Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci dies

Oriana Fallaci, a veteran Italian journalist and author who challenged world leaders in uncompromising interviews and recently drew criticism for her vehement attacks on Islam, has died, officials said on Friday. She was 76.

Fallaci, who was diagnosed with breast cancer years ago, died overnight in a private clinic in Florence, said Paolo Klun, an official with the RCS publishing group, which published Fallaci’s work. A Florence native and former Resistance fighter, Fallaci started her career in journalism as a teenager.

As a war correspondent, Fallaci travelled the world covering hot spots, including the Vietnam war and the first Gulf War. In 1968, she was shot as she was covering an army massacre of student protesters in Mexico. Fallaci had been reclusive in recent years, spending most of the time in her Manhattan apartment.