BREAKING:
#Italy
PM
#Conte
announces the restriction zone will be extended to cover the whole country. No longer just a red zone in the north - all of Italy.
As Matteo Salvini visits the Poland-Ukraine border, the mayor of Przemysl shows him the Putin-admiring T-shirt he proudly wore in Moscow. Not so simple for a leopard to change its spots.
After
@BorisJohnson
was asked in parliament why Germany & Italy are doing better on Coronavirus than UK and replied the difference is "ours is a freedom-loving country", Italian President Mattarella tells reporters "we Italians love freedom too but seriousness is also dear to us"
Taxi at Fiumicino picking up a friend visiting. First claims it’s 70€ to central Rome (it’s 50). Then says credit card machine isn’t working, so only cash. Then says he has no internet (it “recharges at midnight”) so has no GPS. Benvenuto a Roma.
Silvio Berlusconi (likely to become President of Senate after elections this month): “Before we start, I saw you talking to a beautiful girl. Did you get her number?”
TV Presenter: Obviously.
Berlusconi: Well done, you learnt well.
Italy, 2022.
Istanbul passport officer: Mr Mark, what do you do in Turkey?
Me: Journalist.
Him: Aha! For MI5 or MI6?
Me: Both!
Him: (Knowing laugh) So who won the election?
Cue 5 minutes of chat. Then me: I’m gonna miss my flight
Him: See you abi. We’ll chat over tea
I do love this place.
Breaking:
#Italy
, a country of 60m, has just overtaken China, with a population of 1.5bn, in numbers of deaths from
#Coronavirus
. Another 427 today, taking those killed to 3405. And more than 5000 new total cases, up to 41,035. Sobering, awful, heartbreaking.
6,000 passengers are currently blocked on a cruise ship near port of Civitavecchia, near Rome, while a Chinese couple on board - reportedly with fever and respiratory problems - are checked for
#coronavirus
. The Costa Smeralda arrived from Marseille, Barcelona and Mallorca
Italy, 2024: the “Roman Salute” in the heart of the capital.
A country that never went through a postwar “de-fascistisation” as Germany did, and where the glorification of fascism is somehow still accepted.
Tells Italians to stay at home, to think of the common good, to play their part to combat
#Coronavirus
. Cancels all sports matches across the country.
Lost in translation:
@DerSPIEGEL
cover depicts
#Erdogan
together with Xi, Putin and Trump as the autocrats. Pro-govt Turkish paper
@takvim
thinks it’s a compliment and reproduces it with headline “Merkel didn’t make it to the front cover but Erdogan did”. You couldn’t make it up.
As a new year comes, so has a new life:
@PedroZegrePenim
& I are overjoyed that our perfect daughter has arrived to grace our lives. A long, bumpy path has led to elation, thanks to our incredible surrogate. I’ll be taking some months off to learn the job of my dreams: fatherhood
5 years in Turkey mean that 6 months after moving to Italy, I still somehow find myself being surprised by how openly critical Italians are on Twitter about their politicians. The number of times I’ve thought “if that tweet had been in Turkey, the tweeter would’ve been in jail”.
Wonderful moment to meet Paulette Monier at
#Compi
ègne commemoration, who turns 100 the day after tomorrow. “I never thought I’d see the French and German leaders together like this today”, she tells me. “My message to everyone here is no more war - we must be together”
Hope continues in
#Italy
: 285 deaths, lower than yesterday & second-lowest in almost 7 weeks. Current cases see record fall by 3106. Total cases up just 0.9%. Record number of tests, over 68k. ICU patients down again and record daily rise in recoveries: 4693. We’re getting there.
Today for the first time I finally saw Milan’s famous “Bosco Verticale” or “Vertical Forest” towers up close. A wonderful feat of architecture and environmental sustainability, with their thousands of trees, shrubs and other plants. What a model for us all.
Extraordinary front pages from
#France
, 100 years since the guns fell silent on the western front: “Why
#Trump
threatens us” and “
#Macron
’s other front”. War may be a distant memory in this country but the postwar western liberal order and traditional alliances feel a new threat.
Mandate to authorize CHP's Ekrem Imamoğlu as the Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor for the next 5 years has been written at Istanbul Province Election Council.
THREAD:
#Italy
PM Conte lays out how lockdown will be eased. From 4 May:
- People can move within region but not beyond
- Visiting family members allowed but not social gatherings. With masks
- Private sport allowed (eg running)
- Parks reopening
- Funerals - max 15 ppl... [1/4]
#Italy
is recovering. Lowest death toll (174) since Mar 10, almost 8 wks ago; lowest ever rise in total cases (0.67%) and current infections down again by 525 (but over 10k fewer tests than y'day). Just over 1500 ICU patients now, down from 4000. On eve of reopening, encouraging.
New: 601
#Coronavirus
deaths in
#Italy
in past 24 hours, a fall again from yesterday - and crucially the rise in new infections has slowed again, from 9 to 8.1%. Second consecutive one-day fall. Will give people heart that there could be a flicker of light at end of tunnel.
#Italy
is now the most affected country in Europe by
#Coronavirus
. With +100 cases and 2 deaths, 50,000 people are under lockdown with nobody entering/leaving towns, football matches cancelled, universities closed for a week in attempt to control spread
#Italy
again sees its biggest rise in
#Coronavirus
deaths in a day, up 250 to 1266, and an increase of 2116 cases, now at 14,955. Each day seems to be breaking new grim records here - it's unfathomable, incomprehensible and tragic.
Today should have been
#Istanbul
#Pride
. If Covid hadn’t stopped it,
#Turkey
’s government would have banned it for 5th year. Last year, my husband & I joined Istanbullus trying to celebrate love (before being tear-gassed). So today from Rome,
@PedroZegrePenim
& I say:
#A
şkAşktır!
