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☆ Pope Francis says some people in same-sex unions could be blessed
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( Barbie Latza Nadeau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Rome CNN —Pope Francis has suggested for the first time that people in same-sex unions could be blessed by Catholic priests on a “case-by-case” basis, a seeming reversal of previous statements. The cardinals, Walter Brandmuller, Raymond Leo Burke, Juan Sandoval Iniguez, Robert Sarah and Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, first sent the letter to Pope Francis on July 10. It focused on an upcoming October meeting of bishops, asking what impact it could have on Church’s teaching, and included questions about the Pope’s intention to bless same-sex unions, and whether he intends to open the door to women priests through ordination. The Vatican then released a letter in Spanish dated September 25 signed by Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, the Vatican’s new chief of doctrine. The response includes Pope Francis’ answers to the dubia, signed “Francis.”On the issue of homosexual unions, the pontiff reiterated that the church only recognizes marriage as a union between a man and a woman, but opened the door for blessings of individuals in same-sex unions, the letter shows.

Persons: Rome, Rome CNN — Pope Francis, Pope, –, Walter Brandmuller, Raymond Leo Burke, Juan Sandoval Iniguez, Robert Sarah, Joseph Zen Ze, Pope Francis, Cardinal Raymond Burke, Burke, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, Pope Francis ’, “ Francis, ”, Pope John Paul II, vaguer, “ Organizations: Rome CNN, Catholic, Church Locations: Cologne, Rome

☆ Top Sicilian mafia boss buried but the criminal enterprise lives on
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Barbie Latza Nadeau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Rome CNN —Sicilian mob boss Matteo Messina Denaro, widely thought to be the last godfather of his kind, was buried Wednesday in a private funeral in Castelvetrano, Sicily. A police handout photo shows Matteo Messina Denaro after he was arrested in Palermo, Italy, on January 16, 2023. “With the death of Matteo Messina Denaro, a life full of violence, plots and mysteries ends,” Grasso told CNN. Messina Denaro, even with his rap sheet of murders, was highly critical of the Catholic church over the clerical sex abuse scandal. Matteo Messina Denaro was arrested at a private health clinic in Palermo after 30 years on the run.

Persons: Rome, Matteo Messina Denaro, Nicola Consales, Messina Denaro, Antonella Bonomo, Giuseppe Di Matteo, Paolo Borsellino, Giovanni Falcone, Messina Denaro –, –, Giovanni Motisi, “, ” Toto Riina –, He’s, Stefano Fidanzati, Pietro Grasso, Giuseppe Auteri, ” Grasso, Salvatore “ Toto ” Riina, Messina, Italy’s, ”, Don Ciccio Messina Organizations: Rome CNN, Reuters, CNN, Cosa Nostra, Catholic, Police Locations: Castelvetrano, Sicily, Palermo, Italy, Cosa, Messina, Campobello, Abruzzo, Calabria

☆ Italy's Meloni champions 'family values.' But critics say she's doing little to protect women from violence
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-10 | by ( Barbie Latza Nadeau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

“Perhaps we should start passing this message across and be a little more protective, in terms of vocabulary and language,” he added. We don’t know what to do with a woman in government who penalizes women,” the Democratic Women caucus said in a statement to CNN. Instead, Meloni has focused on her own family, which is increasingly prominent in party politics. Giorgia Meloni and Francesco Lollobrigida talk during the election of the new President of the Chamber of Deputies, on October 14, 2022 in Rome, Italy. Meloni’s party won the September 22 elections last year with nearly 26% of the vote.

Persons: Rome, Giorgia Meloni, ” Meloni, Andrea Giambruno, ”, you’d, Giorgia, Ivan Romano, Giambruno, don’t, ’ ”, Ginevra, Joe Biden, Meloni, Pope Francis, “, “ Donna Moderna ”, assertively, ” Giorgia Meloni, Gian Mattia D'Alberto, Rosa, –, Elly Shlein, Donna, Francesco Lollobridgida, Arianna, Meloni’s, Massimo Milani, Francesco Lollobrigida, Alessandra Benedetti, Corbis, Giovanni Montuori, Giovanni, Silvio Berlusconi Organizations: Rome CNN, Italy’s, Democratic, Democratic Women, CNN, Brothers Locations: Caivano, “ Italy, Italian, Sicilian, Palermo, United States, Italy, Rome, Rome’s Garbatella

