Mario Draghi

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni paid her first visit to Türkiye on Jan. 20, engaging in discussions with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at Istanbul's Vahdettin Mansion.

The closed-door meeting marks the third in-person meeting between Meloni and Erdoğan, following their encounters at the NATO summit in Vilnius last July and the U.N. General Assembly in New York in September.

But a police raid on our newsroom was not exactly what I was expecting. None of my colleagues were. 

A 'surreal' raid

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni attends an EU Summit in Brussels, Belgium, March 23, 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE/OLIVIER HOSLET

Italian energy giant Eni signed an $8 billion gas deal with Libya's state-run National Oil Corporation on Jan. 28 as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited Tripoli.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni is looking to boost already strong energy ties with Algeria to further wean Italy off Russian energy, a focus of her two-day visit to the North African nation that started yesterday.

235 MPs voted for confidence in Meloni's coalition Government, while 154 were against, and five abstained, reports AP.
The upper house of the Italian Parliament will vote today on the vote of confidence in the new Government.

Far-right leader Giorgia Meloni was named Italian prime minister on Oct. 21, becoming the first woman to head a government in Italy.

EU Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni has said that the European Union was "well prepared" in the event of a total halt in Russian gas deliveries, thanks to storage capacity and energy-saving measures.     

Italy's teetering government was thrown a lifeline Thursday after the country's president refused to accept the resignation of Prime Minister Mario Draghi, insisting he address parliament in a bid to avoid snap elections.

"Moscow and Kyiv are just days away from finalizing an agreement that will allow millions of tons of Ukrainian grain to pass through the Black Sea", Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on July 5 he intends to "intensify" negotiations with Russia and Ukraine in the hope of reaching a deal on a U.N. plan to export Ukrainian grain to world markets.