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Raffaele Sollecito. Photo: Fillipo Monteforte / AFP

Sollecito turns page with new business and book

He was a protagonist in one of the most controversial murder trials in recent memory, but Raffaele Sollecito is trying to put the past behind him and aims to open his own IT business later this year. READ

Toxic? A drinking fountain in Italy. Photo: Sergio de Ferra

Are Italy's drinking fountains safe?

A study published by Italian consumers Altroconsumo this week would suggest not. READ

George Clooney's Italian house, Villa Oleandra, situated on Lake Como's south-western shores, in Laglio. Photo: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP

Clooney rumoured to be selling Como villa

George Clooney might sell his luxury mansion Villa Oleandra, overlooking Lake Como, over privacy concerns, according to news reports. READ

New TER trains are just a little too tall to make it through the tunnels to Italy. Photo: Julian Ghein1/flickr

New French trains 'too high' to get to Italy

First it was the calamity of the French trains too fat for platforms. Now French rail chiefs have been left embarrassed by a new fleet of regional trains that are too high to get through the tunnels into Italy. READ

Nesting flamingos at Saline di Priolo. Photo: Fabio Cilea

Nesting flamingos a first for Sicily

Last spring, a flock of 220 greater flamingos arrived at the Saline di Priolo nature reserve in Sicily. Just over a year later, 36 newborn chicks have hatched – the first documented time the majestic birds have bred in Sicily. READ

A vegan meal. Photo: Jennifer/Flickr

Vegan parents probed over malnourished baby

The vegan parents of an 11-month-year-old baby who is being treated for severe malnutrition at a hospital in Florence are being investigated by police. READ

81 year-old Italian nun Sister Maria Concetta talks with mothers at Zongo Hospital. Photo: Federico Scoppa/AFP

Italian nun brings life in DR Congo

Still going strong at 81, Italian nun and midwife Sister Maria Concetta Esu recently asked Pope Francis to bless her hands, which have delivered more than 34,000 African babies. READ

A migrant walks in the Shoah Museum - Binario 21 ('Platform 21') at the Central Station in Milan. Photo: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP

Migrants take shelter in Italy Holocaust memorial

Camp beds, biscuits and bottles of water: each night dozens of asylum seekers find refuge in an unusual yet highly symbolic place, Milan's Holocaust memorial. READ

Renzi: confident there will be no 'Grexit'. Photo: Thierry Charlier.

Renzi says Greece won't leave eurozone

Greece will not exit the eurozone regardless of the outcome of the country's referendum this weekend, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said on Thursday. READ

Grexit could cost Italy €11 billion in interest »

The Parthenon temple is seen behind a European Union flag in in Athens on July 2nd. Photo: Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP

Grexit could cost Italy €11 billion in interest

Italy could have to pay an extra €11 billion to service its bad debt due to higher interest rates if Greece leaves the euro, according to forecasts from the ratings agency, Standard & Poor’s. READ

Features

Museum for the Memory of Ustica. Photo Ghedolo

Dark tourism: Italy's creepiest attractions

While Italy might be famed for its art, history and food - it is also home to some of the creepiest tourist attractions on Earth. READ

A street scene in Palermo. Photo: Monte Cruz photo

Most liveable cities: five neglected Italian gems

The prestigious culture magazine, Monocle, has published its most liveable cities list for 2015 - with not one Italian city among the top 40. So how did they get it so wrong? READ

Video

Italian comedian Andrea De Marco in his satirical video, 'Ndrangheta Today. Screengrab: YouTube

WATCH: Brilliant video lays bare mafia power

A scathing new video is winning plaudits for showing the global power of the Calabrian mafia, the ‘Ndrangheta - a group that makes more money than McDonald's and Deutsche Bank combined. READ

The Local List

Photo: Gualtiero

Six bizarre health tips Italian grans swear by

Italians have come up with some truly weird and wonderful remedies for common health complaints but do they help, or are they just a bunch of old wives' tales? READ

