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☆ Volume turned up as Ryder Cup ready for lift-off
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Martyn Herman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Around 150,000 fans will descend on the spectacular course over the next three days -- the majority of them roaring on Europe in what their captain Luke Donald hopes will be "the loudest Ryder Cup" ever. At the ceremony in the fan zone, cheers erupted as Europe's players were introduced by former world number one and four-time Ryder Cup player Donald -- the loudest reserved for England's Tommy Fleetwood and talisman Rory McIlroy. The lure of the Eternal City and the magic of the Ryder Cup means there will be plenty of stars and stripes mixed in with the yellow and blue of Europe over the next three days, with hundreds having made the trip across the pond. "You are the heartbeat of this event, you are our 13th man, let's make this the loudest Ryder Cup ever," Donald, who began his speech in Italian, said as he signed off. The opening game features Spain's Jon Rahm and England's Tyrrell Hatton against world number one Scottie Scheffler and rookie Sam Burns, followed by Scandinavian duo Viktor Hovland and newcomer Ludvig Aberg versus Open winner Brian Harman and world number seven Max Homa, both also rookies.

Persons: Ryder, Marco Simone Golf, Frecce Tricolori, Yara, Zach Johnson's, Marco Simone, Luke Donald, Donald, Tommy Fleetwood, Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, LIV, Brooks, Johnson, Carly Paoli, Tom Grennan, Spain's Jon Rahm, England's Tyrrell Hatton, Scottie Scheffler, Sam Burns, Viktor Hovland, Ludvig Aberg, Brian Harman, Max Homa, McIlroy, Fleetwood, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Martyn Herman, Toby Davis Organizations: Country Club, Italian Air Force, Ryder, Rights, 44th Ryder, U.S, Marco Simone Country Club, Italy's, Eternal, decibel, Thomson Locations: Rome, Italy, Whistling Straits, Europe, Saudi Arabia, 0535GMT, Scandinavian, St Peter's

☆ Milan Fashion Week: Stars and style align at the Spring-Summer 2024 shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Marianna Cerini | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

Milan CNN —Milan Fashion Week picked up where London left off last Wednesday, at least weather-wise. Both hit their strides with highly well received collections, as did a number of other familiar faces to Italy’s fashion capital. Overall, however, the festivities showed a consistency of form that continues to make the Italian city Paris’s greatest rival to the fashion scene throne. Cinematic sets and performative showsAlongside the clothes, many brands made their sets a main talking point at fashion week. Lodovico Colli di Felizzano/WWD/Getty ImagesRyan Gosling and Juila Roberts were among the star-studded crowd to pile into the Gucci show.

Persons: Milan, Gucci, Sabato de Sarno, Tom Ford’s, Peter Hawkings, Ford’s, Versace, Giulio Tanzini, Julia Roberts, Ryan Gosling, Gabrielle Union, Jessica Chastain, Paul Mescal, Jodie Comer, Emma Watson, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Prada, Kate Moss, Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, Anna Wintour, Kim Jones, Karl Lagerfeld, Rome, Tom Ford, georgette, Brigitte Bardot, Priscilla Presley, Lorenzo Serafini, Max Mara, Ian Griffiths, Carlyne Cerf, Dudzeele, Katie Grand, Lucia Liu, Gabriella Karefa, Johnson, Franco, Jeremy Scott, Cerf, Lucia Liu’s, Donatella Versace, Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, Natalia Bryant, Precious Lee, Claudia Schiffer, lacy, Simone Bellotti, Francesca Murri, Matthieu Blazy, Blazy, Italy —, —, Paolo Fichera, Cavalli, Fendi, Shawn Kolodny, Pietro S, Beate Karlsson, Avavav, Sabato de Sarno's, Gregoire Avanel, Tom Ford's, Gaspar Ruiz, Pietro D'Aprano, Mattieu, Alfonso Catalano, Kim Jones nodded, Fendi Jones, Daniele Venturelli, Zakirova, Lodovico Colli di, Juila Roberts, Roberto Cavalli, Isidore Montag Organizations: Milan CNN — Milan, London, Bottega Veneta, Diesel, Prada, Britain’s Land Army, Dolce, Gabbana, Bally, Fondazione Prada, Accademia di Brera, Getty, Gucci Locations: British, Milan, Bottega, Hollywood, Fendi, organza, Los Angeles, Cannes, Bottega Veneta, Italy, French, Belgian, —, Missoni, Milan’s, Sunnei, Stockholm

