Italy | Pakistan

The launch of an investigation in Italy into allegations that foreigners paid to shoot at civilians during the siege of Sarajevo three decades ago has raised survivors’ hopes that people will be brought to justice. About 11,000 civilians were killed by shelling and sniper fire from Bosnian Serb army positions on hills around the besieged city during the 1992-95 war that followed Bosnia’s declaration of independence from Yugoslavia. Milan prosecutors opened their investigation, a source said, after local journalist and novelist Ezio Gavazzeni filed a legal complaint over allegations that Italians and other foreigners had paid members of the Bosnian Serb forces to visit and shoot at civilians under what some referred to as “sniper tourism”. Gavazzeni said he had been inspired to look into the allegations after watching a 2022 documentary titled Sarajevo Safari, by Slovenian director Miran Zupanic. Without providing any firm evidence, Gavazzeni said wealthy foreigners paid large sums of money to take part in the...

Italy are struggling to qualify automatically for next year’s World Cup finals and the pressure on the team is exacerbated by the tension surrounding next Tuesday’s qualifier with Israel in Udine. Italy was the scene of some of Europe’s biggest pro-Palestinian protests last weekend, as Israeli forces continue their offensive in Gaza. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered across Italy in anger at Israel’s actions, and calls for the country to be barred from international sport have grown louder. The protests were in response to Israel’s military operation in Gaza, which was sparked by the attack by Hamas fighters on October 7, 2023, on Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip. During Friday’s massive strike action in support of the Palestinians, demonstrators went to the Italian national team’s training centre in Florence to demand the match against Israel be called off. As of Tuesday only around 4,000 tickets had been sold for the game in Udine, a small city in Italy’s far north-east, which was picked speci...

Islamabad - Chairman Senate of Pakistan, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, reaffirmed today the warm and cooperative relations between Pakistan and Italy, emphasizing that the partnership is rooted in mutual respect and expanding collaboration.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and Italy have reached an agreement to collaborate on the promotion of olive cultivation.

At least 20 migrants died after a boat overturned in the Mediterranean on Wednesday, with many more still missing, the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) said. “Deep anguish for the umpteenth shipwreck off the coast of Lampedusa, where UNHCR is now assisting the survivors. It looks to be 20 bodies found and as many missing,” wrote the agency’s spokesman, Filippo Ungaro, on social media. Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi confirmed the disaster, saying the shipwreck had occurred 14 nautical miles from Lampedusa. The boat had been carrying 97 people when it turned over, Radio Radicale reported. Details remained limited but Save the Children Italy said that a baby girl, aged one-and-a-half, appeared to be lost in the shipwreck. RaiRadio1 reported between 12 and 17 migrants missing, and said that 60 survivors had been transported to safety on the island. The boat, which had already overturned, was spotted from the air by a plane from Italy’s financial police, it said. Migrants heading to Italy from North Africa often c...

JERUSALEM/CAIRO: Israel’s far-right finance minister has demanded Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scrap his plan to seize Gaza City in favour of a tougher one, while Italy said on Sunday the plan could result in a “Vietnam” for Israel’s army. Netanyahu’s security cabinet, of which the minister, Bezalel Smotrich, is a member, approved the plan by […]

A huge plume of ash, gas and rock spewed forth Monday from Italy’s Mount Etna, Europe’s largest active volcano, after a portion of its southeastern crater likely collapsed, authorities said. Images showed a massive grey cloud billow forth from the volcano on the island of Sicily, beginning about 11:24am local time (0924 GMT), according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV). Surveillance cameras showed “a pyroclastic flow probably produced by a collapse of material from the northern flank of the Southeast Crater”, the agency said. A pyroclastic flow occurs when volcanic rock, ash and hot gasses surge from volcanos. They are extremely dangerous. The explosive activity “had transitioned to a lava fountain”, INGV said, with the plume of ash expected to dissipate towards the southwest. A red alert issued for aviation authorities said the height of the volcanic cloud was estimated at 6.5 kilometres. The nearby Catania airport was still in operation.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and Italy on Wednesday agreed to expand cooperation in trade, security, and labour mobility during talks between Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi.