Sixth night: US widens strikes on southern Iran, Tehran shells Gulf statesTrump accuses China of election tampering and sows doubt about the US voting system ahead of the midtermsKyiv in turmoil: Zelensky dismisses Defense Minister Fedorov and sides with the generalsNicaragua severs ties with Italy: a dispute over a Moro attackerMerz and Macron invoke Europe's strategic awakeningUS shortens stays for foreign students and journalistsRacist monkey video by Chinese state media outrages ManilaKim Jong Un receives China's number four, Wang HuningChina condemns nationalization of British SteelNetflix grows but disappoints the marketOil prices rise, IEA warns of threat to global energy securityEU Commission reforms emissions trading and ignites a climate rowTrump Media sells fast access to Truth Social postsXi opens World AI Conference and founds a world organization for AI cooperationChina's Moonshot unveils largest open AI modelSpaceX aborts Starship test flight at the last secondSixth night: US widens strikes on southern Iran, Tehran shells Gulf statesTrump accuses China of election tampering and sows doubt about the US voting system ahead of the midtermsKyiv in turmoil: Zelensky dismisses Defense Minister Fedorov and sides with the generalsNicaragua severs ties with Italy: a dispute over a Moro attackerMerz and Macron invoke Europe's strategic awakeningUS shortens stays for foreign students and journalistsRacist monkey video by Chinese state media outrages ManilaKim Jong Un receives China's number four, Wang HuningChina condemns nationalization of British SteelNetflix grows but disappoints the marketOil prices rise, IEA warns of threat to global energy securityEU Commission reforms emissions trading and ignites a climate rowTrump Media sells fast access to Truth Social postsXi opens World AI Conference and founds a world organization for AI cooperationChina's Moonshot unveils largest open AI modelSpaceX aborts Starship test flight at the last second
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Nicaragua and Italy

Symbolic image

On March 16, 1978, the left-wing terrorist Red Brigades ambushed the car of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro in Rome, killed his five bodyguards and kidnapped him; after 55 days in captivity Moro was murdered and his body found in the trunk of a car. Alessio Casimirri, a former member of the Red Brigades, was convicted of the crime (multiple life sentences), fled Italy in the early 1980s and settled in Nicaragua in 1983, where he obtained citizenship. Rome has demanded his extradition for decades, but Daniel Ortega's government has repeatedly refused or left the request unanswered. In recent years the Ortega government has repeatedly severed diplomatic ties and strained relations with Western states and the Vatican.

Wikipedia: Kidnapping and murder of Aldo MoroAl JazeeraBritannica: Aldo Moro

Timeline in detail

Friday, 17 July 2026Geopolitics

Nicaragua severs ties with Italy: a dispute over a Moro attacker

Nicaragua cut diplomatic ties with Italy after Rome continued to demand the extradition of a former Red Brigades member living in Nicaragua. The man was convicted for his role in the 1978 kidnapping and murder of former Prime Minister Aldo Moro. Managua spoke of aggressive and irresponsible statements by Rome.

Daniel Ortega's government responded to Italy's persistent demand for the extradition of the convicted man, who has lived in Nicaragua since the 1980s, by severing ties, as the Daily Maverick reports citing Reuters. Die Zeit and Deutschlandfunk place the move within the authoritarian pattern of the Ortega government, which in recent years has repeatedly cut ties with Western states and the Vatican. Italy accuses the Central American country of protecting a former member of a terrorist group. The sourcing is thin and relies mainly on European media and a Reuters report; an independent account from Managua is largely unavailable. Historically, the case stands for one of the darkest chapters of Italy's postwar history, the 55-day hostage-taking and murder of Moro by the Red Brigades.

Die ZeitDeutschlandfunkDaily Maverick