The choice of Matera as 2019’s European City of Culture will have astonished Italians of a certain age, although not those who have ever visited it. Fifty years ago, the city was designated the ‘national shame’ of Italy, embodying everything that was wrong with the impoverished south. But it was not true then and is little more … Read more
Britons who have travelled to ANY part of Italy who feel ill will be told to self-isolate as Government ramps up its coronavirus prevention advice PHE Chief Chris Witty said the advice would be extended to the whole of Italy It comes as the country reported 41 new deaths and a new high of 769 … Read more
Those who crave simple, unpolluted, old-fashioned pleasures will appreciate Le Marche — a region of Italy, between the Adriatic Sea and the Apennine Mountains. The air is so clear that you can climb to a vantage point and almost see back 50 years. It’s where crimson-faced men return home from working the fields to mama’s … Read more
Italy closed all schools and universities and prepared other emergency measures on Wednesday to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus in Europe’s worst-hit country as the death toll and number of cases jumped. The total number of dead in Italy rose to 107 after 28 people died of the highly contagious virus over … Read more
2020 OLYMPIC GAMES In doubt The scale of the outbreak in Japan saw senior International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound describe the disease as ‘the new war’ threatening Tokyo 2020 and he warned the Games may have to be cancelled if the virus was still around by May. Olympic organisers told athletes to train as normal … Read more
Italian winemakers give the landscape a fairy-tale glow by placing hundreds of flaming torches among their vines to protect them against the coldest May temperatures in decades Winemakers in South Tyrol have been placing anti-frost torches among the vines to save their grapes The torches – called smudge pots – can raise the temperature by … Read more
Three things happened yesterday that made me think the sh*t with coronavirus just got very real. First, the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned after massive spikes in coronavirus infection in worst hit countries like South Korea, Italy, Iran and Japan: ‘We are in unchartered territory.’ And he revealed the death … Read more
Cruise ship passengers were kept on an ocean liner in yet another coronavirus scare at sea today after a former shipmate tested positive in Italy. Some 2,300 people – including 39 Britons – were called back on board the MSC Opera from an excursion in Athens today and told not to leave the ship. Once … Read more
2020 OLYMPIC GAMES In doubt The scale of the outbreak in Japan saw senior International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound describe the disease as ‘the new war’ threatening Tokyo 2020 and he warned the Games may have to be cancelled if the virus was still around by May. Olympic organisers told athletes to train as normal … Read more
2,000 cruise passengers are ordered back on board their ship off of Greece and told not to leave after it is revealed former passenger has coronavirus Some 2,000 people were called back to the MSC Opera from Athens excursion The captain revealed an Austrian man who left the ship in February had the virus He … Read more