Tag: southern europe

Italy wants to build the world’s longest suspension bridge. The Mafia and geography might make that difficult | CNN

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CNN
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There is a popular saying in Italian – similar to how Anglophones use “when hell freezes over” – that translates as “I’ll do it when the bridge to Messina is finished.”

The dream of a bridge connecting the mainland to Sicily across the Straits of Messina goes back to Roman times, when Consul Metellus strung together barrels and wood to move 100 war elephants from Carthage to Rome in 252 BCE, according to writings by Pliny the Elder.

Since then, various plans, including a short-lived idea for a tunnel, have come and gone – like water under the bridge.

If built, the bridge across the Straits of Messina would span two miles (3.2 kilometers) and would be the longest suspension bridge in the world.

Now the massive engineering project might actually be realized, thanks to a decree passed by the government of Giorgia Meloni last month after Transport Minister Matteo Salvini revived a plan last pushed forward when Silvio Berlusconi was prime minister.

In 2006, the bid to build the bridge was awarded to a consortium led by the Italian firm Salini Impregilo, now called WeBuild. When Berlusconi’s government fell that year, the plans to build the bridge collapsed with his government after the next prime minister, Romano Prodi, deemed it a waste of money and a risk to the environment.

Since then, various governments have tried to revive it, and the current ruling coalition under Meloni, Salvini and Berlusconi put it on their list of campaign promises. When Salvini became transport minister, he made it his priority, betting his legacy on the bridge.

WeBuild, which still has the bid award on paper, sued the government for breach of contract after the project was paused, but it remains the most likely company to be given the job back despite “expressions of interest from all over the world, including China,” Salvini told the Foreign Press Association in Rome in March when he presented the plan.

“The ones who won the 2006 tender are the ones who will most likely continue with the final version of the project,” he said, without naming WeBuild directly.

WeBuild’s engineering director, Michele Longo, was invited to parliament to talk about the revived plan April 18.

“The bridge over the Strait of Messina is a project that can break ground immediately. As soon as the contract is reinstated and updated, the project can start,” Longo told parliament. “The executive design is expected to take eight months, while the time needed to build the bridge will be a little more than six years.”

The cost of the project is 4.5 billion euros ($4.96 billion) for the bridge alone and 6.75 billion euros ($7.4 billion) for the infrastructure to support it on both sides, which includes upgrading road and rail links, building terminals and doing the prep work on the land and seabed to “reduce hydrogeological risks” during construction, according to the plan presented to the transportation ministry.

Since 1965, 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) in public funds has already been spent on feasibility studies, according to Italian treasury department. Salvini is fond of saying it will cost more “not to build the bridge than build it.”

The plans may seem well advanced but the challenges are complex.

Southern Italy is prone to corruption with two major organized crime syndicates – the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta and the Sicilian Cosa Nostra – excelling in infiltrating construction projects.

The recent arrest of Cosa Nostra boss Matteo Messina Denaro after 30 years on the lam in Sicily represented a victory.

Denaro was against the building of the bridge, as are some other mob bosses, according to testimony from informants who contributed to Denaro’s arrest, in part because the organized crime syndicates feed off poverty and underdevelopment.

Despite this, fears remain. An anti-Mafia from study from the Nomos Centre think tank published 20 years ago and now being updated warned parts of the project, such as transport and supply could fall under criminal control, as well as there being the possibility local mobs could demand protection money.

Salvini has played down concerns. “I’m not afraid of criminal infiltration,” he told parliament recently, “we will be able to guarantee that the best Italian, European and global companies work there. There will be supervisory bodies that we are working on for every euro invested on the bridge.”

There are also geophysical problems that may be even more difficult to contend with.

The Strait of Messina is along a fault line where a 7.1 earthquake in 1908, killed more than 100,000 people and spawned tsunamis that devastated the coastal areas on both the Calabrian and Sicilian sides of the water. It remains the deadliest recorded seismic event in Europe to date.

The waters, too, are turbulent. Currents are so strong they often rip seaweed off the seabed, and they change every six hours, according to NASA, which notes that the strong wave patterns are visible from space.

Under WeBuild’s original plan, which is the only one currently under consideration since bids have not been, and may not be, opened, the bridge deck would be built to withstand winds of up to 300 kilometers an hour – and could stay open to traffic with winds up to 150 kilometers an hour.

There would be three vehicle lanes in each direction – two for traffic, and one for emergency, with train lines in the middle. Under the current plan, 6,000 cars and trucks could pass each hour, and 200 trains could pass each day.

The bridge would be around 74 meters above sea level and allow a navigation channel of 600 meters, allowing cargo vessels and even the tallest cruise ships to pass. It would also be designed to withstand a 7.5 magnitude earthquake, slightly stronger than the devastating one in 1908.

The construction phase alone would contribute 2.9 billion euros to the national GDP and employ 100,000 people and 300 suppliers, Longo told parliament, adding “most of these people would come from the regions of Sicily and Calabria where there the rates of unemployment are high.”

On the geographical challenges, Longo told CNN it is “one of the most dynamic straits of water anywhere between the depths and currents, but it is also one of the most studied areas. There millions of pages of studies dedicated to this area. We’ve read them all.” On the dangers of organized crime getting involved he said “nothing is impossible, but this is low risk.”

Environmentalists have long argued the bridge would be devastating to the terrain and wildlife.

“In the Strait of Messina, a very important place of transit for birds and marine mammals, one of the highest concentrations of biodiversity in the world is concentrated,” a spokesperson for the group Legambiente says, adding that the bridge – both during and after construction – would disrupt migration routes between the Africa and Europe.

The World Wildlife Fund has also campaigned against reviving the project. “The entire Strait of Messina area is a protected area under the EU Habitats Directive,” WWF Institutional Relations director Stefano Lenzi said in a statement. Back in 2006, before the plan was shelved, the group was preparing a lawsuit to try to stop it for breaching European Union protected areas.

The environmental groups contend that the half-hour ferry is the least disruptive route.

The post-bridge impact to the economy would be unarguably high, Salvini insists, saying that cargo ships from Asia could dock in Sicily and those goods could be transported on high-speed trains to Europe, once high-speed rails are built on Sicily – although they do not currently exist.

Public opinion on both sides of the straits remains mixed, with those in a position to prosper through increased trade and easier tourism generally in support of it and those who don’t mind keeping Sicily isolated largely against it.

The bridge has never been as close to being built as it is now, after Meloni signed the decree to pave the way for concrete plans to be put in place. The decree will become law in June, and Salvini said he hopes to break ground by July 2024.

The Straits of Messina have long been equated with troubled waters. Homer created the sea monsters’ den for Scylla and Charybdis there for a reason. And while the only monsters might be ecological and criminal, there is little question that no matter when it happens, the dream for some of building the bridge to Messina won’t be put to rest until it’s finished.

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April 30, 2023
Texan turned Italian princess evicted from villa with original Caravaggio in Rome | CNN

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Rome
CNN
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Princess Rita Jenrette Boncompagni Ludovisi – formerly Rita Carpenter, the former wife of Republican US Rep. John Jenrette – has been evicted from the home she once shared with the late Prince Nicolo Boncompagni, after an inheritance dispute with his children.

Princess Rita confirmed her eviction from the historic Casino dell’Aurora in central Rome to CNN on Wednesday. The home features an original Caravaggio ceiling painting—the only known ceiling work from the master—and a Michelangelo statue recently unearthed in the garden.

