The Local

From submitting a residency permit application to accessing financial services and paying utility bills, sending mail isn't the only thing you'll be able to do at a post office in Italy. , ...ادامه مطلب

Lazio have been fined 50,000 euros ($61,000) but avoided a stadium ban over posters created by their fans featuring Holocaust victim Anne Frank, the Italian football federation (FIGC) announced on Thursday. FIGC prosecutor Giuseppe Pecoraro had demanded a fine and two games be played behind closed doors after Lazio's infamous ultra fans fly-posted photos of Anne Frank in a shirt of bitter city rivals Roma during a game against Cagliari last October.The FICG said in a statement Thursday that their sporting tribunal had decided on a "partial acceptance" of the prosecutor's requests.The two Rome clubs share the Stadio Olimpico and Lazio's ultras were housed in the south end of the ground normally reserved for Roma supporters. Their own north end had been closed following racist chants during a game against Sassuolo earlier the same month. The FIGC noted in its report that the stickers featuring the photograph were placed in the south end with "clear anti-Semitic intent, constituting discriminatory behaviour". But it accepted Lazio's argument that very few people were involved, the stickers were very small and could not have been detected by club observers, and were onl, ...ادامه مطلب

Theresa May’s letter to UK nationals living in Europe on the progress of Brexit negotiations is likely to prompt us to save up Brussels sprouts for a New Year’s pelting ceremony at Downing Street, writes Laura Shields from citizens' group British in Europe. How should we, the 1.2 million British people living in continental Europe, reply to the shiny Christmas letter we received from Theresa May hoping to reassure us that we’ll be able to carry on life as normal after Brexit?   In the spirit of yuletide joy, I suppose we should be grateful that we have a letter at all…even if it comes a week after the one she sent to the 3.3 million Europeans living in London and is clearly a cut and pasted version of that.   But to avoid being churlish, let’s look at what comfort we can draw from her claim to have successfully brokered a reciprocal deal to secure our rights against of those of the 3 million Europeans living in the UK.   If you are a pensioner or someone who doesn’t need to travel or move around for work then perhaps you’ll feel like raising a glass of mulled wine to toast Mrs May’s success at securing our residence, healthca, ...ادامه مطلب

Italy's troubled bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS) said Friday it lost more than 3.2 billion euros in the second quarter, after the EU approved a bailout for the stricken lender. The bank's chief Marco Morelli had waed in July that he anticipated losses due to write downs on bad loans. Founded, ...ادامه مطلب

Milan is one of 19 cities vying to host the EMA. Photo: Olivier Morin/AFPMilan is among 19 European cities competing to host the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which will relocate from London after the UK leaves the EU. The northe Italian business hub is seen as the front-runner among rival bidd, ...ادامه مطلب

Angelino Alfano speaks to press. Photo: Mahmoud Zayyat/AFPItaly's Foreign Minister, Angelino Alfano, said Italy was working "with conviction" to guarantee the rights of Brits in Italy and Italians in the UK post-Brexit, after meeting with the UK's Brexit Secretary David Davis in Rome on Tuesday. "We, ...ادامه مطلب

Pope Francis makes the pilgrimage. Photo: AFP Photo/Osservatore RomanoPope Francis made a pilgrimage on Tuesday to the tombs of two Italian priests known for their progressive social views and works during Italy's postwar years. The pontiff began with an early visit to Bozzolo, a village in the coun, ...ادامه مطلب

The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci was parodied in the poster. Picture: Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons A poster advertising a gay night at a southe Italian bar has prompted outcry, with local political groups calling for the event to be cancelled. The reason for the anger was the poster, ...ادامه مطلب

The British govement said on Friday it will scrap the 15-year rule that had barred many British voters living abroad from casting a ballot in general elections back home. The UK govement said on Friday that the rule that has barred British nationals from voting if they have lived abroad for over 15 years, will be scrapped in time for the 2020 election. The govement published its intention to ditch the unpopular law, which Britons living abroad have long fought against, by publishing a policy statement titled “Democracy that works for everyone”. “We believe that overseas electors contribute to British society and should be given that democratic right to vote,” the constitution minister Chris Skidmore said. “We intend to give those overseas electors the chance to register quickly and securely so they will be able to register to vote in time of the 2020 election.” The govement will now draw up a bill which must be given the green light by parliament, but all being well,britain to allow 'three parent' babies,britain allows sharia law,britain allows dual citizenship,britain allows marriage,britain allows post-legion enlistment ...ادامه مطلب

