Italy's top story on Thursday:
Youtuber who caused fatal road accident dodges prison
A 20-year-old who caused a fatal car crash outside Rome last June was sentenced to four years and four months on Wednesday - but won't go to prison, his lawyer said.
Matteo Di Pietro, one of the creators behind the stunts-based Youtube channel 'The Borderline', was driving a Lamborghini at 124km/h in a 30km zone when it collided with a family car, killing a five-year-old and injuring his mother and sister.
Italian law provides that offenders aged under 21 with a less than four-year sentence can serve their time under house arrest. Because the six months Di Pietro had already spent under house arrest in preliminary detention are deducted from his sentence, he will serve the remaining time at home.
The president of Italy's Road Accident Victim's Association said the "negligible" sentence had robbed the victim's family of justice. The family's lawyer said they respected the judge's decision, but added that it "won't be able to restore the life of a five-year-old child".
Italian farmers to protest in Brussels
Italy's agriculture association Coldiretti said Italian farmers would demonstrate in Brussels on Thursday alongside those from other countries against the EU's agriculture policies.
Farmers in Italy have joined EU-wide protests this week, with 300 vehicles gathered in Alessandria on Wednesday and a similar number in the Sardinian port of Cagliari, the AGI news agency reported."
They have yet to reach the levels of demonstrations in France, Germany or Belgium but the numbers and frequency of protests are growing. Their demands vary, from European Union regulations to the impact of inflation and taxes on their products.
Italy has Europe's oldest doctors
Italy's doctors are the oldest in Europe, a report from the country's national statistics office (Istat) revealed on Wednesday.
55.2 percent of the country's physicians are over 55 years old, compared to 44.5 percent in France, 44.1 percent in Germany, and 32.7 percent in Spain, the data reveals.
While Italy fares better than France, Austria and Spain when it comes to the number of specialists available per 100,000 inhabitants, numbers of general practitioners have fallen by 20 percent in the past decade, leaving 68 per 100,000 residents compared to 73 in Germany, 79 in Austria, 94 in Spain and 97 in France.
An estimated 3,000 doctors leave Italy's public health system every year, seeking better paid opportunities abroad or in private practice.
Record passenger numbers at Italy's airports
A record-breaking number of passengers passed through Italy's airports in 2023, according to the airport managers association Assaeroporti - indicating that the country's tourism industry has fully recovered from the pandemic.
192.7 million people arrived in Italian airports last year, the association said, a 2.1 percent increase on 2019 numbers.
Rome's Fiumicino airport hosted by far the highest proportion of passengers, at 40.5 million, followed by Milan Malpensa (26.1 million), Bergamo (16 million), Naples (12.4 million), and Venice (11.4 million).
Sicily's Catania airport came in sixth place (10.7 million passengers), followed by Bologna (10 million), Milan Linate (9.4 million), Palermo (8.1 million), and Bari (6.5 million).
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