Today in Italy: A roundup of the latest news on Thursday
Farmers' protests continue in Rome, Fiumicino airport raises dengue fever alert, police raid alleged Nazi group in Ferrara, and more news from around Italy on Thursday.
Italy's top news story on Thursday:
Another protest by farmers was expected to cause disruption in central Rome on Thursday, with some roads closed and bus lines rerouted according to the city's transport website.
While only ten tractors were permitted to enter the city on Thursday, up to 20,000 people were expected to attend the protests at Circus Maximus, according to Italian media reports.
In recent weeks, farmers have caused minor disruption to traffic around Italy by driving convoys of tractors along main roads and into city centres, amid similar protests across much of Europe.
Italy's government had on Friday conceded to some of the protestors' demands and restored a cut on income tax for those on lower incomes.
Fiumicino airpoirt raises dengue fever alert level
Rome's Fiumicino airport on Wednesday raised the alert level for planes and goods arriving from countries where there’s a "frequent and ongoing risk of contracting dengue fever”, Italy's Ansa news agency reported.
Fiumicino, Italy’s busiest airport, reportedly introduced measures including monitoring of aircraft disinfection as well as the "evaluation of further special surveillance, sanitation and disinfection procedures".
The move came after Italy's health ministry raised the alert level and told national air and sea border forces to increase monitoring of carriers from at-risk areas following an outbreak of cases in Brazil, where dengue cases have seen a fourfold increase compared to 2023.
Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne disease found in tropical and subtropical climates worldwide. Mild forms of dengue fever cause a high fever and flu-like symptoms, while severe forms can cause serious bleeding, low blood pressure and can in some cases be fatal.
Police raid alleged Nazi-Fascist group in Ferrara
Police in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, on Wednesday raided the homes of 24 Italians under investigation for allegedly handing out pamphlets hailing dictators Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini and performing Nazi chants at a restaurant in the city’s Jewish district in December 2023.
Officers seized weapons and Mussolini memorabilia, including truncheons, calendars and prayer cards bearing the dictator's likeness, reported newspaper Corriere della Sera.
The suspects, all aged between 20 and 30, were not charged but remain under investigation for apology of Fascism, incitement to racial hatred and contempt towards armed forces.
Calls to tighten Italy's rarely-used laws against apology of Fascism poured in last month after dozens of people performed the Roman salute in central Rome.
Climate activists strip off in front of Bologna’s monumental fountain
A group of women activists from the Ultima Generazione ('Last Generation') collective took off their tops and laid down bare-breasted in front of Bologna’s Fountain of Neptune on Wednesday in what they said was an act of protest against “the government's toxic love for land and bodies".
"Day after day, we are witnessing [...] climate policies that are in open contrast to the warnings issued by the scientific community, despite the fact that the effects of this crisis are now before our eyes," said the activists, according to reports from Ansa.
Ultima Generazione has staged multiple headline-grabbing acts of civil disobedience across the country in recent months.
On Tuesday, members of the same group targeted Florence's Uffizi museum, pasting images of flooding in Tuscany on the protective glass of Botticelli's Venus.
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Italy's top news story on Thursday:
Another protest by farmers was expected to cause disruption in central Rome on Thursday, with some roads closed and bus lines rerouted according to the city's transport website.
While only ten tractors were permitted to enter the city on Thursday, up to 20,000 people were expected to attend the protests at Circus Maximus, according to Italian media reports.
In recent weeks, farmers have caused minor disruption to traffic around Italy by driving convoys of tractors along main roads and into city centres, amid similar protests across much of Europe.
Italy's government had on Friday conceded to some of the protestors' demands and restored a cut on income tax for those on lower incomes.
Fiumicino airpoirt raises dengue fever alert level
Rome's Fiumicino airport on Wednesday raised the alert level for planes and goods arriving from countries where there’s a "frequent and ongoing risk of contracting dengue fever”, Italy's Ansa news agency reported.
Fiumicino, Italy’s busiest airport, reportedly introduced measures including monitoring of aircraft disinfection as well as the "evaluation of further special surveillance, sanitation and disinfection procedures".
The move came after Italy's health ministry raised the alert level and told national air and sea border forces to increase monitoring of carriers from at-risk areas following an outbreak of cases in Brazil, where dengue cases have seen a fourfold increase compared to 2023.
Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne disease found in tropical and subtropical climates worldwide. Mild forms of dengue fever cause a high fever and flu-like symptoms, while severe forms can cause serious bleeding, low blood pressure and can in some cases be fatal.
Police raid alleged Nazi-Fascist group in Ferrara
Police in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, on Wednesday raided the homes of 24 Italians under investigation for allegedly handing out pamphlets hailing dictators Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini and performing Nazi chants at a restaurant in the city’s Jewish district in December 2023.
Officers seized weapons and Mussolini memorabilia, including truncheons, calendars and prayer cards bearing the dictator's likeness, reported newspaper Corriere della Sera.
The suspects, all aged between 20 and 30, were not charged but remain under investigation for apology of Fascism, incitement to racial hatred and contempt towards armed forces.
Calls to tighten Italy's rarely-used laws against apology of Fascism poured in last month after dozens of people performed the Roman salute in central Rome.
Climate activists strip off in front of Bologna’s monumental fountain
A group of women activists from the Ultima Generazione ('Last Generation') collective took off their tops and laid down bare-breasted in front of Bologna’s Fountain of Neptune on Wednesday in what they said was an act of protest against “the government's toxic love for land and bodies".
"Day after day, we are witnessing [...] climate policies that are in open contrast to the warnings issued by the scientific community, despite the fact that the effects of this crisis are now before our eyes," said the activists, according to reports from Ansa.
Ultima Generazione has staged multiple headline-grabbing acts of civil disobedience across the country in recent months.
On Tuesday, members of the same group targeted Florence's Uffizi museum, pasting images of flooding in Tuscany on the protective glass of Botticelli's Venus.
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