Rita was escorted from the home along with her dogs on Thursday. “I’ve been up for 72 hours, I’m being brutally evicted from a home [in] which I’ve lovingly taken care of for the past 20 years,” she tweeted early Thursday morning.

The eviction was ordered by Rome Judge Miriam Iappelli, and carried out by Roman law enforcement, who also changed the locks per standard procedure for court-ordered evictions.

Italian courts have previously ruled that the home must be sold to resolve an inheritance dispute between the Texan and the prince’s children. Prince Nicolo Boncompagni died in 2018.

The Casino dell’Aurora was put up for auction by state authorities four times in 2022 – its estimated value declining precipitously as bidders proved elusive.

The first auction on January 18, 2022, estimated the home’s value at €471 million. A second auction April 30 set the price at €376 million, a third auction reduced the price to €301 million on June 30, and a final auction October 18 set the price at €180 million.

No one bid on any of the auctions, and Princess Rita told CNN she believed that the Italian state auction house did not adequately advertise it.

Before becoming a princess, Rita Carpenter was married to John Jenrette, the former US lawmaker who was enmeshed in the Abscam corruption scandal, resigned in 1980 and subsequently went to prison.

In 1981, she gave an much-publicized interview to Playboy magazine that detailed having sex with Jenrette on the steps of the US Capitol building. The episode led to a not-so-best selling memoir “My Capitol Secrets” published that year.

She appeared in plays and movies, including Zombie Island Massacre, according to her official biography.

Princess Rita told reporters at the Casino dell’Aurora as she left on Thursday that she is writing a new book about her latest ordeal.

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April 20, 2023
Italian Coast Guard escorting 1,200 migrants on boats in Mediterranean Sea | CNN

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The Italian Coast Guard was on Tuesday escorting two boats carrying 1,200 migrants in the Mediterranean Sea, as part of a major operation in a region that has seen migrant arrivals spike in the past year.

Emergency workers were racing to rescue a barge with 400 migrants onboard that had ran out of fuel, according to the volunteer-run service Alarm Phone. The Coast Guard told CNN later Monday that it is also escorting another vessel carrying 800 migrants.

Alarm Phone said in a tweet it had spoken to passengers at 10.56 a.m. local time (4.56 a.m. ET), describing the situation on board as “dramatic,” with the boat starting to leak. “They report several medical emergencies, water filling the vessel and no fuel left. We have informed the authorities,” Alarm phone said.

The coast guard is traveling next to the boat en route to Italy because an escort is “safer” than attempting to rescue those on board in poor weather, said Felix Weiss, a spokesman for Sea-Watch International, a German organization that runs search and rescue operations in the central Mediterranean.

The migrants had been stranded along an immigration route between Italy and Malta that NGOs have warned is perilously dangerous.

The boat with 400 migrants departed from Tobruk, Libya, and had been at risk of capsizing with water in the hull, according to Alarm Phone. The service also said many on board required medical attention, including a child, a pregnant woman and a disabled person.

The Italian Coast Guard also said Monday that more than 1,700 migrants had arrived on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa in the last 48 hours. Lampedusa, the closest Italian island to Africa, is a major destination for migrants seeking to enter European Union countries.

Every year, tens of thousands of migrants fleeing war, persecution and poverty risk the treacherous route in search of safety and better economic prospects. In many cases, their vessels are overcrowded and unfit for the journey, and the need to rescue migrants on board often leads to disputes between countries about who should take them in.

More than 28,000 migrants have arrived in Italy so far this year, according to the country’s Interior Ministry – a significant surge compared to recent years. The number of migrants arriving in Italy this year are the highest seen in the country since 2017, according to figures by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Most arrivals have journeyed from the Ivory Coast, Guinea, Bangladesh, Tunisia and Pakistan.

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April 11, 2023
Karim Benzema hat-trick guides Real Madrid to Copa del Rey final with thumping 4-0 win over Barcelona | CNN

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Karim Benzema’s second-half hat-trick guided Real Madrid to a thumping 4-0 win over Barcelona at the Camp Nou, as Carlo Ancelotti’s side overturned a 1-0 first-leg deficit to reach the Copa del Rey final.

Barça would have been feeling confident going into the game after winning three consecutive Clásicos, but Vinícius Jr. leveled the tie with a goal in first-half stoppage time.

The second half then turned into the Benzema show as the defending Balon d’Or winner scored three goals in 30 minutes to seal a famous win in Barcelona’s own back yard.

It was the first time since Ferenc Puskás in 1963 that a Real Madrid player had scored a hat-trick at the Camp Nou and Ancelotti hailed the performance as “a complete match” from his players.

“If you don’t make it complete, you can’t win 0-4 here,” Ancelotti said, per Reuters. “In the first half, we had difficulties, but the first goal changes the dynamics of the whole match.

“It’s a game in which personality and experience is a very important aspect. We mixed the energy of Rodrygo, [Federico] Valverde and [Eduardo] Camavinga with the experience of Vini, [Luka] Modric, [Toni] Kroos. They played a spectacular game.”

It was certainly a sobering night for a Barcelona team that has exceeded expectations this season. Xavi’s side sits 12 points clear of Los Blancos at the top of La Liga and has all but assured itself of a 27th league title with 11 matches remaining.

However, there were audible jeers from the home fans after Benzema scored Real’s third and fourth goals, leaving Xavi to lament his team’s disappointing performance.

“Congratulations to Real Madrid, who had a great second half,” he said. “If you show Madrid mercy, they don’t show you mercy.

“It will be hard to sleep, as I am from Barcelona and many of the squad are. But tomorrow, we think about Girona.”

Standing in Real Madrid’s way of clinching a 20th Spanish Cup is Osasuna, which edged past Athletic Bilbao 2-1 on aggregate to reach the final for just the second time in the club’s history.

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April 6, 2023
‘This is a social emergency’: Thousands protest in Portugal over housing crisis | CNN

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Reuters
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Thousands of people took to the streets of Lisbon and other cities across Portugal on Saturday in protest against soaring rents and house prices at a time when high inflation is making it even tougher for people to make ends meet.

“There is a huge housing crisis today,” Rita Silva, from the Habita housing group, said at the Lisbon protest. “This is a social emergency.”

Portugal is one of Western Europe’s poorest countries, with government data showing more than 50% of workers earned less than 1,000 euros ($1,084) per month last year. The monthly minimum wage is 760 euros ($826).

Rents in Lisbon, a tourist hotspot, have jumped 65% since 2015 and sale prices have sky-rocketed 137% in that period, figures from Confidencial Imobiliario, which collects data on housing, show. Rents increased 37% last year alone, more than in Barcelona or Paris, according to another real estate data company, Casafari.

The situation is particularly hard on the young.

The average rent for a one-bedroom flat in Lisbon is around 1,350 euros, a study by housing portal Imovirtual showed.

The Socialist government announced last month a housing package that, among other measures, ended the controversial “Golden Visa” scheme and banned new licenses for Airbnb properties but critics say it is not enough to lower prices in the short term.

At the protest, which was organised by the movement “Home to Live” and other groups, 35-year-old illustrator Diogo Guerra said he hears stories about people struggling to access housing every day.

“People who… work and are homeless, people are evicted because their house is turned into short-term accommodations (for tourists),” he said.

