Gulf

Video footage from Thursday showed streets in the commune of Sant'Agata sul Santerno and in parts of the seaside town of Ravenna completely flooded, Xinhua news agency reported. The country's north-central region that includes the cities of Bologna and Modena was battered by heavy rainfall on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The two fishing boats are carrying 800 and 400 migrants, respectively, the BBC reported on Tuesday. The boat carrying 400 people, which is believed to have set out from Tobruk in Libya, was still without help late on Monday evening, according to an unofficial hotline for migrants in distress, Alarm Phone.It said it had raised an urgent alarm with the authorities of Italy, Greece and Malta on Sunday

The US Department of the Interior has offered the huge chunk of the central and western Gulf, including deep water areas for drilling projects likely to stretch for decades long, much against scientists' warnings that fossil fuels be to putting an immediate halt to disastrous global warming that has melted icebergs and the unusual weather patterns have resulted in floods in several countries such as Pakistan recently.

The vessel sank after it rammed against rocks during rough weather, the Adnkronos news agency said. The accident occurred when the vessel was trying to land with more than 100 people aboard near the coastal town of Crotone, BBC reported. "Forty-three bodies have been found along the coastline," the Coastguard said in a statement.

The latest report of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reaching Xinhua news agency on Thursday revealed that pirates boarded 107 vessels in 2022, while there were five attempted attacks, one vessel fired upon, and two vessels hijacked. The "continued and much needed" reduction is attributed to an overall decrease in piratical activity in the highly risky waters of the Gulf of Guinea.

Local media reported that protesters held banners, placards and rainbow flags at the events on Saturday, demanding negotiation and diplomatic efforts to solve the crisis in Ukraine, Xinhua news agency reported. "More arms for hugs, no more wars!" read one banner carried by a man who wore a rainbow scarf in Rome.

Moody's on Wednesday slashed its assessment of the country's banking system from "stable" to "negative", and said it expects conditions for the banking sector to deteriorate further over the coming 12 to 18 months, especially with regard to the performance of bank loans and broader earnings, reports Xinhua news agency.

The final tally in the Senate was 115 votes in favour of confirming Meloni's government, 79 against and five abstentions, Xinhua news agency reported. On Tuesday, the government easily won approval in the lower house of parliament, with 235 votes in favour, 154 against and five abstentions. The two confidence votes are a step required by the Italian constitution for a new government to become fully operative.