Naples news stories on Newser

To Flee Mob, Italian Museum Seeks Asylum in Germany

Rob Quinn — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 03:37:55 CST

The director of a Naples museum is urging Germany to grant asylum to the museum and its staff seeking to flee the mob. Antonio Manfredi says the contemporary art museum has been plagued by vandalism and threats from the local Mafia. The museum has put on exhibitions dealing with social...

Scientists Will Drill Deep Into Active Volcano

Rob Quinn — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 12:47:47 CDT

Italian scientists plan to drill 13,000 feet into the heart of an active volcanic field outside Naples. The Campi Felagria—believed by the ancient Romans to be the home of Vulcan, the god of fire—last erupted in 1583 but has been showing signs of unrest over the last...

Police: Coffin Wood Fuels Naples Pizza Ovens

Rob Quinn — Tue, 18 May 2010 04:34:00 CDT

Unscrupulous pizzeria owners in Naples may be giving their pizzas that unique wood-fired taste by using cut-rate wood from coffins dug up by a gang of grave robbers, police say. "A real suspicion hangs over pizza—one of the few remaining important symbols of the city—that it could be...

Cops Hunt Man After Wife, 5 Kids Found Slain

Mat Probasco — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 01:46:42 CDT

Police are hunting a man whose wife and five children were found slain in their Florida home, reports CNN. The bodies of Guerline Damas, 32, and kids aged 11 months to 9 years were discovered by police after they were contacted by relatives. Investigators believe Mesac Damas, 33, may have...

'Mob Sewage' Closes Capri's Blue Grotto

Mary Papenfuss — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 02:53:07 CDT

The famous Blue Grotto of the Italian island of Capri has been closed after its striking cerulean waters were fouled by raw sewage believed to be dumped by the Mafia, reports the Independent. La Grotta Azzurra , a favorite haunt of the Roman Emperor Tiberius, is celebrated for its striking waters...

Nigerian Gangsters Wage Turf War on Mob in Southern Italy

Rob Quinn — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 09:13:38 CST

African immigrants are being caught in the crossfire as Nigerian gangsters battle the Italian mob for control of southern Italy's drug and prostitution rackets, the Los Angeles Times reports. The Camorra once treated African criminals as useful subordinates, but vicious turf wars have erupted as the newcomers seek a bigger...

Writer Marked by Mob to Flee Italy

Peter Fearon — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 04:25:38 CDT

A best-selling author who has become a target of Italian mobsters is fleeing Italy, reports the Guardian . Writer Roberto Saviano, 28, has spent the last two years as a virtual prisoner in army barracks, surrounded by bodyguards protecting him from a Neapolitan mob family. Saviano's book, Gomorra , now an acclaimed...

Italy Calls In Shrinks for Garbage Crisis

Harry Kimball — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 20:50:03 CDT

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has a “final solution" to Naples' trash problem—and it includes psychologists, Der Spiegel reports. Naples, whose overflowing landfills have led to intermittently trash-choked streets for years, will soon be invaded by an army of volunteers, including a group of psychologists trained in counseling disaster...

'Super' Mafia Witness Gunned Down in Naples

Rob Quinn — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:18:00 CDT

The boss of a garbage disposal firm with Mafia links who had turned informant was gunned down in a bar near Naples yesterday, the Guardian reports. The murdered man had been helping police target gangs that control waste disposal in the city, currently gripped by a garbage crisis. He had...