Euro falls to 20-month low after Italian PM resigns

The euro fell to a 20-month low on Monday and investors fled riskier assets after Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said he would resign following a stinging defeat on constitutional reform that could destabilise the country's shaky banking system.

European stock markets are also set for a weak start, with Italy underperforming as investors brace for turbulence and political crisis in the euro zone's heavily indebted third-largest economy.

Financial spreadbetter IG Markets expects the EuroSTOXX 50 to open down 0.6 percent, and Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE to start the day 0.4 percent lower.

Renzi's failure deals a body blow to a European Union already reeling under anti-establishment anger that led to the shock exit of the UK from the club in June.

"It’s not very hard to see a new election on the horizon, and it’s not very hard to see the (opposition) 5-Star Movement taking power with stated aims to either leave the EU, drop the euro, or both,” said Mark Wills, head of State Street Global Advisors' investment solutions group for the Asia Pacific.

"For Italy, establishing stable governance and a plan to guide the nation is of critical importance given the fragility of the economy, challenging policies and the liquidity problems in the banking system."

The single currency slumped as much as 1.4 percent to $1.0505, before recovering a bit to $1.0563.

The drop to its session low was the sharpest since June and opened the way to a retest of the March 2015 trough around $1.0457.

Analysts at RBCCM argued that, based on what happened in 2012 at the height of the Greek crisis, the risk of a euro zone crisis could see the euro trade as low as $0.8000.

"It may sound extreme, but if a second euro zone crisis were to hit, with the U.S. dollar at a much stronger starting point, EUR/USD could arguably trade lower still," they wrote.

The euro slid as much as 2.05 percent to 118.71 yen, but pared some of the losses to trade down 1.1 percent at 119.85 yen.

The dollar was supported by expectations of a U.S. rate increase this month and more to come next year. The dollar index,, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six global peers, jumped 0.6 percent to 101.37.

Against the yen, the U.S. currency, which rose earlier to as high as 113.85, pulled back 0.1 percent to 113.41 yen.

The New Zealand dollar, which earlier weakened almost 1 percent to $0.707 after Prime Minister John Key unexpectedly announced his resignation on Monday, recovered a little to trade at $0.7106.

New Zealand stocks ended the day 0.7 percent lower.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.6 percent, while E-mini futures for the S&P 500 narrowed losses to 0.3 percent.

Japan's Nikkei closed down 0.8 percent.

Even as the long-awaited opening of a scheme to connect the Shenzhen and Hong Kong stock markets went live on Monday, China's blue-chip index slumped the most in six months after the nation's top securities regulator warned against "barbaric" share acquisitions, although small caps remained firm.

China's CSI 300 index tumbled 1.7 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index retreated 0.7 percent.

The link between China's booming Shenzhen stock market and neighbouring Hong Kong allows foreign investors access for the first time to some of the fastest growing technology companies in the world's second-biggest economy.

Back in Europe, dealers said Italian bonds were set to come under pressure as top-rated U.S. Treasuries and German bunds gained.

U.S. 10-year Treasury yields fell to 2.3435 percent from 2.39 percent at Friday's close.

Investors and European politicians fear the 'No' camp's victory in Italy could cause political instability and renewed turmoil for the nation's banking sector, which has been hit by concerns over its huge exposure to bad loans built up during years of economic downturn.

"Forming a stable government in Italy may be difficult, the resuscitation of (ailing lender) Monte Dei Pashci may be impacted, there is some potential that this may create an opening for a secessionist political party," said Angus Gluskie, managing director of White Funds Management in Sydney.

The prime minister's resignation represents a fresh blow to the European Union, which is struggling to overcome a raft of crises, and was eager for Renzi to continue his reform push.

Markets had earlier taken some encouragement when Austria's far-right presidential candidate was soundly defeated by a pro-European contender, confounding forecasts of a tight election.

The European Central Bank meets Thursday amid much speculation it will announce a six-month extension of its asset buying program and widen the type of bonds it can purchase.

"There has been some speculation that the ECB would step and front load purchases of Italian bonds if markets became unsettled by a 'No' result, so perhaps it is the thoughts of a central bank liquidity sugar pill driving things again," said ANZ economist Jo Masters.

OIL PULLS BACK

In the last trading session before the referendum, the Italian benchmark posted a 0.2 percent decline.

The pan-European STOXX 50 closed down 0.4 percent.

Wall Street ended Friday on a cautious note, with the Dow off 0.11 percent, while the S&P 500 rose 0.04 percent and the Nasdaq gained 0.09 percent.

