Italian Culture Minister Dario Franceschini flew to China on Tuesday in order to promote a new system that will offer Chinese investors generous tax breaks if they invest in Italy's under-funded cultural sites.

The scheme will hand investors tax reductions of up to 65 percent if they pour cash into Italian heritage and will only be available to Chinese companies with registered offices in Italy.

“Attracting foreign investment has been, and will continue to be, one of the driving forces of this ministry,” Franceschini said in a statement on Wednesday.

There are seven key sites currently seeking substantial investment, including Emperor Hadrian's summer villa outside Rome, the Etruscan tombs of Cerveteri, the Greek temples in Agrigento and the former residence of the Bourbon kings of Naples in Caserta, Campania.

Italy's treasures are beset by funding shortfalls which are in no small part down to the incredible volume of historic sites the country has to maintain.

With 52 world heritage site, the country is the most Unesco-rich in the world. However, its sluggish economy has seen successive govements slash the culture budget.

In addition, corruption and mismanagement has caused millions to disappear into thin air.

Earlier this year, it emerged houses were being rented for as little as €5 a month in the grounds of Caserta's Bourbon palace.

Italy is increasingly tuing to the private sector to fund much-needed restorations.

Rome's Trevi Fountain recently underwent a €2.2 million face-lift funded by the fashion house, Fendi, and the Spanish Steps are currently being spruced-up by designers Bulgari.

During his time in Beijing, Franceschini also inaugurated a new programme aimed at attracting more Chinese visitors to Italy.

“A new scheme called 'China Friendly' will try to improve the offering of Italy's cultural destinations for Chinese visitors,” the Ministry said.

“It will also create new links between museums, towns and cities in both countries a bid to open up new destinations.”

The number of Chinese tourists visiting Italy has increased sharply in recent years and the Chinese are now the seventh largest national demographic visiting Italy, with over 2.2 million spending time in the country in 2014.

With the number of Chinese tourists on the rise, Beijing policemen were even called in to patrol top tourist sites in Milan and Rome earlier this year, in an attempt to help their travelling countrymen feel safer.

The harrowing task of recovering decomposing migrant bodies from a fishing boat that sank with hundreds of people aboard is finished over a year after it sank, but Italian firefighters' spokesman Luca Cari is still tormented by the horror he witnessed.

"There were five (migrants) per square metre inside the boat," he said in an article published by Panorama weekly on Thursday.

It was the worst maritime tragedy in the Mediterranean since World War II, leaving only 28 survivors.

The disaster happened when the converted wooden fishing trawler collided with a Portuguese merchant ship that had responded to its SOS signal.

The impact caused panicked passengers to surge to one side of the boat and it keeled over in pitch darkness.

Months later, the wreck was recovered and brought to Sicily. As firefighters pulled the final corpse free last week, Italian prosecutors put the number of victims of the April 2015 tragedy off Libya at 700.

The bodies were found everywhere, from the well of the anchor chain to the tiny underfloor compartment where the bilge pump sits, to the engine room, Cari said.

It was clear from their positions that many had fought tooth and nail to get out when the boat rolled - a struggle which proved futile.

"The image of their attempt to escape from the ship as it was sinking will be printed forever on our retinas," said Paolo Quattropani, one of the firemen who lead the operation in Sicily.

They found the bodies of children, still clutched in the arms of their mothers, and did not have the heart to separate them, Cari said.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi had vowed to give all of the victims decent burials to highlight the human cost of the ongoing migrant crisis on Europe's southe shores.

Since 2014, more than 10,000 migrants have died or are feared to have drowned while attempting the perilous jouey to Europe by sea, most losing their lives in the central Mediterranean, according to the UN's refugee agency (UNHCR).

On Wednesday, rescue teams who pulled over 550 migrants to safety from rickety vessels in the Mediterranean on Wednesday said they had recovered 22 bodies they had found lying in a pool of fuel and water at the bottom of a dinghy.

Giuseppe Alvaro, 33, a member of the powerful 'Ndrangheta crime syndicate in southe Italy, was surprised by police as he hid in an olive oil mill near Monterosso Calabro in the Calabria region.

Alvaro, who had been on the run since 2007 and was wanted for money laundering and possessing illegal arms, gashed his leg throwing himself out of a window and broke his ankle on landing, police said in a statement.

He was easily apprehended, clapped in irons, and taken to hospital for his injuries.

Alvaro had taken over command of a 'Ndrangheta clan following the arrest of his father, a known criminal boss, in 2005, and his orders were followed to the letter by his footsoldiers, police said.

Italy's Interior Minister Angelo Alfano congratulated officers on a successful sting on the acting head of "one of the 'Ndrangheta's most powerful clans".

Notoriously ruthless, the 'Ndrangheta has surpassed the Sicilian Mafia and the Naples-based Camorra thanks to the wealth it has amassed as the principal importer and wholesaler of cocaine produced in Latin America and smuggled into Europe.

That trade is worth billions and previous police operations have indicated that the 'Ndrangheta has well-established links with Colombian producer cartels, Mexican crime gangs and mafia families in New York and other parts of North America.

The organization is made up of numerous village and family-based clans based in Calabria, the rural, mountainous and under-developed "toe" of Italy's boot.

Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Twitter that the MS Aquarius, which it charters along with French NGO SOS Mediterranee, had picked up over 200 migrants.

