Police Italy

Police opened fire Thursday night as thousands of Albanian refugees seeking to avoid deportation tried to break out of a soccer stadium where they were being held under guard. Bari hospital workers said three refugees had been brought in with gunshot wounds. Two were in serious condition. Ten policemen also were injured.

Police on Wednesday ordered post offices in the area surrounding Bologna to begin X-raying packages addressed to European institutions after a string of parcel bombs was sent from the city to agencies and officials across the continent. Investigators suspect that Italian anarchists are responsible for sending four package bombs, all postmarked from Bologna, said Luigi Persico of the municipal police. None of the bombs caused injuries.

Alberto Tomba, Italy's Alpine skiing hero, has been promoted to the rank of sergeant in the Carabinieri, the Italian paramilitary police.

Twenty police officers who took part in a midnight attack on demonstrators during last month's Group of 8 summit in Genoa have been placed under criminal investigation in a widening probe of the police violence that stirred angry anti-Italian protests across Europe.

Police fired tear gas and Albanian refugees set fire to three cars Saturday in clashes that broke out as Italy pressed ahead with the repatriation of the refugees. The incidents erupted at a soccer stadium where about 4,000 of the more than 10,000 who fled to this southern port city aboard a freighter Thursday are being held. At the Bari dockside, several Albanians were injured when police charged in to push them away from food supplies.

Police on Monday offered Albanian refugees $40 each and new clothes if they go home, but many of the hundreds of remaining refugees promised to fight rather than return to Europe's poorest country. Soldiers set up tables with new shirts, trousers, shoes and mineral water to persuade the refugees to leave. Officials said those agreeing to abandon Italy received $40 each. Last week, up to 18,000 refugees came to Italy in the third such exodus in the last year.

Three Italian law enforcement officials were transferred from their posts in the first action taken against police after last month's violence-marred Group of 8 summit in Genoa. The deputy police chief in charge of supervising security at the summit, the head of the anti-terrorism department and the police superintendent of Genoa all were transferred. Their new posts were not announced. Police shot and killed a 23-year-old demonstrator during the riots that overwhelmed Genoa during the summit.

Italy is facing growing diplomatic pressure from the United States and Austria over the treatment of protesters at last month's Group of 8 summit in Genoa, and an international lawyer said Thursday that lawsuits could be forthcoming. The United States said Wednesday that it had used official diplomatic channels to express concern about the treatment of three U.S. citizens injured as they were arrested following the mass demonstrations at the summit of leading industrialized nations.

Twenty police officers who took part in a midnight attack on demonstrators during last month's Group of 8 summit in Genoa have been placed under criminal investigation in a widening probe of the police violence that stirred angry anti-Italian protests across Europe.

Albanian refugees pelted police with rocks and bottles and made desperate dashes for freedom Friday as Italy began returning them to their impoverished homeland. Ferries and planes carrying more than 1,500 Albanians left this southern port on the 125-mile trip to the tiny Balkan nation, where reports said thousands of others were seeking passage abroad. Others were flown by military aircraft to Tirana, the Albanian capital.

Italy is facing growing diplomatic pressure from the United States and Austria over the treatment of protesters at last month's Group of 8 summit in Genoa, and an international lawyer said Thursday that lawsuits could be forthcoming. The United States said Wednesday that it had used official diplomatic channels to express concern about the treatment of three U.S. citizens injured as they were arrested following the mass demonstrations at the summit of leading industrialized nations.

Three Italian law enforcement officials were transferred from their posts in the first action taken against police after last month's violence-marred Group of 8 summit in Genoa. The deputy police chief in charge of supervising security at the summit, the head of the anti-terrorism department and the police superintendent of Genoa all were transferred. Their new posts were not announced. Police shot and killed a 23-year-old demonstrator during the riots that overwhelmed Genoa during the summit.

Alberto Tomba, Italy's Alpine skiing hero, has been promoted to the rank of sergeant in the Carabinieri, the Italian paramilitary police.

Police on Monday offered Albanian refugees $40 each and new clothes if they go home, but many of the hundreds of remaining refugees promised to fight rather than return to Europe's poorest country. Soldiers set up tables with new shirts, trousers, shoes and mineral water to persuade the refugees to leave. Officials said those agreeing to abandon Italy received $40 each. Last week, up to 18,000 refugees came to Italy in the third such exodus in the last year.

Police fired tear gas and Albanian refugees set fire to three cars Saturday in clashes that broke out as Italy pressed ahead with the repatriation of the refugees. The incidents erupted at a soccer stadium where about 4,000 of the more than 10,000 who fled to this southern port city aboard a freighter Thursday are being held. At the Bari dockside, several Albanians were injured when police charged in to push them away from food supplies.

Albanian refugees pelted police with rocks and bottles and made desperate dashes for freedom Friday as Italy began returning them to their impoverished homeland. Ferries and planes carrying more than 1,500 Albanians left this southern port on the 125-mile trip to the tiny Balkan nation, where reports said thousands of others were seeking passage abroad. Others were flown by military aircraft to Tirana, the Albanian capital.

World Cup star Diego Maradona was involved in a fracas outside the Argentine training camp after his brother had been stopped by police for driving without a license. The Argentine ambassador on Friday confirmed the incident after newspapers featured pictures of Maradona surrounded by police officers after his brother Raul had been accompanied back to the training camp late Thursday. Raul Maradona had driven Diego's sports car outside the center but did not have the necessary papers.

The bishop of Acerra is a spare, courageous and endangered man who lives in a neighborhood where festering scars from a 1980 earthquake mirror the degradation of his flock. Two churches face one another across Acerra's main piazza. One is a fissured ruin. The other, the cathedral, is protected by a fence. Between them, grimy street kids play soccer. Many are illiterate, and some are already accomplished criminals.

Police opened fire Thursday night as thousands of Albanian refugees seeking to avoid deportation tried to break out of a soccer stadium where they were being held under guard. Bari hospital workers said three refugees had been brought in with gunshot wounds. Two were in serious condition. Ten policemen also were injured.

The bishop of Acerra is a spare, courageous and endangered man who lives in a neighborhood where festering scars from a 1980 earthquake mirror the degradation of his flock. Two churches face one another across Acerra's main piazza. One is a fissured ruin. The other, the cathedral, is protected by a fence. Between them, grimy street kids play soccer. Many are illiterate, and some are already accomplished criminals.