Italy resisting EU push to impose sanctions over cyberattacks
Italy is resisting a European Union push to impose sanctions on states who carry out cyberattacks, a move that appears in line with Rome's calls to de-escalate tensions with Russia but that could alienate Italy from its EU allies.
Diplomats said the sanctions plan is meant to strengthen EU defences and deterrence against cyberattacks, in particular from Russia, which has been in recent months at the centre of allegations of elections meddling in various Western states as well as security breaches conducted through electronic means.
But Italy has opposed the idea of a new penalty regime, a confidential EU document seen by Reuters shows. The plan has broad support among EU states except for Italy, according to the document.
Italian officials were not immediately available for comment.
Italy has repeatedly urged a relaxation of the sanctions against Russia, which has been the target of a wide range of EU economic penalties since the 2014 Ukraine crisis.
This position has been opposed by the large majority of EU states that have regularly renewed the sanctions regime against Moscow because of its annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region and continuing support for pro-Russian separatist rebels there.
Pope Francis on Sunday made saints of two of the most contentious Roman Catholic figures of the 20th century -- assassinated Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero and Pope Paul VI, who reigned over one of the Church's most turbulent eras and enshrined its opposition to contraception.In a ceremony before tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square, Francis declared the two men saints along with five other lesser-known people who were born in Italy, Germany and Spain in the 18th and 19th centuries.Both Romero, who was shot by a right-wing death squad while saying Mass in 1980, and Paul, who guided the Church through the conclusion of the modernising 1962-65 Second Vatican Council, were contested figures within and without the Church.Both were naturally timid men who were thrust to the forefront of history by the convulsive political and social changes of the 20th century and both had a lasting influence on the current pontiff, Francis, Latin America's first pope.Romero, who had often denounced repression and poverty in his homilies, was shot dead on March 24, 1980, in a hospital chapel in San Salvador, the capital of the impoverished Central American country of El Salvador.Romero's murder was one of the most shocking in the long conflict between a series of U.S.-backed governments and leftist rebels in which thousands were killed by right-wing and military death squads.It was widely believed to have been ordered by Roberto D'Aubuisson, an army major and founder of the right-wing ARENA party. He died of cancer in 1992.Romero consistently denounced violence by the Salvadoran military and paramilitary against civilians and urged the international community to stop the oppression.In his final homily, minutes before he was shot in the heart, Romero spoke of spreading "the benefits of human dignity, brotherhood and freedom across the earth ...."75,000 KILLEDThe 1980-1992 war in El Salvador between the U.S.-backed army and the Marxist guerrillas of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), which later became the ruling party, left 75,000 dead and 8,000 missing.Romero became an icon for Latin America's poor, appearing on T-shirts similar to those bearing the image of Che Guevara, but his sainthood cause ran into stiff opposition in the Vatican and among powerful conservatives in the Latin American Church.Both feared that Romero had become too political in life and even more so in death.The process languished for decades. Francis speeded it up after his election in 2013 and in 2015 the Vatican declared that Romero had died a martyr, killed out of hatred for the faith."His martyrdom continued (even after his death). He was defamed, slandered ... even by his own brothers in the priesthood and the episcopate, Francis said in 2015. "(He was hit by) "the hardest stone that exists in the world: the tongue.""POPE HAMLET"Paul VI, a shy man described by biographers as a sometimes indecisive and tormented Hamlet-type figure, guided the Church through the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council, which had started under his predecessor, and the implementation of its reforms. He was elected in 1963 and died in 1978.Francis often quotes Paul, showing that he is committed to the reforms of the Council, which allowed the Mass to be said in local languages instead of Latin, declared respect for other religions, and launched a landmark reconciliation with Jews.Still today, ultra-conservatives in the Church do not recognise the Council's teachings and blame Paul for starting what they see as a decline in tradition.Paul reigned in the 1960s when many men left the priesthood and vocations fell sharply in a turbulent era of social change that coincided with the sexual revolution and the widespread availability of the birth control pill.Despite his many reforms, Paul is perhaps best known for his 1968 encyclical Humane Vitae (On Human Life), which enshrined the Church's ban on artificial birth control, saying nothing should block the possible transmission of human life.The ban, which Paul issued against the advice of a papal commission, became the most contested Church ruling of the 20th century and is still widely disregarded by Catholics.Paul also became the first pope in modern times to travel outside Italy to see faithful, ushering in a practice which has become synonymous with the papacy.Paul is the third pope that Francis has made a saint since his election in 2013. The others are John XXIII, who died in 1963, and John Paul, who died in 2005. 