The UK can't expect an easy ride post-Brexit, Renzi waed. Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFPBritain must not expect to end up with more rights than other countries outside the EU following Brexit negotiations, Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi waed in an interview on Thursday. Renzi also told the BBC that he blamed Britain's former premier David Cameron for June's vote to leave the European Union.His comments are the latest from a European leader to highlight the tough stance Britain is likely to face in Brexit negotiations when it triggers Article 50, the two-year process for leaving."It will be impossible to give to British people more rights than other people out of the EU," Renzi said, speaking in English."When David Cameron decided to use the referendum to solve some inteal problem in the Conservative party, this was the problem," he added.Cameron was seen as having called the referendum to try and placate eurosceptics in his party and stem the rise of the anti-EU UK Independence Par, ...ادامه مطلب

A robot surveys a quake-damaged church. Photo: Vigili FuocoWith the last of the missing accounted for, emergency services have begun the task of rebuilding central Italy's damaged towns - with the help of high-tech drones and robots. The robots have begun to carry out structural checks, reducing the need for people to go into unstable buildings.Their job is to capture photos and video footage of the buildings, which can then be studied by experts to assess the extent of the damage. Following scans 3D models are created from the images, which will be used to secure the buildings. A series of aftershocks and tremors - some reaching up to 5.0 on the Richter scale - in the days following the initial earthquake on August 24th have left the area geologically unstable and many buildings unsafe for entry, so the use of robots will speed up the recovery process without needing emergency services workers to put their own safety at risk. The video below shows a drone investigation of the San Fra, ...ادامه مطلب

Milan is vying to be Europe's post-Brexit financial and business hub. Photo: Melanie BowmanMilan has also joined the race among European cities to pick up the post-Brexit spoils should London’s financial institutions choose to shift their operations elsewhere. “With Brexit, we want to bring a piece of London’s financial [services] to Milan,” Italy’s Prime Minister announced jubilantly last week. Milan’s recently elected mayor, Giuseppe Sala, was even quicker to flag-up his city’s attributes, saying on the day Britain voted to leave the EU that the outcome “could be an opportunity for Milan”. The Lombardy city, already Italy’s financial and start-up hub, could become “a land of opportunity”, he added. “We would need to find ways to facilitate such a relocation, which would bring jobs, prestige and even greater visibility to our city.” One of those ways could be to create a tax-free zone in the area of the city where the World Expo exhibition was held last year. It’s an idea that formed part of Sala’s election campaign and was given fresh impetus by the Brexit vote. Photo: Angel/Flickr It’s not just the banks Italy wants. Long before the UK’s referendum on June 23rd, Renzi was hatching a plan to snare two EU agencies – the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Banking Authority (EBA) – away from London and resettle them in Milan. Amid all the gloomy statistics on Italy’s economy, it seems to pass unnoticed that the country’s pharmaceutical industry is the second largest in Europe in terms of production, while Italy is the world’s number one exporter of medicines per capita. “'Made in Italy' is not just limited to Gucci and Prada,” Luca Pani, who heads up Italy’s drugs agency (Aifa), told the online pharmaceutical sector news site, Farmacia33, a day before the UK's vote. “We boast an incredibly high quality of pharmaceutical products.” But can Milan compete with the other European cities, namely Paris, Frankfurt, Madrid and Amsterdam, which have also pitche, ...ادامه مطلب