While the U.S. November payroll report on Friday was firm enough to cement expectations of a rate hike by the Federal Reserve this month, a surprise pullback in wages helped bonds pare a little of their recent losses.

In commodity markets, oil ran into risk aversion and some profit-taking after recording its best week in at least five years following OPEC's decision to cut crude output.

Markets are now focused on the implementation and impact of OPEC's first output cuts since 2008, to be joined by Russia and possibly other non-OPEC producers.

Brent crude was down 58 cents at $53.92 a barrel, while U.S. crude lost 53 cents to $51.15.

(Reuters)

Gianluigi Buffon wants to coach Italy

Juventus goalkeeping legend Gianluigi Buffon could become a future coach of Italy after revealing he would be tempted by a national team coaching role once he retires.

At 38 years old, 2006 World Cup winner is still going strong for both club and country at the tail end of what has been a hugely successful career.

But the emergence of AC Milan’s talented teenage shot-stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who made his Italy debut in a friendly defeat to France last month, has increased speculation surrounding Buffon and when he will retire.

The Italian ‘Superman’ — as Buffon is often portrayed — comes face to face with 17-year-old Donnarumma when Milan host the league champions at the San Siro on Saturday.

But Buffon, who recently became a father for the third time, said the cut and thrust of life as a club coach does not appeal.

“A coaching role and all that it entails on a daily basis wouldn’t appeal to me,” Buffon said in an interview with Corriere della Sera.

“But I wouldn’t exclude a national team coaching role: I would still be involved in the game but have some freedom to dedicate myself to other things.”

Having won almost all of club and international football’s goalkeeping awards and played a crucial role in Italy’s 2006 World Cup triumph, the only trophy missing from Buffon’s cabinet is the Champions League title.

Less than a year after defeat to Barcelona in the 2015 final, Juve boosted their squad with the arrivals of Dani Alves, Miralem Pjanic and Gonzalo Higuain over the summer to emerge among the early season favourites.

Juventus sit top of Group H, level on points with Sevilla, and are expected to sail through to the knockout phase

But Buffon, who saved a penalty as 10-man Juve secured a precious 1-0 Champions League win at Lyon in midweek, said the Turin giants need to improve if they are to challenge more fancied sides like Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.

“If you ask me, we have to improve. If we’re to have ambitions in Europe, what we’re doing on the pitch right now isn’t enough,” he added.

“I believe in meritocracy, so if I deserve to win (the Champions League) I will. Otherwise, I won’t.”

AFP

Read a Firefighter's touching on the victim of Italy's Earthquake

Thirty-five victims from the town of Arquata were mourned at a sports hall in the regional capital, Ascoli Piceno.

The coffins, laid out in rows on the floor, included two painted white for two children killed.

The death toll from the quake, which struck a mountainous central region, has again risen as more bodies were found.

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi was among those attending the funeral along with President Sergio Mattarella, who earlier visited Amatrice, the town with the most casualties.

Bishop Giovanni d'Ercole urged those affected not to lose courage.

"Together, above all we will restore life to our communities, starting from our traditions and from the rubble of death," he said.

One of the children's coffins contained the body of Giulia Rinaldo, whose younger sister survived the earthquake because she was under Giulia's body.

One of the firefighters, Andrea, had left a moving note on Giulia's coffin, apologising for arriving too late, and signing it with a heart symbol.

Firefighter Andrea's letter to Giulia:

Hello, little darling. I only managed to lend a hand to pull you out of the prison of rubble. Forgive us if we arrived too late. However, you had stopped breathing by then, but I'd like you to know that we did all we could to pull you out.

When I return to my house in l'Aquila, I will know that there is an angel watching me from the sky and you will be a shining star in the night. Bye Giulia, I love you even though you never got to know me.

Italy earthquake: Mass funeral for 35 victims

A mass funeral has taken place in Italy for some of the 290 people killed in Wednesday's powerful earthquake.

Thirty-five victims from the town of Arquata were mourned at a sports hall in the regional capital, Ascoli Piceno.

The coffins, laid out in rows on the floor, included two painted white for two children killed.

The death toll from the quake, which struck a mountainous central region, has again risen as more bodies were found.

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi was among those attending the funeral along with President Sergio Mattarella, who earlier visited Amatrice, the town with the most casualties.

Bishop Giovanni d'Ercole urged those affected not to lose courage.

"Together, above all we will restore life to our communities, starting from our traditions and from the rubble of death," he said.

The coffins will be taken for burial to a cemetery near Arquata, a local official told Ansa news agency.

Most victims of the earthquake were Italian, but several foreigners were among those killed, including three Britons. 