☆ Eighty years on, Italian victims of Nazi crimes finally to get compensation
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-03 | by ( Crispian Balmer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

A study funded by the German government and published in 2016 estimated that 22,000 Italians were victims of Nazi war crimes, including up to 8,000 Jews deported to death camps. However, it did not offer reparations for war crimes. "They didn't look at war crimes and this was a mistake. In 1994, a cupboard was found in the offices of Rome's military prosecutors packed with files documenting hundreds of war crimes that had never been prosecuted. In 2012, the International Court of Justice backed Berlin, but Italian courts continued to hear compensation cases, saying no limit could be imposed on war crimes.

Persons: Crispian Balmer, Mauro Petrarca, Domenico Lancellotta, Giulio Disegni, Lucio Olivieri, Petrarca, Mario Draghi, Disegni, Fornelli, Giovanni Tedeschi, Alison Williams Organizations: REUTERS, Nazis, International Court of Justice, Union of Italian Jewish, Allied, Rome, Nazi, Berlin, PRIDE, Italian Treasury, Reuters, Treasury, Thomson Locations: Fornelli, Molise, Italy, Germany, Berlin, Rome

☆ Pope, in Mongolia, sends apparent message to China on Catholic aims
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-02 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

On his first working day in Mongolia, the government feted the pope with traditional events such a parade including men on horseback dressed as ancient Mongol warriors. Chow, who will be a made a cardinal by the pope this month, told reporters he hoped the Church in Hong Kong could be a "bridge Church" with mainland China. "This is the Church of the world, especially for the margins, and that is a good thing," Chow said. Outside the pope's meeting with Mongolian leaders, about two dozen Catholics from China waved red, five-starred Chinese flags. Reporting by Philip Pullella in Ulaanbaatar; Additional reporting by Joseph Campbell; Editing by William MallardOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Pope Francis, Francis, Jesus, Saints Peter, Paul, Virgin Mary, Hong, Archbishop Stephen Chow, Chow, Oyun, ALBERTO PIZZOLI, I’ve, It’s, I’m, ”, Yang Guang, Cardinal Giorgio Marengo, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, Zuppi, Philip Pullella, Joseph Campbell, William Mallard Organizations: Catholic, Communist Party, Saints, Mongolia's, REUTERS Acquire, Catholic Church, of, Thomson Locations: ULAANBAATAR, China, Mongolia, Beijing, Vatican, British, Hong Kong, Ulaanbaatar, Asia, of Rome, Shanghai, Kyiv , Washington, Moscow, Ukraine

☆ The early ancestors of humans were reduced to 1,300 individuals and came close to extinction, scientists say
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-02 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Early human ancestors faced near-extinction between 800,000 and 900,000 years ago, scientists say. An extreme climate event might have caused the evolutionary bottleneck. The population of our ancestors might have been reduced to just 1,280 individuals for about 117,000 years. For a population of that size, you just need one bad climate event, an epidemic, a volcanic eruption and you're gone." This population decline occurred about the same time human ancestors split from Neanderthals and Denisovans.

