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A referendum in Italy on easing citizenship rules and enhancing workers' rights has been declared invalid. Around 30% of voters participated - well short of the 50% threshold required to make the vote binding - in the poll, which began on Sunday and ran until 15:00 (14:00 BST) on Monday. The ballot featured five questions covering different issues, including a proposal to halve the length of time an individual has to live in Italy before they can apply for citizenship from 10 to five years. The referendum was initiated by a citizens' initiative and supported by civil society groups and...

SICILY, Italy – Italy’s Mount Etna volcano violently erupted on Monday, sending plumes of toxic ash and smoke billowing into the sky as people on the mountain ran for safety to escape the danger. According to Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), activity at Mount Etna on Sicily began during the pre-dawn hours on Monday and culminated with "intense and almost continuous" strombolian explosions hours later. The INGV said that strombolian activity is a relatively low-level volcanic eruption, during which a modest amount of energy is released. Dramatic photos and video showed dangerous pyroclastic flows racing down the...

According to the Greek Reporter, archaeologists have discovered the earliest known evidence of human occupation on the island of Sicily in San Teodoro cave near the town of Acquedolci -- finally proving a theory that was first posited over 75 years ago but unable to be confirmed then. Modern dating methods of sediment layers where stone tools, animal bones, and charred wood were found estimated that they were 16,500 years old, revealing that humans inhabited Sicily much earlier than previously thought. Groups of hunter-gatherers likely crossed the sea in small boats from mainland Europe as the last Ice Age was...

The chestnut trees of Europe tell a hidden story charting the fortunes of ancient Rome and the legacy it left in the continent's forests. The ancient Romans left an indelible imprint on the world they enveloped into their empire. The straight, long-distance roads they built can still be followed beneath the asphalt of some modern highways. They spread aqueducts, sewers, public baths and the Latin language across much of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. But what's perhaps less well known is the surprising way they transformed Europe's forests. ... Romans had something of a penchant for sweet chestnut...

Three crew members of the Bayesian superyacht are officially under investigation for crimes including negligence, recklessness and failing to save the ship from an oncoming storm, according to Italian prosecutors. Captain James Cutfield, chief engineer Timothy Parker Eaton and deckhand Matthew Griffiths are in line to face criminal charges, according to the public prosecutor of Termini Imerese in Sicily, close to where the yacht sank amid a severe storm. The potential charges were set out as rescue workers strive to raise the vessel, currently 50 meters (164 feet) below the surface, off the coast of Porticello. Allegedly, “through negligence consisting...

According to a Live Science report, European hunter-gatherers traversed the Mediterranean Sea in primitive boats and visited North Africa much earlier than previously thought. A new study sequenced the DNA from nine individuals who lived in modern-day Algeria and Tunisia between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago. The surprising results revealed that some of them may have been descended from Mesolithic Europeans. The genome of one particular man buried at the site of Djebba in Tunisia indicated that at least six percent of his DNA could be traced back to European hunter-gatherers. These results suggest that the individual's local ancestors mixed...

A U.S. naval base in Sicily, Italy, was placed on lockdown on Wednesday due to an "ongoing situation" at an entry control point, officials said.

Explanation: Can a lava flow extend into the sky? No, but light from the lava flow can. One effect is something quite unusual -- a volcanic light pillar. More typically, light pillars are caused by sunlight and so appear as a bright column that extends upward above a rising or setting Sun. Alternatively, other light pillars -- some quite colorful -- have been recorded above street and house lights. This light pillar, though, was illuminated by the red light emitted by the glowing magma of an erupting volcano. The volcano is Italy's Mount Etna, and the featured image was captured...

The display of seismic activity has drawn numerous visitors, including Marco Bassot, a snowboarder. Several days ago, Bassot began sharing footage of climbing and riding the erupting volcano. The snowboarder in the videos cruised down patches of snow while, in the background, a river of lava bubbled. "This fracture started some days ago and created a huge, intense and impressive lava flow for more than 1.000 m, you can really feel the heat," Bassot wrote in a social media post. "I've seen many things in my 40 years of life but riding side by side of a flowing river of...

A shipwreck dating to the sixth or fifth century b.c. has been discovered near Sicily along with a collection of ancient anchors, according to a report from CBS News. The wreck was found buried under sand and rock 20 feet underwater off Santa Maria del Focallo, at the southern tip of the island. The excavation was carried out by underwater archaeologists from the University of Udine in collaboration with Sicily's superintendent of the sea. Researchers determined that the ship's hull was built using a simple early shipbuilding technique known as "on the shell." Further study of the wreck may help...

