Italian corruption fighter killed

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An Italian local anti-crime campaigner has been stabbed to death outside his home, officials say.

Giuseppe Basile was killed on Saturday night in the Puglia region of southern Italy. He was 61.

Mr Basile had received threats such as a bullet in an envelope and the severed head of an animal left outside his front door, Ansa news agency reports.

He was a councillor and a member of Italy of Values, a small centre-left party centred on fighting corruption.

Previous killings of public officials in southern Italy - such as the 2005 death of a local official shot at a polling station - have been blamed on organised criminals and mafia-linked groups.