Persons: Giorgio Manzi, Chris Stringer, Stringer, heidelbergensis, Manzi Organizations: Service, Guardian, Sapienza University of Rome Locations: Wall, Silicon, London, Africa, Eurasia

☆ Pope did not intend to glorify Russian imperialism in speech, Vatican says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( Hannah Ward-Glenton | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Pope Francis did not intend "to exalt imperialist logic," the Vatican said Tuesday, after a speech delivered on Friday drew criticism for references to Russia's imperialist past. "You are heirs of the great Russia — the great Russia of the saints, of kings, the great Russia of Peter the Great, of Catherine II, the great Russian empire, cultured, so much culture, so much humanity," Pope Francis said in the Friday speech, as translated and transcribed by NewsFromUkraine. The pope delivered the prepared speech in his native Spanish, before making these off-script comments in Italian. The pope has previously repeatedly called for a cease-fire in the war in Ukraine and spoken against Russia's actions in the conflict. Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to the religious leader for "his personal attention to the tragedy of millions of Ukrainians."

Persons: Pope, Pope Francis, Vladimir Putin, Russia —, Peter the Great, Catherine II, NewsFromUkraine, Russia, Oleg Nikolenko, Rome, Dmitry Peskov, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Zelenskyy Organizations: Google, Vatican, Roman Catholic, Ukrainian, Kremlin, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Facebook, Tass Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Spanish

☆ Libyan PM sacks foreign minister as row over Israel meeting grows
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] Libyan Foreign Minister Najla el-Mangoush attends a joint press conference at the conclusion of the Libya Stabilization Conference, in Tripoli, Libya, October 21, 2021. Mangoush had said her meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen in Rome was unplanned and informal, but an Israeli official told Reuters it had lasted two hours and was approved "at the highest levels in Libya". The meeting is contentious because Libya does not formally recognise Israel and there is widespread public support across the Libyan political spectrum for the Palestinian cause of creating an independent state in territory Israel occupies. The Libya prime minister sees Israel as a possible bridge to the West and the U.S. administration," the official said. Libya's parliament based in the east, which rejects the GNU, said on Sunday it would hold hearings into the meeting with the Israeli minister.

Persons: Najla, Mangoush, Hazem Ahmed, Najla Mangoush, Eli Cohen, Abdulhamid, Muammar Gaddafi, Cohen, Antonio Tajani, Dbeibah, Libya's, Abraham, Francesco Galietti, Giorgia Meloni, Dan Williams, Francesca Landini, Gavin Jones, Angus McDowall, James Mackenzie, Peter Graff, Mark Heinrich, Conor Humphries Organizations: Libyan Foreign, Libya Stabilization Conference, REUTERS, Rome Israeli, Israeli, Reuters, Protesters, Libya's Foreign, Palestinian, Libyan, U.S, United Arab, Abraham Accords, of National Unity, GNU, UAE, High State Council, Dbeibah, Italian, Thomson Locations: Libya, Tripoli, Rome, TRIPOLI, JERUSALEM, Israel, Benghazi, Italian, Italy, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, United States, Dbeibah's, Reuters Libya, Jerusalem

☆ Italian mayors are still hoping that an Elon v. Zuck fight could boost their towns' profiles, despite the Meta CEO getting tired of Musk's shenanigans
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The mayor of Pompeii is keen to host a bout, and Florence's mayor suggested "a clash of ideas" instead. Plans for a fight between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg appear to be scuppered after the Meta CEO grew tired of the other billionaire's shenanigans. But the mayors of Italian towns and cities are still vying to host a potential bout between the pair, Euronews reported. Despite this, there have been at least seven proposals from other Italian cities, including Pompeii and Verona, to host a potential fight, according to Euronews. xenotar/Getty Images"Pompeii is the best site to host the worldwide challenge between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg," the city's mayor, Carime Lo Sapio, told Euronews.

Persons: Musk, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Elon, Carime Lo Sapio, Euronews, I've, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Meta Organizations: Elon, Telegraph Locations: Pompeii, Verona, Taormina, Sicily, xenotar, Italian, Calabria, Rome, Florence

CNN —A video of a tourist climbing into Rome’s iconic Trevi Fountain to fill her water bottle has circulated online. After filling her bottle from a spout of the fountain, she attempts to walk away, before a guard blows a whistle and paces towards her. It remains unclear what happened to the tourist after the incident, and whether she was arrested or fined. Tourists can be fined up to 500 euros for entering the fountain, which is widely considered one of the city’s best known landmarks. Around 3,000 euros ($3,200) a day are thrown into the fountain during busy tourist months, according to Rome’s tourism board.

