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Summer sales in Rome get underway on 4 July opening six weeks of discount shopping which merchants are praying will put a silver lining on an otherwise slow year for retail.
According to consumer group Confconsumatori, discounts around the capital will...
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The majority of pets in L’Aquila were dogs and cats. How did they survive the 6 April earthquake? Firstly, they knew many seconds before their owners that the earthquake was on its way. Dogs barked in gardens, cats were agitated...
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The Italian culture ministry is planning more renovations for Rome's Palazzo Barberini, which houses the National Gallery of Antique Art (entrance on Via delle Quattro Fontane near Piazza Barberini). At a cost of €5 million, work will pick up on the...
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Entering or staying in Italy without a valid permit of stay has become a crime offence under controversial new anti-immigration legislation approved definitively by the senate, or upper house of parliament, on 2 July. Until now illegal immigration has been an...
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An audit by the state court of accounts estimates that bureaucratic corruption in 2008 cost Italian taxpayers between €50 and €60 billion. Auditors based their estimate on data collected from over 10,846 criminal investigations conducted last year.
According to the...
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A lifeline is being thrown to senior citizens to help them endure the summer heat. The new scheme has been set up by the city hall and the Lazio regional council, with the assistance of the local health authorities, the protezione...
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The usual ingredients of music, open-air cabaret, shopping and cocktails, not to mention a dash of exotic dining under the stars, bring to life the river banks of the Tiber once again this summer.
From sundown until the early hours right through...
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According ATAC, Rome’s public transport operator, 50 of the 1,000 bicycles in the city’s bike sharing scheme have disappeared in less than a month. At the beginning of June ATAC took over the administration of the scheme from the Spanish company...
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The National Archives in the United Kingdom has launched an appeal for anyone with knowledge or memories of the world war two prisoner of war camp in Kew, Surrey, to come forward and share their story. The appeal is part...
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Negative trend. Over the past year Abruzzo has been suffering the consequences of the world’s economical and financial crisis more then other Italian regions. ISTAT data relative to the first trimester of 2009 confirms this negative trend but does not reflect...
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A popular referendum on 21-22 June to amend the Italian electoral law failed due to weak voter turnout. Just 23 per cent of the Italian electorate turned out to vote, falling well short of the 50 per cent plus one vote...
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From 28 June to 15 July people from the Schengen area countries travelling to Italy will need to produce a valid identity document on entry. Italy is suspending freedom of travel from the 24 other Schengen countries for security reasons in...
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To celebrate World Environment Day on 5 June, the president of the regional council, Piero Marazzo, and the Rome city hall environmental councillor, Fabio De Lillo, announced the reopening of the Tiber river bank and cycle path to great fanfare. The...
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State railway company Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) has sold the Air Terminal Ostiense for just under €11 million to a company which says it intends to convert the structure into a shopping centre.
Designed by Spanish architect Julio Lafuente for the 1990...
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As of 14 June, special offers, discounts and timetable changes came into effect on train travel for the coming summer months.
The “Famiglia Estate” scheme offers discounts on Alta Velocità (AV) and AV Fast trains for families of between 3 and 5...
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The switchover from analog to digital terrestrial television in Lazio begins between 15-16 June with channels RAI2 (state television) and Rete4 (Berlusconi’s Fininvest). This is the first step in phasing out all analog television channels, which in Lazio, will be completed...
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High tension: Two months have passed since that morning 6 April when an earthquake struck Abruzzo at 3.32 and devastated L’Aquila, one of Italy’s major cultural cities. Prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s 13 walks around tent camps, with his high platform shoes,...
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Swap parties – bartering events that give people the chance to exchange their used items – have arrived in the capital following their successful launch in Milan.
On the last Saturday of each month the Neapolitan association Bidonville organizes a bartering party...
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News in Europe
Berlin, Germany:
Corruption costs Italy billions.
published on 02/07/2009
An audit by the state court of accounts estimates that bureaucratic...
Dublin, Ireland:
Government tackles unemployment.
published on 30/06/2009
The Irish government is to invest up to €1 billion in...
Jersey, Great Britain:
Jersey police hold dossiers on members of parliament.
published on 30/06/2009
Police dossiers were kept by Jersey police on every member of...
Brussels, Belgium:
Social housing stands empty
published on 23/06/2009
Brussels-based organisation Inter-Environnement Bruxelles has launched a campaign to raise public...
Paris, France:
Paris hosts Homeless World Cup in 2011
published on 23/06/2009
Paris has won its bid to host the 2011 Homeless World...
Milan, Italy:
Manhole cover art in Tortona.
published on 22/06/2009
Until the end of November, decorative cast iron panels mounted in...
Berlin, Germany:
Rosa Luxemburg's corpse discovered?
published on 21/06/2009
The director of the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences...
Oxford, United Kingdom:
Bicyclists banned from pedestrian areas
published on 21/06/2009
Police have pledged to step up enforcement in pedestrian-only areas of...
Milan, Italy:
Van Cleef opens in Milan
published on 19/06/2009
The historic jewellery house Van Cleef & Arpels opens a shop...
Madrid, Spain:
Madrid unemployment rises
published on 19/06/2009
Madrid was one of only three areas in Spain that saw...
News in Africa
Nairobi, Kenya:
UN Security Council calls for “compromise”.
published on 08/02/3008
The United Nations (UN) Security Council has urged Kenya’s leaders to...
Cairo, Egypt:
Power boost for Egypt.
published on 02/07/2009
Egypt’s ministry of electricity and energy has allocated LE 120 billion...
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia:
New premises for British Council.
published on 02/07/2009
The British Council has moved from its cramped premises in Piazza...
Accra, Ghana:
Accra gets tough on hawkers.
published on 02/07/2009
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), or city council, has renewed its...
Nairobi, Kenya:
Telcoms company Essar in expansion plan.
published on 02/07/2009
Kenya’s fourth mobile telecommunications provider Essar Telecom has secured funding to...
Lagos, Nigeria:
Flash floods wreak havoc in Lagos.
published on 02/07/2009
Flash floods due to persistent heavy rainfall have wreaked havoc in...
Lagos, Nigeria:
Many die in Lagos building collapse.
published on 02/07/2009
Numerous people died when a three-storey building collapsed in the densely...
Cape Town, South Africa:
SIM card registration in South Africa.
published on 02/07/2009
All South African mobile phone SIM cards must now be registered...
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania:
Tanzania to retain tax exemptions for religious institutions.
published on 02/07/2009
The government has withdrawn plans to abolish tax exemptions for religious...
Arusha, Tanzania:
Nane Nane agricultural show in Arusha.
published on 02/07/2009
Preparations are underway for the annual Nane Nane (meaning “eight eight”...