Low wages and high rents make Lisbon the world’s third-least viable city to live in, according to a study by insurance brokers CIA Landlords. Portugal’s current 8.2% inflation rate has exacerbated the problem.

“With my salary, which is higher than the average salary in Lisbon, I cannot afford renting a flat because it’s too expensive,” said Nuncio Renzi, a sales executive from Italy living in the capital.

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April 2, 2023
Italian government seeks to penalize the use of English words | CNN

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CNN
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Italians who use English and other foreign words in official communications could face fines of up to €100,000 ($108,705) under new legislation introduced by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party.

Fabio Rampelli, a member of the lower chamber of deputies, introduced the legislation, which is supported by the prime minister.

While the legislation encompasses all foreign languages, it is particularly geared at “Anglomania” or use of English words, which the draft states “demeans and mortifies” the Italian language, adding that it is even worse because the UK is no longer part of the EU.

The bill, which has yet to go up for parliamentary debate, requires anyone who holds an office in public administration to have “written and oral knowledge and mastery of the Italian language.” It also prohibits use of English in official documentation, including “acronyms and names” of job roles in companies operating in the country.

Foreign entities would have to have Italian language editions of all internal regulations and employment contracts, according to a draft of the legislation seen by CNN.

“It is not just a matter of fashion, as fashions pass, but Anglomania has repercussions for society as a whole,” the draft bill states.

The first article of the legislation guarantees that even in offices that deal with non Italian-speaking foreigners, Italian must be the primary language used.

Article 2 would make Italian “mandatory for the promotion and use of public goods and services in the national territory.” Not doing so could garner fines between €5,000 ($5,435) and €100,000 ($108,705).

Under the proposed law, the Culture Ministry would establish a committee whose remit would include “correct use of the Italian language and its pronunciation” in schools, media, commerce and advertising.

This would mean that saying “bru-shetta” instead of “bru-sketta” could be a punishable offense.

The move to safeguard the Italian language joins an existing bid by the government to protect the country’s cuisine.

It has introduced legislation to ban so-called synthetic or cell-based cuisine due to the lack of scientific studies on the effects of synthetic food, as well as “to safeguard our nation’s heritage and our agriculture based on the Mediterranean diet,” Meloni’s Health Minister Orazio Schillaci said in a press conference.

Last week, Italy’s ministers of Culture and Agriculture officially entered Italian cuisine into candidacy for UNESCO World Heritage Site status, which will be decided in December 2025.

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April 1, 2023
Pope Francis expands Catholic Church sexual abuse law to cover lay leaders | CNN

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CNN
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Pope Francis has updated a 2019 church law governing clerical sexual abuse and extended it to include accountability for Catholic lay leaders of Vatican-approved religious organizations.

Lay leaders are people other than clergy members who are on the professional rosters of the church.

The norms were first defined by Francis in an Apostolic letter, Vos estis lux mundi, in 2019 and were originally mandated for a four-year period.

Francis has now made minor changes to that document and made it permanent, effective April 30, according to a document released by the Vatican on Saturday.

For decades the Catholic Church has been plagued by a series of sex abuse scandals in countries around the world.

The new norms represent Pope Francis’ pledge to offer “concrete measures” to combat sexual abuse.

One of the changes includes provisions for holding lay leaders of Vatican-approved associations accountable for cover-ups of sexual abuse. The norms previously only related to bishops and religious superiors.

Another change involves the definition of abuse victims, which previously referred to “minors and vulnerable persons.”

The updated document now specifies “a minor, or with a person who habitually has an imperfect use of reason, or with a vulnerable adult.”

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March 25, 2023
Hundreds protest clampdown on same-sex parents in Milan | CNN

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Rome, Italy
CNN
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Hundreds took to the streets of Milan on Saturday to protest against moves by Italy’s new right-wing government to restrict the rights of same-sex parents.

The demonstration, called “Hands Off Our Sons and Daughters,” took place in the historical Piazza della Scala pedestrian square and was organized by LGBTQ+ groups across the country.

“You explain to my son that I am not his mother,” read one protest sign. Others held up ballpoint pens, used to sign birth registrations, in protest.

Also present at the protests was Milan’s mayor Giuseppe Sala, who had earlier tweeted his support of same-sex families.

Organizers estimated around 10,000 people took part while Milan city officials gave more modest estimates of hundreds.

In 2016 Italy became the last country in Europe to legalize same-sex unions but it still does not recognize “stepchildren adoption” or surrogacy, which rights groups say is because of opposition from the Catholic Church.

Its government led by far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, places a strong emphasis on traditional family values.

Same-sex parents who wish to register their children born by surrogacy abroad have often had to just put one parental name on official birth registrations or take their cases to family court.

Several cities, including the capital Rome and Milan, had instituted a Parent 1/Parent 2 policy on birth registrations rather than the traditional mother/father designations, but last week the Interior Ministry ordered the city of Milan to stop the practice.

The Italian Interior Ministry said it would order other cities’ birth registrars to also halt the practice.

Last week, the Italian senate voted against a measure introduced by the European Commission to make the recognition of same-sex parents mandatory.

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March 19, 2023
El Clásico: The latest edition of the historic rivalry between Barcelona and Real Madrid could decide the league title | CNN

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Every edition of El Clásico is loaded with its own storylines, each strand adding another layer to the historic rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Described by La Liga as a “true cultural phenomenon, drawing the attention of millions of fans worldwide,” Sunday’s match at Barça’s Camp Nou stadium will be with fraught with significance, for the result could all but settle the title race.

A win for Barça would open up a 12-point lead at the top of the table, making the league title a high probability, if not quite a mathematical certainty, while a win for Real Madrid would keep the race alive with 12 matches remaining after Sunday’s game.

Los Blancos will travel to Camp Nou buoyed by defeating Liverpool 1-0 on Wednesday to seal their place in the Champions League quarterfinals with an aggregate 6-2 victory.

Vinícius Jr, who was dubbed “the best in the world” by Real coach Carlo Ancelotti on Wednesday, excelled in that victory, creating the only goal of the game for Karim Benzema, and his battle with Barcelona defender Ronald Araújo could be key to deciding El Clásico.

“He’s struggled a bit more in recent games, but Viní Jr. is always Viní Jr,” Ancelotti said on Saturday, according to the Real’s website.

“His mobility gives us so much, I’m thinking about putting him on the right because he’s capable, but we’ll see. That freedom and playing without a fixed reference point could be crucial.

“It’s another problem for the defenders. I’m kidding about him playing on the right … he’ll be on the left but with greater freedom.”

Benzema, another pillar of Real’s attack, will play on Sunday despite suffering a knock during the week, Ancelotti said.

While Benzema will take to the field for Los Blancos, Barça will be without Pedri and Ousmane Dembélé due to injury, two of its most impressive players this season.

La Blaugrana has already defeated Real Madrid twice this year, back in January to win the Spanish Super Cup final and in March to take a 1-0 lead in their Copa del Rey semifinal. The return match is at the Camp Nou on April 5.

However, Real did triumph in the league game back in October at the Bernabéu, Ancelotti’s team winning El Clásico 3-1.

Barça coach Xavi downplayed any notion that his team was the favorite to win Sunday’s game.

“They’re strong. Very strong, recently,” Xavi said, according to Barça’s website. “They’re physically much better than they were in January. I’m sure they’ll put our defense under pressure.”