Persons: Trevi, Rome skyrockets, surfed Organizations: CNN, Catholic, Caritas, Maserati, Vatican Museum Locations: Rome, Covid, Saudi, Italy, Australian, American

CNN —The director of Rome’s Colosseum has called for an end to concerts at the nearby Circus Maximus, after a performance by US rapper Travis Scott on Monday sparked fears of an earthquake. Italy’s fire service confirmed to CNN that it received “hundreds of calls” from concerned residents who feared there had been an earthquake in the Italian capital. Now, Alfonsina Russo, director of the head of the Colosseum Archeological Park, has called for an end to performances at the Circus Maximus, the ancient Roman chariot-racing and entertainment venue. “The Circus Maximus is a monument. “Rock concerts should be held in stadiums so as not to endanger public safety.”The Circus Maximus, situated at the bottom of the Palatine Hill near the Colosseum, has become a popular concert venue in recent years.

Persons: Maximus, Travis Scott, ”, Scott, Kanye, Alfonsina Russo, Russo, Bruce Springsteen, Scott’s Organizations: CNN Locations: Rome, Italian, Palatine, ”, Giza, Egypt, Houston

☆ Was That an Earthquake in Rome? No, It Was a Travis Scott Concert.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Elisabetta Povoledo | More About Elisabetta Povoledo | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When Travis Scott asked Rome to make some noise at the Circus Maximus on Monday, Rome cheerfully complied. The 60,000-odd spectators jumped so vigorously that some locals panicked, thinking that an earthquake was underway. The concert coincided with the release of Mr. Scott’s chart-topping new album, “Utopia. The show in Rome marked Ye’s first concert appearance after a series of antisemitic remarks on social media and in interviews last year led to his expulsion from social media for a time and the loss of fashion design partnerships. Romans, including those living some distance from the site, took to social media to lament shaking windows, beds and chandeliers.

Persons: Travis Scott, Rome, Maximus, Julius Caesar, Ye, Ye’s, Lady Gaga, Bruce Springsteen Organizations: Kanye Locations: Rome

☆ Libya recovers colonial wolf statue sold as scrap and found on a farm
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Ayman Al-Warfali | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] The female wolf statue (Lupa Capitolina), which was found in the farm of a citizen, is pictured after disappearing for over thirty years in Benghazi, Libya, July 31, 2023. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-FetoriBENGHAZI, Libya, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Libyan authorities have recovered a large bronze wolf statue that once sat atop a pillar in central Benghazi before disappearing decades ago, found on a farm whose owner said he bought the sculpture as scrap. Italian colonial authorities erected the statue in the new Benghazi city centre they were building in the 1930s, promoting a connection between ancient Roman settlement of Libya and their modern colonial rule over the country. However, many priceless Libyan antiquities have disappeared: pillaged by Europeans in colonial times, appropriated after independence or looted in the chaos that has followed a 2011 NATO-backed uprising. Khaled al-Hadar, a Libyan researcher on stolen antiquities, said heritage monitoring remained weak in Libya and had not been started until 1974 - after the wolf had disappeared.

Persons: Omran, Saied Mohammed Bourabida, Bourabida, Khaled al, Muammar Gaddafi's, suckling, Romulus, Remus, Ayman al, Angus McDowall, Alison Williams Organizations: REUTERS, Fetori, Libya, Thomson Locations: Benghazi, Libya, Fetori BENGHAZI, Rome, Sabratha, NATO, Libyan, Warfali

☆ Pizza party: 14 versions of the world’s favorite food
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Terry Ward | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

The solution was to fry the pizza dough, with ricotta and pork fat tucked inside, for a puffier and more substantial effect. With several locations in Miami, Rey Pizza offers Cuban pizza varieties that include chorizo, picadillo (ground beef) and platano (plantain). New York slice pizzaNew Yorkers just fold their slices to eat on the move. “New York slice pizza uses a low-moisture and low-fat mozzarella that’s dry, almost more of a provolone,” Verde says. He recommends trying authentic New York slice pizza at Amore Pizzeria in the Flushing neighborhood of Queens (for a whole pie, try the Italo-Americano New York style pepperoni pizza at Coco Pazzeria).