The passengers, who had been trying to reach Europe via the shores of Italy, had "been on (a) rubber dinghy with 22 dead bodies for hours on end", it said on Twitter.

"Unclear how people died. When team approached (the) dinghy, dead bodies were at (the) bottom of (the) boat in a pool of fuel and water," it added.

The Italian coastguard said the MY Phoenix, chartered by the Malta-based foundation MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station) had picked up another 354 people.

More than 3,200 migrants were rescued from the Mediterranean on Tuesday in 25 separate operations.

The latest arrivals take the number of migrants to have landed in Italy this year to more than 80,000, according to the UN's refugee agency. Most of them are Africans.

Since 2014, more than 10,000 migrants have died or are feared to have drowned while attempting the perilous jouey to Europe by sea, most losing their lives in the central Mediterranean, the UNHCR says.

It is the first time the promotion of a plant-based diet has been included among the political aims of a local govement in Italy.

“The promotion of vegan and vegetarian diets is a fundamental act in safeguarding our environment, the health of our citizens and the welfare of our animals,” the programme stated.

The council says it will spend the next five years educating the city's children about the issues surrounding food in order to reduce the amount of animal products eaten by future generations.

“Leading medical, nutritional and political experts will help promote a culture of respect in our schools, teaching children how to eat well while protecting the earth and animal rights,” the programme continued.

But the plan has raised a few eyebrows in the city, where most restaurants still serve up traditional dishes made from the renowned local meats and cheeses that have been a staple for generations.

“Great foods like wild boar Ragu and Chianina steak are already disappearing from the menu once famed for its meats, wines and cheeses,” Turin resident Elena Coda told The Local.

“At the same time there are more and more vegan and vegetarian eateries,” she said, adding that the city now boasts 30 vegetarian or vegan restaurants, the majority of which have opened in the last few years.

“I'm not sure if the trend will continue and expect there will be an inevitable backlash sooner or later.”

But the new council's environment assessor, Stefania Giauzzi said the aim was not to damage local restaurants and businesses.

“We have total respect for our food heritage, our restaurants and nothing against the meat industry,” she told Corriere.

"I'm a vegetarian and have been for 20 years. But in reality, this programme isn't something I instigated – it's just an extension of schemes which have been in place for years.”

Elsewhere in Italy, parents have been criticized for raising their children vegan after two recent high-profile cases which saw toddlers being hospitalized due to malnourishment.

Read more: One-year-old vegan weighing 5kg hospitalized in Milan

In spite of, or perhaps due to Turin's well-documented pollution problems, the inhabitants of Turin are fairly green-minded and the city is awash with organic farmers markets and eco-friendly supermarkets.

Each year since 2001 the council has funded a popular festival for vegetarians known as 'Vegfestival'.

“I'm not saying eating meat is bad or wrong, the information these initiatives are based on are from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).”

In recent years a number of high-profile UN reports have revealed the devastating effects of meat consumption on our planet and our health.

In 2006, FAO reported that the meat and dairy industry is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions each year than all of the world's transportation each year.

A more recent, but no less controversial, report from last year suggested that the consumption of meat – and processed meats in particular – was strongly linked to the development of cancer.

A gladiator-baing edict was passed by interim mayor, Francesco Paolo Tronca, in November, but expired in June, prompting scores of men to don ancient armour, tufted helmets and leather sandals in a bid to find their fortune on the streets of the Eteal City.

But Raggi, who is determined to clean-up Rome's image, wasted no time in banishing the illegal gladiators once more during her first council meeting on Tuesday.

At the meeting, the city's new Five Star Movement council introduced a new ordinance against the photo-souvenir workers, who authorities claim can make up to €2,000 a week.

In addition to the ban, the gladiators will be fined if they are caught peddling their wares.

“Rome is finally off and ruing!” Raggi posted on Facebook following the meeting.

“From tomorrow, a new ordinance will impose sanctions of up to €400 against the photo gladiators,” she wrote.

The new rules will also hit the operators of unlicensed rickshaw tours who line up in front of the Colosseum each day hoping they can - literally and figuratively - take tourists for a ride.

For many tourists, a photo with a gladiator (they call themselves gladiators, but most dress as Roman centurions) in front of the Colosseum or Pantheon may seem like a bit of harmless fun.

However, previous administrations have sought to stop them from operating following a string of complaints from unsuspecting tourists, who are frequently stung for anything up to €50 after being sweet-talked into a snap.

But they don't just have a reputation as rip-off merchants. In the past, gladiators have been snapped groping female tourists and last summer one group was even filmed robbing €100 from the wallet of a Romanian joualist after he posed for a photo.

But the gladiators say they have been unfairly victimized.

“I'm taking home between €40 and €50 a day” one centurion told La Repubblica. “I can only ask for a free offer, which means I take anything between one and five euros per photo.”

“Following the previous ban, I was forced to beg for money on the street because I had no other income,” the centurion added.

After being made redundant once more, other gladiators insisted they enrich the cultural sites of the capital.

“We're just part of the attraction and add to the atmosphere,” another explained.

“We also help with security around here. Near the Colosseum we stopped a robbery the other day and once helped take down a man who was wielding a knife.”

Public prosecutors in Naples said on Wednesday that three men were seized along with a haul of fake notes, in denominations of €20, €50 and €100, which had a nominal value of €6.5 million.