☆ How is Italy solving an invasion of blue crabs? With sauteed garlic and a squeeze of lemon
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-04 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Agricultural industry group FedagriPesca estimates that more than half the nation’s clams and mussels were eaten by the blue crab this summer. Culinary solutionA fisherman harvests blue crabs in the lagoon of Scardovari, south of Venice, Italy, on August 11, 2023. Italian farmers’ group Coldiretti suggests serving the blue crab with rosemary in a salad, or with sauteed garlic over spaghetti. Blue crab is fast becoming a feature item at restaurants across the country, primarily as a spaghetti sauce with fresh tomatoes. Lionello Cera, who runs the two-Michelin-starred Antica Osteria Cera di Campagna Lupia, says he has tried it in various dishes, but will not be putting blue crab on his menu anytime soon.

Persons: Rome, ”, Piero Cruciatti, “, They’ve, ” Enridca Franchi, Coldiretti, Giorgia Meloni, Francesco Lollobrigida, Lollobrigida, ” Gabriella Gibin, Gibin, Lionello Cera, Antica Osteria Cera, Campagna Lupia, fishmonger Organizations: Rome CNN, Getty, UNESCO, University of Siena, CNN Locations: Adriatic, Italy, Scardovari, Venice, AFP, Po Delta, Tuscany, United States, Asia, Rovigo, Roman, Testaccio

☆ Amarena: Outrage as mother of biscuit-stealing bear cub shot dead in Italy
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-02 | by ( Barbie Latza Nadeau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Rome CNN —The cold-blooded killing of a mother bear known as Amarena has angered animal rights groups and local politicians in Italy. The brown bear was shot by a local resident of San Benedetto dei Marsi just outside the national park of Abruzzo in central Italy, the park confirmed on Friday. “The park veterinarian intervened on the spot with the emergency team, who however could only ascertain the death of the bear given the seriousness of the wound,” the park said on its Facebook page. Amerana was a Marsican brown bear, an endangered species in Italy where fewer than 60 of the bears are still alive. In April, a 17-year-old bear that killed a 26-year-old jogger was sentenced to death in the northern region of Trento.

Persons: Rome, Amarena, dei Marsi, Juan Carrito, Amerana, “, Maurizio Maria Cerrato, Gilberto Pichetto, jogger Organizations: Rome CNN, CNN, Sky24, Park Authority, Ispra Locations: Italy, San, Abruzzo, Avezzano, Cufa, Trento

☆ Italian banker hailed a hero after catching toddler falling from fifth floor balcony
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-27 | by ( Barbie Latza Nadeau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Rome CNN —A 37-year-old banker from Turin is being hailed a hero after miraculously catching an Italian toddler who fell from her family’s fifth floor balcony on Saturday. “I heard a man scream when he saw the little girl leaning out on the ledge. The little girl kept leaning more and more and climbed over the ledge, she held on only with two arms and her legs were in the air,” Aguzzi said. “The story of a little girl who fell from a fith floor balcony in a building in Turin could have turned into tragedy. Much honor and gratitude to this young hero,” she wrote on X on Sunday.

Persons: Rome, Rome CNN —, Mattia Aguzzi, “, ”, ” Aguzzi, Stefano Lo Russo, ” Lo Russo, Camilla Laureti, Meloni Organizations: Rome CNN, CNN, Sky24, Valor, Italy’s Locations: Turin, Italy

☆ Vasari Corridor: Tourists arrested for spraying soccer graffiti on 460-year-old Italian landmark
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( Barbie Latza Nadeau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

This time it was the turn of the 460-year-old Vasari Corridor, a beautiful riverside passageway connected to the famous Uffizi Galleries in Florence, which was sprayed with Munich soccer-related graffiti in the early hours of August 23. Airbnb raidHow the Vasari Corridor looked before the graffiti incident. The one-kilometer-long Vasari Corridor was built by Italian Renaissance painter and architect Giorgio Vasari in less than nine months in 1565. Tourists behaving badlyThe graffiti reference a Munich soccer club. “I would like to express my thanks to the Carabinieri for promptly identifying the alleged perpetrators of the Vasari Corridor in Florence.

