LAMA DI RENO, Italy | AFP | From forced labour in Libya to a job as a founding member of an Italian fashion start-up, Bassirou has come a long way in two years, thanks to his skills with scissors. The 26-year-old Burkina Faso native is the star student of a …
Read More »Scandal-hit Robinho cautionary tale of wasted talent
Paris, France | AFP | Few players encapsulate the idea of wasted potential like Robinho, once one of the world’s most sought-after talents but now far from the spotlight and mired in scandal after a conviction for gang rape. The Brazilian attacker, capped 100 times for Brazil, had the world …
Read More »Italy says 1,100 migrants rescued from sea in one day
Rome, Italy | AFP | About 1,100 migrants from the Libyan coast were rescued from the sea on Wednesday, including a woman who gave birth in a rubber boat, the Italian coastguard and monitors said. They were recovered from 10 rubber boats and a small wooden boat in a rescue …
Read More »Italy sack Ventura, target Ancelotti
Milan, Italy | AFP | Gian Piero Ventura’s reign as Italy coach ended on Wednesday after a World Cup qualifying fiasco during which the four-time champions failed to reach next year’s finals in Russia. The 69-year-old’s fate was sealed after a crisis meeting of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) in Rome, …
Read More »Buffon quits as Italy suffer World Cup ‘apocalypse’
Milan, Italy | AFP | A tearful Gianluigi Buffon quit international football as four-time champions Italy sensationally missed out on their first World Cup finals in 60 years after a playoff defeat to Sweden on Monday. Coach Gian Piero Ventura also said he would consider his future after the Azzuri …
Read More »Statue of actor Bud Spencer unveiled in Budapest
Budapest, Hungary | AFP | A year after his death, a massive bronze statue of Spaghetti Western actor Bud Spencer, born Carlo Pedersoli in 1929, was unveiled in Budapest Saturday before a crowd of adoring fans. The burly and bearded actor, who died in June 2016, earned cult status in …
Read More »Child killed by malaria in Italy caught disease in hospital
Rome, Italy | AFP | A four-year-old girl who died of malaria in Italy in September caught the deadly disease in hospital, the health ministry said Saturday, ruling out the possibility she was bitten by an infected mosquito. Sofia Zago, who had not travelled to any at-risk countries, fell ill after …
Read More »Italian priest kidnapped in southern Nigeria: Vatican
Rome, Italy | AFP | An Italian priest has been kidnapped by gunmen in southern Nigeria, church officials in both countries have said. Maurizio Pallu was snatched on Thursday in broad daylight by armed men just outside of Benin City, Italian media reports said. “Pope Francis has been informed about …
Read More »Robotic fashion: Wear your heartbeat on your sleeve
Milan, Italy | AFP | Dutch designer Anouk Wipprecht has a vision for a world in which people stop telling themselves little lies about their emotions — and she believes high-tech fashion is the key. Her creations, which combine digital technology with haute couture, play with social norms and aim to …
Read More »Indian priest thankful, even to abductors, after release from Yemen
Rome, Italy | AFP | An Indian priest kidnapped last year during a deadly attack by Islamist militants in Yemen thanked on Saturday all those involved in his release, and even had a kind word for his abductors for not harming him. “I thank in the name of the Lord God …
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