The bills were being cranked out by "sophisticated machines and state-of-the-art technology" in an apartment in Casavatore, in the northe suburbs of Naples, the prosecutor's office said in a statement.

It is believed to be the first time in Europe that police have seized a counterfeit setup targeting the new €20 note, it said.

The €20 note was introduced by the European Central Bank (ECB) only last November, boasting an array of "feel, look, tilt" defences designed to thwart forgers.

Features include a "portrait window" that becomes visible on both sides when the note is held against the light, and symbols that become visible or change colour in ultra-violet light, the ECB says on its website.

When Austria threatened to re-introduce border controls at the Breer Pass in April, it hit a nerve with Italy, and not merely because it risked exacerbating the refugee crisis.

Fearing the impact on trade and the economy – the historic crossing point is a crucial lifeline for exports to northe Europe – the Italian govement was swift to react, eventually leading Austria to back down, so long as its southe neighbour stemmed the flow of migrants across the border.

Photo: The Local Italy

The idea of "building a wall" is also sensitive in South Tyrol, which still struggles to heal from old wounds after the region was aexed to Italy by the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of the First World War.

Austria softened its stance a week before presidential elections were held, in which the far-right Freedom Party was narrowly defeated by the Green party.

But the anti-refugee party’s leader, Norbert Hofer, will now get another chance to become the first far-right head of state in the EU after Austria’s constitutional court aulled the result of the May 22nd election and ordered a re-run on October 2nd.

A victory for Hofer could reignite tensions at the Breer Pass if the party seeks to reintroduce border controls 21 years after customs and immigration posts were removed.

“It’s incomprehensible to us that Austria should want to control the Breer Pass,” Ao Kompatscher, the goveor of South Tyrol, told reporters in Rome on Wednesday.

“It’s not just an economic problem in terms of the crossing point being crucial for trade, but it is also a political problem. It sends out a bad message.

"The Breer Pass became a central part of the EU discussion a few months ago – if there are controls at pass, an important symbol of EU unification, it could kill Europe.”

Adding to the conces is the continued arrival of migrants in Italy’s south. More than 3,200 people were rescued in the Mediterranean on Tuesday, bringing the number of migrants who have landed in Italy so far this year to over 80,000.

Kompatscher told The Local that “better controls” have been implemented across Italy which have helped to stymie the movement of migrants towards the north of the country as they seek to enter more prosperous EU states.

Under a govement plan, South Tyrol, which has a population of 511,000, must take in 0.9 percent of the total number of migrants who seek asylum in Italy.

As the measure got underway last year, migrant centres were hurriedly built across the region, with the majority being housed in the city of Bolzano.

Apart from in the comune of Breer, other centres, managed by the charity, Caritas, have sprung up in Vipiteno, Malles, Tesimo, Vandoies, Val di Vizze and Brunico.

Last summer, thousands of migrants managed to cross over to Austria unchallenged, with the country processing 90,000 asylum claims – the second-highest among EU states per capita – in 2015.

Italy’s tiny neighbour, whose population is 8.74 million, is now trying to more than halve that figure this year.Kompatscher said there are currently 1,000 asylum seekers in South Tyrol and that the migrant situation is “under control”.

“We don’t have the same amount of people in transit as in 2015,” he added.

“So it’s not a problem right now. But people continue to arrive in the south, and we don’t know yet how Italy will continue to manage the situation. And depending on the Austrian elections, that could change.”

As she splashed around in the 17th century Baroque fountain, which recently underwent a €2.2 million restoration, she even stopped to blow kisses to onlookers.

Some tourists snapped photos of her, while others applauded her attempt. However, her time in the water was short-lived.

A policeman quickly intervened, dragging the woman out of the famous fountain and escorting her away through the crowd.

A video of the incident can be seen below.

The act was a clear bid to recreate the famous scene from Federico Fellini's 1960 film 'La Dolce Vita' in which the late Swedish actress Anita Ekberg jumps into the Trevi.

Unlike Ekberg, who for her celluloid attempt wore a black evening dress and fur shawl, the woman appeared to be clad in a bedsheet.

Ekberg's scene has over the decades sparked countless other recreation attempts.

In 2013, Italian actress Valeria Marini was on the receiving end of a €160 fine after she immersed herself in the Trevi to have an 'Ekberg moment' of her own.

Even though historically the city's fountains were used by citizens for things like bathing and washing clothes, mode Romans don't take kindly to anybody doing anything except admiring them.

In fact, last year the authorities grew so tired of people (mostly tourists) taking illegal dips they doubled fines for transgressors to €400.

It seems to have made little difference. Earlier this month, three bikini-clad women were snapped cooling off in the city's 17th century Fontana dell'Acqua Paola.

In total, the European Commission slapped more than €2.9 billion in fines on some of Europe's largest truckmakers, including Sweden's Volvo and Germany's Daimler, after it found that they had broken EU antitrust rules by rigging prices.

It follows a long investigation covering the years between 1997 and January 2011.

"We have today put down a marker by imposing record fines for a serious infringement," said Margrethe Vestager, the commissioner for competition, in a statement.

"In all, there are over 30 million trucks on European roads, which account for around three quarters of inland transport of goods in Europe and play a vital role for the European economy.

