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ELECTION

Italian candidate puts naked bum on election poster

A candidate for local elections in Bologna has created controversy in Italy after sharing a home-made election poster online which showed a risqué photo of a female model’s naked behind.

Italian candidate puts naked bum on election poster
Mario Turrini, who used a photo of a female backside on his campaign poster, is supporting the candidate from the Northern League, whose leader Matteo Salvini is pictured here at a 2015 rally in Bolog

The picture was posted on Facebook on Monday, by Mario Turrini, a non-party candidate at Bologna’s up-coming local elections on June 5th.

Although Turrini is standing on a non-party list, he is supporting Lucia Borgonzoni, a candidate with Italy’s far right Northern League, in her bid to become city mayor.

The provocative poster was made by Turrini himself and contains a picture of a woman wearing a grey top who is naked from the waist down. To the left of the image there is a message reminding people to cast their vote next month.

“The photo is needed to attract your attention, otherwise you would never have read it,” says a note below the message explaining the choice of photo.

After Turrini shared the photo from his Facebook page, plenty of users accused him of being sexist and inappropriate.

Bologna resident Emily M. Clancey said that she felt the image showed how “strongly patriarchal” Italian society could be. Clancey also pointed out that the poster was especially insensitive given that Turrini is backing a female candidate for the mayor’s office.

She the mocked Turrini for spelling the Italian word for ‘otherwise’ (altrimenti) without an ‘l’ on his poster

In wake of the criticism, Turrini put the poster to his Facebook page alongside an apology saying he “had not meant to offend anyone.”

“If I win I’ll publish a picture of the other side,” he added.

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TERRORISM

Italy on maximum terror alert over Easter after Moscow attack

Italy was to increase surveillance in busy areas ahead of the Easter holidays and following the bombing of a Moscow concert hall, ministers agreed on Monday.

Italy on maximum terror alert over Easter after Moscow attack

Italy’s national committee for public security, chaired by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, on Monday said anti-terrorism monitoring in Italy must be strengthened ahead of the Easter holidays, with more surveillance to be carried out at popular tourist spots and at “sensitive sites”.

The committee agreed on “the importance of continuing monitoring activity, including online, by police and intelligence forces for the identification of possible risk situations” in Italy, reported news agency Ansa.

The security meeting was convened following the terrorist attack in Moscow on Friday where armed men opened fire and set the building ablaze, killing at least 133 people.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani had stressed to the public on Sunday that Italy faced “no concrete risk” and said the country’s security and law enforcement services were “always on the alert to prevent any attack.”

“During the Easter holidays you will need to be very careful. We will always do the utmost to ensure the safety of citizens and tourists,” Tajani said, speaking on national broadcaster Rai’s current affairs show Restart.

READ ALSO: Terror alerts: Should I be worried about travelling to Italy?

The fight against terrorism “has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine,” the minister continued.

“We support Ukraine” as an invaded country in which international law has been violated, he said, “but as the Italian government we have expressed our condemnation of the attack [in Moscow] and closeness to the families of the victims and the survivors”.

Cabinet Secretary Alfredo Mantovano said on the same programme that the main terrorist threat Italy faced at the moment was mainly from “lone wolves” and “not so much from organised groups.”

“I believe that a group like the one that acted in the Moscow attack, which must have been trained and had logistical support, would be intercepted sooner in Italy,” he said.

“The most worrying threat” in Italy was online recruitment, he said, noting that propaganda was closely monitored.

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