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Migrant crisis

The arrests follow statements made by survivors rescued from the same migrant boat. Photo: Marcello Paternostro/AFP

Italy arrests ten over migrant boat deaths

Italian authorities said Friday they had arrested ten suspected people smugglers in connection with the death by asphyxiation of 52 people who had been forced to remain in the hold of a migrant boat on which 52 people asphyxiated.

Pope Francis has sent his blessing to a lesbian author of children's books dealing with same-sex families. Photo: Filippo Monteforte

Italian lesbian author gets papal blessing

Pope Francis has sent his blessing to a lesbian author of children's books dealing with same-sex families, wishing her and her wife well in their work, it emerged on Friday.

Venice Film Festival

Silence of the Lambs director Jonathan Demme. Photo: Gabriel Buoys/AFP

Jonathan Demme to get Venice award

Silence of the Lambs director Jonathan Demme is to be presented with the Visionary Talent award at the upcoming Venice Film Festival, organizers announced on Friday.

35-year-old Fabio Cabitza reportedly fell from the window of a flat in Homerton, east London. Photo: Raffaele

UK police probe death of Italian restaurant owner

British police are investigating the suspicious death of an Italian restaurant owner, who died after falling from the third floor of a flat in London early on Wednesday morning.

Migrant crisis

Two of the migrants rescued in the tragedy. Photo: Mahmud Turkia/AFP

Up to 200 feared dead in latest migrant disaster

Up to 200 people are feared to have died off the coast of Libya in the latest tragedy to strike migrants fleeing conflict in the hope of finding safety in Europe.

Mayor Arturo Cerulli converted to Islam 27 years ago. Photo: Arturo Cerulli

Muslim mayor refuses to take in refugees

UPDATED: A Muslim mayor in the Tuscan seaside community of Monte Argentario has provoked a political outcry for refusing to accept any refugees.

Former Polish archbishop Jozef Wesolowski (C) has died ahead of his trial for child abuse. Photo: Erika Santelices/AFP

Ex-archbishop dies ahead of child abuse trial

UPDATED: Josef Wesolowski, a former Polish archbishop who had been due to be first cleric tried in the Vatican for child sex abuse, was found dead on Friday.

Migrant crisis

A rescued migrant on Wednesday. Photo: Marcello Paternostro/AFP

'I stopped counting': Doctor on migrant dead

Stiff lifeless bodies submerged in water - it's a sight Canadian doctor Simon Bryant won't soon forget after he found dozens of dead migrants in the hold of a boat off Libya.

The Italian government has dissolve Ostia district council over mafia fears. Photo: Andrea Vanni

Ostia council dissolved over mafia fears

A district council in southern Rome has been dissolved due to concerns over mafia infiltration, Italy's interior Minister Angelino Alfano announced after a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

The Italian man died will base jumping in in Gastern valley, in the central canton of Berne. Photo: Kecko

Italian base jumper dies in Swiss Alps

A 46-year-old Italian plunged to his death in the Swiss Alps on Thursday after crashing onto rocks during a base jump, the second such accident in Switzerland in under a year, police said.

Features

The Local List

Budelli, one of the Maddalena group of islands off Sardinia. Photo: Chrisoph Sammer

Italy's best-kept secrets: Ten must-see places

It was unsurprising to see Rome’s much-visited Colosseum and Venice’s St Mark’s Square feature in the Lonely Planet’s ‘Ultimate travel list’, published earlier this week. But what about Italy’s more obscure gems? 2 comments

Civita di Bagnoregio. Photo: Angela Giuffrida/The Local

Civita: The Italian town that refuses to die

With a population of only six, it’s been dubbed “the dying town”. But on a recent visit to the hilltop Civita di Bagnoregio, The Local spoke to one of the inhabitants, and discovered a fervent desire to keep it very much alive.

The unfinished polo stadium in Giarre, Sicily. Photo: Incompiuto Siciliano/Flickr

Five 'ghost' buildings that cost Italy dearly

Italy is a country of half-finished projects. In fact, there are 671 incomplete public works projects across the country, according to data compiled by Linkiesta. 3 comments

Diego Angemi and Francesco Ceccarini. Photo: private

Italian couple tie the knot at Swedish Pride festival

UPDATED: Two Italian expats in Sweden got married in front of hundreds of thousands of people at the Stockholm Pride Parade on Saturday afternoon – to send a message about gay rights to their home country.

Of the almost 6,000 minors who landed on Italy’s shores during the first six months of this year, more than 3,830 arrived alone. Photo: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP

What happens to Italy’s missing migrant kids?

Almost 5,000 refugee children have disappeared after arriving on Italy’s shores since last summer, with many passing through the small Sicilian port town of Pozzallo. The Local spoke to one woman there, who has witnessed both their fear and determination to survive.

