The Times - UK (2022-01-03)

the times | Monday January 3 2022 29

Wo r l d

Digging in Rome usually unearths an-
cient artefacts, as workers laying pipes
in the Appio Latino quarter learnt.
Archaeologists called in by Acea, the
city’s gas and water company, have dis-
covered a funerary complex with tombs
dating from between the 1st century BC
and the 1st century AD.
“The discovery casts new light on an
important context,” Daniela Porro, the
head of Rome’s archaeology depart-
ment, said. “Once again, Rome shows
important traces of the past throughout
its urban fabric.”
The work has exposed three cham-
bers that were part of a funerary com-
plex next to the ancient Via Latina, to

Italy
Philip Willan Rome

The terracotta head

of a dog was found

in a burial site

KIRAN RIDLEY/GETTY IMAGES

EU capitals at odds on nuclear power

2,000-year-old dog holds up traffic in Rome

the south of the city walls. Archaeolo-

gists have found a ceramic funerary urn

containing bone fragments and a ter-

racotta statue representing the head of

a dog, presumably created for purely

decorative purposes.

There were also traces

of the burial of a youth,

whose body was en-

tombed in the earth. It is

estimated that only a

tenth of the city has

been excavated, since

Rome has been inhabit-

ed continuously for the

past 2,800 years, with

successive eras covering earlier struc-

tures. A series of fires, including the

great fire attributed to Nero in 64AD,

and the repeated flooding of the Tiber,

added to the rubble on which the medi-

eval and then modern city arose.

The new site is close to the ancient

catacomb of Via Dino Compagni that

came to light during construction

work in the 1950s, when scant atten-

tion was paid to preserving the heri-

tage of the past.

The structure was used for burials

until about 360AD. Its frescoed

walls earned it the title of “the art

gallery of the 4th century”. Some of

the families using it had converted

to Christianity while others still

worshipped pagan gods, account-

ing for its mixture of iconography.

Mobsters in Naples and Calabria took

advantage of new year celebrations to

settle scores.

Salvatore Capone, 42, an escort for

the Camorra clan, was shot dead in the

city in a drug feud. He was gunned

down in the Lauro quarter at 3am on

New Year’s Day amid the noise of

fireworks.

Capone, who was shot repeatedly,

was seen as being close to Massimiliano

Esposito, and loyal to the Iadonisi crime

family. Investigators said that the

murder was a response to the at-

tempted assassination of Vitale Tron-

cone, 53, who was seriously wounded in

Mobsters settle scores under

cover of new year fireworks

a gun attack outside his bar on Decem-

ber 23. The Fuorigrotta district, where

Troncone holds power, was quiet on

New Year’s Eve out of respect for the

boss, who remained in a critical condi-

tion in hospital.

The latest turf war began in March

2020 when Gaetano Mercurio, of the

Troncone clan, was shot dead. The feud

has led to four murders, three beatings

and two arson attacks.

In the Calabrian town of Soriano

Calabro, Giuseppe De Masi, 39, a

builder caught up in anti-drug investi-

gations, was shot dead on New Year’s

Eve. Police suspect that he fell foul of

the ’Ndrangheta, a big player in the

cocaine trade.

Philip Willan

Germany and Austria have expressed

fury over a French victory on EU rules

that would open the door to new invest-

ment in carbon-free nuclear power.

The European Commission’s pro-

posed new “taxonomy” rules will allow

private investment in atomic energy to

be linked to climate policy subsidies as

well as funding for gas-fuelled power

stations to replace coal.

An Austrian minister appeared to

compare the decision by Brussels,

which was rushed through late on New

Year’s Eve, to Hitler’s 1941 “Nacht und

Nebel”, or night and fog, decree to

destroy all resistance to the Nazis.

“The EU commission took a step

towards greenwashing nuclear power

and fossil gas yesterday in a night and

fog action,” Leonore Gewessler, the

Austrian climate protection minister,

said. “They are harmful to the climate

and the environment and destroy the

future of our children.”

Austria banned nuclear power in

1999, enshrining the ban in its constitu-

tion. Gewessler, a Green politician, said

that government lawyers were examin-

ing whether it should launch a legal

challenge in the EU courts.

