Page 3 - Italy

Thousands mourn Pope Francis as Vatican considers extending public viewing

Mourners from across the globe made a slow, shuffling procession up the main aisle of St Peter's Basilica to pay their last respects to Pope Francis, finding community as they spent hours waiting to reach the open casket of the Argentine pontiff remembered for creating a climate of inclusion. The public viewing was scheduled to resume Thursday, a day after it began with numbers that were so strong that the Vatican said it would consider longer hours to meet the demand. Nearly 20,000 people paid their respects in the first 8 1/2 hours. Among them was a church group of 14-year-olds from near Milan who arrived for the now-suspended canonisation of the first millennial saint, as well as a woman who prayed to the pope for a successful operation and an Italian family who brought their small children to see the pope's body. We came because we didn't bring them when he was alive, so we thought we would bring them for a final farewell, said Rosa Scorpati, who was exiting the basilica Wednes

Pope Francis' body to lie in state at St Peter's Basilica as faithful mourn

The body of Pope Francis will be moved to St Peter's Basilica early Wednesday to lie in state for the Catholic faithful to pay their respects to the Argentine pontiff remembered for his humble style, concern for the poor and insistent prayers for peace. Heads of state are expected for the funeral Saturday in St Peter's Square, but the three days of public viewing are largely for ordinary Catholics to grieve the 88-year-old pope, who died Monday after suffering a stroke. Francis first lay in state in the Santa Marta Domus in a private viewing for Vatican residents and the papal household. Images released by the Vatican on Tuesday showed Francis lying in an open casket, wearing the traditional pointed headdress of bishops and red robes, his hands folded over a rosary. The Vatican's No 2, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, was pictured praying by Francis. His body will be transferred Wednesday morning to St Peter's Basilica, which will be kept open until midnight on Wednesday and Thursday to all

US, Italy call IMEC 'top economic, connectivity project of this century'

A US-Italy joint statement takes note of the IndiaMiddle EastEurope Economic Corridor, calling it one of the greatest economic integration and connectivity projects of this century that will connect partners and stimulate economic development and integration from India onward to the United States. The US and Italy will work together to develop the IndiaMiddle EastEurope Economic Corridor (IMEC), one of the greatest economic integration and connectivity projects of this century, connecting partners by ports, railways, and undersea cables and stimulating economic development and integration from India, to the Gulf to Israel, to Italy, and onward to the United States, the joint statement issued Friday said. The United States Italy Joint Leaders' Statement' was issued after US President Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's first official meeting in Washington, DC Thursday.

JD Vance visits Italy, Vatican after tangling with pope on migration

US Vice President JD Vance arrived in Rome on Friday for meetings with the Vatican No. 2 and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, fresh off the Italian leader's visit to the White House a day earlier. Meloni, who has positioned herself as a bridge between the US and Europe, received praise from President Donald Trump for her crackdown on migration during a meeting at the Oval Office on Thursday. Vance, who attended the meetings, was scheduled to meet with the Italian leader Friday in Rome and planned to attend Easter weekend events at the Vatican. He was scheduled to meet with the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the White House said. No meeting with Pope Francis was announced. The 88-year-old pope has sharply cut back his work schedule as he recovers from a near-fatal case of double pneumonia. Francis and Vance, a Catholic convert, have tangled sharply over migration and the Trump administration's plans to deport migrants en masse. Just days before he was .

Trump '100%' confident of trade deal with EU during Meloni's US visit

Trump has paused the imposition of 20 per cent reciprocal tariffs on more 75 countries, including the EU

In 'no rush' to end tariffs, says Trump in talks with Italy's Meloni

President Donald Trump said Thursday that he is in no rush to reach any trade deals because of the revenues his tariffs are generating, but he suggested while meeting with Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni that it would be easy to find an agreement with the European Union and others. Trump played down the likelihood of an accelerated timeline to wrap up deals, saying any agreements would come at a certain point. We're in no rush, said Trump, hinting that he has leverage because other countries want access to US consumers. Meloni's meeting with Trump is testing her mettle as a bridge between the EU and the United States. She is the first European leader to have face-to-face talks with the president since he announced and then partially suspended 20 per cent tariffs on European exports. Meloni secured the meeting as Italy's leader, but she also has, in a sense, been knighted to represent the EU at a critical juncture in the fast-evolving trade war that has stoked recession fears. The T

