Naples

The organizers of the Milan-Cortina Winter Games received the Olympic flame at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens. This marked the beginning of a 63-day torch relay that will travel across Italy before the Olympics in February.

Port workers in Italy are on strike, blocking the ports of Genoa, Livorno, and Trieste to prevent the transport of weapons to Israel. In Milan, a pro-Palestinian protest escalated into clashes with police, who used tear gas.

A large fire has broken out in the Vesuvius National Park in Italy, lasting for four days now. The situation is critical, with six firefighting planes and the army involved in combating the blaze.

On July 26, Italian airports will be paralyzed due to mass strikes, affecting Ryanair, EasyJet, Volotea, and Wizz Air. Strikes will also take place in Spain and Portugal, intensifying chaos for travelers.

Yulia Navalnaya called on the Italian authorities to cancel the concert of conductor Valery Gergiev, scheduled for July 2025 in Reggia di Caserta, due to his support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Gergiev, who supported the annexation of Crimea and the full-scale war, is under sanctions from Ukraine, Canada, and some EU countries.

A Ukrainian citizen born in 2007, who disappeared on July 4 in Carovigno, was found dead on July 8. Identification is ongoing, the preliminary cause of death is suicide.

Europe is experiencing an intense heatwave, with temperatures exceeding 40°C in many countries. Spain recorded a June high of 46°C, leading to fires and evacuations, while the UK and Germany are also expecting historical highs.