Milan

The Swiss biotech company Adienne Pharma & Biotech signed an agreement to manufacture the Sputnik V vaccine at its production site in the Milan region, said Antonio Francesco Di Naro, founder and president of the company.

The deal comes as Prime Minister Mario Draghi pledged to speed up Italy's fledgeling vaccination campaign amid a new rise in infections from the disease that's led to more than 100,000 fatalities in the country.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday lashed out at manufacturers for failing to uphold their commitments as countries in Europe struggle to step up the pace of inoculations.

The mayor of Zagreb, Milan Bandić, died unexpectedly at the age of 65 on Sunday night of a heart attack, Croatian media reported. Bandić led the Croatian capital for almost 21 years.

The Italian Health Ministry reported 827 Covid 19-related deaths and 28,352 new infections in the country. Italy was the first Western country to be hit by the virus and has seen 53,677 COVID-19 fatalities since its outbreak emerged in February, the second-highest toll in Europe after Great Britain.

While Italy's daily death tolls have been amongst the highest in Europe over recent days, the rise in hospital admissions and intensive care occupancy has slowed, suggesting the latest wave of infections was receding. The northern region of Lombardy, centred on Italy's financial capital Milan, remained the hardest hit area on Friday, reporting 5,389 new cases from a previous 5,697.

Italy has registered 36,176 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Thursday, up from 34,283 the day before.

Italy was the first Western country to be hit by the virus and has seen 47,870 Covid-19 fatalities since its outbreak emerged in February, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain's.

The northern region of Lombardy, centred on Italy's financial capital Milan, remained the hardest hit area on Thursday, reporting 7,453 new cases, down from 7,633 the day before.

The Italian health ministry said Friday the country has registered a record 40,902 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, up from 37,978 on Thursday. Infections in Italy since the disease first came to light in February total 1.107 million, while 44,139 people have now died because of the coronavirus.

The northern region of Lombardy, centred on Italy's financial capital Milan, remained the hardest hit area on Friday, reporting 10,634 new cases against 9,291 on Thursday.

Following new Coronavirus restrictions, protests broke out across Italy on Monday. Clashes involving petrol bombs happened in both Milan and Turin. In Naples, protestors called for the resignation of its governor. Italy has imposed a curfew in many Italian regions and has ordered the closure of eateries, gyms and cinemas after 6pm.

The former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi tested positive for Coronavirus. He will self-isolate at home in his Arcore residence near Milan, so his press office. Berlusconi's doctor said he was "asymptomatic".

Alitalia on Wednesday resumed international flights from Milan Malpensa airport to Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris and London, as Italy gradually reopens its airports to foreign travellers and scraps restrictions imposed to contain the Covid-19 outbreak.

Also, during this month, the company will start flying to a dozen domestic destinations from Milan Malpensa.

The Italian Finance police arrested 13 people in an investigation about bribery related to Milan subway contracts. Officials of ATM, Milan municipal transport company, and two executives working for Alstom and one for Siemens were detained.

Milan prosecutor Francesco Greco said that Paolo Bellini, manager at ATM, is accused of taking €125,000 related to eight contract tenders worth €150 million.

According to Reuters, Italy's heritage authority has raised no objections to tearing down Milan's 1920s-era San Siro arena, removing a major obstacle to AC Milan and Inter Milan plans to replace it with a new 60,000-seater stadium.

Microsoft Corp. today announced a $1.5 billion, five-year investment plan in Italy starting with the launch of its first datacentre region in Ithe country.

The announcement comes a week after Amazon Web Services opened a datacentre region in Milan, while in March, Google'sealed a partnership with Telecom Italia to expand cloud business operations in the country.