Italy

ROME (AP) — A Spanish-flagged humanitarian ship on Sunday was seeking a port of safety for 265 migrants its crew rescued from the Mediterranean Sea in the last few days.

The Open Arms charity tweeted that its vessel on Saturday had safely brought aboard 96 migrants who had been adrift in a wooden boat with without life vests in international waters. It said the passengers, most of them from Eritrea, included two women and 17 minors and were suffering from hypothermia.

ROME, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- The vaccine to prevent the coronavirus disease and the European Union (EU) recovery program will be two crucial tools for Italy's relaunch in 2021, Italian President Sergio Mattarella said Thursday in his New Year speech.

"The pandemic has carved deep scars in our lives and our society. It has worsened old inequalities and created new ones," said Mattarella.

However, he stressed that important and encouraging signals should allow the Italians to turn their fears and worries into positive energies to restart.

ROME (AP) — An author of a withdrawn World Health Organization report into Italy’s coronavirus response warned his bosses in May that people could die and the U.N. agency could suffer “catastrophic” reputational damage if it allowed political concerns to suppress the document, according to emails seen by The Associated Press.

ROME (AP) — Italy on Sunday eclipsed Britain to become the nation with the worst official coronavirus death toll in Europe.

Italy, where the continent’s pandemic began, registered 484 COVID-19 deaths in one day, one of its lowest one-day death counts in about a month.

Still, those latest deaths pushed Italy’s official toll up to 64,520, while Britain’s stood at 64,267, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

ROME, Dec 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Italy reported yesterday, 12,756 new COVID-19 cases, bringing its tally to 1,770,149, according to the country’s health authorities.

The health ministry also confirmed 499 new fatalities from the virus, over the past day.

Italy’s total COVID-19 death toll now stands at 61,739, the second highest in Europe after Britain.

ROME, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- Helping provide greater access to coronavirus vaccines as they become available and taking steps to spark worldwide economic growth will be among the main priorities during Italy's 2021 presidency of the Group of 20 (G20), a government official said Wednesday, confirming local media reports.

The Italian G20 Presidency -- Italy's first turn in that role -- formally began this month, though all of the discussions related to Italy's presidency will take place in 2021. The main summit is scheduled to take place in Rome on Oct. 30-31 next year.

ROME, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Italian police on Saturday announced the arrest of 19 suspects who were part of a criminal network abetting illegal immigration.

Authorities described the ring as a criminal organization which illegally moved migrants from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and Pakistan into Italy and then helped them reach northern Europe by taking them across the border with France.

ROME, Dec 4 (NNN-Xinhua) — No travels between regions for Christmas and a national curfew on New Year’s Eve are among the new rules imposed in Italy ahead of the forthcoming holidays.

The restrictions are carried in a cabinet decree passed on Thursday, and they will enter into force between Dec 4 and Jan 15. Different rules would last variously within this timeframe.

ROME (Reuters) - Italy’s antitrust authority said on Monday it had fined Apple 10 million euros ($12 million) for “aggressive and misleading” commercial practices regarding its iPhones.

The regulator said in a statement the company advertised that several iPhone models were water-resistant without clarifying they were only so under certain circumstances.

ROME, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Italy on Tuesday officially launched a project backed by the European Union (EU) to help its tourism businesses become more eco-friendly and make better use of the post-pandemic opportunities, the country's National Tourism Agency (ENIT) said.

The "EU Eco-Tandem Program" also aims to promote sustainable tourism by helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) become more innovative.