Articles and notes about Italy.
Italy’s government held emergency talks with intelligence chiefs on Tuesday after cyberattacks on supermarket freezer systems in at least nine European countries, according to AFP, in a report published by RFI. Supermarkets in Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden reported refrigeration problems that forced some retailers to discard food after temperatures rose. In Italy, cabinet undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano called the meeting with intelligence officials and the National Cybersecurity Agency, which also issued technical advice for retailers. European Commissioner for Food and Agriculture Christophe Hansen said the bloc takes the incidents “very seriously” and described them as a deliberate attempt to disrupt the food supply chain and undermine consumers’ confidence in it. Carlos Cancinos, a spokesperson for the Coop chain in Sweden, said there had been no further attacks overnight and that the affected shops had resumed “normal functioning”. The refrigeration equipment affected was connected to “old 4G networks”, he said.
Tens of thousands of people protested in more than 50 cities across Italy on Friday, October 30, 2026, against soaring living costs and the poor state of public services such as healthcare and education, CNN reported. The nationwide general strike, called by the anti-capitalist union Unione Sindacale di Base (USB), brought together teachers and workers from the agricultural and healthcare sectors, among others, and farmers dumped manure on the streets of Turin. The largest rallies took place in Milan, Turin and Rome, where young and old criticized Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her right-wing government.
Tens of thousands of people, mostly students and workers, took to the streets across Italy on Friday to demand higher wages and stronger public services, protest against the rising cost of living and oppose increased military spending, according to Reuters, in an article republished by U.S. News. In Genoa, around 15,000 port workers, students and other demonstrators entered the port, joining similar protests in Europe and elsewhere against the use of ports for arms shipments.
Thousands of students and workers took to the streets across Italy on Friday to demand more school funding and relief from the cost of living, with a heavy police presence to avert possible clashes, according to the Times of Israel. Marches were held in dozens of cities, including Bologna, Genoa, Naples and Turin, where a few minor skirmishes between protesters and riot police occurred at the start of the protest.
An Italian CH-47 Chinook helicopter serving with the European Union peacekeeping force in Bosnia (EUFOR) crashed on Thursday in the country’s north, with “a number” of personnel killed or injured, according to the Associated Press. Local officials told Bosnian media that three people died and 12 were injured in the crash near the town of Brcko, and EUFOR confirmed casualties and opened an investigation. Chinese state agency Xinhua reported the same toll of three killed and 12 injured.
Donald Trump reiterated that he will not get involved in Flávio Bolsonaro’s case after his escape from Brazil. Flávio’s attempt to present himself as the true elected president of Brazil caused discomfort behind the scenes in the United States government, according to Brasil 247.
In Italy, deputy Angelo Bonelli, of the Europa Verde party, asked the Foreign and Interior ministries for explanations about the Italian citizenships of Flávio, Eduardo and Carlos Bolsonaro.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's parliamentary email address was among those hit in a massive cyberattack on the Lower House's IT systems in recent days, along with accounts of other lawmakers, according to ANSA.
Italy’s courts hold a new hearing on Tuesday to reassess the extradition request for former congresswoman Carla Zambelli, and the session examines questions from Court of Cassation judges about prison conditions in Brazil, including the guarantee of medical care for the illnesses she says she has, according to G1. If the decision is favorable, Zambelli would return to Brazil to serve a sentence of 5 years and 3 months in prison, according to InfoMoney.
Soldiers guard central Milan as thousands of protesters march in cities across Europe, The Hindu reports. The protests run from Milan to Madrid, with security forces curbing clashes, and include campus, pension, housing and anti-corruption demands, the paper says. In several Italian cities, the demonstrations drew tear gas and water cannon fire, according to TRT World.
Protests against the war and the rising cost of living returned to major Italian cities on Saturday, a week after unrest erupted across the country, with clashes between demonstrators and police in Turin, Rome and Bologna and largely peaceful rallies in Milan, Reuters reported in a text republished by the Jerusalem Post. Authorities deployed a heavy police presence and many shops closed as a precaution; Reuters witnesses did not observe any shops being looted or property vandalized.