Persons: Fabio Errante, , “, ” Errante, ”, Nino Coniglio, ” Coniglio, Enzo Algarme, ” Algarme, ’, Henry Cunningham, Gabriele Bonci, Cunningham, Stefano Politi Markovina, Tatyana Serraino, that’s, Lisa Cherkasky, it’s, Errante, . Wood, Allen Brown, Derek Gaughan, Pala, ” Gaughan, Louis, Steve Dolinsky, there’s, Dolinsky, Lou Malnati’s, crème, Khachapuri, Maggie Rossetti, iStockphoto, Ciro Verde, Coco Pazzeria, Pazzeria, Coniglio, you’re Organizations: CNN, CNN Travel, UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, Food, Netflix, Washington Post, Uno, Pizza, Americano Locations: Naples, Italy, Italian, Brooklyn, New York City, Neapolitan, Virginia, Rome, Rome’s, Prati, Rome's Trastevere, Errante, Olive, Sicily, United States, Palermo, Detroit, Michigan, Trumbull, Columbus, New Haven, New Haven , Connecticut, Chicago, Cuban, Miami, Gouda, France’s Alsace, Germany, Catalonia, Spain, Balearic, Istanbul, Yerevan, Berlin, Hamburg, Armenia, Turkey, Georgia, York, Astoria , Queens, ” Verde, Flushing, Queens, Yorker

☆ An 'exceptional' Roman shipwreck was discovered with hundreds of intact 2,000-year-old jars off the coast of Italy
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-29 | by ( Marta Biino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Relics of an ancient Roman cargo ship were found near Rome on Friday. The vessel was filled with hundreds of Roman vases, and is estimated to be more than 20 meters long. The vessel, dating back to the second or first century BC, was found loaded with hundreds of ancient Roman terracotta jars, also known as amphorae. The ship was likely part of the Cura Annonae, an ancient Roman body that was charged with importing and distributing grain to the residents of the cities of Rome. Last year, archaeologists discovered a similar shipwreck dating back nearly 2,200 years stocked with jars used to transport food off the coast of Palermo, Sicily.

Organizations: Service, Repubblica, Carabinieri Locations: Rome, Wall, Silicon, Italy, Spain, Civitavecchia, Italy's, Palermo, Sicily

☆ Italy's Meloni says Biden never raised issue of Belt and Road membership
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ROME, July 23 (Reuters) - Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who will visit the White House on Thursday, said that U.S. President Joe Biden had never challenged her on the issue of Rome being part of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Meloni leads the only major Western country to have joined China's BRI scheme, which envisions rebuilding the old Silk Road to connect China with Asia, Europe and beyond with large infrastructure spending. "The president of the United States has never directly raised the question with me," she told a news conference following an international meeting on migration in Rome. The deal was signed in 2019 under the administration of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, drawing criticism from Washington and Brussels, and Italy is highly unlikely to renew it when it expires early next year. It has produced little benefit for Italy over the past four years, with exports to China totalling 16.4 billion euros ($18.1 billion) last year from 13 billion euros in 2019.