Persons: Rome, Rome CNN —, Airbnb, Tim Clayton, Corbis, Giorgio Vasari, Cosimo I de’Medici, Medici, Dan Brown, Florence Mayor Dario Nardella, It’s, Eike Schmidt, Schmidt, Gennaro Sangiuliano, ” Organizations: Rome CNN, Galleries, Carabinieri, Operations Unit, CNN, Culture Ministry, Authorities, Uffizi, UNESCO, TSV, Vasari Locations: Florence, Munich, “, Uffizi, Italian, Ponte, Santa Felicita, Italy, Rome, Venice, German

☆ $2 to cut a sandwich in half: The outrageous rip-offs targeting tourists in Italy
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-19 | by ( Barbie Latza Nadeau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

– plate near Portofino in northern Italy, and 10 cents for a sprinkle of cocoa on a cappuccino at a Lake Como coffee bar. Easy targetsOutrageous charges, like 2 euros for slicing a ham sandwich, have been labeled "crazy receipts" by the Italian media. High fuel and energy prices have made it an incredibly expensive summer. Worst offendersSome of the highest price hikes in Europe have left a vacation at home too expensive for many Italians. “We had this trip planned before Covid and have been dreaming about it even though we read the headlines about expensive prices.

Persons: Rome, Rome CNN —, Stefano Mazzola, Giorgia Meloni, ”, Furio, Truzzi, Francesca Volpi, Sharm el Sheik, ” Paolo Manca, Betsy, James Cramer, ” Betsy, “, Alberto Pizzoli, Antonio Coviello, Daniela Santanche Organizations: Rome CNN, CNN, Bloomberg, Getty, Italy’s National Research Center Locations: Italian, Lake Como, Ostia, Sardinia, Portofino, Italy, Como, Albania, Montenegro, Ukraine, Europe, Puglia, Egypt, Piazza Navona, Rome, AFP

☆ 41 dead in migrant shipwreck in central Mediterranean
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Barbie Latza Nadeau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Rome CNN —Forty-one people reportedly died in a migrant shipwreck near the Italian island of Lampedusa, survivors say, the latest tragedy amid a spike in efforts in people making the dangerous sea crossing from North Africa to Europe. The survivors told the Red Cross that the migrant boat left Sfax, Tunisia several days ago. They said they were wearing life jackets and were able to crawl on a remnants of a different shipwrecked boat, according to the Red Cross. Lampedusa, not far from Sicily and the closest Italian island to Africa, is a major destination for migrants seeking to enter European Union countries. On Sunday, three bodies were recovered, including a 3-year-old child and a pregnant woman, and at least 30 people were missing after two migrant boats sank off the Italian island, the Italian Coast Guard said in a statement.

Persons: Rome, Rome CNN —, Giorgia Meloni Organizations: Rome CNN, Italian Coast Guard, CNN, European Union Locations: Lampedusa, North Africa, Europe, Sfax, Tunisia, Italy, Sicily, Africa

☆ Italian man dies after being crushed by thousands of wheels of cheese
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Barbie Latza Nadeau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Rome CNN —An Italian cheesemaker died on Sunday after being crushed by thousands of rounds of Grana Padano cheese in the aging room of his factory in Bergamo, northern Italy, local authorities said. Giacomo Chiapparini, 74, had entered the aging room to check the automatic robot used to clean the cheese rounds during the aging process in his company’s warehouse, according to the Bergamo Carabinieri. It took more than 11 hours to find Chiapparini’s body under the cheese rounds. He was identified by his family, who live and work in the cheese factory, the Carabinieri spokesperson said. Chiapparini’s factory was founded in the late 1970s and produces around 15,000 wheels of Grana Padano cheese each year using milk from the cows raised at the factory, according to the company website.

Persons: Rome, Rome CNN —, Italian cheesemaker, Giacomo Chiapparini, Chiapparini’s Organizations: Rome CNN, Bergamo Carabinieri Locations: Italian, Bergamo, Italy

☆ Emperor Nero's lost theater unearthed in Rome, near the Vatican
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Barbie Latza Nadeau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Rome CNN —Ruins of a private theater belonging to the 1st century Roman Emperor Nero have been unearthed in the Italian capital just meters from the Vatican, in what experts are calling an “exceptional” find. Nero was the fifth Roman emperor, ruling between 54 and 68 AD. The site includes elegant marble columns, gold-leaf decorations and storage rooms with remnants of costumes and backdrops used in Nero’s theatrical productions. A double-faced Junus head, approximately dated to the 1st century A.D., is seen among other findings coming from the excavation of ancient Roman emperor Nero's theater. “Being able to dig in this built-up, historically rich area is so rare.”Archaeologists work on findings coming from the excavation site of the ancient Roman emperor Nero's theater.

