ROME: Former Italian Prime Minister and media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, media reported Wednesday citing sources in his Forza Italia party.
Berlusconi, who will turn 84 at the end of September, had two tests come back positive, but "is continuing to work from his home in Arcore" near finance hub Milan, "where he will be spending the planned quarantine period", the sources told news agency AGI.
"He is asymptomatic," said his doctor, Alberto Zangrillo, according to the daily La Repubblica.
Berlusconi was first tested on August 25 after returning from a holiday in Sardinia where he owns a luxury property.
The result was negative, but he was tested again after some people he met on the Italian island were found to be positive, including businessman Flavio Briatore, former managing director of the Benetton Formula One racing team.
Briatore's "Le Billionnaire" nightclub in Sardinia was closed down in August after employees tested positive for the coronavirus.
Messages of support for Berlusconi came in from all sides of the political spectrum.
Matteo Salvini, head of the far right League party, wished him a swift recovery, as did former leftwing prime minister Matteo Renzi.
Italy’s former PM Berlusconi tests positive for coronavirus
https://arab.news/n4x3v
Italy’s former PM Berlusconi tests positive for coronavirus
- Berlusconi, 83, will continue working from his house in Arcore, near Milan
Row erupts in UK over support for British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah
- Arab Spring campaigner’s ‘abhorrent’ social media posts resurface after he arrived in Britain following release from Egyptian prison
- PM Starmer criticized for glowing welcome to activist who had previously been supported by both Tory and Labour governments
LONDON: The UK prime minister is facing criticism after he celebrated the return to Britain of a human rights activist who was recently released from an Egyptian prison but whose past social media posts apparently contained violent and antisemitic language.
Successive British governments have campaigned for the release of Alaa Abd El-Fattah, a dual national who had been imprisoned in Egypt for most of the past 14 years. He returned to the UK on Friday after Egyptian authorities lifted a travel ban that had forced him to remain in the country since he was freed in September.
But a senior member of the opposition Conservative Party on Saturday criticized Prime Minister Keir Starmer for giving a “personal, public endorsement” to Abd El-Fattah when Starmer said he was “delighted” the activist had been reunited with his family in Britain.
Robert Jenrick, the Conservative spokesman on justice issues, demanded to know whether Starmer knew about historical social media posts in which Abd El-Fattah allegedly endorsed killing “Zionists’’ and police. Jenrick also called on Starmer to condemn Abd El-Fattah’s statements and withdraw his “unalloyed endorsement” of the activist.
“Nobody should be imprisoned arbitrarily nor for peaceful dissent,’’ Jenrick wrote. “But neither should the prime minister place the authority of his office behind someone whose own words cross into the language of racism and bloodshed.”
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in a statement that it had been “a long-standing priority” of governments under both major parties to work for Abd El-Fattah’s release. But that does not imply an endorsement of his social media posts, the spokesman said.
“The government condemns Mr. El-Fattah’s historic tweets and considers them to be abhorrent,” the statement said, using a slightly different style for his last name.
Abd El-Fattah’s family in the UK had vigorously campaigned for his release, arguing that he had spent most of the past 14 years behind bars because of his opposition to the government of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.
His mother, Laila Soueif, 69, staged a 10-month hunger strike to pressure British authorities to do more to secure her son’s release.
Starmer on Friday paid tribute to Abd El-Fattah’s family and all the others who campaigned for his freedom.
“I’m delighted that Alaa Abd El-Fattah is back in the UK and has been reunited with his loved ones, who must be feeling profound relief,” Starmer said.
But soon after Abd El-Fattah arrived at London’s Heathrow Airport, critics began circulating historical social media posts in which he appeared to endorse the killing of Zionists and police.
The Times of London reported that Abd El-Fattah has previously said the comments were taken out of context and were part of a “private conversation” that took place during an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Abd El-Fattah’s press team didn’t immediately response to a request for comment, and it was not immediately clear whether the posts were authentic.
