belgium, solar energy has covered more than 100% of the extra energy needed during midday spikes in power demand. Analysts say a second factor has helped to keep Europe's energy systems running this summer: overall, power demand has been relatively low. That has been the case since Europe's energy crisis last year, when Russia cut gas deliveries to Europe. "The only reason why this has been bearable is the low power demand environment that we're currently in," Refinitiv's Gerl said.

Persons: Nicolas Economou, Kristian Ruby, Electrica, Nathalie Gerl, IPTO, Spain's, Refinitiv's Gerl, Simone Tagliapietra, Kate Abnett, Susanna Twidale, Barbara Lewis Organizations: REUTERS, Analysts, Energy, European Commission, SolarPower, Thomson Locations: Rhodes, Greece, Europe, BRUSSELS, LONDON, Spain, Ukraine, Catania, Etna, Sicily, Athens, Belgium, Russia

☆ Catania airport in Sicily cleared to reopen main terminal
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A screen grab taken from a video shows people waiting outside the Catania Fontanarossa International Airport in Catania, Italy July 26, 2023. REUTERS/Giselda Vagnoni/File PhotoROME, Aug 5 (Reuters) - The Italian Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC) on Saturday gave its green light to reopen the main terminal at Sicily's Catania airport, a statement said, nearly three weeks after it was shut down due to a fire. "ENAC's order ... allows the airport to return immediately, as of this evening, to normal conditions," Sicilian regional governor Renato Schifani said in the statement published on the airport's website. Following the accident, the airport operated at reduced capacity through a smaller terminal, alongside which tent-like structures were built to help cope with the flows of passengers. The Catania airport is regularly used by tourists heading to places including the resort town of Taormina, which is about 70 kilometers (43.5 miles) away, and Siracusa, with its Greek Theatre.

Persons: Giselda, Renato Schifani, Schifani, Angelo Amante, David Holmes Organizations: Catania, REUTERS, Italian Civil Aviation Authority, Saturday, Greek Theatre, Thomson Locations: Catania, Italy, Sicily's Catania, Sicily, Palermo, Mount Etna, Taormina

☆ A Lufthansa pilot traced a 15-mile-long penis shape in the sky after being asked to divert his plane
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A Lufthansa pilot created a penis-shaped loop in the sky after being asked to divert the flight. They spent around 16 minutes creating the 15-mile-long shape over Sicily's east coast. A Lufthansa pilot made a 15-mile-long, penis-shaped loop in the sky after being asked to divert their flight. Insider asked Lufthansa about this, but the airline avoided the question in its response. This isn't the first time a pilot has created a phallic flight pattern in the sky.

Organizations: Lufthansa, Fontanarossa, Repubblica, Catania, Armed Forces of Malta, US Air Force, BuzzFeed, Air Force Locations: Frankfurt, Sicily, Malta, Catania, Italian, Syrian, Russia

CATANIA, Italy, July 26 (Reuters) - A fire early last week at Sicily's main airport is still causing massive disruption for visitors to the island, laying bare the disorganisation and poor infrastructure that challenge Italy's tourism ambitions. The fire broke out on July 17 at Catania airport, below Mount Etna, which acts as a hub for the east of Sicily and attracts more arrivals than the capital Palermo. Some disruption was inevitable, but visitors describe scenes of utter chaos that jar with the government's jaunty "Welcome to Wonder" advertising campaign, which aims to attract tourists using a computerised "influencer" version of Venus. "We are now told our flight won't leave before 6 p.m. (1600 GMT). "Airport people were shouting the names of the flights to be boarded, but what happens if you don't hear them?," she said.

Persons: Julie, Maria Grazia Salamone, Ugo Zinna, Guglielmino, Alberto Chiumento, Gavin Jones, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Reuters, Thomson Locations: CATANIA, Italy, Sicily's, Catania, Mount Etna, Sicily, Palermo, California, Taormina, Syracuse, Rome, Genoa, Catania's, Belpasso

☆ Wildfires bring death and destruction to Mediterranean
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Fedja Grulovic And Lamine Chikhi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Without human-induced climate change, the events this month would have been "extremely rare", according to a study by World Weather Attribution, a global team of scientists that examines the role played by climate change in extreme weather. The heat, with temperatures topping 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), is well in excess of what usually attracts tourists who flock to southern European beaches. Neighbouring Algeria deployed some 8,000 firefighters to bring its deadly fires under control, authorities said. Malta, another major Mediterranean holiday destination, suffered a raft of power cuts across the country, affecting its largest hospital, after a week-long heatwave. "I have been through 65 summers in my lifetime... and what I am seeing now is not normal, we can no longer deny it, climate change is changing our lives," Mayor Giuseppe Sala said on social media.

