
ROME, ITALY—At an emergency meeting yesterday, Italian officials agreed to release two million euros in funding from the European Union for maintenance at the World Heritage site of Pompeii, where heavy rainfall triggered the collapse of several ancient walls. Italian Culture Minister Dario Franceschini told BBC News that he was “unblocking many measures which will get the machine working.” Johannes Hahn, Regional Policy Commissioner for the EU, called every collapse “a huge defeat.”