Italy’s top story on Thursday:
Italian authorities on Wednesday placed Rome under a maximum heat warning for Thursday, August 1st and Friday, August 2nd, as temperatures remained in the high 30s.
Florence, Bologna, Turin and Perugia were also under red weather warnings for excessive heat on Thursday and Friday.
A bulletin put out by the Lazio Civil Protection department on Wednesday placed most of the region, including the Italian capital, on maximum alert for wildfires due to the high temperatures.
Firefighters on Wednesday afternoon struggled to put out a fire that broke out behind Rome’s Court of Appeal by the Monte Mario nature reserve, dropping water from a helicopter in an effort to extinguish the flames, Skytg24 reported.
The fire forced the evacuation of Italian public broadcaster Rai’s Rome headquarters as well as several neighbouring apartments, but was brought under control around 6pm, AFP reported.
Man arrested for starting wildfire in Puglia
A 67-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday for starting a wildfire in Taranto, in the southern Italian region of Puglia, Italian media reported.
The fire, which started in a pine forest on Tuesday, quickly spread throughout the beach resorts of Baia Serrone, Lido Silvana and Lido Persefone, causing significant damage to homes and commercial establishments.
Around 60 people were evacuated from the area, authorities said. An 82-year-old woman was reportedly seriously injured in the blaze.
Investigators used surveillance footage and targeted searches to track down the suspect, Taranto’s forestry police force said.
Italian researchers confirm asexual reproduction in sharks
Italian researchers noted the first known case of ‘virgin birth’ or reproduction without fertilisation in an endangered shark species, the AFP news agency reported.
Disclosing their findings in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers from the Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Piedmont, Liguria and the Aosta Valley found that two 18-year-old Mustelus mustelus smooth-hound sharks at the Cala Gonone Aquarium in Sardinia had asexually reproduced each year since 2020.
“Remarkably, this finding reveals that parthenogenesis [asexual reproduction] can occur annually in these sharks, alternating between two females, and conclusively excludes long-term sperm storage as a cause,” the study’s authors wrote.
“Although the mechanisms driving parthenogenesis remain unclear, it is suggested that male population reduction could be a pivotal factor,” they added.
Italy’s Jacobs confident of defending Olympic 100m title
Italian Olympic 100m champion Marcell Jacobs said on Wednesday he was a “changed, but better” athlete and was confident of defending his title at the Paris Games, according to AFP.
The athlete stunned onlookers by snatching gold in the Tokyo Olympics, setting a European record of 9.80 seconds, and made it to double gold just days later by helping Italy to victory in the 4x100m relay.
The 29-year-old told reporters he was back at the Summer Games for one reason only: to defend his title in one of its standout events.
“I’m the Olympic champion. I want to win again,” Jacobs told reporters.
“I know what I can do. I know I am the Olympic champion. I won the 100m at the Olympic Games. I worked really hard to get here to win again… so I can do the double.”
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