Persons: Rhodes Blaze, RHODES, Ramzi Boudina, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Rhodes, Lanai Karpataki, Europe's sweltering, Giuseppe Sala, Angeliki Koutantou, Renee Maltezou, Federico Maccioni, Alvise, Lamine Chikhi, Jana Choukeir, Nayera Abdalla, David Stanway, Keith Weir, Janet Lawrence Organizations: REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Algeria, Rhodes, Palermo, Tunisia, Malta, ALGIERS, Sicily, China, United States, Europe, North Africa, Bejaia, Kiotari, Europe's, Milan

☆ Palermo airport closed, two killed in north as fires and storms batter Italy
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Federico Maccioni | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Firefighters work to extinguish a wildfire burning near the Sicilian village of Curcuraci near Messina, Italy, July 25, 2023. Vigili del Fuoco/Handout via REUTERSMILAN, July 25 (Reuters) - Wildfires forced the closure of Palermo airport in Sicily on Tuesday as extreme weather continued to batter Italy, with severe storms causing damage and at least two deaths in the north of the country. The island's main airport of Catania, Italy's fifth-biggest, was closed last week due to a fire in a terminal building and has reopened only for a few flights. On Tuesday, Italy put 16 cities on red alert because of the high temperatures. Italy is one of the European countries most affected by climate change, and suffered deadly floods in May.

Persons: Italy's, Federico Maccioni, Alvise, Keith Weir Organizations: REUTERS, Twitter, Catania, Thomson Locations: Curcuraci, Messina, Italy, Handout, REUTERS MILAN, Palermo, Sicily, Catania, Europe, Milan, Monza, Brescia, New York, Milan's Malpensa, Rome

☆ Factbox: Europe sees another year of droughts and wildfires
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Last year, heat waves resulted in over 61,600 heat-related fatalities across 35 European countries and triggered devastating wildfires. Below is a list of the most recent blazes and heat-related warnings issued in Europe. **********CROATIAA bushfire near the coastal town of Sibenik quickly spread on July 13, fuelled by strong southerly winds. Emergency services were also dealing with fires on the island of Evia, east of Athens, and Aigio, southwest of Athens. RUSSIAIn central Russia's Urals region, in the small village of Shaidurikha near Yekaterinburg, wildfires spread on July 12 and caused significant damage.

Persons: BRGM, Rhodes, El, Dina Kartit, Gaëlle Sheehan, Piotr Lipiński, Alexandra Hudson, Milla Nissi Organizations: Firefighters, Flames, El Pais, Caldera, SWITZERLAND Swiss, Swiss, TURKEY, Directorate of Forestry, Thomson Locations: Europe, Sicily, CROATIA, Sibenik, Grebastica, FRANCE, Nouvelle, Aquitaine, Occitanie, Grand Est, Bouches, Du, Rhone, Corsica, France, GREECE, Corfu, Evia, Athens, Cyprus, Israel, Italy, ITALY, Calabria, Italian, Rome, Lazio, PORTUGAL Mainland Portugal, May, RUSSIA, Russia's, Shaidurikha, Yekaterinburg, SPAIN, La Palma, Spanish, Spain, Bitsch, Valais, Turkey's, Hatay, Mersin, Canakkale, Turkish

☆ Ancient Greek altar unearthed at archaeological site in Sicily
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] An ancient Greek altar for family worship dating back at least 2,000 years is pictured after it was found in the Sicilian archaeological site of Segesta, Italy, June 29, 2023. Flavio Leone Sisilab CoopCulture Sicilia/Handout via REUTERSROME, June 30 (Reuters) - An ancient Greek altar for family worship dating back more than 2,000 years has been found in the archaeological site of Segesta on the Italian island of Sicily, local authorities said on Friday. It had been buried for centuries by a few centimetres of earth and vegetation in the area of the Southern Acropolis at the Segesta site, which is in the western part of the island. "The Segesta site never ceases to amaze us," said Sicily's regional culture minister Francesco Paolo Scarpinato. Segesta, renowned for its 5th-century-BC temple, was an ancient Greek city nestled between mountains.

