Rome, Italy | AFP | Italy will be sending 470 soldiers to Niger to help the west African nation stem the flow of Europe-bound migrants, Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said Thursday. Agadez, the main city in central Niger, has become a revolving door for economic migrants seeking to reach Europe via …
Read More »‘10,000 refugees’ to be relocated from Libya to EU in 2018
Rome, Italy | AFP | Up to 10,000 people stranded in refugee camps and detention centres in Libya could be relocated to Europe in 2018, the Italian government said on Sunday. The initiative would be part of an attempt by EU countries to address the deteriorating conditions in Libya, where …
Read More »Refugees directly flown from Libya to Italy in ‘historic’ first
Rome, Italy | AFP | A group of 162 “vulnerable” refugees were flown directly from Libya to Italy on Friday for the first time, a day hailed as “historic” by Interior Minister Marco Minniti. “For the first time a humanitarian corridor has been opened from Libya to Europe. It’s a start,” …
Read More »Libya, Italy to join forces against people traffickers
Tripoli, Libya | AFP | Italy and Libya will set up a joint commission in a bid to fight back against people traffickers and tackle the problem of illegal migration, the Tripoli government said Saturday. The announcement was made after talks in the Libyan capital between Italian Interior Minister Marco …
Read More »From Libya’s migrant hell to Italy’s handbag fashion world
LAMA DI RENO, Italy | AFP | From forced labour in Libya to a job as a founding member of an Italian fashion start-up, Bassirou has come a long way in two years, thanks to his skills with scissors. The 26-year-old Burkina Faso native is the star student of a …
Read More »Scandal-hit Robinho cautionary tale of wasted talent
Paris, France | AFP | Few players encapsulate the idea of wasted potential like Robinho, once one of the world’s most sought-after talents but now far from the spotlight and mired in scandal after a conviction for gang rape. The Brazilian attacker, capped 100 times for Brazil, had the world …
Read More »Italy says 1,100 migrants rescued from sea in one day
Rome, Italy | AFP | About 1,100 migrants from the Libyan coast were rescued from the sea on Wednesday, including a woman who gave birth in a rubber boat, the Italian coastguard and monitors said. They were recovered from 10 rubber boats and a small wooden boat in a rescue …
Read More »Italy sack Ventura, target Ancelotti
Milan, Italy | AFP | Gian Piero Ventura’s reign as Italy coach ended on Wednesday after a World Cup qualifying fiasco during which the four-time champions failed to reach next year’s finals in Russia. The 69-year-old’s fate was sealed after a crisis meeting of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) in Rome, …
Read More »Buffon quits as Italy suffer World Cup ‘apocalypse’
Milan, Italy | AFP | A tearful Gianluigi Buffon quit international football as four-time champions Italy sensationally missed out on their first World Cup finals in 60 years after a playoff defeat to Sweden on Monday. Coach Gian Piero Ventura also said he would consider his future after the Azzuri …
Read More »Statue of actor Bud Spencer unveiled in Budapest
Budapest, Hungary | AFP | A year after his death, a massive bronze statue of Spaghetti Western actor Bud Spencer, born Carlo Pedersoli in 1929, was unveiled in Budapest Saturday before a crowd of adoring fans. The burly and bearded actor, who died in June 2016, earned cult status in …
Read More »