More News

The 72 refugees are staying at a hotel in Sondrio. Photo: Pontla

Refugees face death threats at Italian hotel

Italian police are investigating claims that dozens of immigrants have received death threats in a xenophobic letter sent to the hotel which is hosting them in Lombardy's Valtellina valley.

A total 57,600 Italians registered for social services in the UK between March 2014 and March 2015. Photo: Mark Notari

Italians help fuel surge in UK immigration

Despite signs of improvement in the Italian economy, a growing number of young nationals are among the surge of immigrants settling in the UK this year. 7 comments

7 comments

No more crazy haircuts for Mario Balotelli. Photo: Vincenzo Pinto/AFP

Maverick Balotelli hit with crazy haircuts ban

The flamboyant footballer Mario Balotelli has been forced to sign a good behaviour clause, which includes a ban on smoking, partying and attention-grabbing haircuts, as part of his move back to AC Milan, Italian media reported.

The divers have not been seen since they went diving near the island of Sangalaki, in the Derewan Island chain. Photo: Riza Nugraha

Search called off for missing foreign divers

Rescuers have called off the search for four foreign tourists who went missing while scuba diving off Indonesian Borneo more than 10 days ago, an official said on Thursday.

The attack happened on a train travelling from Naples to Caserta. Photo: David McKelvey

Panic on Naples train as vandals attack

Italian passengers were left terrified when a gang of vandals attacked a conductor who tried to stop them destroying carriages on a Naples train on Thursday. 4 comments

4 comments

Italian marines Massimiliano Latorre (R) and Salvatore Girone. Photo: Vincenzo Pinto/AFP

India suspends case against Italian marines

India's Supreme Court has suspended legal proceedings against two Italian marines pending international arbitration on the 2012 shooting of two Kerala fishermen.

PSG's Lucas Digne has completed his loan move to AS Roma. Photo: Franck Fife/AFP

PSG's Lucas Digne seals Roma loan move

Serie A side Roma continued to shore up their defence on Wednesday with Paris Saint Germain French international left-back Lucas Digne completing his loan move to the capital club.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flies to Italy on Thursday. Photo: Gali Gibbon/Pool/AFP

Israel's Netanyahu to visit Milan World Expo

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flies to Italy on Thursday for talks with Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and a visit to the World Expo 2015 in Milan, his office said.

Photo: Shutterstock

German gadget clamps down on Nutella thieves

For many, opening the cupboard to find someone else in your family or flatshare has finished the Nutella jar is the stuff of nightmares.

Migrant crisis

Photo: Giovanni Isolino/AFP

At least 55 dead in new migrant tragedy

At least 55 dead bodies were discovered Wednesday on three overcrowded migrant boats in the Mediterranean, the Italian coastguard said.

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From our other editions:

www.austria.info

Six-year-old girl being sued for €38,000

A six-year-old girl is being sued by a woman for €38,000 for causing a skiing accident in Vorarlberg that left the adult with serious injuries.

The student (not pictured) was sent home from school. Photo: Heng Fu Ming

School tells Muslim pupil to take off veil in class

A high school in the canton of Bern has forbidden a pupil from wearing the hijab in class, Swiss media reported on Monday.

Protests in Heidenau turned violent as right-wing demonstrators clashed with police at the weekend. Photo:DPA.

Gabriel visits Saxony after weekend of violence

Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel is to visit the Saxon town of Heidenau on Monday after far right demonstrators clashed with police outside a refugee home in the town over the weekend.

Inger Støjberg said she is considering changes to Danish citizenship requirements. Photo: Jens Nørgaard Larsen/Scanpix

Denmark considers citizenship rule changes

The Danish government is considering changes to the nation’s citizenship laws that may make it harder to get citizenship in the future and pull the rug out from under 1,950 foreigners who have already satisfied the current requirements.

The picnic bench was positioned on top of the ancient tomb. Stock photo: Michael Coghlan/Flickr

Fury as archaeological site ruined and replaced with picnic table

Builders in a Galician village confused a neolithic tomb with a broken stone picnic table and replaced the 6,000-year-old artefact with a brand spanking new concrete bench.

The two men have been sentenced to prison for their threats. Photo: AFP

Two men jailed after 'Charlie Hebdo 2' scare

Two men have been sent to prison after their "joke" about kicking off a "second" Charlie Hebdo attack while on a train in France saw them arrested.

The Storskog border station between Norway and Russia. Photo: Cornelius Poppe/NTB scanpix

Syrians cross Norway's Arctic border on bicyles

More than 100 Syrian refugees have crossed the Arctic border into Norway from Russia on bicycles, exploiting a loophole in the country's border regulations.

Video

Swedish model Agnes Victoria Hedengård. Photo: Private/Instagram

'Too big' Swedish model cheers global support

UPDATED: A 19-year-old model from Sweden has told The Local she is thrilled to have raised concerns about the fashion industry, after using a video to reveal how agencies said she was "too big" despite her being underweight.