Italy's Meloni to test her role as EU-US bridge in talks with Trump

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni will test her mettle as a bridge between the EU and the United States when she meets with US President Donald Trump in the White House on Thursday, the first European leader to have a face-to-face with Trump since he announced, and then suspended, 20% tariffs on European exports. Meloni secured the meeting at a critical juncture in the trade war as Italy's leader, but she also has, in a sense, been knighted to represent the European Union. She has been in close contact with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen ahead of the trip, and "the outreach is closely coordinated," a commission spokeswoman said this week. We know we are in a difficult moment," Meloni said this week in Rome. "Most certainly, I am well aware of what I represent, and what I am defending." The European Union is defending what it calls the most important commercial relationship in the world,' with annual trade reaching 1.6 trillion euros (USD 1.8 trillion). Trade negotiation

Here's why Giorgia Meloni's Nato-light Ukraine plan is worth trying

The cleverness of Meloni's proposal lies in the way it would test to destruction Putin's rationale for his invasion of a sovereign neighbour

Political costs of courting Trump piling up for Italian PM Giorgia Meloni

The Italian prime minister was the only European leader to attend Trump's January inauguration

Venice to host Jeff Bezos wedding, denies reports of major city disruptions

The city of Venice has confirmed it will host the wedding of multi-billionaire Jeff Bezos and fiance Lauren Sanchez, denying reports the famous Italian city would be invaded by hundreds of celebrities and possible disruptions for citizens and tourists. The city in a short statement didn't give a date for the wedding. Italian media have reported it will be between June 24-26, with a few days of celebrations. "The many speculations and fake news circulating about Jeff Bezos' wedding are completely unfounded," the statement said. Bezos is the owner of The Washington Post and founder and largest individual shareholder of Amazon. Among others, George and Amal Clooney celebrated their wedding in Venice in 2014. The city said only 200 guests would be invited, a number easily accommodated without any disruption to the city, its residents and visitors. It noted that it has broad experience handling international events "much larger than this". "Venice is used to being the stage for events

Pope Francis' doctors considered stopping treatment after breathing crisis

Pope Francis' medical team briefly considered suspending treatment after a February 28 breathing crisis but instead decided on an aggressive course that put his organs at risk, the doctor coordinating the pope's hospital care said in an interview published Tuesday. Dr. Sergio Alfieri said the 88-year-old pontiff and people close to him alike understood that he might not survive the night,' after the bronchospasm attack during which the pope inhaled vomit. "We needed to choose whether to stop and let him go, or to push it and attempt with all of the possible drugs and the treatments, taking the very high risk of damaging other organs,' Alfieri told the Milan daily Corriere della Sera. In the end, that is the path we chose. Francis was released Sunday after 38 days of treatment for double pneumonia, under doctors' orders to observe two months of convalescence during which he should avoid large gatherings. The pope appeared weak and frail when he greeted the crowd outside the Gemelli

Pope Francis to be released from the hospital on March 23, say doctors

Pope Francis was admitted to Gemelli hospital on Feb. 14 after a bout of bronchitis worsened

India, Italy officials hold deliberations to expand military cooperation

India and Italy held a two-day meeting in Rome, focusing on ways to expand their military cooperation, including in areas of capability development, the defence ministry said on Saturday. The deliberations to boost the bilateral defence ties came four months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni unveiled a five-year strategic action plan to significantly expand cooperation between the two countries in certain key areas, including defence and security. The action plan was released following talks between the two prime ministers in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro in November on the sidelines of the G20 Summit. At the meeting of the 13th edition of the India-Italy Military Cooperation Group (MCG) held on March 20 and 21, the two sides also reviewed the overall situation in the Indo-Pacific. The discussions focused on identifying new avenues to expand the scope of bilateral military-focused cooperation, the ministry said. "Key agenda points included ...

