New Delhi, India and Italy Tuesday agreed to "clear the air" over two Indian fishermen being killed by the crew of an Italian ship but maintained that differences over legal issues remained. Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna told a joint press conference with Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Maria Terzi di Sant’ Agata here that the "unfortunate" incident of killing of two Indian fishermen earlier this month had caused "very strong public opinion on both sides". "We have agreed to clear the air," Krishna said, assuring that both nations had expressed their "will and commitment" to strengthen their partnership. Terzi is in India on a two-day visit beginning Tuesday. He had met Krishna ahead of the media interaction. Terzi, in his remarks at the press conference, said the two sides continued to have "differences of opinion" over the legal aspects of the killing of the fishermen. He said Italy maintained that international maritime laws applied in the case. India holds that its domestic laws will apply in the trial of the two Italian marines, currently in Indian police custody in Kochi. Terzi, who expressed Italy and its people's condolences to ...
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New Delhi, Italian deputy foreign minister Staffan de Mistura on Wednesday expressed "terrible sadness" over the killing of two Indian fishermen but insisted their death took place in international waters. "We do acknowledge and recognize that two Indian fishermen died. No one doubts it, and it is terribly sad," the minister said after talking with Indian officials here over the arrest of two Italian naval guards on board an Italian ship who fired at the fishermen thinking they were pirates. But he said the Feb 15 incident took place in international waters off Kerala "and investigation will ascertain the exact position" of the Italian ship which carried the naval guards. "We are taking it seriously. We are definitely expressing terrible sadness and regret over the loss of lives. "Two Indian fishermen did die and they belonged to poor families of Kerala," he added. We will go by Indian law: Perneet Kaur India will go by its law while dealing with the arrest of two Italian Marines over the killing of two Indian fishermen, minister of state for external affairs Preneet Kaur said on Wednesday. "We will certainly go by our law," the minister told reporters after ...
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Rome, Nine people have been arrested in Italy for alleged links with Sunni Islamic militant group Turkish Hezbollah and for running an illegal immigration ring, media reports said. Citing the ANSA news agency, Xinhua said the suspects were arrested in Terni city. They reportedly helped Palestinian and Kurdish migrants reach Italy illegally. The suspects provided the migrants counterfeit documents after telling local authorities false stories of torture in their country of origin, on the basis of which they sought political asylum and a residence permit, the report said. Turkish Hezbollah, unrelated to the Lebanese Shia Muslim militant group Hezbollah, was founded in Turkey in the 1980s with the goal of establishing a Sunni Muslim society in the country, according to the US National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. According to AKI, police launched a probe after a Turkish national -- wanted on an international arrest warrant -- was held in Italy's northern Lombardy region. He revealed the existence in Italy of the Turkish Hezbollah cell. ...
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Islamabad, Thirty-five new schools constructed by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) with donor funding in the southern area of Punjab province in Pakistan, which was devastated by floods in 2010, have opened with 4,500 pupils attending classes, the agency reported on Wednesday. The schools, which have been handed over to the Punjab Education Department, are in the districts of Muzaffargah, Rajanpur and Rahimyar Khan. The embassy of the Netherlands in Pakistan contributed $1.2 million for the construction of 24 schools, while the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) donated an additional $250,000, which was used to build seven schools. Funding for the construction of four schools was provided by Italy, Hungary and Sweden. UNICEF initiated a schools reconstruction programme in the worst affected districts of southern Punjab and other parts of the country since most of the Government school buildings were either damaged or completely destroyed. The agency also established temporary learning centres to ensure that children did not miss their academic year. Prefabricated school structures with all amenities have replaced the temporary ...
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The Hague, Household waste from the Italian city of Naples will now be shipped to the Netherlands, where it will be burned down in two waste plants. The Dutch ministry of infrastructure and environment gave permission Wednesday to transport the household waste, Xinhua reported. Italian company Asia Sapna has been given the possibility to transport around 200,000 tonnes of municipal waste to the Netherlands. The incineration plants' capacity totals about seven million tonnes, of which some 6.25 million tonnes is used for incineration of combustible Dutch waste. The remaining capacity is used for incineration of waste from abroad, mainly from Germany and Britain. Naples has been suffering from a waste management crisis since ...
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Rome, Thousands of prisoners will be released from prisons across Italy to ease overcrowding and save the cash-strapped country millions of euros. However, the released prisoners will have to serve the rest of their term under house arrest. Italy's new justice minister Paola Severino plans to free around 3,300 prisoners with up to 18 months remaining in their sentence. According to the government, the money to be saved was needed for the world's fourth-most indebted country led by a new government to restart the ailing economy. The plan reportedly will save Italy 380,000 euros (around $493,000) a day. It will make more room for the 68,000 inmates locked up in the country's 206 jails, the Corriere della Sera newspaper reported. In 2010, former prime minister Silvo Berlusoni's government allowed 4,000 prisoners with no more than 12 months left on their sentence, to serve out the time at home. The ministry of justice and pardon usually lets non-violent offenders out of prison early. Convicts sentenced to less than three years are often given house ...
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Rome/Brussels, Italy has decided to recall its ambassador to Tehran, in the wake of Tuesday's attack by Iranian protesters on the British embassy. Alberto Bradanini, Italian ambassador to Tehran, has been called home for consultations over the attack by Iranian protesters on the British embassy Tuesday, Xinhua quoted sources in the Italian foreign ministry as stating Thursday. Italian Foreign Affairs Minister Giulio Terzi announced, the same day in Brussels, that Italy is to recall its ambassador in Tehran. Terzi told reporters in Brussels that "because of increased tensions between Iran and the international community," the Italian embassy is also asking Italian citizens in Iran to stay alert and avoid crowded places. Mehdi Akouchekian, the charge d'affaires of Iran to Rome, was summoned Thursday morning to the Italian foreign ministry, according to a statement issued by the ministry. The Italian government expressed its strong condemnation for the serious and utterly unacceptable act of violence which occurred against the structures of the British Embassy in Tehran, said the statement. Akouchekian expressed regret for the incident, saying it was ...
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Rome, Italian consumer confidence rose in November defying an economic crisis that toppled one government and forced the new one to explore ways to implement unpopular austerity measures that will force the eurozone's third-richest country to reel in spending and cut debt. The sentiment index this month rose to 96.5 from a revised 93.3 in October, national statistics office Istat said in a report issued Thursday. Silvio Berlusconi resigned from the premiership Nov 12 and was replaced by Mario Monti, an economist and former European Union competition commissioner. Monti must calm international financial markets worries that Italy may have difficulty making interest payments on 1.9 trillion euros of debt - Europe's second biggest and the fourth largest in the world. Monti and his government of "technocrats" made up largely of professors, will be responsible for putting into place the previous government's measures that include labour and pension reform and tax ...
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