Tag Archives: Italy

Italy Seizes Russian Formula One Driver’s $115M Villa

The Daily Beast reports: Italian police have added another stunning villa to their collection of sequestered Russian properties after seizing the so-called Rocky Ram belonging to former Formula One driver Nikita Dmitrievich Mazepin and his father, chemical baron Dimitry Mazepin, on Monday. The property, valued at around $115 million, sits on a cliff overlooking Sardinia’s rocky Paradise Beach coast and …

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Denmark, Italy, Sweden To Expel Russian Diplomats

Politico Europe reports: Italy is to expel 30 Russian diplomats, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio announced on Tuesday during a visit to Berlin. He said the move was “for national security reasons.” Also Tuesday, Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod tweeted: “Denmark will expel 15 Russian intelligence officers working at the Russian embassy in Copenhagen. They pose a threat to our …

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Italy Seizes Russian Oligarch’s $578 Million Superyacht

Reuters reports: Italian police have seized a superyacht owned by Russian billionaire Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko, the prime minister’s office said on Saturday, a few days after the businessman was placed on an EU sanctions list following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The 143-metre (470-foot) Sailing Yacht A, which has a price tag of 530 million euros ($578 million), has been sequestered …

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$700M Superyacht Moored In Italy May Be Putin’s

The New York Times reports: American officials are examining the ownership of a $700 million superyacht currently in a dry dock at an Italian seacoast town, and believe it could be associated with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, according to multiple people briefed on the information. United States intelligence agencies have made no final conclusions about the ownership of …

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Italy Seizes Russian Oligarchs’ Yachts And Villas

The Guardian reports: Italian police have seized villas and yachts worth at least €140m (£126m) from four high-profile Russians who were placed on an EU sanctions list after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, sources said on Saturday. A police source said a villa owned by the billionaire businessman Alisher Usmanov on Sardinia, and a villa on Lake Como owned by the …

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Italian Parents Refuse Vaxxed Blood For Sick Child

Italian wire service ANSA reports: The anti-vax parents of a boy who has to get blood transfusions during a delicate heart operation have refused to allow him to received blood from COVID-vaccinated donors, the Gazzetta di Modena reported Monday. A judge’s ruling is expected later Monday on the boy, who is at Bologna’s Sant’Orsola Hospital. Meanwhile an appeal to set …

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Prominent Italian Anti-Vaxxer Dies Of Something

Perugia Today reports: Franco Trinca, the 69-year-old biologist who had expressed his no-vax and home therapies against COVID, died in the hospital in Città di Castello. The Perugian biologist and nutritionist had been hospitalized for COVID with bilateral pneumonia. Trinca refused intubation. Trinca had been the protagonist of heated TV clashes with Selvaggia Lucarelli, speaking in favor of alternative therapies. …

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Anti-Vax Italian Priest Who Claimed COVID Vaccines Contain “Aborted Embryos” Dies Of Something At 51

The Daily Beast reports: An Italian priest who shunned COVID-19 vaccines over the false belief that they contain “aborted embryos” has died at the age of 51 after battling coronavirus for several weeks. Don Paolo Romeo had resisted pleas to get vaccinated from friends and colleagues who tried to talk sense into him, according to the L’Unione Sarda newspaper. Romeo, …

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Pope Cancels NYE Event To Discourage Large Crowds

The Associated Press reports: Pope Francis canceled his New Year’s Eve tradition of visiting the life-sized Nativity scene set up in St. Peter’s Square to discourage large crowds from forming. Meanwhile, major Italian cities scrapped their traditional Dec. 31 open-air concerts as Italy battles a record-setting surge in coronavirus cases. The Vatican has largely followed Italy’s lead in imposing restrictions …

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Prominent Italian Anti-Vaxxer Dies Of Something

The Italian wire service ANSA reports: A diehard Italian anti-vaxxer who became a popular radio personality died of COVID at the age of 61 on Monday night, sources said Tuesday. Maurizio Buratti, better known as “Mauro from Mantua” died in a Verona hospital where he had been receiving treatment for some weeks. Despite being in a critical condition, he never …