Persons: Flavio Leone Sisilab CoopCulture, Francesco Paolo Scarpinato, Segesta, Federica Urso, Gavin Jones, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Southern Acropolis, Thomson Locations: Segesta, Italy, Flavio Leone Sisilab CoopCulture Sicilia, Handout, REUTERS ROME, Sicily, , Southern

☆ More than 30 arrested in latest Italy raid against 'Ndrangheta mafia
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Police officers carry boxes into a police building in Mainz, Germany, May 3, 2023, after German police arrested dozens of people across the country on Wednesday in an investigation of the Italian 'Ndrangheta organised crime group, German public prosecutors and state police said. REUTERS/Timm... Read moreMILAN, June 27 (Reuters) - Dozens of people have been arrested in a new police raid against the 'Ndrangheta mafia that has revealed how its multiple illegal activities have spread as far as Austria and Germany, Italian authorities said on Tuesday. Suspects, including politicians from the 'Ndrangheta home region of Calabria, face charges including mafia association, murder, extortion, fraud, rigging of public contracts, bribery and vote buying, police said in a statement. Prosecutors from the German town of Stuttgart and the German federal police cooperated with the investigation, they added. The alleged 'Ndrangheta network ran illegal trades from the south to the north of Italy in real estate, catering, fruit and vegetable and livestock trading, security services and video-poker, Italian police said.

Persons: Timm, Read, Nicola Gratteri, Emilio Parodi, Stephanie van den Berg, Alvise Armellini, Christina Fincher, William Maclean Organizations: Police, REUTERS, Mafia, Prosecutors, Europol, Austrian, Cosa Nostra, Thomson Locations: Mainz, Germany, MILAN, Austria, Calabria, Stuttgart, Italy, Austrian, Europe, Italian, The Hague

☆ Mount Etna eruption halts flights to Sicily's Catania airport
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

ROME, May 21 (Reuters) - Flights serving the eastern Sicilian city of Catania were halted on Sunday after an eruption from nearby Mount Etna spewed volcanic ash onto its runways, airport authorities said. The 3,330 metre (10,925 ft) high volcano can burst into spectacular action several times a year, firing lava and ash high over the Mediterranean island. Flights to and from Catania, a popular tourist destination, would be suspended until normal safety conditions could be guaranteed, the airport said on Twitter. Cars in the city were covered in a layer of dark gritty dust, images in the Italian media showed. Writing by Keith Weir; editing by Barbara LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Factbox: The 'Ndrangheta: Italy's most powerful mafia group
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

May 3 (Reuters) - Italy's 'Ndrangheta has supplanted Sicily's Cosa Nostra as the country's most powerful mafia organisation, and has spread across Europe and the rest of the world. ORIGIN, CELEBRITY KIDNAPPING AND COCAINEThe 'Ndrangheta originates from Calabria, the impoverished southern region at the tip of Italy's boot. Its name is believed to come from the ancient Greek words "andros" and "agathos", meaning brave or valiant man. POWER AND WEALTHIn its latest six-monthly report, Italy's Anti-Mafia Investigative Directorate (DIA) calls the 'Ndrangheta "the absolute dominant force in the criminal world" well beyond its home turf of Calabria. In 2008, Italian research group Eurispes valued the 'Ndrangheta's annual turnover at a staggering 44 billion euros ($48.54 billion), about 3% of Italy's gross domestic product at the time.

☆ You can rent out Daphne and Harper's Sicilian villa from 'The White Lotus' for around $6,000 per night on Airbnb
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Dan Latu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Villa Tasca is available for around $6,000 per night with a three-night minimum on Airbnb. The Villa Tasca has inspired famous opera composers, according to its website. The Villa Tasca grounds include a 20-acre garden and citrus grove. Courtesy of the Airbnb Photographer CommunityIn "The White Lotus," the villa is located in the town of Noto, known for its baroque architecture. But the Villa Tasca actually is located in Palermo, Sicily's capital and where other tragic storylines in season 2 take place.