"It is not acceptable that MAN, Volvo/Renault, Daimler, Iveco and DAF, which together account for nine out of every ten medium and heavy trucks produced in Europe, were part of a cartel instead of competing with each other. For 14 years they colluded on the pricing and on passing on the costs for meeting environmental standards to customers. This is also a clear message to companies that cartels are not accepted."

Germany's Daimler was fined the highest amount, around €1 billion. Italy's Iveco was told to pay up to €495 million, while DAF Trucks received a fine of €753 million. Germany's MAN, which is part of Volkswagen, escaped punishment because it had revealed the existence of the cartel to the Commission.

All companies acknowledged their involvement and agreed to settle the case, said the statement.

Iveco was formerly part of Fiat and is now owned by CNH industrial.

As she splashed around in the 17th century Baroque fountain, which recently underwent a €2.2 million restoration, she even stopped to blow kisses to onlookers.

Some tourists snapped photos of her, while others applauded her attempt. However, her time in the water was short-lived.

A policeman quickly intervened, dragging the woman out of the famous fountain and escorting her away through the crowd.

A video of the incident can be seen below.

The act was a clear bid to recreate the famous scene from Federico Fellini's 1960 film 'La Dolce Vita' in which the late Swedish actress Anita Ekberg jumps into the Trevi.

Unlike Ekberg, who for her celluloid attempt wore a black evening dress and fur shawl, the woman appeared to be clad in a bedsheet.

Ekberg's scene has over the decades sparked countless other recreation attempts.

In 2013, Italian actress Valeria Marini was on the receiving end of a €160 fine after she immersed herself in the Trevi to have an 'Ekberg moment' of her own.

Even though historically the city's fountains were used by citizens for things like bathing and washing clothes, mode Romans don't take kindly to anybody doing anything except admiring them.

In fact, last year the authorities grew so tired of people (mostly tourists) taking illegal dips they doubled fines for transgressors to €400.

It seems to have made little difference. Earlier this month, three bikini-clad women were snapped cooling off in the city's 17th century Fontana dell'Acqua Paola.

Scientists made the startling discovery while carrying out research into the historical eruption pattes of the Alban Hills volcanic complex over the last 600,000 years.

“The surprising results reveal these volcanoes are anything but extinct,” explained INVG geophysicist Fabrizio Marra, who studied the hills with colleagues from Rome's Sapienza University.

“They are moving out of a dormant state and are waking up.”

Having shown no sign of activity for the last 36,000 years, the lush green Alban Hills are today a popular spot for day-tripping Romans, located just 20 kilometres south of the capital.

Scientists say the long-empty magma chambers beneath the volcanic hills are once again filling up with red-hot gasses and molten rock.

A number of indicators have confirmed the findings, including recent satellite data which show the hills are rising up by 2-3mm each year due to the build-up in pressure below the ground.

Geological cracks and fissures in the area also show signs they have expanded considerably over the last 2,000 years - the blink of an eye in geological terms.

“We will now need to closely monitor the volcanic area for the foreseeable future,” explained Mara.

But while it has been confirmed that volcanic activity is on the rise, experts say lava won't be spilling from craters in the Alban Hills anytime soon.

“It's difficult to say when another eruption could happen, but we are probably talking about a thousand-year time period,” Mara said.

Historically, eruptions have occurred in the area once every 40,000 years.

The checks were carried out at an apartment near Bari at the request of French authorities.

The Tunisian man, who was among seven arrested on Monday in coection with the attack, lived near Bari for several years before retuing to France, La Stampa reported on Tuesday. The apartment was found empty, invesigators said.

The suspect allegedly supplied arms to 31-year-old Tunisian-bo Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, who drove a refrigerated truck into crowds enjoying a Bastille Day fireworks display on the city's waterfront, the Promenade des Anglais, killing 84 and injuring 202.

Security was upped at the border with France on Friday as reports came in that an accomplice may have fled to Italy.

French investigators have yet to find links between Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, who had French citizenship, and the Islamic State group which claimed responsibility for the caage, France’s Interior Minister Beard Cazeneuve said on Monday.

Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was shot dead after the attack.

On Tuesday, Italy's Foreign Ministry confirmed that five Italians were killed in the attack.

The bodies of Carla Gaveglio, 48, Maria Grazia Ascoli, 77, Giaa Muset, 68, Angelo D’Agostino, 71, and 90-year-old Mario Casati were formally identified by French authorities, the ministry said in a statement.

Their families have been informed.

“[Foreign Minister] Paolo Gentiloni and the ministry express our sympathy and solidarity to the families and friends of the victims of this barbaric attack.”

A man identified as 31-year-old Tunisian-bo Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel drove a refrigerated truck into crowds enjoying a Bastille Day fireworks display on the city's waterfront, the Promenade des Anglais, killing 84 and injuring 202.

Meanwhile, checks were carried out in Italy on Monday on a suspected accomplice, resident in Puglia, of Bouhlel, who was shot dead after the attack.

Read more: Suspected Nice attack accomplice 'resident in Puglia'

"Sardinia is renowned as one of only three regions in the world with an exceptionally high proportion of centenarians," Tiziana Life Sciences founder, Gabriele Cerrone, said in a press release.

The samples acquired all come from the region of Ogliastra, in southeast Sardinia.

Ogliastra lies in what has been dubbed a 'Blue Zone' - an area of exceptionally high longevity, inside which one in every 2,000 residents can expect to live beyond the age of 100.

But extreme longevity in central Sardinia has posed a conundrum for scientists for decades.

