Today in Italy: A roundup of the latest news on Tuesday
Rome Fiumicino named ‘best’ major airport in Europe for the 7th year in a row, Vatican's envoy summoned to Kyiv over Pope’s ‘white flag’ comments, and more news from around Italy on Tuesday.
Rome’s Fiumicino named 'best' major airport in Europe for 7th year in a row
Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport, better known as Rome Fiumicino, has been rated Europe's best in the Over 40 Million Passengers category for the seventh year in a row by the Airports Council International's (ACI) yearly Airport Service Quality Awards.
ACI’s 2024 awards were based on interviews with around 600,000 passengers at some 400 airports around the world, with questions focusing on 30 different quality markers.
Besides being named Europe’s best airport in the Over 40 Million Passengers category, Fiumicino ranked top in all the following categories: Airport with the Most Dedicated Staff, Easiest Airport Journey, Most Enjoyable Airport, Cleanest Airport.
Rome's other airport, Ciampino, also featured in the ACI report as it was recognised as the best European airport in the 5 to 15 Million Passengers category.
Three Palestinian nationals held over alleged terrorism plots
Italian police on Monday arrested three Palestinian nationals in L’Aquila, Abruzzo, on charges of "criminal association for the purposes of terrorism" against unspecified targets, an AFP report said.
The three men were suspected of having "planned attacks, including suicide missions, against civilian and military targets in foreign territory", according to a police statement.
Italian investigators suspect the three Palestinians may belong to "an operational military structure called the 'Rapid Response Group - Tulkarem Brigade’", the police statement said.
The group is part of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed group tied to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party, the statement said.
Head of EU rescue fund in talks with Italy to break ratification deadlock
The head of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), which provides loans at below-market rates to struggling eurozone states, said on Monday he was in contact with Italy to get it to approve a key reform of the bailout fund.
"I am collaborating [...] with all countries to understand and see how the situation in Italy will evolve," said ESM Director Pierre Gramegna during a press conference.
“We are still talking with Italy to see how we can find a solution," he added.
Italian MPs in early January rejected a motion to ratify a reform of the ESM strengthening the fund's financial firepower and increasing its authority to supervise countries in difficulty. Italy is the only EU member state yet to ratify the treaty.
Vatican envoy summoned to Kyiv over Pope’s ‘white flag’ comments
Ukraine on Monday summoned the Vatican's envoy to Kyiv after Pope Francis suggested over the weekend that the country should consider raising "the white flag" and negotiate with Russia.
"Due to Pope Francis’s statements, the Apostolic Nuncio was invited to the ministry of foreign affairs of Ukraine," the ministry said on social media.
It added that the envoy, Visvaldas Kulbodas, was told Kyiv was "disappointed with the words of the Pontiff regarding the white flag" and that the Pope “should have sent signals to the international community about the need to immediately unite forces to ensure the victory of good over evil".
The 87-year-old pontiff said in an interview aired over the weekend: "I believe that the strongest are those who see the situation, think about the people and have the courage to raise the white flag and negotiate."
French experts X-ray Italian virtuoso’s violin to uncover secret to its sound
French experts have fired X-rays at an 18th-century violin valued at 30 million euros hoping to discover the secret behind its sound, an AFP report said on Monday.
The violin, dubbed "Il Cannone" (The Cannon), was Italian composer and violin virtuoso Niccolò Paganini's favourite.
The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), in the southeastern French city of Grenoble, used a sophisticated particle accelerator to scan the instrument down to the cellular structure of its wood.
"The first goal is conservation," Paul Tafforeau of the ESRF told AFP. "If ever any flaws need repairing, we will have all the details."
But ESRF also hoped that the analysis would help shed light on why it plays so beautifully. "It's an exceptional instrument in terms of its sound qualities. With this data, we hope to better understand why," Tafforeau said.
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Rome’s Fiumicino named 'best' major airport in Europe for 7th year in a row
Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport, better known as Rome Fiumicino, has been rated Europe's best in the Over 40 Million Passengers category for the seventh year in a row by the Airports Council International's (ACI) yearly Airport Service Quality Awards.
ACI’s 2024 awards were based on interviews with around 600,000 passengers at some 400 airports around the world, with questions focusing on 30 different quality markers.
Besides being named Europe’s best airport in the Over 40 Million Passengers category, Fiumicino ranked top in all the following categories: Airport with the Most Dedicated Staff, Easiest Airport Journey, Most Enjoyable Airport, Cleanest Airport.
Rome's other airport, Ciampino, also featured in the ACI report as it was recognised as the best European airport in the 5 to 15 Million Passengers category.
Three Palestinian nationals held over alleged terrorism plots
Italian police on Monday arrested three Palestinian nationals in L’Aquila, Abruzzo, on charges of "criminal association for the purposes of terrorism" against unspecified targets, an AFP report said.
The three men were suspected of having "planned attacks, including suicide missions, against civilian and military targets in foreign territory", according to a police statement.
Italian investigators suspect the three Palestinians may belong to "an operational military structure called the 'Rapid Response Group - Tulkarem Brigade’", the police statement said.
The group is part of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed group tied to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party, the statement said.
Head of EU rescue fund in talks with Italy to break ratification deadlock
The head of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), which provides loans at below-market rates to struggling eurozone states, said on Monday he was in contact with Italy to get it to approve a key reform of the bailout fund.
"I am collaborating [...] with all countries to understand and see how the situation in Italy will evolve," said ESM Director Pierre Gramegna during a press conference.
“We are still talking with Italy to see how we can find a solution," he added.
Italian MPs in early January rejected a motion to ratify a reform of the ESM strengthening the fund's financial firepower and increasing its authority to supervise countries in difficulty. Italy is the only EU member state yet to ratify the treaty.
Vatican envoy summoned to Kyiv over Pope’s ‘white flag’ comments
Ukraine on Monday summoned the Vatican's envoy to Kyiv after Pope Francis suggested over the weekend that the country should consider raising "the white flag" and negotiate with Russia.
"Due to Pope Francis’s statements, the Apostolic Nuncio was invited to the ministry of foreign affairs of Ukraine," the ministry said on social media.
It added that the envoy, Visvaldas Kulbodas, was told Kyiv was "disappointed with the words of the Pontiff regarding the white flag" and that the Pope “should have sent signals to the international community about the need to immediately unite forces to ensure the victory of good over evil".
The 87-year-old pontiff said in an interview aired over the weekend: "I believe that the strongest are those who see the situation, think about the people and have the courage to raise the white flag and negotiate."
French experts X-ray Italian virtuoso’s violin to uncover secret to its sound
French experts have fired X-rays at an 18th-century violin valued at 30 million euros hoping to discover the secret behind its sound, an AFP report said on Monday.
The violin, dubbed "Il Cannone" (The Cannon), was Italian composer and violin virtuoso Niccolò Paganini's favourite.
The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), in the southeastern French city of Grenoble, used a sophisticated particle accelerator to scan the instrument down to the cellular structure of its wood.
"The first goal is conservation," Paul Tafforeau of the ESRF told AFP. "If ever any flaws need repairing, we will have all the details."
But ESRF also hoped that the analysis would help shed light on why it plays so beautifully. "It's an exceptional instrument in terms of its sound qualities. With this data, we hope to better understand why," Tafforeau said.
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