Five Italian activists detained by Israeli forces in the West Bank this week were released and repatriated on Saturday morning, Italy's foreign ministry said, according to Reuters, in text published by The Hindu. The women were detained by Israeli police in the settlement of Kiryat Arba, next to Hebron, along with other international activists, while trying to protect Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest, according to the Times of India.
Italy has sent 500 additional soldiers to Milan, on top of hundreds already stationed there, to support about 5,000 police and other law enforcement personnel ahead of new protests, according to the Associated Press (AP), in text published by The Times of Israel. Authorities are conducting drone surveillance, checks at railway stations and online monitoring for potential calls to violence.
Protests are scheduled on Saturday in many other European cities, from Portugal to Albania, according to the AP.
A truckers’ protest in southern Italy halted production of buffalo mozzarella, with an estimated loss of €3 million (US$3.37 million) in just 24 hours as the milk cannot reach dairies in the Naples region, according to SCMP. The protests, which seriously affected fuel and food supplies in southern Italy, were easing on Thursday as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government was lining up aid, according to Reuters, in a text republished by U.S. News.
Italy on Tuesday approved the deployment of 500 troops to Milan after violent clashes as fuel price protests hit pasta production and food deliveries in southern Italy, France 24 reported. The government also announced new security measures aimed at tackling the kind of violent protests that damaged Milan's central shopping district when weekend rioters, many of them minors, looted stores and set fire to property, AP reported. A government decree calls for the deployment of an additional 500 soldiers to Milan through the end of the year, requires parents to pay for damage caused by minors and makes it easier to prosecute minors over 14.
Italy’s government will dispatch 500 army troops to “defend Milan” after two days of unrest that saw demonstrators clash with police, loot shops and vandalise property, according to Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini cited by the Guardian on Monday. Saturday’s protest over poor public services and rising costs descended into looting in the city centre, with several hundred hooded protesters setting bins ablaze, and stores including Decathlon, Arc’teryx and Vodafone were ransacked.
Italian police detained 271 young people in Milan on Sunday during unrest, after a second day of protests over poor public services and rising costs, authorities said, in a report by the Jerusalem Post. Of those taken to police stations, 32 were arrested, including 23 minors and 13 foreign nationals, police said on Monday.
Milan saw a second day of clashes between youths and police around Piazza Duomo on Sunday, October 18, with bottles thrown, stores ransacked and property destroyed by mostly black-clad vandals, according to Le Monde. Police arrested about 70 people since Saturday, according to the Ansa news agency, and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called a security meeting for Monday. The clashes began on Saturday on the sidelines of a sanctioned demonstration against the high cost of living.
Italian police fired tear gas in Milan after coming under attack from protesters throwing stones in the square in front of the city’s Gothic cathedral, and used a water cannon and made seven arrests in Bologna after a protest turned violent, according to the ANSA news agency, cited by the Jerusalem Post. In Milan and Bologna, police reported peaceful cost-of-living rallies alongside stone-throwing clashes, according to Al Jazeera.
Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, called the United States-Russia diesel supply deal a “very risky choice” that runs counter to efforts to force Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table with Ukraine, according to The Hindu. The two countries agreed last week that Moscow would initially supply more than 300,000 metric tonnes of diesel to U.S. and global markets.
Italy's defence minister said it is “a complete mistake, a major mistake” for the US to limit Ukraine's access to satellite systems and intelligence used to defend itself against Russian attacks, according to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The relationship between US President Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky is close to breaking down, according to TASS, which cites The New York Times.
Prosecutors in Rome have placed Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, the chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Eyal Zamir, and military, police and prison officials under investigation over the treatment of Gaza flotilla activists, Italian prosecutors said on Friday, according to the Times of Israel. The case concerns alleged torture, kidnapping, personal injury, robbery and damage when Israeli forces intercepted small fleets of boats headed toward Gaza in 2025 and 2026.