Ogliastara was for hundreds of years made up of isolated rural communites of shepherds, who lived in its mountain towns. And a lack of outside influence means the area's gene pool is very narrow.

Communities with narrower gene pools usually show a greater propensity to illness and disease and yet people from Ogliastra are 50 times more likely to live to 100 than American or British citizens.

To date, explanations for why people from Ogliastra live so long have generally focused on lifestyle factors such as diet, exercise and the quality of inhabitants' relationships, but Tiziana Life Sciences is now hoping to find a solid genetic base for the region's longevity.

The newly acquired data-bank includes over 230,000 separate samples of DNA, including things like vials of frozen spit, blood and hair.

Each sample will now be studied in depth and new technologies used to map the DNA of long-living Ogliastrans.

What's more, each sample has already been matched and catalogued with population data and medical records stretching back over 400 years, which will give scientists the best chance of uncovering the genes responsible for the region's exceptional longevity.

“The acquisition represents an opportunity to study a unique collection of DNA samples from a homogeneous and well-characterized population,” explained professor Napoleone Ferrara, a board member at Tiziana Life Sciences.

“This could advance our understanding of aging and other key pathophysiological processes and potentially result in diagnostic and therapeutic advances,” Ferrara added.

The company purchased the DNA collection following the collapse of its previous owner, the Cagliari-based Shardna S.p.a, and has aounced the creation of an Italian subsidiary company, LonGevia Genomics Srl, which will oversee the management of the DNA bank.

The checks were carried out at an apartment near Bari at the request of French authorities.

The Tunisian man, who was among seven arrested on Monday in coection with the attack, lived near Bari for several years before retuing to France, La Stampa reported on Tuesday. The apartment was found empty, invesigators said.

The suspect allegedly supplied arms to 31-year-old Tunisian-bo Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, who drove a refrigerated truck into crowds enjoying a Bastille Day fireworks display on the city's waterfront, the Promenade des Anglais, killing 84 and injuring 202.

Security was upped at the border with France on Friday as reports came in that an accomplice may have fled to Italy.

French investigators have yet to find links between Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, who had French citizenship, and the Islamic State group which claimed responsibility for the caage, France’s Interior Minister Beard Cazeneuve said on Monday.

Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was shot dead after the attack.

On Tuesday, Italy's Foreign Ministry confirmed that five Italians were killed in the attack.

The bodies of Carla Gaveglio, 48, Maria Grazia Ascoli, 77, Giaa Muset, 68, Angelo D’Agostino, 71, and 90-year-old Mario Casati were formally identified by French authorities, the ministry said in a statement.

Their families have been informed.

“[Foreign Minister] Paolo Gentiloni and the ministry express our sympathy and solidarity to the families and friends of the victims of this barbaric attack.”

A man identified as 31-year-old Tunisian-bo Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel drove a refrigerated truck into crowds enjoying a Bastille Day fireworks display on the city's waterfront, the Promenade des Anglais, killing 84 and injuring 202.

Meanwhile, checks were carried out in Italy on Monday on a suspected accomplice, resident in Puglia, of Bouhlel, who was shot dead after the attack.

Read more: Suspected Nice attack accomplice 'resident in Puglia'

FCA pledged to "cooperate fully" with the probes by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department which, according to Bloomberg, are examining whether the carmaker violated US securities laws.

In January a Fiat Chrysler auto dealers group accused FCA US of financially rewarding dealerships that falsely reported higher car sales, inflating the auto giant's results.

Dealers of the Napleton group in Illinois and Florida sued FCA US for racketeering and fraud and said the company's practices unfairly harmed their businesses, which declined the payments.

The lawsuit also challenged the validity of FCA sales figures that have shown rapid growth.

FCA strongly denied the allegations, dismissing the arguments as the product of "two disgruntled dealers" who failed to fulfill their commitments to FCA.

Venice, Florence, Pompeii, Rome, Capri and, more recently, the Cinque Terre, are all firm fixtures on most travel itineraries to Italy.

But those well-trodden paths are suffocating under the weight of stampeding tourists, with locals fretting about the impact on the environment and their cultural heritage.

Manarola, one of the five villages that make up the Cinque Terre. Photo: Loic Lagarde

With the number of people visiting Italy so far this summer already up on the record 2015, authorities in some of the country’s most popular destinations are struggling to cope and are urging the govement to quickly finalize a national plan to alleviate congestion.

The plan is being put together by the Ministry of Culture in cooperation with the Italian Tourism Board (Enit).

"We are working on a plan that will find ways to resolve the issue of overcrowded places," Fabio Lazzerini, a director at Enit, told The Local.

"Some places have been thinking of limiting tourist access, in addition to taxes for entering town centres. The debate is still ongoing."

Venice mayor Luigi Brugnaro has been among the most outspoken leaders, making it his mission to crackdown on the industry that helps fill the canal city’s coffers ever since he was elected in June 2015 .

Venice. Photo: Moyan Bre

Some 25 million pour into the Unesco World Heritage site each year, an excessive number which Brugnaro argues "risks flaring confrontation between tourists and residents".

The mayor has tried several tactics to make the city more ‘liveable’, including giving locals privileged access to vaporetti, or water buses.

But with tourist numbers up again this year, Brugnaro, alongside leaders in other tourist hubs, such as the Cinque Terre, Florence and the island of Capri, are at the end of their tether.