Persons: Rome, Emperor Nero, Daniela Porro, Nero, Pliny the Elder, Nero's, Andrew Medichini, Rovere, Porro, ”, Di Mento, “, Porri Organizations: Rome CNN, St, Rome’s, CNN Locations: Peter’s, Conciliazione, St, Rome

☆ 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

☆ Square where Julius Caesar was killed opens to the public in Rome
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Rome CNN —History buffs will be able to stroll close to the spot where legend says Julius Caesar met his bloody end, when Rome authorities open a new walkway on the ancient site on Tuesday. According to tradition, he died in the capital’s central Largo Argentina square - home to the remains of four temples. They are all currently below street level and up until recently could only be viewed from behind barriers close to a busy road junction. From Tuesday, visitors will be able to move through the site at ground level on the walkway and see the structures up close. Italian fashion house Bulgari funded the work at a site that was first discovered and excavated during building work in Rome in the 1920s.

Persons: Rome, Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare, Caesar, Brutus Organizations: Rome CNN Locations: Rome, Largo Argentina, Italian

☆ Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's former showman leader, dies at 86
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Valentina Di Donato Barbie Latza Nadeau Laura Smith-Spark Peter Wilkinson Antonia Mortensen Rob Picheta | Valentina Di Donato | Barbie Latza Nadeau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

Umberto Cicconi/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Berlusconi swims at a Tunisian beach in 1984. Umberto Cicconi/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Berlusconi leaves a 1985 news conference in Paris. Franco Origlia/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Berlusconi announced in November 1993 that he would be entering the world of politics. Franco Origlia/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Berlusconi waves while attending a European Council meeting in Corfu, Greece, in June 1994. Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images Berlusconi hands the Berlusconi Trophy to AC Milan's Massimo Ambrosini in August 2011.

Persons: Rome, Rome CNN — Silvio Berlusconi, Christ, ”, Berlusconi, Milan’s, Benito Mussolini, “ Il Cavaliere ”, Milan, Giorgia Meloni, Matteo Salvini, Silvio Berlusconi, Alessandra Benedetti, Eric Vandeville, Indro Montanelli, Umberto Cicconi, Italy's, Michel Clement, Francis Apesteguy, Veronica Lario, Franco Origlia, Langevin Jacques, Sygma, Cesare Previti, Pope John Paul II, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Veronica, William Stevens, Barbara, Eleonora, Oscar Scalfaro, Patrick Hertzog, Romano Prodi, Alberto Pizzoli, Giuseppe Cacace, Gregorio Borgia, Associated Press Berlusconi, Vittorio Zunino Celotto, Massimo Ambrosini, Claudio Villa, Dan Kitwood, preliminarily, Filippo Monteforte, Alessia Pierdomenico, Remo Casilli, Reuters Berlusconi, Giuseppe Lami, Angelo Carconi, Emanuele Cremaschi, Tiziana Fabi, Luigi Brugnaro, Renato Brunetta, Piero Cruciatti, Hungary’s Viktor Orban, Britain’s Boris Johnson, Donald Trump, “ Berlusconi, ” Severgnini, ” Meloni, Claudia Greco, Prodi –, –, Berlusconi’s, Ignazio La Russa, “, Gianfranco Fini –, FILIPPO MONTEFORTE, Vladimir Putin, Volodymr Zelensky, Nobel, salesmanship ’, Jesus Christ, Severgnini, il, salesmanship, Francesca Pascale, Del, Pavarotti, ” Berlusconi, Marina, Carla Dall’Oglio, Luigi Organizations: Rome CNN, Milan’s San Raffaele, Forza Italia, Freedom, Italian, Getty, Canale, AC Milan, Berlusconi, Romano, Associated Press, Associated, Bloomberg, Reuters, Venice, Anadolu Agency, RAI, Media, Milano, Milan –, world’s, Forza Italia Party, Forza, soccer team, Northern League Party, European, Union coalition, Sporting, della, PM, “, ”, Del Monaco Locations: Milan, Paris, AFP, Naples, Italy, Rome, Corfu, Greece, Tatanto, Cannes, France, Italy's, Venice, Italy's Senate, Monza, Lombardy, ”, L’Aquila, Milan’s, Italian, Europe, Ukraine