Flags are flying at half mast across the country as Italy remembers victims of the quake.

More than 200 people died in Amatrice alone. Along with Arquata and Accumoli, Pescara del Tronto was also hard-hit.

Many bodies have also been brought to a makeshift morgue in an aircraft hangar in the city of Rieti, where relatives have been identifying loved ones.

The first funeral for one of the earthquake's victims was held on Friday, for the son of a state official who died in Amatrice.

At least 388 people have been treated in hospital for their injuries while more than 2,000 people were made homeless.

The 6.2-magnitude quake hit in the early hours of Wednesday, 100km (65 miles) north-east of Rome.

Italy girl rescued after spending 17 hours pinned under debris from earthquake

A 10-year-old girl has been rescued from the rubble of the Italian earthquake - after being trapped upside down for 17 hours.

A firefighter clutched her tightly to his chest after she was freed from the ruins of a building in the town of Pescara del Tronto.

Crowds had gathered round after one person spotted signs of life under the rubble, saying: "You can hear something under here. Quiet, quiet."

Footage shows her dust-covered legs poking out of the debris, with cheers breaking out as the pony-tailed youngster was eventually freed.

Jubilant rescuers shouted "she's alive" as she was carried away.

Firefighter Danilo Dionisi said: "The 10-year-old girl was just pulled out now from the rubble and she is being taken to the hospital and that is good news.

"As far as the rest is concerned, the images speak for themselves, you can see what the town looks like."

At least 247 people have been killed in central Italy following the 6.2-magnitude quake in the early hours of Wednesday.

The frantic search for survivors is continuing, but the mayor of the hardest-hit town - Amatrice - says he believes the death toll will rise.

Some of the survivors have described apocalyptic scenes "like Dante's Inferno" after the quake, with buildings razed to the ground and dust and gas filling the air.

The epicenter was northeast of Rome, near Norcia in Umbria, and sent tremors across the rural central spine of Italy.

Escaping the sex trade: The stories of Nigerian women forced into prostitution in Italy

Spanish photographer Quintin Valero took some striking visual record of the work being done by an NGO to help victims of sex trafficking in Asti, near Turin.

"What I found was a really strong community of women who were helping each other overcome their experiences, " she says

It’s just after 9pm when the first Nigerian women start to appear on the streets of Asti, a small city near Turin in northern Italy. Some stand in groups of two or three, flagging down passing cars or checking their phones. Many are alone – solitary figures backlit by the stream of headlights moving into the city, the Guardian UK writes.


Princess Inyang Okokon, a former victim of sex trafficking, slows down her car as she spots two girls standing on a corner. Even with heavy makeup they look no older than 15 or 16. “So many new faces,” she says, shaking her head as she pulls her car to the side of the road and gets out to speak to them.

Princess, a 42-year-old mother of four from Nigeria’s southern Akwa Ibom state,(pictured)  has spent the last 17 years working for Progetto Integrazione Accoglienza Migranti (PIAM), a migrant rights and anti-trafficking organisation in the city. According to her, most – if not all – of the Nigerian prostitutes working on Asti’s streets tonight are victims of trafficking.

"This is just one street in a small city. It is happening all over Italy and Europe and the numbers are growing and growing."

Princess knows first-hand about the horrors these women are living through. In 1999 she was trafficked herself from her home in Nigeria to the streets of Turin.

"When I talk to them I tell them that I know their story because it is my story too," she says.

For nearly three decades, a thriving sex-trafficking industry has been operating between Nigeria and Italy. Many experts believe the trade in women started in the 1980s when Nigerians travelling to Italy on work visas to pick tomatoes realised that selling sex was far easier and more profitable than harvesting fruits or vegetables.
Since then an estimated 30,000 Nigerian women have been trafficked from their home country into prostitution, finding themselves on street corners and brothels in Italy and other European states.

More than 85% of these women have come from Nigeria’s Edo state in the south of the country, where traffickers have historically exploited chronic poverty, discrimination, a failing education system and lack of opportunities for young women to sell false promises of prosperity in Europe.

Princess was one of the first wave of women to be brought from Nigeria. Then a single mother of three young children, she was approached by a woman she knew from her workplace, who offered her a job in Italy.

"We saw people come back from Europe rich and they would tell us that we could also have this life. In Nigeria there was nothing. I wanted more for my children. This woman said I could pay back the cost of my travel when I started earning. I believed her."

She flew to London on a fake passport. When she arrived she called a telephone number she’d been given and a man came to pick her up and drive her to Italy. She was taken to a house in Turin full of other Nigerian women. When she told them she was going to work in a restaurant, the women laughed in her face.

