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A migrant centre on the Italian island of Lampedusa. Photo: AFP

700 feared dead in Med migrant ship 'massacre'

Seven hundred people are feared to have drowned when a fishing boat carrying migrants to Europe capsized off Libya, the UN's refugee agency said Sunday. READ

If you see Enzo Costanza contact the police. Photo:Carabinieri

Italian dad on run with newborn found in Spain

Police in Spain have tracked down an Italian father who abandoned his wife outside a toy shop near Turin and fled with his new born son. READ

A relative of a victim of the Rana Plaza building collapse weeps as she takes part in a protest marking the first anniversary of the disaster. Photo: Munir Uz Zaman/AFP

Benetton pays $1.1m into factory disaster fund

Italian fashion retailer Benetton announced Friday it would pay $1.1 million into an international fund to compensate victims of the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh two years ago in which 1,138 people died. READ

The boat was reportedly seized and taken towards the Libyan port of Misrata. Photo: Mahmud Turkia/AFP

Navy takes control of boat seized off Libya

The Italian navy said it has taken control of a Sicilian fishing boat that was seized by armed men off Libya in the early hours of Friday. READ

17/04 Italian fishing boat seized off Libya’s coast »

A banner of Fiat - Chrysler in front of Fiat Headquarters at Lingotto in Turin. Photo: Marco Bertorello/AFP

Fiat Chrysler sets bonus scheme for Italy workers

US-Italian carmaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) announced an incentive system for employees in Italy tied to the group's productivity and profits in a move it hopes will improve prickly labour-management relations. READ

Photo of surgeons in an operating theatre: Shutterstock

Woman dies after botched nose operation

A woman who was admitted to hospital with a broken nose died after a doctor failed to provide her with sufficient oxygen during the operation. The anaesthetist has now been found guilty of manslaughter. READ

The Palermo ruling has set a precedent in Italy. Photo: JK Beitz

Lesbian shares custody in landmark Italian case

An Italian woman has been given the right to shared custody of her children after splitting up from their biological mother in a case that has set a precedent for gay couples in Italy. READ

Whirlpool plans to cut 1,350 jobs in Italy. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North America/AFP

Italian government warns Whirlpool against layoffs

Italy's government joined unions on Thursday in denouncing reported plans by US appliance giant Whirlpool to cut 1,350 jobs a year after it took over Italian rival Indesit. READ

Photo: Shutterstock

Man kills mum for affair with rival mafia boss

A 22-year-old man has been arrested in Rosarno in southern Italy for allegedly killing his mother, for having an affair with a rival mafia boss. READ

Demand for parmesan is especially robust in the UK. Photo: Shutterstock

Foreign taste for Italian cheese spurs sales

Exports of Italian cheese and dairy products rose to a new record worth €2.2 billion in 2014, as appetite for parmesan and gorgonzola grew in northern European countries, farm research body ISMEA said. READ

Features

Simona Moreno (C), a BonAppetour host, cooks for her husband and four guests. Photo: BonAppetour

Come dine with the Italians

The concept of people throwing dinner parties for strangers has been popular in other countries for a few years now, but the trend is starting to take off in Italy. The Local explores. READ 4 comments

Illness photo: Shutterstock

Illnesses that only seem to strike Italians

It’s World Health Day, and those of you living in Italy will no doubt be familiar with maladies that only Italians seem to suffer from. To mark the day, Anna Pujol-Mazzini, whose mum is Italian, shares some insight into growing up being taught how to avoid Italian-only ailments. READ 14 comments

My Italian Career

Linda Martinez and Steve Brenner outside The Beehive in Rome.

'Italy’s probably the worst place for business'

Linda Martinez and Steve Brenner, an American couple, own The Beehive, a hostel and café in the heart of Rome. They talk to The Local about running a business here. READ 15 comments

Italy produces Europe's most reckless drivers, according to a survey by the French motorway operator, Vinci. Photo: Italy traffic photo: Shutterstock

Why are Italians such crazy drivers?

The Italians may have given the world Ferrari, but surveys rate them as some of Europe's scariest drivers. The problem? A blatant disregard for the rules, the locals tell us. READ 8 comments

Soldiers in Benghazi, eastern Libya, in February 2015. Photo: Abdullah Doma/AFP

Why Libya is ringing alarm bells in Italy

As Rome rings alarm bells over the deteriorating situation in Libya, The Local investigates the ramifications of a conflict across the Mediterranean. READ

More News

Cash-strapped Serie A strugglers Parma look certain to be relegated. Photo: Paolo Cocco/AFP

Cash-strapped Parma docked four more points

Cash-strapped Serie A strugglers Parma now look certain to be relegated after being hit with a four-point penalty by Italian league chiefs on Thursday. READ

The doctor was accused of being a member of a banned left-wing group in Turkey. Photo: Olyhaber

