Naples sex strike over fireworks

New Year's Eve could prove to be something of a damp squib for some men in the Italian city of Naples. Hundreds of Neapolitan women have pledged to go without sex unless their men promise to refrain from setting off dangerous illegal fireworks.Local authorities are backing the women and have sent out text messages urging the men to "make love, not explosions". The women say it is the only way to persuade their partners that they are serious about their concerns. "Setting off illegal fireworks isn't celebrating, it's dangerous," Carolina Staiano, a founder of the campaign, told La Stampa newspaper.

Mrs Staiano, who has the support of local churches, speaks from personal experience when warning of the dangers of fireworks. She has spent her life caring for her father, who was left partially paralysed and with epilepsy after a firework exploded next to him at New Year's Eve party before she was born.