"They said, ‘Here no Nigerian girl works in a restaurant. Whether you are a princess or a queen you are here in Europe and you must work as a prostitute’. I was distraught, I thought there must be a mistake."

The next day Princess was told she had to pay back a €45,000 debt before she could leave. She was now under the control of a “madam”, a Nigerian woman who worked for the trafficking rings, controlling the women and their debt. She was given high heels and makeup and driven to a street corner with another Nigerian girl.

"I said ‘I will not do this,’" she recalls. "I refused. I hid behind a big rubbish bin all night and cried. I said, ‘God, is this the life you have brought me to?’"

After that night the beatings began. Her madam attacked her so violently with the heel of a shoe that she was hospitalised.

"I did not know anyone, they wouldn’t let me call home. They said they would kill me if I didn’t work,” she says. “I realised the only way was to start this work and try and find someone who would help me."

Every day and night for more than eight months, Princess worked on the streets in Turin.

"Italian men, they love Nigerian girls,” she says with a short laugh. “I had a queue every night."

 But no matter how hard she worked, her debts never got smaller.

"The work was so bad, it was so dangerous. The men were so violent. I was stabbed twice, I was threatened with a gun,” she says. "I was ashamed all the time. The only way I kept strong was promising myself I would leave this life."

Eventually, she says, her prayers were answered. She was walking home one morning when a man called Alberto Mossino pulled over in his car and asked if he could take her to the beach. Mossino, who was living in nearby Asti but working as a DJ in nightclubs in Turin, offered to help Princess leave her madam. “At first I didn’t trust him but then he helped me pay off my debts to my madam and I managed to leave that life. Since then he has been my partner in everything.

Princess’s life has changed since those days on the streets of Turin. She and Mossino moved to Asti, he started PIAM (she came on board later), and the couple married and had a daughter. (Of her four children, three are in Italy with her – the two oldest and Maria, her six-year-old daughter with Alberto. The other is studying in Nigeria.) She pursued her madam through the courts and eventually saw her sent to jail for four years.

Yet 17 years later she says the situation for other Nigerian women has become far worse than what she lived through. All the women on the streets of Asti have debts of more than €40,000 and most will have been forced to undergo ritual “juju” ceremonies where they have been told terrible things will happen to them and their families if they don’t repay what they owe.

"Those who leave Nigeria are told they will need to pay back €15,000 and when they reach Italy the madam tells them their debt is €45,000," says Princess. "Or they are told they will be able to pay back the debt in three months but when they arrive they must pay rent, for their place on the street, food and other costs, so they are trapped because the debt never goes away. These traffickers use beatings and juju to fill their victims with fear," she says. "The women believe the juju so much that I have seen women leave their traffickers and then go mad because they think the curse will come true. This is how powerful a hold it has over them."

Mossino, who works with refugees and asylum seekers as well as victims of trafficking, says that in the past decade the trade in Nigerian women has become a hugely profitable and ruthless criminal industry, controlled largely by Nigerian gangs that took root in Italy in the 1980s.

"Every woman represents hundreds of thousands of euros to these people," he says. "In Asti we saw 10 or 15 women a year when we started. Now we come into contact with 30 or 40 a month"

In the past women would have to be flown in to Europe with fake passports. Now they embark on the dangerous 2,500-mile journey overland through Africa and across Libya before making an equally hazardous crossing by sea to Italy on migrant boats.

In 2014 about 1,500 Nigerian women arrived by sea in Italy. In 2015 this figure had shot up to 5,633. The UN’s International Organisation for Migration (IOM) believes that 80% of these women are victims of trafficking.

"What we are seeing at the moment in terms of the numbers and scale of the criminal trade in Nigerian women is unprecedented,"  says Simona Moscarelli, an anti-trafficking expert at the IOM. "Before, the women were exploited but there was a chance that they could pay off their debts and be free. Now these girls really are slaves and subject to terrible violence. The age of the women is getting younger, to the extent that a large percentage of those arriving now are classed as unaccompanied minors when they come off the boats."

Loveth, a 21-year-old from Lagos, was only 17 when she left Nigeria. After being offered a job as a babysitter in Italy, she was instead forced to work in a brothel in Libya for three years.

"Before I went I was made to swear to the gods [in a juju ceremony] and they said if I didn’t pay back the money I wouldn’t be able to have babies and my life would be useless. Before they took me to Libya they used two boys to break my virginity and then they took me to Libya to a house and sent many men to sleep with me. They didn’t pay me, they just used me."