“This Madrid team is the European champion and they won the last league comfortably. It’ll be a tight game, and I say we have a 50% chance.”

It has been a lopsided season for Real, lagging behind Barça in La Liga and facing that 1-0 deficit in their Copa del Rey semifinal, but remaining on track to defend its Champions League title.

Before Sunday’s match, Ancelotti addressed speculation about his future at the club, saying he “would stay at this club for the rest of my life but that’s impossible,” adding hat it’s “a decision for the club to make.”

“If they want me for three months, I’ll make the most of it and the same goes as if they want me for three years … Anyway, I’m certain we’ll win something this season and that will put the doubts at rest. We’re at a disadvantage in the Copa and La Liga but that’s not the case in the Champions League.”

Barça, meanwhile, once again fell short in Europe, failing to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League and losing to Manchester United in the Europa League, while the club is also embroiled in a referee payment scandal.

“”We are just focused on competing,” Xavi said on Saturday. “We try to keep natural with the players and not get distracted by all that can happen at a club like this.”

El Clásico will kick off at 4pm ET on Sunday afternoon at Camp Nou, Barcelona. It is available to watch on the following channels:

Australia: Optus

Canada: TSN, RDS

Brazil: Star+, ESPN

UK: Premier Sports, La Liga TV, ITV

US: ESPN

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March 18, 2023
Former UGA football star Jalen Carter sentenced to probation in crash that killed teammate and team staffer | CNN

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Former University of Georgia football standout Jalen Carter was sentenced to probation on Thursday for his role in the January crash that killed his teammate and a team staffer.

The crash happened hours after the Bulldogs’ national championship victory parade.

Carter entered pleas of no contest Thursday to charges of racing and reckless driving, according to his attorney, Kim Stephens.

Carter was then sentenced to 12 months of probation, a $1,000 fine and 50 hours of community service and completion of a state-approved defensive driving course, the attorney said.

“Mr. Carter is happy and relieved to get this matter behind him, so now he can do what he needs to do for the NFL draft,” the lawyer said.

“He continues to grieve for the loss of his friends,” Stephens added.

Athens-Clarke County Solicitor General Will Fleenor confirmed the sentence and said Carter’s privilege to drive in Georgia has been suspended for 120 days.

Fleenor, in a statement, acknowledged questions about the severity of the charges and “whether more serious offenses occurred.” He said law enforcement officers evaluated the appropriateness of more serious charges.

“However, after consultation with the District Attorney’s Office, the Solicitor’s Office, and the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council, based on the evidence and applicable laws in this case, it was determined that the appropriate charges were the two traffic offenses that were resolved in court this morning,” the statement said.

Carter has been projected as a top pick in the NFL draft next month.

CNN has reached out to Athens Solicitor’s Office for comment.

Carter’s teammate Devin Willock and football team staff member Chandler LeCroy were killed in the January 15 crash, which happened hours after the team participated in a parade through campus to celebrate its second consecutive national title.

Carter turned himself in at the Athens-Clarke County Jail earlier this month on charges of reckless driving and racing.

LeCroy was driving a Ford SUV near the campus with Willock and two other members of the football program also in the vehicle, police said. The SUV was traveling “about 104 miles per hour” before it veered off the road and slammed into two power poles and several trees, Athens-Clarke County police said.

Authorities said Carter was driving a separate vehicle and he and LeCroy appeared to be racing.

Police said “both vehicles switched between lanes, drove in the center turn lane, drove in opposite lanes of travel, overtook other motorists, and drove at high rates of speed, in an apparent attempt to outdistance each other.”

Toxicology results show LeCroy, who was driving a university vehicle not authorized for use at the time of the crash, had a blood alcohol concentration of .197 – more than twice the legal limit in Georgia, police said.

Willock was ejected and died at the scene and LeCroy died at a local hospital. The two other passengers in the vehicle were injured, officials said.

Carter was a key part of Georgia’s vaunted defense that allowed the fewest rushing yards per game (77.1) in 2022 and was named to several All-America teams.

More than four months before the fatal crash, Carter had been issued three traffic citations – including one for speeding at nearly twice the legal limit, according to documents and body camera video obtained by CNN from the Athens-Clarke County Police Department.

On September 22, Carter was stopped for speeding. An officer is heard on body camera footage telling him that he was “reckless,” and issued three traffic tickets

One ticket showed Carter was driving at 89 mph in a 45 mph zone. A second ticket cited him for having “material affixed” to his car which “obstructs vision.” A third citation was for an illegal windshield tint.

Bodycam video from the stop showed Carter in the driver’s seat of a Black Jeep. The officer held up a radar gun showing a speed of 89 mph, according to the video.

Carter is seen on video, expressionless, as the officer named two other UGA athletes who he said he had recently stopped.

“Y’all need to slow down dude,” the officer is heard telling Carter, who didn’t respond.

“Look I don’t know if y’all need to send out a text or something to other teammates, but slow down,” the officer said, adding, “That was reckless.”

“When you’re around your teammates, tell them to slow down,” the officer said.

The officer then tested the tint on Carter’s vehicle – which he said is illegal in the state of Georgia. “The front windshield can’t have nothing on it. No material on it whatsoever, OK?”

“Your break is you’re not going to jail. That’s your break. Because that would make all kinds of news, alright?” the officer is heard telling Carter in the footage.

The player smiled nervously. “You’re getting a ticket for speeding,” the officer said.

The officer added, “Slow down OK. That’s all I ask.”

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March 16, 2023
Morocco joins Portugal and Spain in transcontinental bid to host 2030 World Cup | CNN

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CNN
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Morocco is set to join Spain and Portugal in a bid to host the FIFA 2030 Men’s World Cup, apparently replacing Ukraine in a three-way alliance with the two European nations.

Ukraine said it would team up with Spain and Portugal in a joint bid last October, but Morocco’s announcement suggests it will no longer be part of the process. CNN has reached out to all the nations involved.

Morocco’s sport minister Chakib Benmoussa unveiled details of the North African nation’s bid Tuesday, citing a letter from Morocco’s King Mohammed VI.

“I would like to announce that the Kingdom of Morocco has decided, together with Spain and Portugal, to present a joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup,” he read from the letter, according to Reuters.

Speaking at the Confederation of African Football President’s Outstanding Achievement Awards in Kigali, Rwanda, Benmoussa called the bid “unprecedented in football history.”

It will “bring together Africa and Europe, the northern and southern Mediterranean, and the African, Arab and Euro-Mediterranean worlds,” he said. “It will also bring out the best in all of us – in effect a combination of genius, creativity, experience and means.”

The new alliance adds another transcontinental bid to the process, alongside a three-way deal between Greece, Saudi Arabia and Egypt and a separate joint bid from Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile.

Countries teaming up to hold the World Cup is not unprecedented, with Canada, America and Mexico due to co-host the World Cup in 2026. Japan also collaborated with South Korea in staging the 2002 chapter.

Morocco’s announcement comes on the heels of its historic performance at the 2022 World Cup.

The Atlas Lions, the nickname of Morocco’s national team, defeated both Spain and Portugal in the knockout stages in Qatar on their way to becoming the first African and first Arab country to ever reach a World Cup semifinal.

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March 14, 2023
After a tragic shipwreck, no peace for the dead or living | CNN

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CNN
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Two weeks after a boat packed with migrants sank off the coast of southern Italy, there is still no peace for the living or the dead, and the missing – mostly children – continue to wash up on the beaches.