Italy releases accused Austrian 'terrorist'

A Turkish-born Austrian citizen who was arrested in Italy on charges relating to terrorism offences in Turkey has been released. READ

Photo: HO Italian Navy

Migrants thrown into sea 'for being Christian'

Italian police said on Thursday they had arrested 15 African Muslim migrants after witnesses said they had thrown 12 Christian passengers overboard following a brawl on a boat heading to Italy. READ

Photo: Mahmud Turkia/AFP

41 migrants missing in new boat tragedy

As many as 41 migrants drowned after a small boat carrying refugees sank in the Mediterranean, Italian media said on Thursday, days after 400 were lost in another shipwreck. READ

Roberto Speranza, parliamentary floor leader for the PD in the lower house, quit on Wednesday. Photo: Andreas Solaro/AFP

Renzi faces rebellion over electoral law

A senior member of Matteo Renzi’s centre-left Democratic Party (PD) resigned late on Wednesday over a proposed new electoral law, highlighting the opposition the Italian Prime Minister is facing over the reform. READ

Raffaele Cantone was appointed president of Italy's anti-corruption authority in March 2014. Photo: Gabriel Buoys/AFP

'Corruption impacts Italy dramatically': Cantone

The president of Italy's anti-corruption authority said the impact of corruption on Italian society is dramatic, slowing innovation and driving away foreign investment. READ 11 comments

Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said Italy was shouldering nearly all of the burden for sea patrol and migrant rescue. Photo: Gabriel Bouys/AFP

Italy pleads for aid to cope with migrant influx

Italy pleaded for more help on Thursday to rescue migrants risking their lives to cross the Mediterranean, and demanded a "clear answer" from the European Union about where the refugees should be sent. READ

Photo of smoking: Shutterstock

Italians obey smoking ban more than Germans

Italy is enforcing smoking bans in public places well, while in Germany compliance is limited and there are still “massive violations”, a report found this week. READ

Roberto Maroni, the president of Lombardy. Photo: Wikipedia

Lombardy chief refuses to give beds to migrants

Italy’s Lombardy region has joined Veneto in refusing a request from the Italian government to find emergency housing for the country’s migrant influx. READ

Italy has been ranked the third worst country for regulating the “hidden influence” of lobbyists’ in government. Photo: Shutterstock

Italy one of worst for regulating lobbyists

Italy was ranked the third worst country for regulating the “hidden influence” of lobbyists’ in government, according to a report on European countries released by Transparency International on Wednesday. READ

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From our other editions:

Photo: Shutterstock

Salzburg city to introduce begging ban

The city of Salzburg has confirmed that it will outlaw begging in many parts of the city centre, as well as in markets and cemeteries. The local government will agree on the terms of the ban by May 20th. READ

The Globe of Science and Innovation at CERN. Photo: Adam Nieman/Flickr

CERN 'in shock' over fatal Valais avalanche

UPDATE: An official from the Geneva-based European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) said on Monday the organization was in shock over an avalanche that killed one of its employees and critically injured another in the canton of Valais on Sunday. READ

An international German class point to where they are from on the map. Photo: DPA

German is world's fourth most popular language

After 15 years of research and a 1,300 page book on the subject, sociolinguistics professor Dr. Ulrich Ammon found that German is surprisingly popular with language learners all over the world. READ

Artists' illustration of how the sculpture will look when placed in Kultorvet. Photo: Invivia/Folkedrab100

Turkey angered by Copenhagen sculpture

Plans to install a sculpture commemorating the Armenian Genocide in one of Copenhagen's busiest squares have Turkish officials up in arms. READ

Marbella tragedy

Photo of La Venus beach in Marbella: Shutterstock

Teacher drowned trying to save deaf students

The Turkish teacher who drowned trying to save the lives of his deaf students off a Marbella beach on Monday was due to marry later this year, it has emerged. READ

A quokka in western Australia. Photo: OzinOH/Flickr

When French tourists behave badly abroad

As two French tourists are fined for burning a small Australian mammal, we take a look at some of the worst examples of the French misbehaving abroad - including orgies in Pompeii to near-naked dancing in Roman fountains... READ

The mystery worms spotted lying on the snow by Karstein Erstad on Sunday. Photo: Karstein Erstad

Earthworms rain from sky over Norway

Earthworms have been raining down from heaven over large areas of southern Norway, leaving biologists and meteorologists scratching their heads. READ

Rear Admiral Anders Grenstad at a press conference after Sweden's October submarine hunt. Photo: Claudio Bresciani/TT

'Submarine' in Sweden was only civilian boat

UPDATED: A suspected submarine spotted in the Stockholm archipelago a week after Sweden's extensive hunt for Russian underwater vessels last autumn was only a civilian boat, Sweden's Armed Forces have now said. But they remain convinced that the first sighting was a small foreign sub. READ