Italy

MILAN (Reuters) - Around 54,000 people were evacuated from the southern Italian city of Brindisi on Sunday as experts worked to defuse a World War Two bomb, authorities said.

Corriere della Sera daily said the operation was the biggest peacetime evacuation in Italy, with more than 60% of the city’s residents forced to vacate a “red zone” in a radius of 1,617 meters from where the bomb was found.

VATICAN CITY, Dec 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Pope Francis named Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle to a major global Vatican post in a move likely to increase the Filipino’s chances of one day being elected pope himself.

The Vatican said the 62-year-old archbishop of Manila will move to Rome to become head of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, which oversees the Roman Catholic Church’s work in many developing countries.

ROME, December 6. /TASS/: The current unstable situation in Iran is to a large extent the result of Washington’s policy of economic pressure on that country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.

1 December 2019; AFP: Tens of thousands rallied in Florence in Italy on Saturday against the far-right League party, the latest in a series of demonstrations called by the new, youth-driven "Sardine Movement".

The sardine has become a symbol of protest against the far-right firebrand leader Matteo Salvini, who served as interior minister and deputy prime minister in the previous coalition government with the Five Star Movement.

Florence, Dec 1, AFP/GANASHAKTI: Tens of thousands rallied in Florence in Italy against the far-right League party, the latest in a series of demonstrations called by the new, youth-driven "Sardine Movement".

The sardine has become a symbol of protest against the far-right firebrand leader Matteo Salvini, who served as interior minister and deputy prime minister in the previous coalition government with the Five Star Movement.

Students, young professionals and families with children on Saturday joined the march, where the carrying of political banners was discouraged.

AUGUSTA (Italy), Nov 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Italian authorities have evacuated 11 migrants from the Open Arms ship but not granted port access to the vessel, leaving it stranded in rough seas with 62 African migrants still on board, a spokeswoman for the Spanish rescue mission said.

Among those evacuated are two young children and their families, several people suffering from burns and one man with a gunshot wound to his foot. They will be taken to the Italian port of Augusta.

ROME (Reuters) - Reform of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) bailout fund may be unacceptable for Italy, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio told daily Corriere della Sera on Wednesday.

The proposals have created a political storm in Italy, where parties and institutions are battling over whether Rome should try to block the changes at the European Union level.

VENICE, Italy (AP) — Venice was hit Sunday by a record third exceptional tide in the same week while other parts of Italy struggled with a series of weather woes, from rain-swollen rivers to high winds to an out-of-season avalanche.

Stores and museums in Venice were mostly closed in the hardest-hit area around St. Mark’s Square, but tourists donned high rubber boots or even hip waders to witness and photograph the spectacle.

VENICE (Reuters) - Venice was inundated by exceptionally high water levels on Friday just days after the lagoon city suffered the worst flood in more than 50 years.

The central St. Mark’s Square was submerged and closed to tourists, while shops and hotels were once more invaded by rising waters bringing fresh misery to the fragile city.

Local authorities said the high tide peaked at 154 cm (5.05 ft), slightly below expectations and significantly lower than the 187 cm level reached on Tuesday — the second highest tide ever recorded in Venice.

14 November 2019; AFP: Much of Venice was left under water after the highest tide in 50 years ripped through the historic Italian city, beaching gondolas, trashing hotels and sending tourists fleeing through rapidly rising waters.

The government in Rome was expected to declare a state of emergency at a cabinet meeting on Thursday after Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte described the flooding as "a blow to the heart of our country".