Today in Italy: A roundup of the latest news on Thursday
Warm weather arrives for the end of January, parliament approves migrant deal with Albania, Udine bans more racist football fans, and more news from around Italy on Thursday.
Italy’s top story on Thursday:
Italy is set for an unusually warm end to January with a wave of high pressure moving in this week and lasting until February, forecasters say, bringing the highest temperatures on Thursday 25th and Friday 26th January.
Daytime temperatures are forecast to reach peaks of 20 degrees Celsius in Sicily, Sardinia and some areas of the south, 15C in the centre of the country, and 10-12 degrees in the Po Valley.
The warm spell is set to cover the last three days in January, known as i giorni della merla, or the 'days of the blackbird', which are said to usually be the coldest of the year.
Tradition has it that, if the 29-31st of January is particularly cold, spring should arrive early and be warm and sunny. If not, spring will be late and rainy.
Italy's parliament approves Albanian migration centres
Italy's lower house of parliament has approved a deal to send asylum seekers rescued at sea to migrant detention centres in Albania.
The law now goes to the Senate, where it is also expected to pass.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni came to power in 2022 promising to clamp down on boat arrivals, but her opponents say the project will do little to reduce their numbers and is a waste of hundreds of millions of euros of taxpayer money.
"This unworkable, harmful and unlawful proposal would see people in distress subjected to long and unnecessary transfers by sea and ending up in automatic and potentially prolonged detention, in violation of international law," said Amnesty researcher Matteo de Bellis, as reported by AFP.
Italian football club bans more fans over racism
Four more fans of the Udine football team have received a lifetime ban from the club's stadium after hurling racist abuse at French goalkeeper Mike Maignan in a match with AC Milan on Saturday.
Police had already handed the individuals a five-year 'DASPO', a ban on access to sporting events in the interests of public order, according to Italian news reports.
The Serie A football club issued a lifetime ban to another 46-year-old man identified as one of the fans behind the attacks earlier in the week.
Maignan had challenged Italy's authorities to take action on Sunday by saying that "if you do nothing, you will also be complicit".
Italy to treat 100 wounded Palestinian children
One hundred Palestinian children wounded in war-torn Gaza are to receive medical treatment in Italian hospitals, the defence ministry in Rome said on Wednesday.
The healthcare system has almost entirely collapsed in Gaza after more than three months of devastating Israeli bombardment and fighting in the besieged Palestinian territory.
The ministry announced "the start of the operation for the transport of 100 Palestinian children and their families from the Gaza Strip to Italian hospital facilities."
The first 30 children are set to be transferred in the next few days "with an air force airlift between Italy and Egypt", the ministry stated.
Participating hospitals reportedly include the Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute in Bologna, Meyer University Hospital in Florence, Gaslini Hospital in Genoa, and Bambino Gesù Paediatric Hospital in Rome.
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Italy’s top story on Thursday:
Italy is set for an unusually warm end to January with a wave of high pressure moving in this week and lasting until February, forecasters say, bringing the highest temperatures on Thursday 25th and Friday 26th January.
Daytime temperatures are forecast to reach peaks of 20 degrees Celsius in Sicily, Sardinia and some areas of the south, 15C in the centre of the country, and 10-12 degrees in the Po Valley.
The warm spell is set to cover the last three days in January, known as i giorni della merla, or the 'days of the blackbird', which are said to usually be the coldest of the year.
Tradition has it that, if the 29-31st of January is particularly cold, spring should arrive early and be warm and sunny. If not, spring will be late and rainy.
Italy's parliament approves Albanian migration centres
Italy's lower house of parliament has approved a deal to send asylum seekers rescued at sea to migrant detention centres in Albania.
The law now goes to the Senate, where it is also expected to pass.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni came to power in 2022 promising to clamp down on boat arrivals, but her opponents say the project will do little to reduce their numbers and is a waste of hundreds of millions of euros of taxpayer money.
"This unworkable, harmful and unlawful proposal would see people in distress subjected to long and unnecessary transfers by sea and ending up in automatic and potentially prolonged detention, in violation of international law," said Amnesty researcher Matteo de Bellis, as reported by AFP.
Italian football club bans more fans over racism
Four more fans of the Udine football team have received a lifetime ban from the club's stadium after hurling racist abuse at French goalkeeper Mike Maignan in a match with AC Milan on Saturday.
Police had already handed the individuals a five-year 'DASPO', a ban on access to sporting events in the interests of public order, according to Italian news reports.
The Serie A football club issued a lifetime ban to another 46-year-old man identified as one of the fans behind the attacks earlier in the week.
Maignan had challenged Italy's authorities to take action on Sunday by saying that "if you do nothing, you will also be complicit".
Italy to treat 100 wounded Palestinian children
One hundred Palestinian children wounded in war-torn Gaza are to receive medical treatment in Italian hospitals, the defence ministry in Rome said on Wednesday.
The healthcare system has almost entirely collapsed in Gaza after more than three months of devastating Israeli bombardment and fighting in the besieged Palestinian territory.
The ministry announced "the start of the operation for the transport of 100 Palestinian children and their families from the Gaza Strip to Italian hospital facilities."
The first 30 children are set to be transferred in the next few days "with an air force airlift between Italy and Egypt", the ministry stated.
Participating hospitals reportedly include the Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute in Bologna, Meyer University Hospital in Florence, Gaslini Hospital in Genoa, and Bambino Gesù Paediatric Hospital in Rome.
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