Italy

ROME, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Italian President Sergio Mattarella began talks with political parties on Wednesday, a day after Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte's populist government collapsed.

The prime minister resigned late on Tuesday, and was asked by Mattarella to remain in office as caretaker of current affairs.

The fresh crisis in the eurozone's third-largest economy was ignited by tensions within the coalition supporting Conte's cabinet, made of far-right, anti-immigrant League party and anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S).

ROME, Aug 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Eighty-three migrants rescued at sea by the Open Arms disembarked early on Wednesday (Aug 21) from the charity rescue vessel in Italy’s Lampedusa island, television images showed, after Italian justice ordered they be brought ashore.

The boat had spent six days anchored off Lampedusa before a local prosecutor ordered their disembarkment amid a probe of far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini for forbidding their entry to port.

ROME, Aug 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Italian President Sergio Mattarella has accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and will kick off consultations with party leaders on Wednesday to seek a solution to the political crisis, his office said.

Mattarella will start his meetings at 4.00 p.m. on Wednesday and wrap them up on Thursday afternoon.

He is expected to see whether there is the political will to form a new government. If not, he will have to dissolve parliament, 3-1/2 years ahead of schedule, and call early elections.

MILAN (AP) — More than 80 people were being evacuated from a migrant rescue ship on Tuesday, capping a drama that saw 15 passengers jump into the sea to escape deteriorating conditions aboard and spurred Spain to dispatch a naval ship in a bid to end a weekslong humanitarian crisis with Italy.

ROME (AP) — Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte resigned Tuesday amid the collapse of the 14-month-old populist government, raising the possibility of new elections in the fall that could bring to power the anti-migrant interior minister who engineered Conte’s downfall.

19 August 2019; DW: The anti-establishment, populist M5S closed ranks ahead of an upcoming no-confidence vote in parliament. They stopped short of completely cutting ties with Interior Minister Salvini's far-right League party, however.

ROME (AP) — Several migrants jumped into the sea from a Spanish rescue boat Sunday in a thwarted bid to reach shore in Italy, where the government’s hard-line interior minister, Matteo Salvini, has refused to let the 107 passengers disembark.

“We have been warning for days, desperation has its limits,” said Open Arms founder Oscar Camps, who released a video showing four migrants wearing orange life vests swimming toward Lampedusa island. Crew members from the humanitarian group’s ship swam quickly toward them so they could be brought back aboard.

ROME, Aug 19 (NNN-BERNAMA-ANSA) — Spain on Sunday offered a safe port to Spanish migrant rescue NGO ship Open Arms which has been stalled at sea with over 100 migrants aboard for over two weeks, but the NGO said even sailing to the nearest port of Minorca would be too far because of the “desperate” conditions of the migrants.

“These people must disembark immediately”, said the Open Arms, which is standing off the Italian island of Lampedusa but has been barred from landing by Interior Minister Matteo Salvini.

ROME (AP) — Italy’s hard-line interior minister buckled under pressure Saturday and agreed to let 27 unaccompanied minors leave a migrant rescue ship after two weeks at sea, temporarily easing a political standoff that has threatened the viability of the populist government.

ROME, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The feud between Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and Matteo Salvini, the man who may be looking to replace Conte as Italy's head of government, heated up this week after Conte accused Salvini of "disloyalty" with an "obsession" of preventing migrants from entering Italy.