Deputy PM Salvini threatens further strike injunctions amid row with unions
Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini said on Saturday he was ready to sign off on further strike-related injunctions in December after he limited a 24-hour general walkout on Friday, November 29th, to just eight hours, Ansa reported.
"I am ready to intervene again to help citizens," Salvini said.
“My commitment remains unchanged ahead of December, when 15 strikes have already been called, including a general one on the 13th,” he added.
READ ALSO: Key dates: The transport strikes to expect in Italy this winter
The announcement came amid ongoing tensions between PM Giorgia Meloni’s government and some of Italy’s major trade unions after an injunction cut Friday’s strike down to eight hours for the healthcare and education sectors, and four hours for transport services.
Salvini said his decision to limit the strike was intended to “spare Italians from yet another chaotic Friday” following a spate of protests that have caused major delays and cancellations for rail, air and local public transport passengers in recent months.
But opposition forces branded the move as a “serious violation” of fundamental labour rights, including the right to strike.
CGIL union leader Maurizio Landini said on Sunday that 500,000 people across Italy took part in Friday’s strike despite the previous injunction order.
The protest was called to demand "an increase in purchasing power for employees and retired people, as well as funding for health, education, public services and industrial policies," CGIL said in a statement.
Tuscany, Veneto and Emilia Romagna top healthcare quality rankings
Tuscany, Veneto and Emilia Romagna topped regional rankings for healthcare quality standards in 2023, according to provisional data released by Italy’s Health Ministry on Saturday.
The report ranked Italian regions based on 33 indicators ranging from hospital admissions and outcomes to health screenings and vaccination rates.
Some 13 regions achieved passing grades (60 or more on a scale from 0 to 100) in all three macro-areas of interest: prevention, clinic care and hospital care.
These included: Tuscany, Veneto, Emilia Romagna, Piedmont, Marche, Umbria, Trento province, Lombardy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Puglia, Lazio, Campania and Molise.
Sicily, Calabria and Aosta Valley were the worst-ranked regions in 2023.
Sicily and Calabria both failed to reach the passing grade in the prevention and clinic care macro-areas.
Aosta Valley failed in the hospital and clinic care macro-areas.
Though the Italian public health system (Servizio Sanitario Nazionale, SSN) is generally ranked among the best in Europe, the country has long experienced marked regional disparities in healthcare provision standards, especially between north and south.
Fiorentina's clash with Inter Milan suspended after Bove collapses
Fiorentina's match with Inter Milan was suspended on Sunday after midfielder Edoardo Bove suddenly collapsed to the ground, AFP reported.
Bove was rushed to Florence's Careggi hospital in an ambulance as players and fans looked on in horror following a sudden collapse with 16 minutes on the clock.
Serie A told AFP that the match will be rescheduled to "an as-yet undetermined date".
Fiorentina later said that Bove, 22, was in the Careggi hospital's intensive care unit, where he'd arrived in a "stable" condition.
"Initial cardiological and neurological tests have ruled out severe damage to his central nervous and cardio-respiratory systems," Fiorentina said in a joint statement with the hospital.
"Edoardo Bove will be re-evaluated in the next 24 hours," it added.
In 2018, Fiorentina suffered tragedy when then-captain Davide Astori died in his sleep aged 31 before a league match at Udinese.
‘No dangers for Italians in Syria’: Italy’s Foreign Minister
Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said that Italians in Syria faced “no dangers” after the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rebel group seized control of Aleppo in one of the most significant developments in the country’s civil war in recent years, according to Ansa.
"There are no dangers for our compatriots, also because rebels have clearly said they will [...] not conduct hostile operations against civilians, and in particular against Italians and Christians," Tajani said.
Tajani also said that a group of Italians was expected to leave Aleppo for Damascus on Sunday with a UN convoy.
Other Italian citizens, including members of Italian-Syrian families and clerics, intended to remain in the city, Tajani added.
According to the latest estimates, there are currently around 300 Italian nationals living in Syria.
With reporting from Conor Faulkner.
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