Bringing the latest news and trends from Florence, Tuscany, and Italy since 2011. Now powered by artificial intelligence
Prosecutors in Grosseto have ended their investigation into the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster leaving defense attorneys for the accused 20 days to deposit their replies. Schettino and nine other crew members are accused of manslaughter for the death of 32 people after the Costa Concordia cruise liner ran aground off the Giglio Island.
Italian scientists have created a new gravitational antenna to improve the measurement of the tiniest subjects. Their results, published in the journal Nature Physics, should help in measurement of a point, millions of times smaller than the atom, where Einstein’s theory of relativity meets quantum mechanics.
In a letter addressed to Costa Co-Chief Executives Pierluigi Foschi and Michael Thamm, as well as to the head of Italy’s civil protection agency, Franco Gabrielli, and to the president of the Tuscany Region, Enrico Rossi, Minister Corrado Clini said it was ”urgent” that a working program be developed for the last phase of the stranded ship’s removal and the recovery of the hull in ”an ideal location”.
The icy storm going through Italy reached Florence today. Flakes of snow fell in the city in the first morning. At the moment, no disruption to traffic are recorded. As a result of cold air coming from Greenland a white mantle had held the hills around the city during the night, the temperatures are currently below zero.
Nearly 700 hectolitres of Brunello di Motalcino were lost Sunday in a raid on a winery in the Montalcino wine-growing region near Siena. Unidentified vandals broke into the cellar of the Case Basse estate, opening the taps on barrels and barriques and allowing the contents to drain away.
Democratic Party (PD) leader Pier Luigi Bersani will be the centre left’s premier candidate in next spring’s national elections after a big win over Florence Mayor Matteo Renzi in Sunday’s primary runoff. “I’ll be loyal to Bersani,” Renzi said after conceding the victory to PD leader.
The wave of bad weather lashing Tuscany since early Tuesday morning hasn’t spared the Grosseto area and, in particular, the Albinia and Orbetello districts, hard hit by the floods of 12 November. Rainfall forced a temporary closure Tuesday of the rail line between the cities of Florence and Pisa.
Democratic Party (PD) Secretary Pier Luigi Bersani is set to take on Florence Mayor Matteo Renzi in a runoff in the primary to select the centre-left’s premier candidate next weekend after none of the contenders won more than 50% in Sunday’s first round. Renzi, a 37-year-old who presents himself as a modernizer, was second with 35.5%.
Researchers pried open the tomb of Giovanni de’ Medici and his wife on Monday in their quest to better understand the life and death of the 16th-century warrior. The tombs of Giovanni – known as “dalle Bande Nere” for the black bands of mourning he wore for Pope Leo X – and Maria Salviati were opened in the Medici Chapels in Florence.
Researchers from the University of Florence have found that anti-depressant drugs may also have a positive effect in combating neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The researcher said that her group would now propose a new project to study on what receptors anti-depressant drugs act in order to produce the desired growth effects.