The latest – a girl aged five or six – was discovered on Saturday morning, bringing the toll from when the ill-fated boat broke apart on the rocks on February 26 off the village of Cutro to 74. Nearly half were minors.

The local coroner’s office provided names for many of the dead including Torpekai Amarkhel, a 42-year-old female journalist from Afghanistan, who was killed along with her husband and two of their three children.

Her other child, a seven-year-old daughter, is among the approximately 30 people still missing, presumed dead, from the tragedy.

Amarkhel had fled Afghanistan with her family following the clampdown on women, her sister Mida, who had emigrated to Rotterdam, told Unama News radio, a United Nations project Amarkhel was involved in.

Shahida Raza, who played football and hockey for Pakistan’s national team, was also among the dead. A friend said she was traveling in the hope of securing a better future for her disabled son.

Initially, those found were given alphanumeric code numbers, rather than names. When first responders found the corpse of 28-year-old Abiden Jafari from Afghanistan, they identified her only as KR16D45 – KR for the nearby city of Crotone, 16 because she was the 16th victim found, D for donna or woman, and 45, her estimated age.

But after taking her to the morgue, they discovered she was a women’s rights activist who had been threatened by the Taliban, likely causing her to risk her life at sea.

The body of a six-year-old boy, first identified as KR70M6, was named by his uncle as Hakef Taimoori.

The uncle had a family photo showing the young boy wearing the same shoes as he had on when he washed up on the beach. His parents and two-year-old brother also died in the disaster. A third brother remains among the missing.

The dead have also been caught in a struggle between the Italian state and family members.

The Interior Ministry ordered that all bodies be transferred from Calabria where the caskets have been on display in an auditorium, to the Islamic cemetery of Bologna for burial, in keeping with Italy’s protocol for irregular migrants who die attempting to enter Italy.

Family members who either survived the wreck or came from other parts of Europe to claim their loved ones’ remains protested with makeshift signs and a sit-in in front of the auditorium on Wednesday.

After a tense negotiation, the Prefecture of Crotone confirmed to CNN that 25 families, mostly Afghan and Syrian, agreed to have their loved ones buried in Bologna,.

All those who have not been identified will also be buried in Bologna along with the remains of a Turkish national who has been identified as one of the human traffickers.

The fate of the rest remains a point of negotiation, but the mayor of Crotone Vincenzo Voce said the Italian state would pay for any repatriations either to countries of origin or to be buried with family members in other parts of Italy.

The Italian Interior Ministry told CNN it could not comment on what would happen to the victims’ remains, but confirmed that past protocol is not to pay for repatriating anyone who died attempting to enter Italy as an irregular migrant but to make the country of origin pay costs. In the last decade, no repatriations have taken place, the ministry said.

Of the 82 survivors, three Turkish citizens and one Pakistan citizen have been arrested for human trafficking, and eight people are still hospitalized.

Most of the survivors were moved this week to a Crotone hotel after human rights advocates led by Italian leftist politician Franco Mari protested the conditions in which they were being kept, which included one shared bathroom for men and another for women near sleeping quarters that included only benches and mattresses on the floor to sleep.

Mari, who visited the reception center, tweeted that none of the survivors had sheets, towels or pillows. Twelve others were moved to a reception center for unaccompanied minors.

Against the backdrop of the saga about what to do with both the survivors and the victims, there is a growing firestorm about the rescue itself.

A surveillance plane for European border control Frontex had identified the ill-fated vessel the day before it sank and had alerted the Italian Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard said in a statement that the vessel was not identified as a migrant boat, and that, at any rate, it did not seem in distress.

Heat sensing surveillance images released by the Coast Guard show that only one person was visible on board the ship when they flew over it.

Survivors recounted to media and human rights groups that they were locked in the hull of the ship and allowed to come up for air at intervals during the four-day journey from Turkey.

The Crotone public prosecutor’s office confirmed to CNN that it had opened a criminal investigation into the circumstances of the failed rescue after more than 40 human rights associations and NGOs signed a petition to demand all records be made public to determine if anyone failed to provide assistance to the boat in accordance with maritime law.

On Thursday, the Council of Ministers led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met on the disaster in Cutro and said they would focus on targeting trafficking rings and increasing jail time for human traffickers to 30 years.

Many of the government cars were pummeled with stuffed animals by protesters in Cutro who held signs that said “not in my name” to protest against blocking migrants and refugees from entering Europe through Italy.

The ministers also discussed “speeding up the mechanism for applying for asylum” rather than increasing the quota, which stands at accepting 82,700 migrants who qualify for asylum in 2023. So far this year, more than 17,600 people have reached Italy by sea.

In 2022, 105,131 people entered the country by sea. The process to apply for asylum often takes between three and five years, depending on the country of origin. People who are not from asylum-producing countries, but are economic migrants, are repatriated back to their countries of origin.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella said the Afghanistan citizens who survived would be prioritized for asylum. It is yet unclear if those who do not qualify will be repatriated to their countries of origin.

Meloni’s right-leaning government has vowed to clamp down on human traffickers and NGO rescue vessels. But the boats keep coming – hundreds of migrants were rescued this weekend – and signs are that they arriving earlier than ever. This tragedy is unlikely to be the last.

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March 11, 2023
Greek prime minister promises to fix chronic railway deficiencies as public anger grows | CNN

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CNN
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Greece’s prime minister has promised to improve the safety standards of the country’s railway system following its deadliest train crash on record which sparked mass protests.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis again apologized for last month’s incident, which saw a passenger train carrying mostly university students returning from a three-day public holiday collide with a freight train near the city of Larissa, leaving 57 people dead and dozens injured.

“I reiterate my public apology on behalf of all those who ruled the country for years, but mainly personally,” Mitsotakis said.

“I therefore assume responsibility. And we cannot, we do not want to, we must not hide behind a series of human errors,” he added.

The day after the deadly collision, Mitsotakis blamed “tragic human error,” sparking demonstrations against chronic faults in the railway system and demanding justice for the victims. In a change of tone, on Sunday he emphasized that Greece “cannot, will not, and must not hide behind human error.”

Speaking on Thursday, the Prime Minister promised “absolute transparency” and said that if the installation of digital control systems had been completed “this incident would have been practically impossible to have happened.”

The fact that this system “will be up and running in a few months from now is no excuse,” he added. “It makes my personal pain even greater as we didn’t get to install it before this tragic incident happened.”

Tens of thousands of people participated in protests organized by worker unions and student groups on Wednesday across major Greek cities, calling for government responsibility and better safety standards.

“This crime should not be covered up,” they chanted, holding signs with the names of those killed.

Further strikes are due in Greece to protest the fatal collision.

European Commission experts have met with the Greek government to discuss “the complete reorganization” of the Greek railway.

Mitsotakis said during the ministerial council that he has asked the commission for technical assistance and additional funding.

The Greek government was initially planning to hold elections in early April but is now widely expected to push it back until after Easter. Its term ends in July.

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March 9, 2023
Greek prime minister apologizes over train collision amid public fury | CNN

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CNN
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Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has apologized for one of the country’s worst train crashes in years, saying “We cannot, will not, and must not hide behind human error.”

A passenger train carrying more than 350 people collided with a freight train on Tuesday evening in Tempi, near the city of Larissa, killing at least 57 people and injuring scores more.