Thousands of students took to the streets on Friday (16) in Rome, Milan, Bologna and Turin to demand structural improvements in public education and protest against the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, according to Opera Mundi. Student groups denounced the progressive deterioration of school infrastructure and demanded that the 13 billion euros earmarked for military spending be redirected to education. Representatives of Opposizione Studentesca d’Alternativa announced a general strike for October 30, and organisers estimate that 400,000 people took part in protests across Italy. According to the police union Siulp, at least 18 officers were injured during the march outside the Education Ministry.
The United States and Russia agreed last week that Moscow would initially supply more than 300,000 metric tonnes of diesel to US and global markets, according to Reuters, in a text published by The Hindu. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the deal a “very risky choice” that, according to Reuters, runs counter to efforts to force Vladimir Putin to sit at a negotiating table with Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticised the accord, calling it “an investment in a war that must be ended.” Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev said the deal benefits both countries and helps the global market, according to Sputnik Globe. The International Energy Agency (IEA) warned that the gasoil market balance will remain tight well into 2027 and is dependent on a recovery of product supply from the Middle East, according to Türkiye Today, based on the Oil Market Report.
Pope Leo XIV was admitted on Tuesday morning to the Gemelli hospital in Rome for surgery to remove a nodule in his lung, according to G1. The Vatican did not say whether the nodule is malignant or benign, but said it is “well controlled and at an early stage”. Cardinal Piero Parolin said he is “worried” about the surgery “because no one expected something like this”, but that the pontiff is “serene”. The surgery was scheduled for 11 a.m. Brasília time, according to sources at the Holy See.
NATO will host its annual nuclear deterrence exercise Steadfast Noon beginning on Tuesday 13 October 2026, in Italy, with 17 nations and no live weapons, according to the alliance itself. The drills run from October 13 to 23, with 17 member states, according to RT.
The Italian Parliament approved a law giving the winning party or coalition that reaches 42 percent in both houses a bonus of 70 seats in the lower house and 35 in the Senate, according to The New York Times. Critics call it “Melonellum,” saying the law was made by the current government to bolster its chances at re-election next year.
The US 10-year Treasury yield breached a level last seen in April 2002, rising 4 basis points to 5.3338%, according to LSEG data. In Europe, the French 10-year yield rose 11 basis points to 4.9501%, Italy’s was up 10 basis points to 4.7171%, and the UK 10-year yield rose 5 basis points to 5.483%.
A court in Rome sentenced three Egyptian security officials to 10 years over the abduction of Giulio Regeni, according to The Independent. Those convicted are Major Magdi Ibrahim Abdelal Sharif, for whom prosecutors had sought a life sentence, and Colonels Uhsam Helmi and Athar Kamel Mohamed; the fourth defendant, General Tariq Sabir, was acquitted, according to ANSA. Regeni was abducted on 25 January 2016 while researching Egypt’s independent trade unions for his PhD at Cambridge, according to the BBC.
An Italian court convicted three Egyptian security officials over the kidnapping of student Giulio Regeni, according to Al Jazeera. On Monday, the three were sentenced to 10 years in prison for aggravated kidnapping and a fourth defendant was acquitted. A judge said Major Magdi Sharif, from Egypt's General Intelligence, police Colonel Hisham Helmy and Colonel Ather Kamal were guilty of the aggravated kidnapping of Regeni, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Internazionale.
Four Italian soldiers of the 11th Bersaglieri Regiment were wounded in a shooting exercise in Ādaži, Latvia, on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Forward Land Forces mission, according to Italy’s Ministry of Defense. Shots fired from a weapon mounted on an Italian military vehicle hit another Italian vehicle carrying the four soldiers. They were taken to a hospital in Riga; one is in more serious condition and none is in life-threatening danger at the moment.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s cabinet adopted on Thursday, September 24, 2026, a decree-law banning the burqa and niqab in schools and capping at 30% the share of pupils without Italian proficiency per class starting next year, according to Al Jazeera and confirmed by ANSA. Non-compliance carries a fine of up to 1,000 euros — and the decree takes effect immediately but needs parliamentary ratification within 60 days.