Persons: Giorgia Meloni, Joe Biden, Meloni, Giuseppe Conte, Angelo Amante, Keith Weir Organizations: Italy's, White, Initiative, Thomson Locations: Rome, China, Asia, Europe, United States, Washington, Brussels, Italy

☆ EU sends water bombers to battle Greece wildfires as Rome shatters temperature record
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A Canadair CL-415 sprays water during a wildfire in the village of Pournari, near Athens, on July 18, 2023. The European Union sent four Canadair water bombers to help Greece fight wildfires that have been raging for a third day on Wednesday, while authorities warned of another extraordinary heatwave. It comes as scorching heat continues to grip southern Europe, with temperatures in Spain, France and Italy climbing to fresh record highs. Mercury levels in Girona in Spain's Catalonia region hit a record 45 degrees Celsius, while temperatures in Verdun in northeast France reached 40.6 degrees Celsius for the first time. Europe's hottest-ever recorded temperature is believed to have been 48.8 degrees Celsius, logged near the ancient city of Syracuse on the coast of Sicily in August 2021.

Organizations: Canadair CL, European Union, Canadair, Mercury, World Meteorological Organization Locations: Pournari, Athens, Greece, Europe, Spain, France, Italy, Rome, Girona, Spain's Catalonia, Verdun, Syracuse, Sicily

NO CANCELLATIONS YETDemand for travel has soared again this summer as tourists leave behind years of pandemic restrictions, and travel companies say the heat hasn't caused many cancellations - yet. Stories of tourists being airlifted off Italian beaches or ferried away in ambulances from Athens' Acropolis have flooded European media in recent weeks. Italy's Environment Ministry warned in a report this year that foreign tourists would in future travel more in the spring and autumn and choose cooler destinations. Greek authorities closed Athens' ancient Acropolis during the hottest part of the day on Friday to protect tourists. In Spain, high vacation demand is expected in coastal destinations in the north of the country and on Spanish tourist islands, where summer temperatures tend to be cooler, according to a report from national tourism association Exceltur.

Persons: Miguel Sanz, Anita Elshoy, Elshoy, Sean Tipton, Sanz, Dalphna Niebuhr, Daniel Otero, Rebeca Vazquez, Renee Maltezou, Elisa Anzolin, Angelo Amante, Corina Rodriguez, Catherine Evans Organizations: Travel Commission, EUROPE Tourists, Reuters, Ministry, Thomson Locations: ROME, Europe, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland, Bulgaria, Norway, Rome, Sicily, Athens, EUROPE, American, Greece, Mykonos, Spain, Bilbao, Italy, Madrid

[1/3] People cool off near the Spanish Steps, during a heatwave across Italy, as temperatures are expected to rise further in the coming days, in Rome, Italy July 18, 2023. They have added fresh urgency to talks this week between the United States and China, the world's top greenhouse gas polluters. "Whilst most of the attention focuses on daytime maximum temperatures, it is the overnight temperatures which have the biggest health risks, especially for vulnerable populations," it said. The European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service says 2022 and 2021 were the continent's hottest summers on record. In a large part of the territory, night-time temperatures were in the top 5% of the highest recorded at this time of year.

Persons: Remo Casilli, John Kerry, Xi Jinping, Carlo Spanu, Anita Elshoy, Elshoy, AEMET, Talim, Angelo Amante, Emma Farge, Giselda, Crispian Balmer, Angeliki Koutantou, Emma Pinedo Gabrielle Tétrault, Farber, Matthias Williams, Janet Lawrence Organizations: REUTERS, World Meteorological Organization, WMO, Thomson Locations: Italy, Rome, Europe, U.S, Asia Italy, ROME, Asia, United States, Sardinia, Lazio, heatwaves, Death, China's, Greece, Swiss, India, South Korea, China, Beijing, North America, North Africa, Sicily, Sulcis, Norway, Spain, Catalonia, Aragon, Mallorca, Andujar, 44.9C, Toledo, Dervenochoria, Athens

☆ Opinion: ‘A nasty smell that lingers in the nostrils.’ What it’s really like inside Italy’s hellish heatwave
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Opinion Silvia Marchetti | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

But this year the usual “solleone” (an Italian term used to indicate the hottest summer days) is overwhelming. The dizzying heat is expected to peak early this week, with temperatures climbing above 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit). It’s not just Italy suffering, with the giant oven of hot air blasting other parts of southern Europe, like Greece and Spain. Experts are warning temperatures might even break the continent’s record of 48.8 degrees Celsius (118.4 degrees Fahrenheit), set two years ago. A sign outside a pharmacy in Rome displays 45 degrees Celsius (118.4 degrees Fahrenheit) temperatures as Italy -- and southern Europe -- braces for even higher numbers this week.