Demonstrators have been pouring onto the streets in the wake of the deadly crash, with widespread anger over the country’s railway safety record. Fresh unrest broke out on Sunday, with protesters clashing with police in Athens in scenes that are expected to be seen across the country.

“This crime should not be covered up, we will be the voice of all the dead,” was one of the slogans during Sunday’s protest in Athens.

In a statement, Mitsotakis said it should not be possible for two trains moving in opposite directions “to be on the same track and not be noticed by anyone.”

“As prime minister, I owe everyone, but above all to the relatives of the victims, a big sorry. Both personally, and in the name of all those who ruled the country for years,” Mitsotakis said.

The reference to human error marks a change of tone from the prime minister. In the aftermath of the collision he blamed “tragic human error.”

His latest statement though suggested systematic problems in the Greek railway network, promising announcements in the coming days to “immediately improve the safety of the railways.”

On Thursday after a train station manager was arrested in Larissa in connection with the collision, Greek authorities made public dispatch recordings revealing that one of the train drivers involved had received instructions to ignore a red light.

Greece has a poor record of railway passenger safety compared with other countries in Europe, recording the highest railway fatality rate per million train kilometers from 2018 to 2020 among 28 nations on the continent, according to a 2022 report from the European Union Agency for Railways.

The head-on collision left toppled carriages and scorched debris in its wake. Many of those on board were young people returning home from a holiday weekend.

The country’s transport minister resigned in the wake of the tragedy and a rail workers’ union went on strike, accusing the government of neglecting the system.

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March 5, 2023
Death toll from rail disaster rises to 57 as anger boils in Greece | CNN

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Anger in Greece over poor railway safety grew on Thursday as the death toll from one of the country’s worst train crashes in recent years reached 57.

Demonstrators poured onto the streets after the head-on collision between a passenger train carrying more than 350 people and a freight train on Tuesday evening in Tempi, near the city of Larissa.

Protesters clashed with police in the capital Athens, the country’s transport minister resigned in the wake of the tragedy and a rail workers’ union is going on strike, accusing the government of “disrespect” in the sector.

Another 48 people remain in hospital as a result of the crash, which left toppled carriages and scorched debris in its wake. Six of the injured being treated are in critical condition due to head wounds and serious burns, public broadcaster ERT reported Thursday.

After a train station manager in Larissa was arrested in connection to the collision, Greek authorities on Thursday also released striking dispatch audio recordings that show one of the train drivers receiving instructions to ignore a red light.

“Proceed through red traffic light exit until traffic light entry of Neon Poron,” the station master is heard saying.

“Vasilis, am I good to go?” the train driver responds, to which the train master says “Go, go.”

In a second conversation, the station master can be heard ordering an employee to keep one of the trains on the same track.

“Shall I turn it now?” the employee asks.

“No, no, because 1564 is on this route,” the station master says.

The station master has been charged with mass deaths through negligence and causing grievous bodily harm through negligence. Upon arrest he blamed the collision on a technical fault, though later admitted to “making a mistake.”

Protesters gathered outside the central Athens headquarters of Greek rail company Hellenic Train again on Thursday evening in a demonstration organized by student and worker unions.

Police already had a presence outside the Hellenic Train headquarters before the demonstrators arrived. The protest was peaceful, following unrest on Wednesday in which demonstrators clashed with police.

Most of the passengers involved in the accident were young, a local hospital told ERT. The accident came soon after a holiday weekend.

Search and rescue operations will continue on Thursday and Friday at the site of the crash, according to the Fire Service.

Meanwhile, relatives of those missing are still awaiting news regarding their loved ones as the identification process continues at Larissa General Hospital.

Speaking earlier to Greek media, Dimitris Bournazis, who is trying to get news about his father and brother, said no one has given him any information. Bournazis said he was trying to contact the company to find out where on the train his relatives were sitting at the time of the crash. He said he called the offices of Hellenic Train three times but no one has called him back.

“The prime minister and the health minister came here yesterday. Why? To do what? To explain what? Where are they today?” Bournazis told Greek broadcaster SKAI, adding that “no one has given us any information, no one knows how many people really were inside.”

“We cannot only blame one person for this because of a mistake. Where is everyone else now? They all await the election to speak,” he said.

Speaking to ERT, passenger Andreas Alikaniotis, who was in the second carriage during the collision, described the moments following the crash.

“What we did was to break the glass, which was already cracked, and to throw the luggage outside the carriage, so we can land somewhere soft,” he told ERT, describing how he helped around 10 people escape.

“We jumped 3 to 4 meters,” he added, “first the more seriously injured and then us with lighter injuries”

Alikaniotis added that he remembers pulling up two or three girls and helping them get to the window to jump. “There was panic,” he added.

Greece has a weak record of railway passenger safety compared with other countries in Europe, recording the highest railway fatality rate per million train kilometers from 2018 to 2020 among 28 nations on the continent, according to a 2022 report from the European Union Agency for Railways.

In an extraordinary meeting, the Greek federation of rail workers decided unanimously to launch the 24-hour strike on Thursday to highlight poor working conditions and chronic understaffing.

It accused the federal government of “disrespect” towards railways for causing the crash, saying “more permanent staff, better training and mainly the implementation of modern security systems, are permanently thrown in the bin.”

Separately, another 24-hour strike was announced by Greek metro workers, who said in a statement: “There are no words to describe such tragedy.”

Greek transport minister Kostas Karamanlis said the railway system the government inherited was “not up to 21st century standards” as he stepped down from his role Wednesday.

In a televised address after visiting the crash site, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the collision was “mainly” due “to tragic human error.”

He said the transport minister’s decision to resign was honorable, and added that the heads of Hellenic Railways Organization and its subsidiary ERGOSE have also submitted their resignations.

Condolences have poured in from across the world, while a three-day period of mourning is under way in Greece.

Britain’s King Charles said in a statement that he and his wife Camilla, Queen Consort, have been “most shocked and profoundly saddened by the news of the dreadful accident.”

French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted: “My thoughts go out to the families of the victims of the terrible accident that took place last night near Larissa. France stands alongside the Greeks.”

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March 2, 2023
At least 29 dead, 85 injured as trains collide in Greece | CNN

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Rescue workers are in a desperate search for survivors after a head-on collision between two trains in central Greece killed dozens of people and injured scores.

At least 29 people were killed and more than 85 injured when a passenger train carrying more than 350 people collided with a freight train on Tuesday evening, shortly before midnight, in Tempi, central Greece, near the city of Larissa, the Greek Fire Service said.

“We just heard a bang… the (train) car started spinning, before ending up sideways when we managed to exit,” one male passenger told Greek public broadcaster ERT.

“It was 10 nightmarish seconds with fire, you couldn’t see much from the smoke,” said a second passenger.

Recovery efforts are underway and the death toll is expected to rise, the Greek Fire Service said.

The passenger train had been traveling from the capital Athens to Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city, which is renowned for its festivals and vibrant cultural life. The collision follows a nationwide carnival at the weekend which ended with a public holiday on Monday.

Images on Greece’s state-owned public broadcaster ERT showed plumes of thick smoke pouring out of toppled carriages and long lines of rescue vehicles next to them.

Meanwhile, rescue workers with torches searched carriages for survivors as paramedics led shell-shocked passengers from the scene.

The images also showed some surviving passengers arriving in Thessaloniki.

Greek Fire Service spokesman Vassilis Varthakogiannis said that 194 passengers had been taken safely to Thessaloniki.

