Sicily

Sports 03/26/19, 07:59

Giro d'Italia organizers have announced a deal with the Sicilian region to hold three stages on the island next year and the Grand Tour's start in 2021.RCS Sport also announced the return of the Giro di Sicilia next month, a four-stage race from April 3-6 concluding on Mount Etna.It's been ...

Europe 03/20/19, 12:15

Italy's Senate refused Wednesday to lift Interior Minister Matteo Salvini's immunity to face possible charges for refusing to allow migrants aboard an Italian coast guard ship to disembark at a Sicilian port.A judicial commission in Sicily triggered the vote when it rejected prosecutors' decision not to pursue kidnapping charges against ...

Europe 02/17/19, 09:20

Italy's populist 5-Star Movement, which is part of the country's ruling coalition, is asking its supporters to vote online on whether the leader of its junior coalition partner should be prosecuted.The Senate's immunity panel votes this week to recommend if Sicily-based magistrates should prosecute anti-migrant League party leader Matteo Salvini. ...

Europe 01/31/19, 06:21

Europe's latest migrant standoff came to a conclusion Thursday as 47 migrants kept at sea for nearly two weeks while Italy pressured European countries to take them in finally disembarked from their rescue ship in Sicily.The Sea-Watch 3, operated by the German aid group Sea Watch, pulled into Catania's port ...

Europe 01/31/19, 05:44

The Latest on migrants in Europe (all times local):11:40 a.m.The 47 migrants kept at sea for nearly two weeks as Italy pressured European countries to take them in have begun disembarking from their rescue ship in Sicily.Europe's latest migrant standoff came to a conclusion Thursday in Catania as the Sea-Watch ...

Europe 01/29/19, 13:29

Europe's human rights court has denied a request by the German humanitarian group Sea Watch to disembark 47 migrants stuck on a rescue ship off Sicily.The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, however requested in its decision Tuesday that Italy "take all necessary measures as soon as possible" ...

Europe 01/28/19, 16:08

Italy has decided to ask the European human rights court to rule that the Netherlands must deal with a Dutch-flagged migrant rescue boat stranded off Sicily.The Italian premier's office said Monday night that on Tuesday it will ask the France-based court to decide that the Dutch have jurisdiction. Italy won't ...

Europe 01/27/19, 09:39

The Italian coast guard is bringing socks, shoes, bread and fruit to 47 migrants who have been stranded at sea for nine days aboard a German humanitarian group's rescue boat close to the Italian island of Sicily.Italy's hard-line interior minister, Matteo Salvini, refuses to let humanitarian boats that rescue migrants ...

Europe 01/26/19, 08:33

U.N. agencies dealing with refugees and children are pressing Italy to allow 47 migrants, rescued at sea a week ago, to disembark.Three U.N. agencies said in a joint statement Europe's "boat-by-boat" approach to migrants must be replaced by a system for safe disembarking in the central Mediterranean.Catholic Church officials also ...

Europe 01/25/19, 08:26

Italy pressured the Netherlands on Friday to accept 47 migrants who have spent seven days at sea aboard a humanitarian rescue ship that has been allowed to enter Italian territorial waters due to bad weather conditions.The German aid group Sea-Watch said on Twitter Friday that it has received no response ...

Europe 12/26/18, 04:14

A quake triggered by Italy's Mount Etna volcano has jolted eastern Sicily, slightly injuring 10 people and prompting frightened Italian villagers to flee their homes.Italy's Civil Protection officials said the quake, at 3:19 a.m. Wednesday, was part of a swarm of some 1,000 tremors, most of them barely perceptible, that ...

Europe 12/25/18, 05:20

Italy's Catania airport is reopening after an ash cloud from Mount Etna's latest eruptions forced it to shut down.The airport on the Mediterranean island of Sicily says it's having a limited opening Tuesday, operating four flights an hour.More than 100 tremors have rattled the inhabited slopes of Mount Etna this ...

World 11/20/18, 11:11

Italian prosecutors have ordered the seizure of a migrant rescue ship and accused the aid group Doctors Without Borders of illegally disposing of 24 metric tons (26.5 tons) of medical and contaminated waste accumulated during nearly 50 rescues.Prosecutors in Catania, Sicily said Tuesday that 24 people were under investigation, including ...

World 11/13/18, 05:05

Italy's premier has hosted a meeting of Libya's rival leaders on the sidelines of a conference aiming to help its former colony crack down on Islamic militants and human trafficking.Witnesses say Premier Giuseppe Conte presided over a meeting and handshake Tuesday between the Tripoli-based U.N.-backed prime minister, Fayez Serraj, and ...

World 11/12/18, 04:40

A gathering of leaders of Libya's quarrelling factions and of countries keen on stabilizing the North African nation in Sicily aims to find a political settlement that would bolster the fight against Islamic militants and stop illegal migrants crossing the Mediterranean to Europe's southern shores.But the meeting's chances of success ...

World 11/06/18, 12:35

The Latest on migration into Europe (all times local):5:30 p.m.A Sicily prosecutor has opened a preliminary investigation into allegations a U.S. warship, the USNS Trenton, delayed rescuing migrants from a sinking dinghy from which some 76 people drowned in June.The June 12 rescue off Libya came at a tense time ...

Europe 11/04/18, 05:27

Italian state radio says a rain-swollen river in the countryside near Palermo, Sicily, has flooded a home, killing nine people.Heavy rains lashed Sicily, a southern Italian island, on Saturday, several days after storms ravaged much of northern Italy. State radio said one person survived the flood late Saturday night by ...