Slain Salvadoran bishop Romero and Pope Paul VI become saints
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and his Ethiopian counterpart Abiy Ahmed discussed the issue of migration with focus on burden sharing, according to Ethiopian Foreign Ministry.Conte arrived in Addis Ababa on Thursday and met with Ahmed and other top officials with whom he discussed ways to deepen bilateral relations in trade and investment and on how to enhance cooperation in the issue of migration.The Italian prime minister will head to the Red Sea nation of Eritrea later on Friday with migration topping the agenda.Italy has recently toughened its stance on migration and Conte's visit to Ethiopia and Eritrea is largely seen as a move to convince and support the source countries in a bid to keep migrants at bay.The three Horn of Africa countries - Ethiopia, Somalia and Eritrea -- top the list of African countries from where migrants set off perilous journeys to Europe via the Mediterranean.However, Meles Alem, the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry’s spokesman, told Anadolu Agency that discussion mainly focused on the big contribution Ethiopia plays in hosting refugees from neighboring countries such as South Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan, among others."Ethiopia hosts more than one million refugees," Meles noted.According to Meles, the Italian prime minister applauded Ethiopia’s open-door policy for migrants and refugees.Video: Italian Prime Minister visits Addis AbabaRefugee exodusEthiopia and Eritrea began a successful fast-paced diplomatic thaw after Ahmed came to power and extended an olive branch to Eritrea’s Issaias Afeworki as one of his comprehensive reform measures.The two countries then opened embassies in each other’s country and on Sept. 12 the two leaders opened the border for free movement of goods and people.Kisut Gebregziabher, UNHCR spokesman, told Anadolu Agency that between Sept. 12 and Oct. 2 more than 9,000 Eritreans crossed the border, seeking asylum in Ethiopia.“Prior to the opening of border, an average of 53 Eritreans used to cross the border to enter Ethiopia on daily basis. Now that figure went up to 390 persons per day,” Kisut said.“We are overwhelmed,” he said, adding the situation forced UNHCR to expand the camp at the Aba Guna entry point.In Ethiopia, refugees recount lives tinged with sorrow
Italian, Ethiopian premiers discuss migration issue
The proposals for sanctioning cyberattacks were discussed in meetings this week in preparation for an EU summit that will take place next week in Brussels.
"Responding to large-scale cyberattacks from foreign actors, in particular when they are aimed at our elections, is vital," EU Security Commissioner Julian King told Reuters, adding that sanctions should be considered "where appropriate".
Britain, France, Estonia, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland called for the introduction of sanctions, the document shows.
Belgium, Finland and Sweden support a "gradual response" to future attacks that could include a number of measures before sanctions, the document shows.
Rome has long said that existing sanctions are damaging Italian firms trading with Moscow, and calls for de-escalating tensions with Moscow have grown louder since a new anti-establishment government took office in Italy in June.
Matteo Salvini, leader of Italy's co-ruling far-right League, is an admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin and has rejected allegations of Russian meddling in Western elections.
EU diplomats said the plan was also aimed at preventing cyber-attacks from China and North Korea.
British Brexit minister Dominic Raab will hold talks with the European Union's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, in Brussels later on Sunday, a diplomatic source said.A spokesman for Britain's Brexit ministry confirmed the meeting.Prime Minister Theresa May heads to Brussels on Wednesday for a summit when both sides want to sign off on a draft withdrawal agreement to set out the terms for Britain's divorce from the EU. DUP leader regards no-deal Brexit as 'likeliest outcome'May's team must force change in Brexit policy, says former minister
UK Brexit minister to hold talks with EU on Sunday
The head of the Northern Irish party that props up British Prime Minister Theresa May's government said on Saturday she would prefer no Brexit deal to a bad deal, describing current plans as amounting to "the annexation of Northern Ireland" by the EU.British and European Union negotiators this month have accelerated the push for a Brexit deal but talks remain snagged on the issue of the border between Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK, and the Irish Republic, an EU member state.In the absence of a comprehensive EU-UK trade partnership after Brexit, the EU is seeking a "backstop" arrangement whereby Northern Ireland would effectively remain subject to the bloc's regulations to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland.But the DUP, whose support May needs to pass legislation in the British parliament, vehemently opposes any proposals under which the province would be treated differently to the rest of the UK."I fully appreciate the risks of a 'no deal' (Brexit) but the dangers of a bad deal are worse," Foster wrote in an article in the Belfast Telegraph published on Saturday."This backstop arrangement would not be temporary. It would be the permanent annexation of Northern Ireland away from the rest of the United Kingdom and forever leave us subject to rules made in a place where we have no say," she added.Britain wants any 'backstop' arrangement to be time-limited. Hardline supporters of Brexit in May's ruling Conservative Party fear it could be used to keep the whole UK inside a customs union indefinitely with the EU.The EU is opposed to any specific cut-off date.EU's Barnier calls for 'decisive progress' on Brexit for summit next weekEU's commissioner says 'we are not there yet' on BrexitNo GameFoster said her party, which has 10 lawmakers in the UK parliament, was not bluffing in its tough stance on the talks."This is no game. Anyone engaging in this in a light-hearted way foolishly fails to grasp the gravity of the decisions we will make in the coming weeks," Foster said."The coming days, weeks and months will be critical. The decisions taken will shape the type of Northern Ireland that our grandchildren will live in."Foster said she wanted to secure a deal that would work for both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and said she would travel to Dublin for talks on Monday.In an article in another Northern Ireland newspaper, the Belfast News Letter, former British foreign minister Boris Johnson also took aim at the backstop, describing May's agreement to accept a backstop as a "dreadful mistake"."The only way to put things back on the right track is to ditch the backstop...," Johnson wrote.As Brexit talks progress, UK PM May struggles to find support at homeUnder pressure from parliamentary partner, UK's May meets ministersTony Blair says UK needs a referendum to stop Brexit
DUP leader prefers no Brexit deal to EU 'annexation' of Northern Ireland