GENOA, Italy (AFP) — As many as 30 people were killed on Tuesday when a giant motorway bridge collapsed in Genoa in northwestern Italy. Here’s what know about the bridge, the collapse and the response: – The bridge – The Morandi viaduct, less than five kilometres (three miles) to the west of Genoa’s old port, was built in the 1960s and completed in 1967. The flyover of the A10 motorway, named after the architect who designed […]
Tag: Italy
Immense tragedy: 30 dead in Italy motorway bridge collapse
by Vincent-Xavier Morvan Agence France Presse GENOA, Italy (AFP) — About 30 people were killed on Tuesday when a giant motorway bridge collapsed in heavy rain in the Italian city of Genoa in what the government called an “immense tragedy”. The collapse, which saw a vast stretch of the A10 freeway tumble on to railway lines in the northern port city, came as the bridge was undergoing maintenance work and as the Liguria region, […]
Spanish rescue ship heads home after dramatic rescue
ITALY (AFP) – A Spanish NGO that saved a woman off Libya who was drifting on a deflated dinghy next to the bodies of a boy and another woman said Wednesday it is taking her to Spain for her safety. Proactiva Open Arms, whose two ships sail back and forth in the Mediterranean to rescue migrants in distress, said it had decided to return a day after saving the 40-year-old woman from Cameroon. In a […]
Amazon to bring 1,700 jobs to Italy in 2018
MILAN, Italy (AFP) — Amazon will bring 1,700 new jobs to Italy by the end of the year, the online commerce giant announced Monday, bringing its number of employees working in the country’s groaning economy to 5,200. In a statement Amazon said that the new positions would be permanent hires and open to “people with all levels of experience, training and skills, from software developers and engineers to warehouse workers”. Unemployment in Italy stands at […]
Social security chief says Italy needs more migrants
ROME, Italy (AFP) — Italy needs more migrants in order to pay for the population’s pensions, the country’s social security chief said Wednesday, drawing the ire of far-right interior minister Matteo Salvini. If we halved migratory flows “in five years we would lose population equivalent to that of Turin”, Boeri said referring to the country’s important northern industrial hub. If immigration were reduced to zero we would lose “700,000 people under 34 years of age […]
Italy’s Osteria Francescana crowned world’s best restaurant again
BILBAO, Spain (AFP) — Italy’s Osteria Francescana was crowned the world’s best restaurant for the second time on Tuesday by an influential list compiled by British trade magazine Restaurant, beating out top eateries in Spain and France. Run by chef Massimo Bottura, the restaurant in Modena, Italy, overtook last year’s winner, New York’s Eleven Madison Park, in the “World’s 50 Best Restaurants” awards, which were handed out in Bilbao in Spain’s northern Basque Country, famous […]
Serbia gets three-peat in men’s, Italy dethrones Russia as women’s champs in 2018 FIBA 3×3 World Cup
By Vivem Soriano Eagle News Service Serbia edged rivals the Netherlands, 16-13, to capture their third straight men’s 3×3 crown in a rematch of last year’s finals while Italy dethroned defending women’s champions Russia, 16-12, as the 2018 FIBA 3×3 World Cup came to a close at the Philippine Arena. Dusan Bulut led Team Serbia in the finals, scoring 7 points to lift the 3-time defending champions in a come-from-behind win over back-to-back runners-up the […]
More than 50 migrants die in Mediterranean crossings
by Ala Sakka with Aymen Jamli in Tunis Agence France Presse More than 50 migrants drowned in the Mediterranean on Sunday, the majority off the coasts of Tunisia and Turkey, while Italy marked a sea change in its policy. Tunisian authorities said 48 bodies were recovered off the country’s southern coast, close to the city of Sfax, while 68 people were rescued. “The boat had a maximum capacity of 75 to 90 people, but […]
Showdown looms in Italy as caretaker PM assembles team
by Lucy ADLER Agence France Presse ROME, Italy (AFP) — Italy’s caretaker prime minister was Tuesday assembling a cabinet lineup despite almost certain rejection by the populists whose bid for power collapsed at the weekend. Fresh elections are now looming as the most likely outcome of the long-running political saga sparked by inconclusive elections in March. Carlo Cottarelli, a former IMF economist, was tasked with naming a technocrat government on Monday after President Sergio Mattarella […]
Italy plunges into political crisis after govt talks collapse
by Terry Daley Agence France Presse ROME, Italy (AFP) — Italy could be forced to hold new elections after Giuseppe Conte gave up his bid to form a government following the collapse of talks with the president over including a eurosceptic economy minister in his cabinet. Conte, 53, a lawyer and political novice, picked for prime minister by the anti-establishment Five Star Movement and far-right League seeking to form a coalition, had to present a […]
UPDATED: Two dead, 20 injured after train smashes into truck in Italy
ROME, Italy (AFP) — Two people were killed and 20 others injured after a train crashed into a rig truck near the northern Italian city of Turin and derailed, Italian media said Thursday. The incident occurred late Wednesday when the train hit a large truck that had stopped on a level crossing near the town of Caluso, causing three carriages to come off the rails. “At 11:20 pm (2120 GMT) the regional train 10027 Turin-Ivrea […]
Berlusconi’s right-wing coalition ahead in Italy vote: exit polls
by Dario Thuburn Agence France Presse ROME Italy (AFP) — Media mogul Silvio Berlusconi’s right-wing coalition was set to win the most votes but could fall short of a majority in Italy’s election Sunday, with far-right and populist parties surging ahead, according to exit polls. Berlusconi’s grouping was expected to win between 31 and 41 percent of the vote, followed by the anti-establishment Five Star Movement with 29-32 percent, according to an exit poll by […]





