The Soapbox: Schools face bomb threats in Italy, rescue of a missing Australian teen and a far-right group banned in Spain

In Italy, bomb threats sent to schools across the country Thousands of schools across Italy received bomb threats for two consecutive days this week, sparking hundreds of evacuations despite officials’ claims of a hoax. Over 3,700 schools received email threats on Thursday, following threats sent to around 6,300 schools the day before. The emails claimed that explosive devices in plastic bags were placed in targeted buildings at each school, and they also threatened knife attacks on survivors. The Italian government advised schools not to evacuate, citing an “absence of concrete evidence” of immediate danger. Hundreds of schools evacuated anyway, with authorities carrying out checks at several others. “We are working to deploy all the tools at our disposal to minimize the impact of these attacks,” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a video statement on Wednesday. “Every alert will continue to be verified, one by one.

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