Persons: Silvia Marchetti, Read, it’s, Silvia Marchetti Silvia Marchetti, It’s, Guglielmo Mangiapane, –, Riccardo De Luca, ’, Dante, I’ve Organizations: CNN, Italy CNN, Anadolu Agency, Twitter, Facebook, Housewives Locations: Rome, Capena, Italy, Europe, Greece, Spain, Italian, Roman, UAE

CNN —Two more tourists have been caught apparently defacing the Colosseum in Rome, following a similar incident in June. The very next day, a 17-year-old student from Germany was caught allegedly doing something similar. This is the same punishment potentially faced by a 27-year-old British tourist who was filmed apparently carving his name into the wall of the ancient arena last month. Dimitrov allegedly scratched “Ivan+Hayley 23” into the wall of the Colosseum, representing his and his girlfriend’s names. A similar incident also occurred in 2020, when security staff spotted an Irish tourist allegedly carving his initials into the ancient structure and reported him to the police.

Persons: Ivan Dimitrov, “, regrettably, ”, Alexandro Maria Tirelli, Dimitrov, Ivan, Hayley, Gennaro Sangiuliano Organizations: CNN Locations: Rome, Switzerland, Province of Rome, Germany, Irish

☆ Italy warns ‘peak of the heat is coming,’ issues red alert for 16 cities as temperatures soar
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Meteorologists in Italy on Monday warned that a period of fierce heat is expected to peak in the coming days, shortly after policymakers issued hot weather red alerts for 16 cities nationwide. The capital of Rome, Florence and Bologna are among some of the areas affected by an intense and prolonged heatwave. It comes as temperatures approach record-breaking levels in countries across southern Europe, with forecasters warning the highest level ever recorded in European history could be topped. "The African anticyclone continues to dominate the weather scenario, with a heat wave destined to persist for many more days," Italian weather news service Meteo.it said on Monday. Scientists at the European Space Agency, which monitors land and sea temperatures, believe the record could be broken again in the coming days.

Persons: wets, Meteo.it Organizations: Monday, European Space Agency Locations: Piazza Duomo, Catania, Italy, Rome, Florence, Bologna, Europe, Syracuse, Sicily

☆ Smart ways to save money in Europe this crazy, crowded summer
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-15 | by ( Terry Ward | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

“Last-minute flight prices, especially international ones, are expensive,” says Katy Nastro of Going.com (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights) about airfares from North American to Europe. “Their best value comes when cash prices are high, and there’s no time more expensive than last-minute summer travel,” Nastro says. CNN Travel talked to travel agents, experts and expert travelers, too, for their tips on saving money on European travels this unprecedented summer. “Most travelers going to Europe have a few destinations in mind, “ says Henley Vazquez, co-founder of luxury travel advisor group Fora. These places he calls “the Chicagos of Europe” include Marseille in France, Hamburg in Germany and Liverpool in England.

Persons: CNN —, “, Katy Nastro, you’ll, Nastro, you’ve, ” Nastro, Hevelyn Villar Silva, Hevelyn Villar, ”, Colleen McDaniel, Henley Vazquez, Fora, ” Eurail, Eurail, Ethan Williams, Austria’s, Georgia Bird, Rome Ciampino, Rome Fiumicino, snagging, Ignacio Eguren, ” Eguren, Eguren, Booking.com, aren’t, Rick Steves, ” Steves, Steves, … Organizations: CNN, Cruise, Magnifica, MSC Cruises, MSC Magnifica, Caribbean’s Symphony, Palma de Mallorca, Milan Central Station, Getty, Czech Railways, Saint, Alamy, “, Smart, Library, Rembrandt, Best, Premier Faubourg, CNN Travel, Liverpool, Scala, Scala Santa Holy, Scotsman Locations: Europe, North American, ”, Tampa , Florida, Genoa, Valencia, Spain, Pisa, Portofino, Italy, France, Palma de, Athens, Svalbard, Bergen, Norway, “, Germany, Czech, Czech Republic, Rome, Saint Martin, Paris, mauritius, Checkin Cantabria, Cantabria, Paris ’, Copenhagen, you’ll, Oslo, Marseille, Hamburg, England, Scala Santa

