A roundup of the latest news on Monday

US Vice President Vance to meet Italian PM Meloni in Rome on Friday

US Vice President JD Vance will meet Italian PM Giorgia Meloni in Rome on Friday, April 18th, on the first day of a three-day visit to the country, Meloni’s office said on Sunday.

Vance’s visit is set to come a day after pivotal tariff talks between Meloni and US President Donald Trump in Washington on Thursday, April 17th.

Besides the meeting with Meloni, Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, is also expected to visit the Vatican amid celebrations for Good Friday – a Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. 

The US Vice President is believed to have close ties with both Meloni and Deputy PM Matteo Salvini. 

Salvini, head of the hard-right League party, had a phone conversation with Vance on March 21st.

Salvini said on X that the phone call “was an opportunity to reaffirm the strong friendship and cooperation between our two countries”, noting that he and Vance were aligned “on crucial goals such as peace in Ukraine, border control, and the defence of our values”.

Meloni said in late March that she backed Vance’s scathing accusations that Europe has abandoned its commitment to free speech and democracy.

“I have to say I agree,” she told the Financial Times.

“I’ve been saying this for years… Europe has lost itself a bit,” she said, adding that the US was Italy’s “first ally”.

Meloni’s words sparked anger among leaders of Italy’s opposition, with Elly Schlein, head of the centre-left Democratic Party, accusing her government of being the “Trojan horse of the Trump administration within the EU”.

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Ancient Greek amphora ‘looted’ in Italy withdrawn from sale by London gallery 

The Kallos Gallery in London has removed a Greek amphora dating back to around 550 BC from sale after an expert found evidence that it likely came from an illicit excavation in Italy, according to the Guardian.

Christos Tsirogiannis, an archaeologist and leading expert in looted antiquities, matched the amphora to a Polaroid photograph seemingly showing the same object in the hands of Giacomo Medici, a notorious Italian smuggler who was convicted of dealing in stolen artefacts in 2004. 

That photograph was part of a personal archive seized from Medici and was available on the website of Italy’s Carabinieri police.

Measuring 23.6 centimetres in height, the amphora is decorated with black figures including a ram and a lion and is attributed to an artist known as the Phineus Painter. The object is believed to be worth about £50,000 (€57,580).

The item’s collecting history only dates back to 1986 – an “immediate red flag”, according to Tsirogiannis.

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Tsirogiannis also noted that the amphora’s origin details included a gallery that had belonged to a dealer who was himself convicted of dealing in stolen antiquities from Italy in the 1970s.

After the Kallos Gallery was notified of Tsirogiannis’s concerns, director Madeleine Perridge said that the item had been “immediately removed from sale pending advice from the relevant authorities”.

She also added: “We make every effort to do our due diligence and publish all collection and publication history known to us. We have absolutely no interest in handling tainted artworks and welcome an opportunity to find practical and productive solutions to these complex issues.”

The Kallos Gallery, which specialises in ancient art, was founded in 2014 by Baron Lorne Thyssen-Bornemisza, son of the late Swiss billionaire Baron Hans Heinrich von Thyssen Bornemisza.

Italy’s Tonali and Fagioli named in new illegal gambling investigation 

Newcastle United midfielder Sandro Tonali and Fiorentina midfielder Nicolò Fagioli are once again in investigators’ crosshairs as part of a new probe into illegal online gambling, AFP reported.

Tonali was handed a 10-month ban in October 2023 for betting on football matches, including those involving his old team, AC Milan, while he was still playing for them. The ban cost Tonali the chance to play in the 2024 Euros for Italy.

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Fagioli, who has admitted to having a gambling addiction, was hit with a seven-month ban not long before Tonali’s suspension after he reportedly ran up over €3 million in debts.

Both Tonali and Fagioli are now among 12 current and former Serie A football players under investigation for illicit online betting, according to AFP.

Roma midfielder Leandro Paredes, Juventus players Weston McKennie and Mattia Perin, and Benfica winger Angel Di Maria, who played the 2022/23 season with Fagioli at Juventus, were also named by Italian news agencies as suspects in the investigation.

The Milan public prosecutor’s office announced in a statement on Friday that it had placed five people under house arrest “for illegal gambling activities and money laundering”. 

The five suspects allegedly organised and coordinated clandestine betting platforms from a jewellery store in Milan, according to prosecutors.

None of the 12 footballers currently under investigation were among those arrested on Friday, AFP reported.

The involved players are expected to face a minor punishment – most likely a fine – in connection with the case. However, they could receive additional punishment from Italian football federation FIGC if it were to start its own disciplinary proceedings.

With reporting from AFP.