In the province of Catania, archaeologists have excavated the remains of a Roman house with a mosaic floor dating from the 2nd to 4th centuries AD. The house was part of a whole Roman village and was situated close to the town of Vizzini in southeastern Sicily, at an elevation of almost 500 meters above sea level...These geophysical measurements led the research team to the remains of the buildings that have now been excavated. The building extended 30 by 13 meters, and its remains are just below the current surface. Inside, there is a representative room of nearly 100 square...

Italian special forces divers have recovered potentially crucial video equipment from the wreck of Mike Lynch’s superyacht, which could explain how it sank. Seven people, including the British tech tycoon and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, died when the Bayesian sank in severe weather off the coast of Sicily last month. The divers, from an Italian navy unit equivalent to Britain’s Special Boat Service, recovered video surveillance systems, computers and hard drives that will be sent to specialised labs, a source close to the investigation told Reuters. It is hoped that, if the equipment was recovered intact, it may help investigators...

Underwater archaeologists from the Soprintendenza del Mare Regione Siciliana, RPM Nautical Foundation, and the Society for the Documentation of Submerged Sites (SDSS), has recovered two more bronze warship rams at the site of the Battle of the Egadi Islands, a pivotal naval engagement during the First Punic War, that led to the victory of Rome over Carthage.The Battle of the Egadi Islands, also called the Battle of the Aegates, was a naval battle fought on the 10 March 241 BC off the western coast of the island of Sicily.Ancient authors recount the size and scale of the battle, which saw...

After two years of underwater searches around the islands, which lie west of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, experts last year found a bronze helmet and some amphorae from about 241 BC, the date of the decisive Roman victory over the Carthage fleet. At around the same time, a team of Italy's famed art police busted a collector who had a ship's bronze battering ram from the same period on display in his home. It turned out the relic had been illegally looted using nets from the same area... The Battle of the Aegates Islands was the final naval battle...

Reuters reports that a bronze ram has been recovered from some 260 feet of water off the coast of western Sicily, near the Aegates Islands, by divers from the Society for the Documentation of Underwater Sites. The front of the ram is decorated with a helmet topped with three feathers, but deposits of shells and seaweed currently cover any other possible marks or inscriptions. Such a ram would have been placed on the bow of a warship and used to attack enemy vessels. This ram, and 26 others recovered from the area, have been assigned to the Battle of the...

The body of British tech tycoon Mike Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter was retrieved from the wreckage of the Bayesian superyacht Friday — as Italian authorities reportedly launched a manslaughter probe into what caused the tragedy. Hannah Lynch was the last remaining person still unaccounted for after the yacht sank off the coast of Sicily after being struck by a storm on Monday – sparking a massive search and rescue operation. “The Lynch family is devastated, in shock and is being comforted and supported by family and friends,” a family spokesperson said in confirming her body had been found Friday. “Their thoughts...

Four bodies brought to shore from boat wreckage published at 17:00 British Summer Time 17:00 BST Breaking Four bodies have now been brought to shore from the sunken yacht, the BBC has confirmed. The search continues for the two remaining passengers who are still unaccounted for. Italian authorities have not confirmed the identities of those recovered this afternoon. Search and rescue team return with another body bag published at 16:57 British Summer Time 16:57 BST Images are coming through of another body bag being brought to shore at the harbour in Porticello, Sicily where the search and rescue operation is...

Ah, olive oil. The golden elixir that has graced everything from the most luxurious Mediterranean feasts to the humble kitchen counters of suburban America. It’s been hailed as the heart-healthy darling of the culinary world, the so-called “nectar of the gods,” worshipped almost as fervently as the wine it accompanies. But is this liquid gold as divine as we’ve been led to believe, or is there something more nefarious lurking beneath its glossy surface? Let’s start with the basics. Olive oil is one of those pantry staples that’s been given an almost holy status. We’re told it can do no...

Mike Lynch, a British tech entrepreneur, and his daughter Hannah are missing after a luxury yacht sunk off the coast of the Italian island of Sicily. After co-founding British tech firm Autonomy in 1996, and backing several successful tech firms, the businessman was regarded by some as the UK's answer to Microsoft founder Bill Gates. One person is dead and six are missing after a 56m superyacht called Bayesian, which has been linked to Mr Lynch's family, sank following bad weather. His wife, Angela Bacares, has been rescued. The British tech tycoon made his riches by selling his company Autonomy...

British tech magnate Mike Lynch and several other people were among those missing after their luxury superyacht sank during a freak storm off Sicily early Monday, Italy’s civil protection and authorities said. Lynch’s wife and 14 other people survived. Lynch, who was acquitted in June in a big U.S. fraud trial, was among the six people who remain unaccounted for after their chartered sailboat sank off Porticello, when...a waterspout struck the area overnight, said Salvo Cocina of Sicily’s civil protection agency. One body has been recovered, and police divers were trying to reach the hull of the ship, which was...