So far this summer, Venice has seen an increase of five percent in the number of visitors, while numbers are up by 5.6 percent in Florence, nine percent in Capri and a whopping 20 percent in the Cinque Terre national park.

There has also been a huge increase in the number of people visiting Sardinia and Sicily as Italians choose to holiday at home due to the threat of terrorism and political turmoil elsewhere, and more foreigners opt for Italy over destinations which have been affected by terrorism, Lazzerini said.

The congestion also impacts the country’s rail network, especially in the five fishing villages that make up Liguria’s Cinque Terre, which are extremely difficult to access by car.

Instead, the mostly day-tripping visitors on packed itineraries come by train or cruiseship, all the while pounding the footpaths that link Monterosso al Mare, Veazza, Coiglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore, all located inside the Unesco World Heritage national park.

Monterosso al Mare. Photo: The Local Italy

In February, Cinque Terre authorities said the 2.5 million visitors a year were choking the life out of the towns and suggested restricting numbers by making tourists purchase a special card before accessing the trails.

The aim of the plan, which was meant to get underway this summer but seems to have fallen by the wayside, was to bring numbers down to a more sustainable 1.5 million a year.

Fabrizia Pecunia, the mayor of Riomaggiore, told La Stampa the congestion “risked becoming a security and public order issue”.

Over in Capri, off the Amalfi coast, some four million people arrive each year on ferries and hydrofoils. Giai De Martini, the mayor of the iconic island, said he wants to space out the ferry schedule, with no more than one arriving every 20 minutes.

Capri. Photo: Robbie Dale

“In Capri, we have exceeded our limits for sustainable tourist flows, we live among the problems of congestion which are doing irrepairable damage to our reputation,” he told La Stampa.

Florentines, meanwhile, are conceed that the Renaissance city is losing its cherished character as tourists flock there all-year-round.

But what’s the solution?

The aim of the tourism plan is to promote less popular destinations to ease congestion along the well-trodden paths, Lazzerini said.

“We have to work to raise the level of tourism in Italy – we need to attract visitors to other, less well-known destinations.

“Enit and the Ministry of Culture are working together to create a demand for other places. We also need to raise the profile of sites within major cities – for example, in Rome, most people will go to the Colosseum or Trevi Fountain, without knowing that there are plenty of other places worth seeing.”

The incident involved a 90-seater Iberian Airlines, Bombardier CRJ900 series passenger jet bound for the port of Vigo in Spain.

The plane was scheduled to depart at 3.10pm but after a problem with one of the terminal's tug trucks - which are used to push planes onto the runway - the fully-loaded jet was left stranded.

Although most commercial jets can, in theory, reverse out of the gate by themselves, the operation is considered too fuel-intensive so small tugs are needed to push planes out of the gate before they begin takeoff.

After more than hour on the ground, the pilot finally got the go-ahead from air traffic control to request a push from 11 members of airport staff, who rolled up their sleeves to help get the plane on its way.

It was no easy feat – fully loaded with passengers and luggage, a CRJ900 jet can weigh up to 36 toes.

The plane eventually took off at 4.30pm. A video of the strange event can be seen below.

The checks were carried out on a resident in the southe region of Puglia at the request of French authorities, Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said during an anti-terror summit in parliament on Monday, according to the news agency, Ansa.

No further details have been provided.

A man identified as 31-year-old Tunisian-bo Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel drove a refrigerated truck into crowds enjoying a Bastille Day fireworks display on the city's waterfront, the Promenade des Anglais, killing 84 and injuring 202.

Security was upped at the border with France on Friday as reports came in that an accomplice may have fled to Italy.

French investigators have yet to find links between Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, who had French citizenship, and the Islamic State group which claimed responsibility for the caage, France’s Interior Minister Beard Cazeneuve said on Monday.

Six people were in custody on Monday including a 38-year-old Albanian suspected of providing Lahouaiej-Bouhlel with a pistol he used to fire at police during the attack.

Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was shot dead after the attack.

Meanwhile, five Italians are still missing.

Read more: Five Italians still missing after Nice attack

Some 153,000 migrants arrived on Italy’s shores in 2015, while a total of 70,930 landed between January and June, Italy’s Interior Ministry said earlier this month.

The country has struggled to find accommodation, meeting staunch opposition from some regional authorities. Its French, Swiss and Austrian neighbours have also tightened borders.

Under the new plan, the full details of which are yet to be ironed-out, each host town or city participating in the Sprar (protection for refugees and asylum seekers) programme will accommodate two or three migrants for every 1,000 residents, La Stampa reported.

Some 800 local authorities are so far involved in the project, which is funded by the Interior Ministry through the National Fund for Asylum Policy and Service.

Each authority would be given financial incentives while rules goveing the hiring of staff to help assist and integrate migrants would be relaxed, La Stampa said.

The aim of the plan is to get more authorities on board and encourage a more equal distribution of migrants, while alleviating the pressure on larger cities and accommodating people in less-populated areas.

“To date, immigration has been well-goveed, but the numbers are exceeding a goveable threshold,” Piero Fassino, the former mayor of Turin who was made president of the National Association of Italian Municipalities last week, said.

“If it is not addressed in time then this problem threatens to overwhelm us.”

Some 22,300, or eight percent, of asylum seekers across the EU applied for refugee status in Italy in the first quarter of 2016, figures released by Eurostat in June showed.