After being sold to another madam, Loveth refused to work and was beaten and had boiling water thrown on her legs. Eventually she was put on a boat to Italy with 95 other people.

"When I arrived in Italy I was very sick so they took me to the hospital and there I found out I was pregnant," she says. "That is when I knew the juju was a lie. After that I never worked as a prostitute again and PIAM has helped me get my life back."

Since PIAM was founded, Princess and Mossino have helped more than 200 women leave their traffickers in Asti and gain access to legal support, employment and counselling. They have also created refuges and communities for those kept isolated by their traffickers and who are hundreds of miles from home. Princess arranges for the women to live and work together.

"The trauma these women have gone through is very, very heavy," Princess says. "They need a family and a mother as well as the other things we can give them. At the weekends Princess helps organise parties and dances with the women. These traffickers take away everything from you, everything that makes you human. I want to give that back to these women and say to them, let us not rest until we have brought them all to justice."

Below are photos of the former victims, their names and captions by photographer Quintina Valero.

 Princess Inyang Okokon, a former victim of sex trafficking, in a coffee shop in Asti, Italy. When she arrived in Turin in 1999, lured by the promise of work as a chef, traffickers demanded €45,000 to pay for the journey. She was forced into prostitution, but after eight months she managed to pay off her debt with the help of a priest and Alberto Mossino, an Italian who would become her husband. In 1999 Alberto set up an NGO to help migrants and women involved in trafficking in Italy – Princess came on board later. Since then, they have helped more than 200 women come out of prostitution.

Loveth, 21, in a shelter for victims of sex trafficking in Italy. Loveth had been forced into prostitution for four years in Libya after being raped by her traffickers. She was 17 when she left Nigeria. A madam had offered her work as a childminder in Europe. “Before they took me to Libya they used two boys to break my virginity and then in Libya they took me to a house and sent many men to sleep with me.

Precious, a 20-year-old Nigerian woman, in a bar in Asti, near Turin. In December 2014, six months after being rescued from the sea, she was granted a two-year humanitarian visa. She has also entered a protection programme. The SPRAR programme (System of Protection for Asylum Seekers and Refugees) was set up by the Italian government in 2002 and involves helping them to get accommodation, food, work, education and integrate themselves into Italian society. Precious now lives in an apartment, which she shares with four other victims of trafficking, and works in a shop in Astia.

Gift is welcomed to the shelter in Asti by Princess (far right) and her daughter Maria. She was removed by traffickers from the reception centre in Sicily soon after arriving in Italy from Nigeria (by boat). She managed to escape, reporting her madam and traffickers to the authorities, but even today her family back home get pressure about the debt. She will share the house with Patience (in red dress), a 30-year-old Nigerian woman who was sold by her friend to traffickers. Her friend had offered her a “good job” in Europe and the opportunity to provide money for her family and child.

Princess has helped to create a largely female community in Asti. This picture is of Gift, Loveth and Precious, all former victims of trafficking, having fun at the Christmas fair.

Victims of sex trafficking feel under immense pressure to protect their families back in Nigeria and superstition is a powerful tool for traffickers. The traffickers threaten victims with curses to procure their silence and cooperation. Victims have to pay off debts of between €45,000 and €60,000 for their travel arrangements. Before the women leave Nigeria, they have to swear to the gods that if they don’t pay back the debt for their journey something terrible will happen to them or their family.

 A Nigerian prostitute is given condoms by Princess. Once a week she drives with Mossino to the outskirts of Asti to meet prostitutes who are working on the road. She informs them of their rights and protection programmes available to them. She gives them information about the NGO and offers them help if they decide to leave the street.

 Success has recently reported her traffickers to the authorities after working as a prostitute in Asti for three years. Every month she had to give €200 to Jennifer, her madam, as rent for her space in the street, €250 as rent for the house where she slept – in the kitchen – and about €50 per week for groceries. “For other expenses such as electricity and gas, she asked me for about €300 per month. All that remained was to fill my debt of €50,000.” In December 2013 she felt sick, called an ambulance, and discovered in hospital that she was four months pregnant.

Sandra, a 21-year-old Nigerian woman washes her three-year-old son Destiny in a shelter in Monale, near Turin, which she shares with other victims of trafficking. Sandra is from Benin city in southern Nigeria. She left Nigeria when she was 18, and two months pregnant, because her family were very poor. A woman had offered her work abroad in a supermarket, but as soon as she arrived in Italy the woman she had travelled with took her to a forest, made her change her clothes and tried to force her work as a prostitute. Sandra refused and eventually a client helped her to escape.

Source: Guardian UK