- Ashwin bags six wickets as India hammer Bangladesh in first Test
- Nascent French government under pressure on multiple fronts
- Angry French cognac makers see red over Chinese tariffs threat
- Protect the prosciutto: Italy battles swine fever
- UN holds 'Summit of the Future' to tackle global crises
- Marxist leader set to become Sri Lanka's next president
- From blades to pull-up bars: UK charity tackles knife crime
- Swiss vote on pensions and environment protections
- No pain, no gain: Chinese pro wrestlers fight for recognition
- UAE leader seeks to deepen 'strategic' ties in US visit during Mideast crisis
- Hezbollah takes heavy hits but still fighting Israel
- Floods, landslides hit central Japan months after major quake
- All Blacks coach Robertson demands better finishing
- Argentina edge South Africa to keep title hopes alive
- Biden says China 'testing us,' in hot mic remarks to Quad allies
- Dubois destroys Joshua to retain IBF world heavyweight crown
- Guardiola says critics want Man City wiped 'from face of the Earth'
- Biden says 'Quad' is 'here to stay' despite challenges
- Dubois knocks out Joshua to retain IBF world heavyweight crown
- Vinicius helps 'faster' Madrid overturn stubborn Espanyol
- Zelensky to press US on long-range missile strikes inside Russia
- PSG drop first points in draw at Reims
- Vinicius, Mbappe on target as Madrid crush plucky Espanyol
- Jeeno leads Ko by two at LPGA Queen City Championship
- Bottega Veneta goes for 'E.T.' chic as Madonna pops into D&G
- Messi, Miami frustrated by New York late leveler
- Musk's X platform takes first step toward lifting Brazil ban
- 'Business as usual' for Australia match-winner Carey amid boos
- Israeli jets pound Lebanon after deadly Beirut strike
- Ten Hag bemoans Man Utd's lack of killer instinct in Palace stalemate
- France's Macron appoints new government in shift to right
- Cheika proud of Leicester grit after winning start as boss
- Profligate Man Utd pay price in 0-0 draw at Palace
- Kane, Olise run riot as Bayern thump Bremen
- Diaz fires Liverpool top of Premier League, Man Utd held at Palace
- LIV champion Rahm out of LIV Team semis with severe flu
- Slot surprised by tearful Nunez's moment of magic
- Title rivals Norris, Verstappen on 'cool' front row for Singapore GP
- Biden talks China with 'Quad' leaders in hometown summit
- Juve and Napoli play out goalless draw in early Serie A title tussle
- Alcaraz fears tennis tour grind will 'kill us'
- Carey sparks recovery as Australia thrash England in 2nd ODI
- Leclerc, Sainz lament 'disappointing' Saturday in Singapore
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- Bayern boss Kompany lauds 'special talent' Olise
- Diaz fires Liverpool top of Premier League, Spurs bounce back
- Heavy fire over Israel-Lebanon border after deadly Beirut strike
- Ramos guides unbeaten Toulouse to Montpellier win despite Hogg scuffle
Protect the prosciutto: Italy battles swine fever
Pig farmer Alberto Cavagnini has slaughtered 1,600 of his hogs due to swine fever, a virus threatening the 20-billion-euro pork industry in Italy, including its world-famous prosciutto.
The disease, which is fatal for pigs and disastrous for the economy, has particularly affected the northern regions of Lombardy, Piedmont and Liguria -- and its spread is spooking neighbour France.
Italy recorded cases of the virus in just under 25,000 pigs in 50 farms, and in nearly 2,500 wild boars, between January 2022 and September this year, official figures show.
Cavagnini is lucky: the breeder from Brescia in northern Italy owns several farms, softening the blow from the cull, "but many breeders only have one farm", so lose all their livestock, he told AFP.
In 2024 alone, between 50,000 and 60,000 pigs were slaughtered across Italy.
EU experts criticised Rome's management of the crisis after a visit to the Mediterranean country in July.
"The overall disease control strategy in northern Italy needs to be improved. Each region carries out its own measures, with minimum coordination with its neighbours," they said in a report.
Brussels recommended adopting a single strategy for the whole of northern Italy and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government appointed a special commissioner to lay down the rules.
The movement of pigs within infected and neighbouring areas is banned -- except towards slaughterhouses -- while access to farms is limited to the bare minimum.
"At the moment... we are building barriers" to create zones to limit the movement of wild boars, Francesco Feliziani from the National Reference Centre for Swine Fever (CEREP) told AFP.
- 'Very worried' -
France has been on high alert in areas that border northern Italy -- particularly in the Hautes-Alpes, Alpes de Haute-Provence and Alpes-Maritimes -- since January 2022.
And in June, an Italian-French technical group was set up to strengthen "cross-border cooperation for more effective management" of what is "a major threat", according to the French government.
Those working in the Italian pork sector, which generates an annual turnover of 20 billion euros ($22 billion) and employs 100,000 people, are "very worried", Ettore Prandini, head of Italy's biggest agricultural association Coldiretti, told AFP.
Italian farms have around 10 million pigs and income losses are estimated at around 25 million euros, farmer Cavagnini said.
Affected farmers will receive compensation from the state, which arrives on average two years later.
But the virus also affects hundreds of breeders, who cannot transport pigs between farms, suffering losses worth "hundreds of millions" of euros which are not covered, Cavagnini said.
Commissioner Giovanni Filippini said Thursday the government had "adopted all measures to prevent the transmission of the virus" and there "have not been any new outbreaks in recent days".
But Prandini from Coldiretti said farmers should be receiving greater financial assistance -- such as a moratorium on loan repayments -- and warned the virus may be curtailed, but not gone.
"If we do not manage to completely eradicate the presence of wild boars in these areas, the risk is that... the crisis passes but then returns," he said.
F.Pedersen--AMWN