At least 150 firefighters with 17 vehicles and 40 ambulances are involved in the rescue operation, he added.

The Greek railway company, Hellenic Train, said in a press release that there was “a head-on collision between two trains: a freight train and train IC 62 which had departed from Athens to Thessaloniki.”

Authorities said it is still not clear what led to the collision.

Hellenic Train, the main Greek railway company, was acquired by Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane in 2017 and is now fully controlled by Trenitalia. The company operates both passenger and freight transport. The main line on which daily connections are offered is Athens-Thessaloniki.

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February 28, 2023
Children and women among 63 dead as migrant boat hits rocks near Italy | CNN

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At least 63 people including children and women died after a wooden boat carrying migrants from Turkey broke apart on rocks off the coast of Calabria on Sunday, Italian authorities said.

More bodies were being pulled from the Mediterranean Sea on Monday, where bad weather hampered search efforts and made the field of debris larger.

More than two dozen of the dead were Pakistani nationals, the country’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, said Monday. Sharif described the news as “deeply concerning and worrisome” and directed Pakistan’s foreign ministry to investigate.

At least 82 passengers survived the shipwreck, an official from Italy’s Crotone prefecture said Monday. Among those on board were people from Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan, according to rescuers.

The vessel left the Turkish city of Izmir three or four days before the wreck, with 140 to 150 people on board, Reuters reported. The first three bodies washed up on the beach near Staccato di Cutro in southern Italy around 4:40 a.m. local time Sunday.

The full breakdown of migrants by gender and ages who have died were set to be released soon and the total number of people missing had not yet been established, Manuela Curra, prefect of Crotone, told CNN on Monday.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni blamed human traffickers. “It is criminal to launch a boat just 20 meters long with 200 people on board in adverse weather,” she said in a statement. “It is inhumane to exchange the lives of men, women and children for the price of a ticket under the false perspective of a safe journey.”

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi added that new measures must be instituted to reduce such perilous journeys. “It is essential to continue with every possible initiative to stop departures and discourage crossings in any way which takes advantage of the illusory mirage of a better life,” he said in a statement.

Meloni made stopping migrant boats a priority of her hard-right government. This week parliament approved new laws making it more difficult for NGOs to carry out rescues.

In Vatican City on Sunday, in reference to the victims of the shipwreck, Pope Francis said: “I pray for each of them, for the missing, and for the other migrants who survived. I thank those who are helping them and those who are giving them assistance. May the Virgin Mary help these brothers and sisters.”

UNHCR records show that 11,874 people have arrived in Italy so far in 2023 by sea, with 678 of them arriving at Calabria.

Typically, arrivals are from African countries, rather than the Middle East and Asia, with the majority of boats setting off from Libya.

Only 8.3% of arrivals are from Pakistan, 6.7% from Afghanistan and 0.7% from Iran. The rest are primarily from Africa, with 17.3% of arrivals from Ivory Coast alone, 13.1% from Guinea. Other African nations, including North African countries, make up most of the rest.

The most deadly migration route is the Central Mediterranean route, where at least 20,334 people have died since 2014, according to the International Organization for Migration’s Missing Migrants Project.

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February 27, 2023
Why UK supermarkets are rationing fruit and vegetables | CNN Business

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London
CNN
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Major UK supermarkets have started rationing the sale of some staple fruits and salad vegetables, blaming poor weather that has depressed production in Spain and north Africa.

Tesco

(TSCDF), the UK’s biggest supermarket, confirmed to CNN Wednesday that it had temporarily capped the number of packs of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers to three per customer.

Asda told CNN that it was temporarily limiting purchases of some items to three packs per customer. These include tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and lettuce.

“Like other supermarkets, we are experiencing sourcing challenges on some products that are grown in southern Spain and north Africa,” an Asda spokesperson said.

Morrisons told CNN that it had imposed a cap of two packs per customer on tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and lettuce. Aldi, a German discount grocery chain, announced Wednesday that it would also introduce a limit of three packs per person on peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes in its UK stores.

Asda, Morrisons and Aldi are Britain’s third-, fourth- and fifth-biggest supermarket chains respectively, according to market share data from Kantar.

Sainsbury’s

(JSAIY), the United Kingdom’s second-largest food retailer, told CNN it had no plans to ration the sale of fruit and vegetables.

The rationing is another knock for British shoppers already grappling with record grocery price rises, which have inflamed the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades.

In the four weeks to January 22, food price inflation hit 16.7%, according to Kantar. That’s its highest level since the data company started tracking the indicator in 2008.

“The more we face shortages, the more it will drive food inflation,” Minette Batters, president of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), which represents more than 46,000 farming and growing businesses, told the BBC Wednesday.

A spokesperson for the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said in a statement: “We understand public concerns around the supply of fresh vegetables. However, the UK has a highly resilient food supply chain and is well-equipped to deal with disruption.”

So what explains the empty shelves?

Asda and Morrisons pointed the finger at poor weather in key growing regions as the main driver of the shortages.

Andrew Woods, a sub-editor at Mintec, a commodities data company, told CNN that hotter-than-average weather in Spain and Morocco last fall, combined with a cold snap over the past two weeks, had hit production.

The tomato crop in southern Spain is 20% smaller than a year ago, he said.

The poorer harvests are problematic for UK retailers, reliant as they are on imports to fill their stocks at this time of year.

According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), a trade group, UK supermarkets import 95% of their tomatoes and 90% of their lettuce in December, and typically import the same proportions in March.

James Bailey, executive director of supermarket Waitrose, told LBC radio Monday that snow and hail in Spain, as well as hail in parts of north Africa, had “wip[ed] out a large proportion” of key crops.

The high-end supermarket chain told CNN that it was “monitoring the situation” but had no plans to introduce rationing.

“Give it about [two weeks] and the other growing seasons in other parts of the world will have caught up and we should be able to get that supply back in,” Bailey added.

The BRC also says it expects the current disruption to last a few weeks before home-grown produce arrives to fill the gaps on UK store shelves.

“Supermarkets are adept at managing supply chain issues and are working with farmers to ensure that customers are able to access a wide range of fresh produce,” Andrew Opie, the BRC’s director of food and sustainability, told CNN.

High input costs have contributed to the shortages of fruit and vegetables, the NFU says, as well as reduced production across the farming sector more broadly.

“Labor shortages and soaring energy prices are hitting the poultry industry, already reeling from avian influenza, as well as horticultural businesses and pig farms,” Batters said in a speech Tuesday.

The price of natural gas — a key input for nitrogen-based fertilizers — shot up following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. Though gas prices have fallen back in recent weeks, they are still triple their historical average, while fertilizer costs are up 169% since 2019, Batters noted.

According to the NFU, the production of tomatoes and cucumbers is expected to fall to the lowest levels since the union started keeping records in 1985, on the back of crippling input costs.

Woods at Mintec said processing and storing vegetables, such as tomatoes, was “energy intensive.”

Europe, too, has wrestled with many of the same problems in recent months.

“Across Europe, supplies [of tomatoes] are reportedly tight, and growers continue to grapple with higher fertilizer, energy and labor costs,” Mintec said in a note.

Yet, currently, there are few indications — in media reports or on social media — that retailers in other countries are rationing sales.

But Defra said in its statement Wednesday that “similar disruption is also being seen in other countries,” and that it was helping UK growers by expanding a visa scheme for seasonal workers to fill labor gaps.