AI makes history: Italy's Il Foglio publishes first fully AI-generated newspaper

Il Foglio, Italy's conservative-liberal daily, has launched a month-long experiment with an AI-generated edition to highlight artificial intelligence's impact on journalism

Pope Francis 'responding well to pneumonia therapy; showing improvement'

Pope Francis is responding well to therapy for double pneumonia and has shown a gradual, slight improvement in recent days, the Vatican said Saturday. But as a precaution his doctors have decided to keep his prognosis as guarded. Francis has remained stable, with no fever and good oxygen levels in his blood, doctors reported in a Vatican statement. The statement said the doctors decided to keep his prognosis guarded, meaning he isn't out of danger. Francis worked and rested during the day Saturday, the Vatican said.

Italian govt okays draft law to tackle homicides, violence against women

The Italian government approved a draft law that for the first time introduces the legal definition of femicide in the country's criminal law and punishes it with life imprisonment. The move, announced on the eve of Women's International Day on Saturday, aims at tackling a shocking string of homicides and violence targeting women in Italy through strengthening measures against gender-based crimes like stalking and revenge porn. The proposal, agreed on late Friday, still needs to go through parliament and be approved by both chambers to become law. This is an extremely significant bill, which introduces the crime of femicide in our legal system as an autonomous crime, punishing it with life imprisonment, said conservative Premier Giorgia Meloni, who strongly backed the initiative. It introduces aggravating circumstances and increases sentences for crimes including personal mistreatment, stalking, sexual violence and revenge porn, she said in a statement. While the centre-left ...

Google agrees to pay Italy $340 million to settle tax evasion investigation

Italian prosecutors on Wednesday said they are seeking to have a tax evasion investigation against Google dropped after the tech giant agreed to pay a 326 million Euro (USD 340 million) settlement. Milan prosecutors had opened an investigation against Google for failure to pay taxes on earnings in Italy from 2015-2019. The investigation focused on revenues from the sale of advertising, and cited the presence of servers and other infrastructure in Italy. Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

US Congress blocks DeepSeek AI over security concerns; Italy launches probe

US Congress bans Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek over security risks, citing malware threats. Italy follows suit, blocking access and launching a probe into its data practices

Being investigated for repatriating Libyan warlord, says Italian PM Meloni

Rome prosecutors have opened an investigation against Premier Giorgia Meloni and two government ministers for repatriating a Libyan warlord wanted by the International Criminal Court in the Hague, the premier announced Tuesday. Meloni revealed the investigation over allegedly aiding and abetting Ossama Anjiem, also known as Ossama al-Masri, in a video posted on social media. She said her justice and interior ministers and an under-secretary are also targeted in the investigation. Meloni's government has been under fire from the opposition, human rights groups and the ICC itself for releasing al-Masri on a technicality after he was arrested in the northern city of Turin on a warrant from the international court. Meloni said she presumes that the investigation was prompted by a complaint from an opposition politician. In Italy, prosecutors must launch investigations based on complaints, and it is up to a preliminary hearing judge to decide whether charges are filed or not. The process

No pvt discussion with Musk: Meloni on Italy's telecom security system deal

Italy's Premier Giorgia Meloni said Thursday that her government is in talks with several private companies, including Elon Musk's SpaceX, over the country's telecoms security system, but denied having discussed the issue privately with Musk. I never talked about this with Musk. It's not my habit to use my public role to do favors to friends, Meloni said, responding to reporters' questions during her start-of-the-year press conference on a possible deal with Musk's group over Italian telecoms security. Meloni stressed that national interest was the only lens through which she judged such potential contracts with SpaceX, the owner of satellite system Starlink. Reportedly worth 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) and spread over five years, the project sparked an outcry by Italy's opposition parties, questioning that the handling of such communications could be handed to a Musk company. If the deal is sealed, SpaceX would provide encryption services for the Italian government and ...