Rome

"Spilled coffee" forced president's plane to turn back

BELGRADE -- The Falcon aircraft that Tomislav Nikolic was traveling on last week had to return to Belgrade due to the pilot "spilling his coffee on the control panel."

The headline could have read "Making Money Off Others' Misery", yet Italian daily La Repubblica has a migrant smuggler, arrested on Sicily recently, laughing about migrant-laden boats ferrying their human cargo across the Mediterranean to the "promise land", the European Union in this case.

ROME - Serbia's Parliament Speaker Maja Gojkovic will participate in a two-day EU Speakers Conference that begins in Rome on Monday.

Parliament speakers will discuss new paths of growth after the economic and financial crisis in Europe, human rights and freedoms, solidarity and security, as well as the role of parliaments in the negotiations on international agreements.

A boat crowded with 700 migrants overturned north of Libya on Saturday, leaving at least 24 confirmed dead and many missing. Italy's Coast Guard stated that the migrants' 20-meter vessel could have capsized as the people on board rushed to one side of the craft after seeing a Portuguese merchant vessel approach it.

BELGRADE - The two-day Conference of parliament speakers of EU member countries which will gather parliament speakers of EU member countries will begin in Rome on Monday and it will be attended by Serbian Parliament Speaker Maja Gojkovic, her cabinet announced.

The 4th Turkish Film Festival, organized in the Italian capital of Rome, opened on April 16 with a gala event. Veteran singer and actress Hümeyra was presented with the Honorary Award at the opening.

Presidential advisors recount "mid-air drama"

BELGRADE -- "As far as the Presidency staff is concerned, we will in the future use only regular flights," presidential advisor Stanislava Pak has said.

BELGRADE/ROME - Representatives of the Chambers of Commerce of Serbia and Kosovo conferred in Roma on Thursday on normalization of postal and railway traffic and other issues important for the advancement of economic activities in Kosovo-Metohija.

"Come and receive Light" - may the words the priest utters on the night of the Lord's Resurrection become an impetus for each and every one of us: by receiving light, let us become light, says Cardinal Lucian, Major Archbishop of the Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic, in his Pastoral letter to the clergy and faithful on the occasion of the Holy Feast of Our Lord's Resurrection.

After the Germanwings tragedy which cost the lives of 150 people, several medical “gaps” in check-ups of pilots in Italian Alitalia have seen the light of day.

According to Corriere della Sera, captain Maurizio Foglietti who had recently transported Italian President Mattarella from Rome to Palermo, shot at his brother in his home.