Italy's top story on Thursday:
An Italian woman under house arrest in Hungary for allegedly attacking a group of neo-Nazis in Budapest has asked to be transferred to the Italian embassy over fears for her safety, news agency Ansa reported on Wednesday.
The case of 39-year-old Ilaria Salis, a teacher from Monza, north of Milan, became front-page news in Italy after she appeared in court handcuffed and chained with her feet shackled. The activist was arrested in Budapest in February 2023 following a counter-demonstration against a neo-Nazi rally.
Salis was granted house arrest in Hungary last month, but her father Roberto Salis told Ansa that she had received threats from neo-Nazis after her address was revealed in court, and was petitioning Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to be transferred the Italian embassy for her and her family's protection.
Salis announced in April that she would be running as a candidate for Italy’s left-wing Greens and Left Alliance (Alleanza Verdi Sinistra, AVS) in June's European elections.
Italy hit record-breaking number of tourist stays in 2023
Last year set a historic record for Italian tourism, with more than 450 million overnight stays, according to data released by national statistics agency Istat on Tuesday.
Foreign visitors accounted for 54.2 percent of the stays, which saw an increase of 9.5 percent between 2022 and 2023.
“Numbers never lie,” said Tourism Minister Daniela Santanchè, quoted in Corriere della Sera newspaper.
READ ALSO: Italy set for summer tourism boom as bookings increase again
Santanchè said the next step is to offer more luxury services and sustainable quality tourism, particularly in smaller villages.
“Our vision for the industry is proving successful, judging by the data, and we will continue to work intensely on this," she added.
Italy fines Meta over lack of transparency
Italy's competition authority on Wednesday fined global tech giant Meta €3.5 million for a lack of transparency in its use of data and management of Instagram and Facebook accounts, news agency AFP reported.
The AGCM watchdog said in a statement the fine was for "unfair commercial practices," as "Meta failed... to immediately inform users registered to Instagram via the web of the use of their personal data for commercial purposes."
It also said Meta "did not accurately manage" the suspension of users' Facebook and Instagram accounts.
In a statement, Meta said it disagreed with the decision and was "assessing our options," according to AFP.
Italians investigated for selling champion horse's sperm
Two men are under investigation in Italy accused of illegally selling semen from trotting champion Varenne, one of their lawyers told AFP on Tuesday.
They are Walter Ferrero, the head of Varenne Forever, the company managing the stallion's breeding, and Roberto Brischetto, head of the stud farm where Varenne is in retirement near Turin.
They are suspected of having sold samples of semen from Varenne - who won the Prix d'Amerique in 2001 and 2002 - to breeders without alerting the horse's owner, providing the stallion with "thousands of illegitimate sons", according to La Stampa newspaper.
Prosecutors in Turin have closed the investigation and a judge must now rule on whether the case goes to trial. "We are relaxed," Ferrero's lawyer, Enrico Calabrese, told AFP.
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