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Italians petition God to ‘bring back David Bowie’

As the world marked the death of music legend David Bowie on Monday, some fans are struggling to come to terms with the loss of their hero, with a woman from Rome setting up a petition calling on God to bring him back.

Published: 12 January 2016 12:59 CET
Italians petition God to 'bring back David Bowie'
A floral tribute to David Bowie in London. Photo: Chris Ratcliffe/AFP

Bizarre though it may sound, the online petition, posted on Change.org by Andrea Natella and entitled ‘Say NO to David Bowie dead’, was an immediate hit, so far gathering 1,078 signatures of its 1,500 target.

“I’m signing because people like him must not die, enough!” wrote Monica Musri from Rome, while Marta Arca described the British rocker’s death as “unacceptable”.

Perhaps Natella took inspiration from the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, which on Monday also paid tribute to the rocker, saying he was never “banal” and grew artistically during a career that spanned over five decades.

The Vatican’s culture minister, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, also paid tribute by tweeting the opening lyrics to ‘Space Oddity’.

But did you know that Bowie once sang a song in Italian?

As fans at The Local Italy took the opportunity on Monday listen to some of the star's hits, we stumbled across a cover version he did of Domenico Modugno's 'Volare' for the 1986 film, Absolute Beginners.

Have a listen: 

 

 

 

 

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NORWAY

Body found in Oslo flat nine years after death

A man lay dead in his flat for nine years before being discovered in December, police in Oslo have said.

Published: 9 April 2021 11:20 CEST
Body found in Oslo flat nine years after death
Photo by pichet wong from Pexels

The man, who was in his sixties, had been married more than once and also had children, national broadcaster NRK reports.

His name has been kept anonymous. According to neighbours he liked to keep to himself and when they didn’t see him, they thought he had moved or been taken to assisted living.

“Based on the details we have, it is obviously a person who has chosen to have little contact with others,” Grethe Lien Metild, chief of Oslo Police District, told NRK.

His body was discovered when a caretaker for the building he was living in requested police open the apartment so he could carry out his work.

“We have thought it about a lot, my colleagues and people who have worked with this for many years. This is a special case, and it makes us ask questions about how it could happen,” Metild said.

Police believe the man died in April 2011, based on a carton of milk and a letter that were found in his apartment. An autopsy has shown he died of natural causes.

READ ALSO: Immigrants in Norway more likely to be affected by loneliness

His pension was suspended in 2018 when the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) could not get in touch with him, but his bills were still paid out of his bank account and suspended pension fund.

Arne Krokan, a professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, said the man’s death would have unlikely gone unnoticed for so long if he had died 30 years ago.

“In a way, it is the price we have paid to get digital services,” he said to NRK.

Last year 27 people were found in Oslo, Asker or Bærum seven days or more after dying. The year before the number was 32 people. Of these, one was dead for almost seven months before being discovered.

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