UPDATE: The suspected case of
#Coronavirus
is with the woman, a 54-year-old from Macau, while her husband did not show symptoms. She's been isolated on board and is being checked by medical staff. Results expected this afternoon
#Turkey
sadly never changes. Riot police use violence and tear gas against students of the top university
#Bo
ğazici furious at government interference after Erdogan appoints a rector
@melihbulu
who was AKP candidate (& seems to have plagiarised his thesis)
#Turkey
President's office confirms to
@bbcturkce
that when President
#Erdogan
received
#Trump
's letter, he "thoroughly rejected it, threw it in the bin" and launched the
#Syria
operation the same day. His mind was already made up to move in; letter was reportedly the final straw
So excited to be appointed
@BBCNews
Rome correspondent, covering Southern Europe. After 5 wonderful, exciting & sometimes tough years in Istanbul, I’ll miss beautiful Turkey, its warm people and many friends we’ve made. On to the new challenge! Görüşürüz Türkiye, ciao Italia!🇹🇷🇮🇹
To imagine the hell of the last Ukrainian defenders in Mariupol is impossible. To witness the heartbreak and terror of their loved-ones in Kyiv is deeply moving. Our
#BBCNewsTen
piece with relatives of those on the frontline. With Chris Parkinson
@MichaSteininger
@MarianaMatevic1
What’s the least rational move by a politician during a pandemic that’s killed 80,000 Italians & crippled the economy? Pull out of coalition & potentially bring down the government, maybe. Well thats what Matteo
#Renzi
, whose party polls 3%, might do tonight. Timing is everything
#Italy
sees 482
#Coronavirus
deaths in past 24 hours - lowest in almost a week. Positive cases rise by less than 1%, total cases by 2% (both broadly similar to y'day). ICU occupancy falls again to level of 4 weeks ago. And now almost 45k recovered. 🤞for continued fall in deaths.
Shocking stuff from Italian paper
@Libero_official
, calling
@KamalaHarris
"the mulatto Vice President". Derogatory, racist - and shows again how far behind the line of acceptability some parts of the Italian media still are
The scale of the
#Imamoglu
victory: a record-breaking result over the past 35 years
2019 - E. İmamoğlu: 54%
2014 - K. Topbaş: 47.9%
2009 - K. Topbaş: 44.7%
2004 - K. Topbaş: 45.3%
1999 - A. Gürtuna: 27.5%
1994 - R. Erdogan: 25.2%
1989 - N. Sözen: 35.6%
1984 - B. Dalan: 49.7%
#Italy
sees its lowest one-day death toll since March 17: 420. Too soon to get our hopes up but a positive sign. Current infections fall again for 5th day in a row, by 321; total cases up by 1.6% (similar rise to yesterday). Now over 60k recovered. An optimistic end to the week🤞🏻
Turkey still claims to have no Coronavirus cases, despite bordering Iran, having one of the world’s biggest airports with connections to all hotspots and a population of 80million. Simply not credible.
Istanbul police/SWAT teams in full gear launching a dawn operation to detain
#BogaziciUniversity
students who protested at the appointing of a new rector politically affiliated to the governing AKP. Swat vs student - could it be an excessive use of force?
One of Erdogan’s biggest gripes = Islamophobia in Europe.
Arguably Europe’s most anti-Islamic leader = Orban.
And yet the mutual admiration society grows - because strong men leaders emulate each other and that trumps everything else.
During my move from Istanbul to Rome, my lovely old cello was seriously damaged. It was devastating to see. But a brilliant luthier, Mathias Menanteau in Rome, worked for months to repair, rebuild and make it better than ever. So here’s the before and after. And it’s a joy to see
Best way to celebrate my 3rd anniversary in Italy, tucking into one of the million reasons to love this country. From being the epicentre of Covid to government collapses to migration to Vatican shenanigans to the Eurovision Song Contest, it’s never a dull moment. Viva BBC Roma!
The tragic moment when Rome’s “Ponte di Ferro” or “iron bridge” broke apart in flames early this morning. Built in 1860s, it was iconic. Luckily no injuries. It’s thought gas canisters in shacks beneath could be to blame but could also be electric cables.
Stunned by how patchy mask-wearing is in London. So many waiters, shop assistants and shoppers without them. Makes me feel pretty uncomfortable. A completely different level of compliance to Italy, where you just don’t go into a shop/get served by someone without 😷
A month ago, unlocking
#Italy
seemed almost impossible. But it’s happening, with shops, restaurants and hairdressers opening on Monday, gyms, swimming pools and sports centres a week later and travel restrictions easing. And suddenly life is returning...
How this looks: Turkey buys anti-missile shield from Russia against NATO’s orders, cosies up to Moscow while hitting out at Europe/US - and then when Russian/regime strikes kill Turkish troops in Syria, Ankara demands west’s solidarity by threatening waves of migrants.
Adore this. An Argentinian presenter announces that William Shakespeare, “one of the most important writers in the English language - for me the master” had just died aged 81, confusing him with the first man to get the Covid vaccine, Bill Shakespeare
The director of
#Turkey
’s presidential archive
@muhammetsafi
makes a list of all the artists who openly support opposition candidate
@ekrem_imamoglu
- and shares that list on Twitter. This is how targeting and intimidation works in a dangerously polarised country.
8 yrs ago, I was at a great
#Istanbul
#Pride
as I moved to that incredible city. A year later, it was banned and has been since. Today again Turkey’s brave, brilliant LGBTQ community will try to gather peacefully, defying a baseless ban. With you in spirit, arkadaşlar.
#A
şkAşktır