☆ Factbox: How top Mafia boss Messina Denaro escaped justice for 30 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Alvise Armellini | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

ROME, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Matteo Messina Denaro, a brutal Sicilian Mafia boss who was Italy's most wanted criminal before his capture on Monday, had been on the run for 30 years. Messina Denaro, 60, was the last runaway member of a generation of mobsters who masterminded a string of bombings and murders that terrorised Italy in the early 1990s. Nobody knows for sure, but there have long been suspicions that Messina Denaro had his back covered by politicians and other establishment connections. Crime writer Roberto Saviano has pointed out that a former junior justice minister, Antonio D'Ali, has been convicted for collusion with the Messina Denaro family. Messina Denaro was eventually caught outside a clinic in Palermo after police discovered he was sick with cancer.

☆ Sicilian mafia boss arrested after 30 years on the run — the last of Italy's most-wanted crime lords
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Matteo Messina Denaro, the boss of Sicily's Cosa Nostra mafia group, was arrested on Monday. He became a fugitive on Italy's most-wanted list in 1993, tied to a series of murders and bombings. His capture followed the arrests of other crime kingpins who had been on the run for decades. He is the last of Italy's three most-wanted mafia bosses who eluded capture for decades, per Sky News. Mafia "boss of bosses" Salvatore Riina, who spent 23 years as a fugitive, was captured in 1993.

☆ Italy arrests Sicilian Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

1 fugitive, convicted Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro, was arrested on Monday at a private clinic in Palermo, Sicily, after 30 years on the run, Italian paramilitary police said. Messina Denaro was captured at the clinic where he was receiving treatment for an undisclosed medical condition, said Carabinieri Gen. Pasquale Angelosanto, who heads the police force's special operations squad. Messina Denaro was taken to a secret location by police immediately after the arrest, Italian state television reported. Messina Denaro, who had a power base in the port city of Trapani, in western Sicily, was considered Sicily's Cosa Nostra top boss even while a fugitive. Messina Denaro, who tried in absentia and convicted of dozens of murders, faces multiple life sentences.

☆ Italian police arrest most wanted mafia boss Messina Denaro in Sicily
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Vladimiro Pantaleone | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PALERMO, Italy, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Italian police said on Monday they had arrested Matteo Messina Denaro, the country's most wanted mafia boss who had been on the run for three decades, swooping on a private hospital in the Sicilian capital Palermo where he had gone for treatment. Prosecutors say Messina Denaro is a boss of Sicily's Cosa Nostra mafia. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni hailed the arrest as "a great victory for the state that shows it never gives up in the face of the mafia". Messina Denaro, who comes from the small town of Castelvetrano near Trapani, is accused by prosecutors of being solely or jointly responsible for numerous other murders in the 1990s. In 1993 he helped organise the kidnapping of a 12-year-old boy, Giuseppe Di Matteo, in an attempt to dissuade his father from giving evidence against the mafia, prosecutors say.

So far the practical help for a project that will create around 1,000 jobs, has come from the Europe Union. It also says its panels are better and that 3Sun will be the European Union's largest producer of high performance bifacial solar panels by 2024. Eurostat figures show around three quarters of Europe's solar panels are sourced from China. The European Union as a whole aims to reach almost 600 gigawatts (GW) of solar energy by 2030 and the number of installations is increasing. Enel is not limiting its ambitions to Europe, although it says at least 50% of its Sicilian production will be for the continent.

The letter, seen by Reuters, is signed by the head of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) at the U.S. Treasury, and mentions a loan provided by some Italian banks and state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP). The Italian government adopted on Thursday a scheme allowing ISAB to be placed under trusteeship, while Lukoil continues talks on selling the asset. A similar move was taken by Germany when in September it took control of a refinery owned by Rosneft (ROSN.MM). The government could call on "an oil company that operates in the sector, and it is obvious to everyone that this (company) could be Eni, and this will ensure continuity of production," he said. Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte and Alvise Armellini, Editing by Christina Fincher and Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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