Latest news with #Sicilia
CTV News
3 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Sicily requires hospitals to hire doctors who perform abortions
Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni attends the European Political Community summit in Tirana, Albania, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj) ROME - Sicily has passed a law requiring public hospitals to hire doctors who do not object to performing abortions, amid difficulties across Italy in accessing terminations. The measure was adopted by the assembly of the right-wing-led regional authority on Tuesday, in what its main proponent described as a 'historic moment'. Abortion has been legal in Italy since 1978 but doctors can refuse to perform the procedure by citing conscientious objections. In practice, this means abortion access can be difficult in many areas of the Catholic-majority country -- including in Sicily. Of the 55 hospitals on the island with a gynaecology department, abortion is performed in 47 percent of them, below the national average of 61 percent, according to Italy's health ministry. In 2022, 61 percent of all gynaecologists across Italy were conscientious objectors, rising to 81.5 percent in Sicily. The law change was proposed by Dario Safina, a member of the regional assembly for the centre-left Democratic Party, who hailed it as a 'historic moment'. 'Our goal is that the right to abortion is real, not just theoretical,' he wrote on Facebook. 'With this rule, we lay the foundation for a health system that is fairer, more efficient and respectful of the rights of all,' he added. Italy's far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni opposes abortion but has said she will not change the law. However, critics accuse her of trying to make it more complicated to obtain one.
CNA
21-05-2025
- Business
- CNA
Just 8% of Italian enterprises using AI, many people lack digital know-how
ROME :In Italy, long burdened by slow economic growth, the number of companies using artificial intelligence is limited compared to other European Union countries, according to figures released on Wednesday by national statistics bureau ISTAT. In its wide-ranging annual report, ISTAT said that only eight out of 100 Italian enterprises were using AI last year, a lower percentage than the figure for France and Spain, and well below the level of almost 20 per cent in Germany. In general, digital know-how in Italy falls short of European targets, ISTAT said. Only 45.8 per cent of Italians aged 16-74 had at least basic digital skills in 2023, according to the latest available data, compared to an EU27 average of 55.5 per cent and European targets aiming for 80 per cent by 2030. The percentage declines to a low of 36.1 per cent in the economically underdeveloped Mezzogiorno - Italy's six southern regions plus the islands of Sicily and Sardinia. Against a challenging economic backdrop, compounded by a deep demographic crisis, a growing number of young educated Italians have decided to try their luck abroad. In 2023, 21,000 graduates aged 25-34 left Italy, a 21.2 per cent year-on-year rise, ISTAT said, adding that the net loss of qualified young workers was 97,000 over 10 years. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government halved its full-year 2025 growth forecast last month to 0.6 per cent from a 1.2 per cent target set in September, amid mounting uncertainty due to U.S. trade tariff policy. In the first quarter the Italian economy grew by 0.3 per cent from the previous three months, based on preliminary data.
Asharq Al-Awsat
17-05-2025
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Too Many Tourists? Crowds Offer an Opportunity for Italy's South
In a rundown neighbourhood of Sicily's capital Palermo, a whitewashed old farmhouse that accommodates pilgrims now offers two rooms to tourists for bed and breakfast after a renovation. As foreign visitors flock to Sicily, last year Brother Mauro Billetta, head of the parish in the Danisinni neighbourhood, decided that revenue from B&B guests could help lift the area out of decades of neglect. Two months ago he also opened a cafe at the farmhouse, overlooking the vegetable garden. "That was our main goal from the start: to open up this part of the city, and also to tourists," said Mauro, sitting in his brown robes in his office at the parish church. While residents in Rome, Florence and Venice have staged protests, complaining of overcrowded streets and housing shortages due to rising holiday rentals, it's a different story in poorer southern Italy. In Sicily and other parts the tourism boom is helping make some neighbourhoods safer and bringing much needed cash to deprived areas, although residents see risks ahead if it is not controlled. Danisinni is walking distance from Palermo Cathedral and the Norman Palace, two of the UNESCO World Heritage sites in the Sicilian capital, which welcomed over 800,000 visitors in 2023, up 16% from 2022. "Our houses became more valuable and some of the businesses that opened in recent years, like the restaurants, are good for the residents as well," said Aurelio Cagnina, while walking his dog near his home by Palermo's ancient port of La Cala. However, some city residents are starting to complain that local authorities are failing to regulate the tourist boom. Short-term rentals are on the rise - more than 180,000 of Palermo's visitors in 2023 stayed in non-hotel accommodation, up 44% from 2019, official data shows - and residents say the growing night life has brought an increase in drug dealing. "The lack of intervention is setting the stage for irreversible transformations. The so-called 'showcase' historic centre is what is happening," Palermo resident Massimo Castiglia said. He reflects fears voiced by residents in Florence and Venice that their city centres will become amusement parks as locals are priced out by visitors. PRESERVATION STRATEGY A rebound in air travel after the pandemic and more low-cost direct flights have led to a surge in visitor numbers to Europe's tourism hot spots, causing friction in parts of Spain and elsewhere, not just Italy - where tourism accounts for more than 10% of gross domestic product. Spending by foreign visitors in Italy rose 19% in 2023 to a record 51.4 billion euros ($57.56 billion), according to The World Travel & Tourism Council's latest data. Sicily drew 5.5 million tourists in 2023, up 14.5% on 2022, according to local government data, and more than the island's resident population of 4.8 million. "There is no risk of overtourism. The idea that the historical areas will become a desert, sold out to short-term rentals does not exist in Palermo at present," said Alessandro Anello, councillor responsible for tourism in Palermo. Yet he acknowledged a strategy was needed to preserve the city's character. The municipality was considering building student quarters in the city center, he said, and last month it passed rules to prevent the opening of more mini food markets for the next 18 months. "Otherwise, there would be a risk that it becomes an open-air street food market," Anello said. REVAMPED IMAGE Tourism has helped Palermo to revamp its image after difficult decades that long overshadowed its beauty. Memorial plaques in honour of the victims of the Cosa Nostra Mafia wars of the 1980s and 1990s are scattered across the city, sometimes hidden among shiny shop windows or restaurants serving typical Sicilian food. A car bomb exploded in 1983 in a residential street near the elegant Viale della Liberta boulevard, killing anti-mafia magistrate Rocco Chinnici, two police officers escorting him and the doorman of the building where he lived. Claudia Lombardo, who rents apartments to tourists with her daughter a few metres from the site, believes much has changed since then. "There is a different air, a more open mentality, and I believe the opportunity to interact with tourists has helped a lot," she said.