☆ Another twist in the 40-year-old missing ‘Vatican girl’ case
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-15 | by ( Barbie Latza Nadeau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

It gained further international attention with the release last fall of Netflix’s “Vatican Girl” docuseries by filmmaker Mark Lewis. Among the documents was correspondence between Agostino Casaroli, then Vatican secretary of state, and a Colombian priest who had been the spiritual guide and confessor of the Orlandi family. Now the Orlandi family fears that the Vatican dossier does not include investigatory leads they hoped the Rome prosecutor would follow – primarily that the Vatican was somehow involved. The teenager was the daughter of a prominent Vatican employee and lived inside the fortified walls of Vatican City, where her mother still lives. Laura Sgro, the attorney for the Orlandi family, said at the press conference that the authorities had also cleared the uncle.

Persons: Rome, Orlandi, Netflix’s, Mark Lewis, Pietro Orlandi, La7, Agostino Casaroli, Laura Sgro, Mario Meneguzzi, Emanuela’s, ”, ” Pietro Orlandi, Natalina Orlandi, Emanuela, Andreas Solaro, Pope Francis, angelus, “, Natalina, Meneguzzi, Pietro Orlandi’s, Alessandro Diddi, Sgro, Enrico de Pedis Organizations: Rome CNN, Vatican, Catholic, Foreign Press Association, Getty, Dei Catholic, Rome police, Rome, CNN, Pontifical Teutonic College Locations: Rome, Italy, Colombian, AFP, Piazza Navona, Vatican City

☆ Outrage in Italy after court rules groping under 10 seconds is not illegal
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Sharon Braithwaite | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —A court ruling that found a school janitor not guilty of groping a student because the act only lasted less than 10 seconds has sparked outrage in Italy. “Love, you know I was joking,” the janitor said, according to the teenager’s testimony mentioned in the judgment. The decision caused outrage among students and sparked a viral trend on social media. A local union representing high school students, ‘Rete degli Studenti Medi del Lazio,’ said on Facebook that “this is not a joke, there is nothing funny about it.”“It is unacceptable that we cannot feel protected at school. Accompanying the media are the hashtags #10secondi and #palpatabreve (brief groping).

Persons: CNN —, Rome, “, Medi, ’, ”, TikTok, Lotus, Paolo Camilli Organizations: CNN, RAI, Facebook Locations: Italy, Lazio

☆ In Line? Online? Either Way, a Ticket to Frustration for Pantheon Tourists
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( Elisabetta Povoledo | More About Elisabetta Povoledo | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The lines to get into the Pantheon, one of Rome’s most famous ancient sites, were high-season typical, snaking past the obelisk-topped fountain in the middle of the square to the cafes at the back. But they were especially slow-moving on Monday, the first day that the Italian Culture Ministry introduced an entrance ticket, priced at 5 euros, to enter the 2,000-year-old monument. Hotly debated for years, the ticketing plan was announced in March by the culture minister, Gennaro Sangiuliano, who said that charging a small fee to help maintain the most popular cultural site in Italy — with about nine million visitors a year — “was an objective based on common sense.”The equivalent of about $5.50 might be a small price to pay to see one of the world’s most iconic monuments — where the painter Raphael is buried — but the new fee has been accompanied by stumbling blocks.

Persons: Gennaro Sangiuliano, “, Raphael Organizations: Italian Culture Ministry Locations: Italy

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