Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni criticised an aid flotilla intercepted off Gaza by the Israeli military, saying on Thursday the activists' mission and a strike called in their support in Italy would do nothing to help Palestinians.
Israeli forces have boarded dozens of ships carrying hundreds of activists, including about 40 Italians, as they attempted to breach a maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip.
Italian unions called a general strike for Friday in solidarity with the flotilla, while protests sprang up in a number of cities after news spread late on Wednesday that the ships were being halted.
Speaking on the sidelines of a European Union summit in Copenhagen, Meloni sarcastically suggested the planned strike was simply an excuse for unionists to have a nice weekend break.
"I would have expected that at least on such an important issue they would not have called a general strike on a Friday, because a long weekend and revolution don't go together," she said.
"I continue to believe that all of this brings no benefit to the people of Palestine," Meloni told reporters.
"On the other hand, it seems to me that it will bring many inconveniences to the Italian people," she added, referring to Friday's strike, as well as pro-Palestinian protests previously called for Saturday.
Italian unions have accused the government of not putting pressure on Israel to halt the war and to allow unfettered aid access into Gaza.
Addressing parliament on Thursday, Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Rome had backed Israel's right to self-defence.
However, he reiterated that Israeli operations in Gaza had gone beyond self-defence and had violated humanitarian law.
"Gaza is not Hamas. Palestinians are not Hamas," he said.
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U.S. President Donald Trump has criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for continuing to target Russia's energy infrastructure, while Russian strikes on Kyiv overnight killed at least one person and damaged a metro station.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived in Norway for talks about the Russia-Ukraine war. He is expected to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump's Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, who arrived in Oslo earlier. Witkoff will also meet European officials.
French President Emmanuel Macron has condemned the violence, looting and vandalism that erupted during cost-of-living protests across France. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu held crisis talks on Monday, calling for partial curfews and raising the possibility of a state of emergency.
An oil tanker caught fire after striking a naval mine in the southern part of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said late Sunday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said regional issues should be resolved through diplomacy and blamed the United States for insecurity and tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, speaking at a joint news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived in Norway for talks about the Russia-Ukraine war. He is expected to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump's Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, who arrived in Oslo earlier. Witkoff will also meet European officials.
Beijing says it deployed naval forces to monitor a U.S. warship near Sabina Shoal, while Taiwan reports a separate confrontation with a Chinese coast guard vessel near the Pratas Islands.
Tensions are mounting across Asia, with North Korea warning of war, China clashing with the U.S. and the Philippines, and protests gathering pace in Indonesia and India. Military threats, diplomatic disputes and political unrest are fuelling uncertainty across the region.
Canada’s oil-rich province of Alberta voted to remain part of the country in a non-binding referendum on Monday, 19 October, CBC News reports, delivering a much-needed victory for Prime Minister Mark Carney amid an ongoing trade war with the United States.
A Kenyan court has convicted cult leader Paul Mackenzie and 28 co-defendants of murder over the deaths of 191 people, including 190 children, in a case that shocked the world and exposed one of the deadliest cult-related tragedies in recent memory.
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