Italy

MESSINA, Sicily (AP) — As the weary passengers aboard a rescue ship approached Sicily at the end of an agonizing journey from North Africa, 30-year-old Seke Awa called a friend back in Libya the moment she got cellphone reception.

“I told her we are on the big boat and sent her courage, that she needs to have hope. One day her suffering may end,” said Awa, a native of Cameroon. “She was crying.”

23 September 2019; AFP: FIFA president Gianni Infantino said Sunday the problem of racism in Italian football has "not improved" after a Serie A match between Atalanta and Fiorentina was halted for several minutes because of racist abuse of Brazilian Dalbert.

Fiorentina defender Dalbert, 26, asked the referee to halt play after half an hour at the Stadio Ennio Tardini until a warning statement was read out by the stadium speaker to jeers and whistles from the Atalanta fans.

ROME, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Rome and Paris showed a willingness to move in a coordinated way after Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and French President Emmanuel Macron held talks late Wednesday on such key issues as immigration and instability in Libya.

Macron was the first European leader to pay a visit to Rome after the formation of Conte's new coalition government of the Five Star Movement and the Democratic Party.

LAMPEDUSA (Italy), Sept 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Eighty-two migrants have disembarked on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa after six days at sea.

Italy says it is allowing the ship, the Ocean Viking, to offload the migrants as most of those on board will be relocated to other EU countries.

The move signals a change of approach to migration from the new coalition which took office on Sept 10.

Ex-Interior Minister Matteo Salvini routinely blocked access to charity-run migrant vessels.

14 September 2019; AFP: Italy on Saturday agreed to allow rescue ship Ocean Viking to disembark 82 migrants on Lampedusa, in a reversal of the hardline policy under the country's ex-interior minister Matteo Salvini.

Far-right leader Salvini was forced out of office last month after bringing the government down, and the new coalition has been trying to forge its own migrant stance.

ROME, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Paolo Gentiloni, former Italian prime minister and foreign minister, will be named European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, multiple Italian news sites reported Monday, quoting sources close to Gentiloni.

The economic affairs portfolio is one of the most important in the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union.

ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Monday his new coalition, which combines the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and pro-Europe Democratic Party (PD), would do more and bicker less.

In a speech to parliament before a vote of confidence in his administration, Conte called for less conflictual relations with the European Union, reiterated that he would work with Brussels to reform the bloc’s budget rules and its immigration laws.

MOSOW/NAPLES, Sept 7 (NNN-ANSA) — A top manager at ODK, a state-run Russian firm that produces engines, has been detained in Italy’s Naples at the request of the United States which accuses him of “economic spying”, Russian media are reporting.

According to the daily Vedomosti, Aleksandr Korshunov, 57, is accused of having illegally appropriated documents from General Electric and information protected by intellectual property rights so as to use them for the Russian PD-14 programme to develop an engine for the MS-21 new civil aircraft.

ROME, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- The new slate of ministers for Giuseppe Conte's second stint as Italy's prime minister appears to put the country on a pro-European Union course, something already being applauded by economic observers.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella won't formally swear in the new ministers until early Thursday, local time.

ROME, Sept 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has told President Sergio Mattarella that he is in position to form a new government, which will be sworn in on Thursday, a presidential official said.

The swearing-in ceremony, involving the whole cabinet, will take place at the presidential palace at 10 a.m. (0800 GMT).

Roberto Gualtieri, an influential member of the European Parliament from the Democratic Party (PD), will be economy minister in Italy’s new government, Conte said.