Germany led the way, with 175,000 registering for asylum during the quarter, followed by Italy (22,300), France (18,000), Austria (13,900) and the UK (10,100).

Milanese pensioners Maria Grazia Ascoli, 77, and Mario Casati, 90, are both missing following the attack, as are Angelo D'Agostino, 71, his wife Giaa Muset, 68, and Carla Gaveglio, 48.

During the attack, a gun-toting man identified as 31-year-old Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, drove a 16-toe refrigerated lorry into crowds celebrating Bastille Day on the city's waterfront, the Promenade des Anglais.

A relative of D'Agostino made desperate appeals to find the couple on Twitter in the wake of the attack, but the pair have not been seen or heard from since just before 10pm on Thursday night - some 30 minutes before the attack began.

Ascoli and Casati have also not been seen since they went to join in Thursday evening's waterfront celebrations.

A witness claims to have seen Gaveglio, from Cuneo in Piedmont, being put into an ambulance following the incident, but Gaveglio has not been seen or heard from since.

Speaking to the press on Sunday, Italy's Consulate General to Nice, Serena Lippi, said that more time would be needed to establish what has happened to the missing Italians.

“The list of people we need to trace or find is diminishing hour by hour,” she was quoted as saying by Il Sole 24 Ore.

“It's taking the French authorities a long time to identify people, but we can't complain about it," she added.

"Many of the bodies sustained extreme injuries in the attack, which makes identification difficult without DNA tests."

On Friday, a medical worker told one Italian news agency that there was "at least one Italian" among the dead, however there has been no official confirmation as yet.

While three Italians remain missing, many others were found over the weekend.

Elena Gallamini was eventually found with her boyfriend, Marco Billi. The pair had been travelling in the south of France and were not in Nice on the evening of the attack.

Also found were Andrea Avagnina, 53, and his partner Marinella Ravotti, 55, both from San Michele di Mondovì, Piedmont. The couple were reported missing but later found together at the city's Pasteur hospital.

Avagnina remains in a critical condition having sustained severe head injuries during the attack.

Piedmont pensioner Geatano Moscato, 71, also suffered severe injuries as he attempted to get his 18 and 13-year-old grandchildren out of the way of the oncoming truck.

Given the extent of his injuries, medics amputated his left leg on Friday.

Medical workers in the city told the Italian news agency Adnkronos that there was "at least one Italian female" among the victims, but there has not yet been any official confirmation from the Italian Foreign Ministry.

Five Italian nationals are currently reported missing after a truck rammed into a crowd of people who had gathered to celebrate Bastille Day on Nice's Promenade des Anglais.

The driver has reportedly been identified as 31-year-old Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a Franco-Tunisian of dual nationality. He drove the truck for two kilometres at speeds of up to 80kmph.

The missing Italians include two couples and a young woman.

Angelo D'Agostino, 71, and his wife Giaa Muset, 68, have not been heard from since 9.55pm on Thursday, just 35 minutes before the attack.

Andrea Avagnina, 53, and his partner Marinella Ravotti, 55, both from San Michele di Mondovì, Piedmont., are also missing.

The pair was reportedly visiting Nice while holidaying in the south of France.

"We ask for anybody with news of the two to come forward as soon as possible and are working closely with the French and Italian authorities," Domenico Michelotti, mayor of San Michele di Mondovì, told Ansa.

A young woman from Lombardy, Elena Gallamini, is also missing and an appeal has been launched via social media by her conceed sister, Cristina.

"Friends of Elena Gallamini, please help," she wrote.

"Has anyone heard from Elena? Three days ago she was in Marseille and I'm not sure if she was in Nice tonight but her phone is off."

There are currently some 30,000 Italian nationals living in Nice as well as thousands of others visiting the city.

Nice and its surroundings are popular holiday destinations for Italians from the northe regions of Piedmont and Liguria, who can reach the area by car in a few hours.

The new Five Star Movement mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi, has aounced Rome's city hall will be lit up with the red, white and blue of the French tricolour on Friday night in a show of solidarity with France.

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.

The message is clear: whatever is on the cards for the next few months and years, just remember that right now nothing has changed.

But Massimo Bottura's obsession with cooking instead has paid off: his restaurant, the Osteria Francescana, may have put the noses of conservative Italian chefs out of joint, but it now boasts the title "best in the world".

Set in the heart of Modena in northe Italy, the Osteria already boasted three Michelin stars before it snapped up first prize at the World's 50 Best Restaurants Awards in June thanks to a creative cuisine that reinvents Italian traditional dishes.

Wiing was a "very emotional" experience, Bottura told AFP, though he said one of the main differences between first and second place on the prestigious list was "the number of interviews" he is now asked to give.

With its blue-grey walls, taupe carpet, artworks on the walls and photographs of the singer Edith Piaf, there are just 12 tables and most diners come for the tasting menu, with its €220 euro ($245) price tag.

The fare may be world class but this osteria does not take itself too seriously. A wax sculpture of a security guard by American artist Duane Hanson startles diners at the front entrance. The levity continues once seated.

Inside the Osteria Francescana. Photo: Gigi Griffis

Dish names include "An eel swimming up the Po River" and "Yellow is bello".

Bespectacled Bottura, 53, worked on one of his signature creations, "Memory of a mortadella sandwich", for four years.

'Follow your palate'

"I rely on my past, but I look at it critically and without nostalgia, because I want to bring the best of the past into the future," he says.

