The fresh crop of MEPs includes Holocaust deniers, fascists, xenophobes and a leftwing war hero Poland's newly elected MEP is anti-EU, anti-democracy, pro-Putin and, by his own account, anti-women. The 72-year-old led his party New Right to fourth place in the elections, with 7.2% of the vote. He also gained 28.5% of votes among 18- to 25-year-olds more than any other party. Continue reading... ...
Which nations bucked the trend in the Euro elections and surged towards leftwing parties? The headline gains were for nationalist and Eurosceptic parties witness all those pictures of "evil" Nigel Farage smiling into his pint glass, or of Marine Le Pen, whose Front National party triumphed in France , throwing back her head and cackling. But some member nations bucked the trend in the Euro...
A Brussels dinner brings together the walking wounded from an election that has reshaped the politics of at least four nations Prime ministers, presidents, and chancellors from across Europe are to dine in Brussels on Tuesday evening, and digest the verdict from their respective disenchanted voters. Many will arrive as walking wounded, their credibility battered, their reputations bruised, their policies...
PM Matteo Renzi's centre-left PD trounces anti-establishment Five Star Movement as Italy prepares to take over rotating EU presidency The European elections have handed Italy's prime minister, Matteo Renzi, a resounding victory as the centre-left leader's Democratic party (PD) won more than 40% of the vote and trounced the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S). In an astonishingly strong showing...
Italian foreign ministry says Ronchelli killed along with interpreter Andrey Mironov, but bodies have not yet been formally identified An Italian photojournalist and his Russian interpreter have been killed in eastern Ukraine while covering fighting between government forces and pro-Russia insurgents, officials have said. The Italian foreign ministry said Andrea Rocchelli, 30, was killed on Saturday...
TV personality and rapper wed at Renaissance fortress Stepfather Bruce Jenner walked bride down the aisle Reality star Kim Kardashian and rapper Kanye West wed on Saturday evening in a Renaissance fortress in Florence, the TV network that carries Keeping Up With the Kardashians confirmed. The city's mayor's office had said a week earlier that the couple rented Belvedere Fort for a wedding to be performed...
Experts reject argument that Vatican only exercises control over city state and is not accountable for priests' actions worldwide The United Nations Committee Against Torture (CAT) has criticised the Vatican's handling of the clerical sex abuse scandal, urging the Catholic church to do more to punish perpetrators, help victims and place "meaningful sanctions" on clerics who fail to deal properly...
Photographs from the Guardian Eyewitness series Continue reading... ...
One of four bosses of Casalesi clan within Camorra mafia is collaborating with investigators in Naples, Italian media says A so-called super boss of a powerful clan within the Camorra mafia has turned state witness and is collaborating with investigators in Naples, Italian media reported on Thursday. Antonio Iovine, one of the four bosses of the infamous Casalesi clan, started answering the questions...
Former Italian leader defends his relationship with German chancellor on Newsnight and says scandal claims are lies With less than a month remaining in his role as Newsnight's rottweiler-in-chief, Jeremy Paxman has added another high-profile scalp to his legacy of public-figure grillings. Demonstrating that his decision to leave the programme after 25 years has not doused any of the fire in his notoriously...
Veronica Lario has reason to be angry at Chi's cosmetic surgery suggestions but there is hope people are tiring of this behaviour I had terrible hay fever this past weekend, casting something of a spectre over the glorious May weather. As with all things bright and beautiful, there are downsides, but these bothersome sneezing fits have been manifesting themselves in the strangest of ways. On Saturday,...
Royal joined veterans to commemorate campaign viewed by Winston Churchill as crucial in securing Italy for the allies Prince Harry has paid tribute to the veterans who fought in the bitter and bloody Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy during the second world war, saying that its reputation as 'the forgotten campaign' made "no sense at all". More than 50,000 Allied soldiers died in the campaign...
Relatives claim foundation is not respecting wishes of patron whose Venice palazzo houses renowned modern-art collection It is the most visited modern art museum in Italy, a sumptuous palace located on the Grand Canal in Venice. But on Wednesday, the Peggy Guggenheim art collection will be the subject of a bitter court case in Paris pitting the mighty Guggenheim Foundation against two of the American...
Chi, a publication with links to ex-Italian PM's family, printed unflattering paparazzi pictures suggesting Veronica Lario get plastic surgery A row over the way older women are portrayed in the media has erupted in Italy with the ex-wife of Silvio Berlusconi emerging as a perhaps unlikely crusader against female objectification. Veronica Lario, who left the former prime minister in 2009 after nearly...
Rapper and reality TV star splash out 300,000 on Florence's 16th-century Beldevere fort for nuptials on 24 May When Ferdinando I de' Medici ordered the construction of Florence's Belvedere fort in the late 16th century, he did so not only to protect the city from enemy invaders but to proclaim the wealth and prestige of his supremely powerful dynasty. More than 400 years later, the Fortezza di Santa...
The sooner we all start drinking like Italians, the better: despite liberal regulations, the way they drink in moderation reduces serious risk The summer before I went to university in Dublin, I was in a state of high anxiety not about the prospect of leaving home or the coming course work so much as my ability to drink alcohol in any quantity. To my young mind, being able to drink a lot was as important...
Milan opera house tears up Alexander Pereira's original contract and replaces it with shorter one following controversy Alexander Pereira, the incoming director general of La Scala, has vowed to show the world's most famous opera house he is "not a dunce" after a humiliating controversy between Milan and his current employers, the Salzburg festival, resulted in his original five-year contract...
Buyer open to ideas for tiny island of Poveglia once home to dying plague victims, asylum inmates, and other tortured spirits An Italian businessman has won a state auction to lease a picturesque but 'haunted' island in the Venice lagoon. Luigi Brugnaro, who owns an employment agency, topped the bidding with 513,000 (£417,000) for the 99-year lease despite a rival offer from local community group,...
Fifty more paintings to be exhibited as Florence museum accepts donation from luxury goods firm Salvatore Ferragamo The Uffizi Gallery in Florence is to renovate and reopen eight rooms showing Renaissance art after a 600,000 (£488,000) donation from the luxury goods company Salvatore Ferragamo. About 50 paintings from artists including Luca Signorelli, Lorenzo di Credi, and Pietro Perugino, are...
Thousands of yellow jellyfish were spotted in North Adriatic Sea last year and have since disappeared, scientists say Scientists in Italy say they have discovered a new species of jellyfish in the Gulf of Venice. Sightings of yellow jellyfish in the North Adriatic Sea were reported to a citizen science project last year, said Ferdinando Boero, a zoologist. Continue reading... ...