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Italy’s Restrictions On Unvaccinated Go Into Effect

The Associated Press reports: Italy is making life more uncomfortable for unvaccinated people this holiday season, excluding them from indoor restaurants, theaters and museums starting Monday to reduce the spread of coronavirus and encourage vaccine skeptics to get their shots. Italian police can check whether diners in restaurants or bars have a “super” green health pass certifying that they are …

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Italian Man Wears Fake Arm For COVID Vaccination

The Guardian reports: An Italian man is facing charges of fraud after turning up for his Covid-19 vaccine wearing a fake arm. So determined was he to dodge the jab but still obtain a health pass, the anti-vaxxer may have paid hundreds of euros for the silicone prosthetic. The bizarre episode at a vaccine hub in Biella, a town close …

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Italian Anti-Vax Leader Changes Mind About Something

Italy’s wire service ANSA reports: The leader of the Treviso branch of Italy’s anti-vax movement has ‘converted’ to believing in COVID science after being hospitalised in the northern city with a nasty bout of the virus, sources said Wednesday. Lorenzo Damiano led protests by anti-vaxxers and COVID deniers in Treviso near Venice against the Green Pass health certificate and stood …

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Italy And Germany Confirm Cases Of Omicron Variant

The Associated Press reports: News reports in Italy and Germany say that both countries have confirmed cases of the omicron COVID-19 variant. The Italian news agency LaPresse says an Italian who traveled to Mozambique has tested positive for the omicron variant. The business traveler landed in Rome on Nov. 11 and returned to his home near Naples. Five family members, …

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Italy Bans The Unvaccinated From All Public Venues

The New York Times reports: Trying to stem a resurgence in coronavirus infections and prevent closures affecting everyone, Italy announced new restrictions for the unvaccinated on Wednesday, barring them from dining indoors in restaurants and bars; attending shows, sport events and public ceremonies; and entering nightclubs. “We want to be very cautious,” Prime Minister Mario Draghi of Italy said at …

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Italy: Anti-Vaxxers’ Homes Raided After Threats To PM

Italy’s The Local reports: Italian police on Monday raided the homes of anti-vaccine activists alleged to have used an online chat to call for violence, including “hangings” and “shootings,” against the prime minister and others. The ‘Basta Dittatura’ (Enough of the Dictatorship) chat on the Telegram app had tens of thousands of members and was used to organise demonstrations against …

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Italian Senators Cheer Defeat Of LGBT Hate Crimes Bill

Reuters reports: The Italian Senate voted on Wednesday to block debate over a bill that would make violence against women and LGBT+ people a hate crime, effectively killing off a proposal previously approved by the lower house of parliament. The bill, championed by the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), has triggered fierce discussion in Italy, with the Vatican also getting involved, …

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Italy’s Mandatory Health Pass System Goes Into Effect

The New York Times reports: Italy set a new bar on Friday for major Western democracies seeking to move beyond the pandemic by putting in place a sweeping law that requires the nation’s entire work force — public and private — to have government-issued health passes. The measure requires workers to show proof of vaccination, a negative rapid swab test …

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Italy Pressured To Ban Anti-Vax Party After Violence

Politico Europe reports: The Italian government is under pressure to ban neo-fascist movements that took part in violent anti-vaccination protests at the weekend. On Saturday, demonstrators trashed a union building and attacked a hospital emergency room as part of a day of violence that has been likened to the Capitol Hill riot in Washington in January. The protest left 38 …

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Italy Arrests Far-Right Leaders After Anti-Vax Riots

Reuters reports: Italian police said on Sunday they had arrested 12 people including the leaders of the extreme right-wing party Forza Nuova, after clashes in Rome a day earlier over a government drive to make the COVID-19 “Green Pass” mandatory for all workers. Thousands of people took to the streets of the Italian capital on Saturday to oppose the move. …

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