Rome CNN —Pope Francis was recovering well in a Rome hospital on Thursday, the day after the 86-year-old had abdominal surgery that renewed health fears. “This wasn’t an urgent surgery,” Dr. Sergio Alfieri, the surgeon who operated on Pope Francis, said at a press conference. Pope Francis, seated in a wheelchair, attended a weekly general audience at the Vatican on June 7. Pope’s fragile healthThis operation is the latest in a series of health scares surrounding Pope Francis. Medical sources say that the intervention was likely related to the surgery Francis underwent in 2021, which removed half of his colon.

Persons: Rome, Rome CNN — Pope Francis, “, ”, Matteo Bruni, Francis, ” Dr, Sergio Alfieri, Pope Francis, ” Alfieri, Andreas Solaro, Alfieri, he’s “, –, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Bruni, Francis ’, Pope Francis now, Annatuli, Carina, State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Tarcisio Bertone, ’ ”, Pope Benedict XVI, Gregory XII, Volodymyr Zelensky Organizations: Rome CNN, Vatican, Gemelli, Reuters, Catholic, Papal, Getty, CNN, Spanish, ABC, State, Catholic Church Locations: Rome, AFP, The Prefecture, Mexico, Myanmar, Iraq, Ukraine

☆ Pope Francis to have abdominal surgery, in latest health concern
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( John Allen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Rome CNN —Pope Francis will have surgery on his abdomen and remain in a Rome hospital for several days, the Vatican said Wednesday, sparking renewed fears over the 86-year-old’s fragile health. The pope was forced to cancel several work commitments in late May after he was debilitated by a fever. According to medical sources, the intervention is likely related to the surgery Francis experienced in 2021 to remove half of his colon. Should Francis be incapacitated for any length of time, the Vatican could find itself facing something of a constitutional crisis. Francis said he wrote the letter several years ago and gave it to then-Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who resigned in 2013.

Persons: Rome, Rome CNN — Pope Francis, Francis, he’s “, Vatican, Matteo Bruni, ” Francis, Pius XI, ”, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Tarcisio Bertone, ’ ”, Francis ’, Pope Benedict XVI, “, Gregory XII Organizations: Rome CNN, Vatican, Rome’s Clinic, Catholic, Spanish, ABC, State Locations: Rome, St

Rome CNN —Venetian authorities are investigating after a patch of fluorescent green water appeared in the famed Grand Canal on Sunday morning. “This morning a patch of phosphorescent green liquid appeared in the Grand Canal of Venice, reported by some residents near the Rialto Bridge. Luigii Costantini/APPeople observe Venice's historical Grand Canal as a patch of phosphorescent green liquid spreads in it,. This is not the first time Venice’s Grand Canal has experienced a color alteration. In 1968 Argentine artist Nicolás García Uriburu dyed the waters of the canal green with a fluorescent dye called Fluorescein, during the annual Venice Biennale.

☆ Trevi Fountain: Climate activists dump charcoal in Rome monument
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Barbie Latza Nadeau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Rome CNN —Climate change activists turned the blue water of the Trevi Fountain in central Rome black with diluted charcoal on Sunday. Luisa Regimenti, councilor for personnel, urban security, local police and local authorities in the Lazio region, which includes Rome, condemned the act. In a written statement she said that it was the “umpteenth demonstrative act of eco-vandals” that hit “a symbol of Rome universally known in the world.”Climate activists from the group Last Generation stand inside the Trevi Fountain in Rome. It will cost time, effort and water.”Last Generation activists at the Trevi Fountain, Rome. “Charcoal in the water of the Trevi Fountain,” they tweeted Sunday.

☆ Italy's birth rate is at a record low. Young Italians say they can't afford to have babies
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Barbie Latza Nadeau Valentina Di Donato Antonia Mortensen | Barbie Latza Nadeau | Valentina Di Donato | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The birth rate in Italy has been declining steadily since the economic crisis in 2008, for reasons demographers agree is rooted in economic insecurity. In France, the birth rate is higher at 1.8 children per woman, according to figures for 2022 from its national statistics agency. The Catholic Church, which is a predominant political force, and the right-wing government under Meloni have both lamented the low birth rate, but have put up roadblocks to ways to remedy the situation. De Luca blames the government for not doing enough for the younger generation, in part because decades of low birth rates have made the youth a minority. Testa fears that the low birth rate is contagious.