He says he has always "sought to look at the world from under the table, with the eyes of a child stealing the pasta his grandmother" is making from scratch.

The kitchen - and the table he hid under while his grandmother fought off his quick-fingered brothers with a rolling pin - became "my safety place".

When he was 23-years old Bottura, who was famous for rustling up culinary delights for his friends, dropped his law studies to open a Trattoria in Campazzo, in the countryside around Modena in the Po River Valley.

On his days off, he would study with French chef Georges Cogny, who had a restaurant two hours away.

"He said to me: 'always follow your palate, because you have a great palate which will make Modena known around the world'".

Two years and an interlude in New York later, it was another Frenchman that changed his destiny, Alain Ducasse.

After the Provencal food guru came to Bottura's Trattoria, the Italian ended up going to work for him in Monte Carlo for a time.

Ducasse had a huge influence on him: "He taught me to be obsessed: obsessed with quality ingredients, obsessed with detail".

Back in Modena in 1995, he opened the Osteria. Never satisfied, he jumped at the chance five years later to lea from another great master, Spanish giant Ferran Adria.

Adria taught Bottura the "freedom to be creative", to think that "a sardine can be worth as much as a lobster, but it all depends on whose hands it is in."

'Mouthfuls of passion'

Bottura begins with local products and messes around with traditional recipes, drawing for inspiration on everything from his childhood kitchen to poetry, art and music, "compressing my passions into mouthfuls".

His philosophy and creations at first perplexed and even angered Italy's culinary old guard.

"It's ironic isn't it? Ten years ago they wanted to string me up in the main square because I 'destroyed' our grandmothers' recipes".

With the world prize in the bag, Bottura tus his mind back to his social projects, particularly his war on food waste.

His next big gig will see him set up a caffetteria in Rio which will transform leftover food from the Olympic Games Village into free meals for the poor living in the Brazilian city's favelas.

Everything the excitable chef does comes with the support of his American wife Lara Gilmore, who left New York for him and gave the ok for his Spanish adventure even though she was pregnant at the time.

"I fell in love with Massimo's kitchen before actually falling in love with him," she says.

"He really got me with his creamy velvet artichoke soup".

Checks were immediately tightened at Ventimiglia after a truck smashed into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in the southe French resort, killing at least 84 people.

“We have reports that fugitives could have headed to Italy,” a police officer was quoted by Ansa as saying.

“But for now, we have no concrete evidence.”

Initial reports suggested the driver may have had an accomplice who was seen ruing from the truck, but this has not been confirmed.

The suspect has been identified as a 31-year-old Franco-Tunisian with dual nationality, according to reports.

Read more: What do we know about the Nice terror attack suspect?

Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti said the conce over the risk of a terrorist attack on Italian soil “is high”.

Some 7,000 soldiers currently guard vulnerable sites across the country, including monuments, major airports, train stations and ports.

Interior Minister Angelino Alfano called an emergency meeting of the national anti-terrorism committee on Friday moing.

Just yesterday, Alfano aounced the country had 'intensified security" due to a “resurgence of jihadist threats”.

He said the country’s security alert level remained at 2, the highest possible in the absence of a direct attack, while there will also be targeted checks at smaller airports, prisons, ports, railways and on buses.

Alfano told a meeting of the national security and public order committee that the country “must maintain a high level of alert and strengthen security measures across the entire national territory, especially at vulnerable targets”.

Italy increased its security level in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris on November 13th, in which 130 people were killed.

The minister has also signed deportation orders for 99 people suspected of being coected to terrorism since January 1st.

Although organized prostitution and brothels are illegal, street prostitution is allowed and estimates suggest there are 120,000 prostitutes currently working in Italy.

The new laws would aim to reduce the number of prostitutes by going after their clients and hitting anybody caught paying for sex with fines of between €2,500 and €10,000.

Under the new rules, repeat offenders would face fresh fines and risk being sentenced to up to a year in prison.

“You need to approve this law punishing clients, because prostitution isn't a job for anyone, it's a torture,” the Democratic Party MP who presented the bill, Caterina Bini, was reported as saying by Il Sole 24 Ore.

While the proposed laws may sound harsh, punishing those who pay for sex has proven to be a simple way of combating the phenomenon of prostitution, without resorting to state legalization or regulation of the industry.

Fines have proved so effective in other countries, that last year the European parliament actively encouraged member states to adopt what it referred to as a 'Nordic model' when combating prostitution.

“In Sweden the introduction of such fines reduced the number of prostitutes by 80 percent and since then, England , Ireland, Iceland and two months ago, France, have all adopted similar models,” Bini added.

According to figures from the Catholic charity, The Pope John Society, which has taken 7,000 prostitutes off Italy's streets in the last 25 years, 37 percent of the country's prostitutes are aged between 13 and 17.

Across Italy, nine million clients use prostitutes each year, making the industry worth €90 million each month: the majority of which ends up in the pockets of organized crime syndicates.

“The trafficking of human beings is the third-biggest illegal market on the planet,” The Pope John Society, which has collected over 100,000 signatures in favour of the bill, said in a statement.

“It is a mode rendering of the slave trade in which the victims are often women and children bound for prostitution.”

Thirty-six percent of all Italy's prostitutes are from Nigeria, 22 percent from Romania and 10 percent from Albania.