Italy's Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said the money would be used to pay down debt. Photo: Gabriel Buoys/AFP AFP · 20 Jul 2016, 08:22 Published: 20 Jul 2016 08:22 GMT+02:00 The Italian govement hopes to ea "around €2 billion ($2.2 billion) from the sale of more shares in Poste Italiane SpA, the country's postal service, Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said on Tuesday. The money will be used to reduce public debt, he told the Senate transport commission. The sale conces a 29.7 percent stake. A tranche of around 35 percent was sold last October. Story continues below… The state will retain a 35 percent share in Poste Italiane through the Italian Deposit Bank in order to maintain indirect control. For more news from Italy, join us on Facebook and Twitter. Today's headlines Italy's Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said the money would be used to pay down debt. Photo: Gabriel Buoys/AFP The money will be used to reduce public debt. The woman was attempting to recreate an iconic scene from 'La Dolce Vita'. Photo: Screengrab/La Repubblica A mystery woman shocked watching tourists on Tuesday moing when she waded into Rome's Trevi Fountain in a bid to recreate an iconic scene from Federico Fellini's 1960 film 'La Dolce Vita'. Giampiero Ventura has coached a number of clubs in Italy's top flight. Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFP Giampiero Ventura was officially unveiled as Italy's new manager on a two-year contract designed to make sure the Azzurri qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The Italian truckmaker Iveco has been hit with a €495m fine. Photo: Iveco Italy's Iveco was fined €495 million on Tuesday for forming a cartel with other European truckmakers. Angelo D’Agostino, 71, and his wife Gianna Muset, 68, were killed in the attack in Nice. Photo: Roberta Capelli/Twitter UPDATED: Six Italians were among the 84 people killed in an attack in the southe French city of Nice on Thursday night, the Foreign Ministry confirmed on Tu, ...ادامه مطلب

The UK Foreign Office has launched a new website for those anxious Brits expats who live in Europe and fear the consequences of Brexit. The UK Foreign Office has launched a new website for those anxious Brits expats who live in Europe and fear the consequences of Brexit. This week saw the launch of a new webpage specifically designed to keep expat British nationals informed about changes that Brexit might bring. But with no idea yet when and what form the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union will take, the website offers a simple message: Keep calm and wait and see. "The negotiations to leave the EU may take up to two years or more," the website states. "The govement has made clear that we want the legal rights of British nationals living in European countries, as well as EU nationals in the UK, to be properly protected. "In the interim there will be no immediate changes. During the period of the negotiations, the UK remains a full member, entitled to all the benefits and obligations of membership of the EU." The webpage includes information on passports, pensions, healthcare, and also has a link to some general information on applying for dual citizenship. Story continues below… The message is clear: whatever is on the cards for the next few months and years, just remember that right now nothing has changed. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.Recommended article from FiveFilters.org: Most Labour MPs in the UK Are Revolting., ...ادامه مطلب

After the UK vote, the majority of Italians want to stay in the EU. Photo: David Baxendale/FlickrTen days on from the shock results of the UK referendum on whether or not to remain in the EU, and euro-skepticism in Italy seems to be on the wane. Just 28 percent of all Italians would now vote to leave the EU, according to a survey by UK pollsters Ipsos, carried out on behalf of Corriere della Sera in the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote. Fourty-eight percent of the 1,000 people surveyed said they would definitely vote to remain in the event of an EU referendum in Italy, while 26 percent reported that they were either undecided or wouldn't vote. The results provide a stark contrast to a separate Ipsos poll carried out earlier this year, in which almost half of all Italians said they wanted to leave the EU. In the earlier poll, 58 percent of people also said they were in favour of Italy holding a referendum on its EU membership, but this figure fell to 44 percent following Britain's shock decision. The results point to a softening of the euroskeptic attitudes which were on the rise in Italy in the build up to the referendum – perhaps brought on by the political and economic chaos the British vote triggered. The Brexit vote has sent global financial markets into meltdown, caused the UK Prime Minister David Cameron to resign and exposed huge fractures in the British political landscape, which show no signs of being resolved anytime soon. Yet in spite of the chaos in the UK, more than three quarters of all respondents were of the opinion the Brexit will not be felt too harshly in Italy. An impressive 49 percent of all respondents said they thought the effects of the vote would be “negative but not dramatic”, while 39 percent of people felt “little or nothing” would change. Story continues below… However, even though most people thought the effects would be minimal, only six percent of all respondents thought things would change for the better following a British e, ...ادامه مطلب