Al Arabiya
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Italian government tells Israel: ‘Enough with the attacks' in Gaza
Italy's government on Saturday upped its exhortations to Israel to stop deadly military strikes in Gaza, with Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani saying: 'Enough with the attacks.' 'We no longer want to see the Palestinian people suffer,' Tajani said during a trip to Sicily, in remarks relayed by his spokesman. 'Let's come to a ceasefire, let's free the hostages, but let's leave people who are victims of Hamas alone,' he was cited as saying. Israel's military has announced it is in the 'initial stages' of a new offensive in Gaza aimed at defeating Hamas. Israel resumed its offensive in Gaza on March 18, ending a two-month truce in its war against Hamas triggered by the group's October 2023 attack. More than 100 people in Gaza were killed in Israeli strikes on Friday and another 10 on Saturday, according to the Gaza civil defense agency. International condemnation has escalated over Israel's military actions, and its blockage of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip, where more than two million people lived before the war started. Israel's army said the goal of its latest offensive is to 'seize control of areas within the Gaza Strip.'
Al Arabiya
17-05-2025
- Al Arabiya
Too many tourists? Crowds offer an opportunity for Italy's south
In a rundown neighborhood of Sicily's capital Palermo, a whitewashed old farmhouse that accommodates pilgrims now offers two rooms to tourists for bed and breakfast after a renovation. As foreign visitors flock to Sicily, last year Brother Mauro Billetta, head of the parish in the Danisinni neighborhood, decided that revenue from B&B guests could help lift the area out of decades of neglect. Two months ago he also opened a cafe at the farmhouse, overlooking the vegetable garden. 'That was our main goal from the start: to open up this part of the city, and also to tourists,' said Mauro, sitting in his brown robes in his office at the parish church. While residents in Rome, Florence and Venice have staged protests, complaining of overcrowded streets and housing shortages due to rising holiday rentals, it's a different story in poorer southern Italy. In Sicily and other parts the tourism boom is helping make some neighborhoods safer and bringing much needed cash to deprived areas, although residents see risks ahead if it is not controlled. Danisinni is walking distance from Palermo Cathedral and the Norman Palace, two of the UNESCO World Heritage sites in the Sicilian capital, which welcomed over 800,000 visitors in 2023, up 16 percent from 2022. 'Our houses became more valuable and some of the businesses that opened in recent years, like the restaurants, are good for the residents as well,' said Aurelio Cagnina, while walking his dog near his home by Palermo's ancient port of La Cala. However, some city residents are starting to complain that local authorities are failing to regulate the tourist boom. Short-term rentals are on the rise - more than 180,000 of Palermo's visitors in 2023 stayed in non-hotel accommodation, up 44 percent from 2019, official data shows - and residents say the growing night life has brought an increase in drug dealing. 'The lack of intervention is setting the stage for irreversible transformations. The so-called 'showcase' historic center is what is happening,' Palermo resident Massimo Castiglia said. He reflects fears voiced by residents in Florence and Venice that their city centers will become amusement parks as locals are priced out by visitors. Preservation strategy A rebound in air travel after the pandemic and more low-cost direct flights have led to a surge in visitor numbers to Europe's tourism hot spots, causing friction in parts of Spain and elsewhere, not just Italy - where tourism accounts for more than 10 percent of gross domestic product. Spending by foreign visitors in Italy rose 19 percent in 2023 to a record 51.4 billion euros ($57.56 billion), according to The World Travel & Tourism Council's latest data. Sicily drew 5.5 million tourists in 2023, up 14.5 percent on 2022, according to local government data, and more than the island's resident population of 4.8 million. 'There is no risk of overtourism. The idea that the historical areas will become a desert, sold out to short-term rentals does not exist in Palermo at present,' said Alessandro Anello, councilor responsible for tourism in Palermo. Yet he acknowledged a strategy was needed to preserve the city's character. The municipality was considering building student quarters in the city center, he said, and last month it passed rules to prevent the opening of more mini food markets for the next 18 months. 'Otherwise, there would be a risk that it becomes an open-air street food market,' Anello said. Revamped image Tourism has helped Palermo to revamp its image after difficult decades that long overshadowed its beauty. Memorial plaques in honor of the victims of the Cosa Nostra Mafia wars of the 1980s and 1990s are scattered across the city, sometimes hidden among shiny shop windows or restaurants serving typical Sicilian food. A car bomb exploded in 1983 in a residential street near the elegant Viale della Liberta boulevard, killing anti-mafia magistrate Rocco Chinnici, two police officers escorting him and the doorman of the building where he lived. Claudia Lombardo, who rents apartments to tourists with her daughter a few meters from the site, believes much has changed since then. 'There is a different air, a more open mentality, and I believe the opportunity to interact with tourists has helped a lot,' she said.
