World Watching Italy this Week, Says Giuseppe Conte

Rome: All eyes are on Italy during what will be a “challenging” week, populist premier Giuseppe Conte stated on Monday amid an ongoing stand-off with the European Union over Rome’s plan to flout eurozone fiscal rules in its free-spending 2019 budget. The country is also reeling from deadly storms and flooding in Sicily and other regions last week.

“Europe and the world will be watching us closely but as ever, we will rise to the challenge... we do so for the good of the Italian people,” his post continued. “My thoughts are constantly back home as I set off on a visit to Algeria, where my talks with its prime minister will include Sicily, which I visited yesterday after the devastating storms which cause so many - too many - victims,” Conte wrote. (IANS)