Speaking to reporters in Rome after meetings with his Italian counterpart and Italy’s prime minister, Zelensky said Ukrainian forces were “preparing very seriously.”“There will definitely be very serious steps. Earlier, Zelensky met with Pope Francis, who has been outspoken in his support for an end to the war in Ukraine. Vatican News/APZelensky said last week that his country still needs “a bit more time” before it launches the counteroffensive, in order to allow some more of the promised Western military aid to arrive in country. Russian attacksAs Zelensky toured Europe, Russia’s assault on Ukraine continued. In western Ukraine, at least 21 people were injured following Russian strikes on the city of Khmelnytskyi in the early hours of Saturday, Ukrainian authorities said.

☆ World's longest bridge could transform Sicily. But not if the Mafia and earthquakes get in the way
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Barbie Latza Nadeau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Since then, various plans, including a short-lived idea for a tunnel, have come and gone – like water under the bridge. If built, the bridge across the Straits of Messina would span two miles (3.2 kilometers) and would be the longest suspension bridge in the world. When Salvini became transport minister, he made it his priority, betting his legacy on the bridge. “The bridge over the Strait of Messina is a project that can break ground immediately. The recent arrest of Cosa Nostra boss Matteo Messina Denaro after 30 years on the lam in Sicily represented a victory.

Rome CNN —Pope Francis will allow women to participate and vote for the first time at an upcoming meeting of Catholic bishops in October. The meeting, known as a synod, normally only allows bishops to vote. Pope Francis on Wednesday approved guidelines that will expand participation and voting to include lay people and women. The changes allow for the participation of 70 non-bishop members, of whom 50% should be women, according to the Vatican’s synod office. A synod is a gathering of bishops which takes place at the request of the pope to discuss a particular topic.

☆ Italian tourism video ridiculed for using footage of Slovenia
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Rome CNN —Italy’s tourism ministry is facing ridicule after an official video to attract tourists to Italy used footage of people in Slovenia drinking Slovenian wine. Art historian Tomaso Montanari called the advertising campaign “grotesque” and an “obscene” waste of money, while the video was lampooned by users of Italian social media platforms. Oops – wrong countryThe most controversial footage shows a group of young people smiling on a sunlit patio drinking wine in what is presented as a typical Italian scene. The Armando Testa communications group was not immediately available to comment. Italian Tourism Minister Daniela Santanche, a member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s far-right Brothers of Italy party, called critics of the video “snobs” and said the depiction of Venus as an influencer was aimed at attracting young people.

☆ Giorgia Meloni: Will Italy's PM stop the boats or will the boats stop her?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Barbie Latza Nadeau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Rome CNN —The key campaign promise that brought Giorgia Meloni and her far-right coalition to power in a landslide victory in last September’s election was a vow to do what no one else had done before: stop migrant boats using Italy as a gateway into Europe. On the campaign trail she promised to halt all migrant boats from landing on Italian shores, no matter who was on them and what drove them to risk their lives. Liberal European leaders stood to gain from the prospect of Meloni’s promise to stop the boats, and many hoped she could pull it off. He says to most Italians, the migrant crisis is still something they hear about, not something that impacts them directly. Meloni has taken tough action over migrant boats since taking power but faces fierce opposition.

☆ Princess Rita Jenrette Boncompagni evicted from villa with original Caravaggio in Rome
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Barbie Latza Nadeau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Rome CNN —Princess Rita Jenrette Boncompagni Ludovisi – formerly Rita Carpenter, the former wife of Republican US Rep. John Jenrette – has been evicted from the home she once shared with the late Prince Nicolo Boncompagni, after an inheritance dispute with his children. Princess Rita confirmed her eviction from the historic Casino dell’Aurora in central Rome to CNN on Wednesday. Princess Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi poses for a photograph outside Villa Aurora in Rome, Italy, November 16, 2021. A statue of Pan by Michelangelo is seen outside Villa Aurora. Princess Rita told reporters at the Casino dell’Aurora as she left on Thursday that she is writing a new book about her latest ordeal.

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