UK supermarkets have not cited Brexit as a reason for the supply crunch. But the NFU and some campaign groups argue that it has worsened labor shortages.

Direct subsidy payments to UK farmers from the European Union are being phased out, which has increased uncertainty for farmers, Batters said in her speech. The United Kingdom plans to fully implement its own subsidy scheme by 2024.

— Julia Horowitz contributed reporting.

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February 22, 2023
Venice canals run dry amid fears Italy faces another drought | CNN

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Venice
Reuters
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Weeks of dry winter weather have raised concerns that Italy could face another drought after last summer’s emergency, with the Alps having received less than half of their normal snowfall, according to scientists and environmental groups.

The warning comes as Venice, where flooding is normally the primary concern, faces unusually low tides that are making it impossible for gondolas, water taxis and ambulances to navigate some of its famous canals.

The problems in Venice are being blamed on a combination of factors – the lack of rain, a high pressure system, a full moon and sea currents.

Italian rivers and lakes are suffering from severe lack of water, the Legambiente environmental group said Monday, with attention focused on the north of the country.

The Po, Italy’s longest river which runs from the Alps in the northwest to the Adriatic, has 61% less water than is normal at this time of year, it added in a statement.

Last July, Italy declared a state of emergency for areas surrounding the Po, which accounts for roughly a third of the country’s agricultural production and suffered its worst drought for 70 years.

“We are in a water deficit situation that has been building up since the winter of 2020-2021,” climate expert Massimiliano Pasqui, from Italian scientific research institute CNR, was quoted as saying by Corriere della Sera, a daily newspaper.

“We need to recover 500 millimeters in the northwestern regions: We need 50 days of rain,” he added.

Water levels on Lake Garda in northern Italy have fallen to record lows, making it possible to reach the small island of San Biagio on the lake via an exposed pathway.

An anticyclone has been dominating the weather in western Europe for 15 days, bringing mild temperatures more normally seen in late spring.

Latest weather forecasts do however signal the arrival of much-needed precipitation and snow in the Alps in coming days.

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February 21, 2023
Carnival: 10 wild facts and customs | CNN

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CNN
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Ash Wednesday is just around the corner (February 22). So you know what that means.

Carnival celebrations for 2023 are in full force around the world. It’s a time when people – particularly those in areas with strong Roman Catholic traditions – indulge their wild side before the solemn, introspective days of Lent commence.

With so many participants (more than a million in some cities) and so many different celebration spots (from the Americas to Asia), there’s bound to be a lot of fascinating tidbits to uncover surrounding Carnival.

To go with the party vibe, here are some wild Carnival facts, figures and customs:

The world’s biggest annual Carnival, held in Rio de Janeiro, naturally generates a lot of economic activity for Brazil. But the expected amount for 2023 is positively eye-popping, according to a report from Reuters.

“We believe the economy will generate five billion reais ($971.55 million) during Carnival alone, a record,” Ronnie Aguiar, the president of the Rio Tourism Company (Riotur), recently told the news agency.

That’s what the power of roughly 5 million people freely spending after pandemic restrictions will do for you.

After a two-year hiatus, around 80,000 tourists from abroad are expected to show up for 2023, according to the International Air Transport Association.

The Venice Carnival began in 1162 as a military celebration. From there, it morphed into good ol’ party time – until 1797.

That’s when dour Francis II, the last Holy Roman Emperor, put the kibosh on the revelries (Austrians had just started calling the shots in Venice at the time). He also banned Venetians from wearing masks. Talk about a party pooper.

During the 19th century, Venetians tried to jump-start a big public gathering, but they were able to muster only small, private fêtes.

Then in the height of the Disco Era, the Italian government came to the party-time rescue. It helped Venice relaunch Carnival in 1979. It’s now grown into one of the world’s most renowned, complete with grand masked balls and flotillas in the canals.

Speaking of masks, the Venice Carnival is famous for its mysterious and fancy face coverings. And the nicer ones can cost you quite a few euros.

Some high-end Venice masks go for €400 (about $425) or even more. That’s a lot to pay to be stylishly incognito, but they provide a classic keepsake.

What masks are to Venice, beads are to New Orleans.

The throwing of beads and other trinkets to the crowds during Mardi Gras was started in the early 1870s. In fact, they’re called throws.

How many are tossed out? Tons of them. Literally.

A few years back, cleaning crews removed a whopping 93,000 pounds on a five-block stretch of St. Charles Avenue downtown from clogged storm drains. That works out to 46.5 tons.

New Orleans has since installed “gutter buddies” to prevent beads from entering the drains.

In the small Spanish Mediterranean port city of Águilas, they’re also into throwing stuff. Here, it’s eggs – but they’re not filled with yolks.

Months before Carnival, locals collect eggshells, then paint them or cover them in striking colors and fill them with confetti. In Spanish, it’s called cascarones de confeti.

They’re used in a battle in which Don Carnal, who represents the Roman god Janus, is at war with Doña Cuaresma (Mrs. Lent). Don Carnal always loses.

Geez – there really is something about Carnival and throwing things.

In the little Greek harbor town of Galaxidi, what they toss is a whole lot softer than beads and less elaborate than confetti-filled eggs.

Each year, the town and the townspeople get covered in colored flour, which is thrown on locals and tourists alike. You might want to bring some protective eyewear if you attend. Check out the madness in this YouTube video.

India definitely knows how to throw a celebration – Diwali and Holi anyone?

While exporting those to the world, Indians are also making their unique contribution to Carnival in Goa, which was a Portuguese – and therefore Catholic – colony for centuries.

The Goa Carnival is full of the usual parades, colorful costumes and elaborate floats, but the Carnival here mixes with local Goan culture and Hindu traditions.

In one old Goa Carnival tradition, people throw their old utensils out of their kitchen windows when the parade passes. Another is when people get into playful fights throwing colorful powders at each other, similar to the Holi Festival.

YouTuber Heena Bhatia captured parade scenes from the 2022 Carnival on her channel.

Back in Rio, they’re definitely enjoying all things samba, but they also shake it up, baby.

Turns out Brazilian-beat Beatles songs are the rage at one of the many Rio street parties known as blocos. There are more than 500 blocos, according to Carnivaland.net.

At Aterro do Flamengo (Flamingo Park), the Sargento Pimento party is dedicated to playing Beatles music.

Catch a very fitting “Here Comes the Sun” from 2013 on YouTube.

Rio ain’t the only game in Brazil when it comes to Carnival. A favorite among Brazilians is the Recife & Olinda Carnival. Fewer tourists show up, so if you’re looking for true local flavor, the mutual party thrown by these two northeastern coastal cities could be for you.

And don’t miss the bonecos, giant papier-mache puppets, in Olinda. They are up to 3 meters (9.8 feet) tall and are paraded through the streets.

Olinda concentrates on daytime events, while the nighttime is the right time for Recife.

In the Caribbean’s Trinidad and Tobago, you can sit back and watch and listen. Or you can join in. It’s called playing mas, according to online experts Carnivaland.net.

To play mas, you have to join a masquerade band, but you just can’t show up. You must first pick out a mas band you’d like to be a part of and don their costumes (some are sexy, some are more conservative).

Joining a mas band isn’t free, but some are all inclusive, providing your costume, food and drinks, bathroom areas and more.

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February 19, 2023