The powerful German Greens, who

are the kingmakers in Olaf Scholz’s

coalition government, have attacked

the commission’s move and committed

the country to fighting it. Germany

decided to close all of its atomic power

plants after the 2011 Fukushima crisis in

Japan, shutting down three of its last six

reactors on New Year’s Eve.

Steffi Lemke, the German environ-

ment minister and Green MP, said it

was “extremely problematic that the

Commission wants to forgo a public

consultation on such a sensitive issue”.

Ireland and Italy also opposed the

new EU scheme but the balance swung

in favour of France in the wake of the

energy crisis. President Macron has

reversed a past decision by his country

to step back from nuclear power. Last

year France announced “massive

investments” in small reactors.

Under the proposed rules, which are

expected to be backed by most EU gov-

ernments, nuclear power is rated as a

sustainable energy source until 2045 as

long as newly built reactors cause “no

significant harm” to the environment.

“There is a role for natural gas and

nuclear as a means to facilitate the

transition towards a predominantly

renewable-based future,” a commission

statement said.

Belgium

Bruno Waterfield Brussels

Falling flags An EU flag flown on the Arc de Triomphe, intended to mark France’s six-month presidency of the bloc, was

withdrawn after criticism that its presence was an insult to French soldiers in whose memory the monument was built

New French car

ads tell Nicole

and Papa to get

on their bikes

Nicole and her long-suffering Papa
were classic figures in Renault’s 1990s
advertising campaigns, but their coun-
terparts in France today will have to
recommend other means of transport.
Under a new law, car advertisements
will be forced to carry environmental
warnings advising potential customers
to consider cycling, walking, public
transport or ride-sharing instead.
The move comes with President
Macron seeking to crack down on car
pollution before a ban on the sale of pet-
rol-driven vehicles in France in 2035.
His government has also increased
the maximum eco-tax on heavy cars
that emit high levels of greenhouse gas-

es to €40,000, up from €30,000. The
ceiling will rise again to €50,000 in
2023.
Supporters of car advertising regula-
tion say it could help France to meet its
target of cutting greenhouse gas emis-
sions by 40 per cent in 2030 compared
with 1990. Detractors say it makes no
sense because the warnings will also
apply to electric vehicles.
The law, which will come into force in
March, gives manufacturers a choice of
three slogans to incorporate into their
advertisements for television, radio,
print and online: “For short journeys,
walking or bicycling is preferable”,
“Think about carpooling”, or “On a
daily basis, take public transport”.
Advertisers who fail to respect the

law face a maximum fine of €50,000

per advertisement.

The WWF published a report this

year accusing car manufacturers of

encouraging the French to buy pollut-

ing cars by spending €1.8 billion on

advertisements for sports utility vehi-

cles in 2019. The report said that 42 per

cent of all car advertising budgets went

on this type of vehicle.

Isabelle Autissier, chairwoman of

WWF France, said: “It cannot

continue. In order to slow this trend,

the government must act by banning

advertising for the heaviest vehicles

and reorienting it.”

Macron agreed to prohibit advertise-

ments for vehicles emitting more than

123 grams of carbon dioxide per kilo-

metre, but delayed implementing the

measure until 2028 under pressure

from a French car sector keen to boost

sales after the health crisis and also

from the country’s media, which said it

could not afford to lose billions of euros

in annual revenue.

The decision to impose environmen-

tal warnings on car advertisements was

seen as a compromise solution. The

new legislation is based upon a 2007

law designed to fight obesity, which

forced the makers of industrial food

and drinks to include a health warning

on advertisements. “Avoid eating too

much fat, sugar or salt,” it says.

Lionel French Keogh, the president

of Hyundai France, said that the car

advertisement warnings were “a little

counterproductive in terms of the

government’s desire to push the sale of

electric [vehicles]”. He described the

warnings as “stigmatising” for cars,

adding that motor vehicles were

sometimes necessary, even for short

journeys. “If I do a short journey that

involves [a dual carriageway], I would

not use a bicycle or go on foot.”

Car enthusiasts are also aghast at

changes to the eco-tax calculation,

which hits vehicles weighing more than

1.8 tonnes and emitting more than 128g

CO 2 /km. Le Figaro said that as a result,

buyers of a diesel-powered Audi Q7,

which costs about €72,000, would have

to pay an eco-tax of €32,094.

France
Adam Sage Paris

Nicole and her Papa starred in a series
of Renault commercials in the 1990s