Families disembark from the Italian military ship "Chimera" on June 30th, 2014 in Pozzallo, Sicily. Photo: Giovanni Isolino/AFP

Turning away migrants 'heartless': Sicily mayor

Italy’s wealthy northern regions have been labelled “heartless and selfish” for turning away refugees, by the mayor of a Sicily port that has seen tens of thousands land there. READ

More News

On strike: Ivan Scalfarotto. Photo: Michele Armillotta

Italy minister on hunger strike for gay civil unions

A junior minister in the Italian government has gone on hunger strike in a protest aimed at speeding up moves to introduce civil unions for gay couples. READ

Property prices in Italy continue to fall. Photo: Rome property photo: Shutterstock

Italy's property sector struggles to recover

Property prices in Italy dropped a further 0.7 percent during the first three months of this year as the country’s housing market struggles to recover from the economic crisis. READ

An Asian "killer" Hornet. Dider Descouens

Italy's killer hornets: what you need to know

They have left six people dead in France and now they're making a beeline for Italy. READ

Travel

Sunset over the island of Procida. Photo: Will Hornby

A day out in...Procida

Often overshadowed by Capri and Ischia, the island of Procida in the Bay of Naples can actually make for a more relaxing and less expensive day out than its bigger neighbours. READ

The BA flight to London Gatwick was rerouted from Rome to Naples. Photo: Mark Harkin

Passenger fury over BA’s late Italy airport switch

British Airways passengers, or at least the lucky few who made it back to London from Italy on Wednesday night, vented their anger after their flight was rerouted from Rome to Naples without sufficient prior warning. READ

In pictures

Orangutans Petronilla and Zoe cool off in the shade with an iced lolly. Photo Bioparco di Roma

Animals cool off with ice lollies at Rome zoo

Zookeepers at a Rome zoo have taken a unique approach to ensure the animals keep cool during the latest heatwave: give them ice lollies. READ

A human egg is fertilized. Photo: Eugene Ermolovich

Italy amends contentious fertility law

Italy's health minister Beatrice Lorenzin signed new guidelines on assisted fertility on Wednesday, updating Italy's current restrictive laws which date to 2004. READ

Migrant crisis

At least 366 people died in the boat disaster in October 2013. Phot: Roberto Solomone/AFP

Trafficker jailed for 18 years over boat disaster

A Tunisian people smuggler who survived one of the worst migrant boat disasters in the Mediterranean was given an 18-year jail sentence on Wednesday. READ

A centurion crosses the road. Photo: Filippo Monteforte

How to keep cool like an ancient Roman

As the mercury rises in Italy and the days and nights get unbearable, we look to the ancient world for tips on staying cool. READ

Roma striker Gervinho has hit out at claims he requested a helicopter and a private beach as part a UAE transfer deal. Photo. Filippo Monteforte/AFP

Gervinho denies chopper demand to Al-Jazira

Roma striker Gervinho has hit out at claims he requested a helicopter and a private beach as part of the deal that would take him from the Serie A club to Al-Jazira in the United Arab Emirates. READ

Read older articles »

From our other editions:

File photo: Larry D. Moore/Wikimedia

Teacher kills rabbits in front of class

Outraged parents and students from Horn, Lower Austria have called for a secondary school teacher to be sacked after he killed two rabbits in front of his class as part of a biology lesson. READ

Bathers swimming in the Rhine River in Basel, expected to be one of the hottest places in the country. Photo: Basel Tourismus

Worst Swiss heatwave since 2003 anticipated

Switzerland is preparing for the most intense heatwave in almost 12 years with weather experts predicting high temperatures above 35C for the first eight to ten days of July. READ

The Panther tank removed from a cellar in Kiel, with a prosecutors' evidence label attached to its barrel. Photo: DPA

Police confiscate WW2 tank hidden in cellar

Police searched a villa in a wealthy suburb of Kiel on Wednesday and found a Second World War tank, a torpedo and other weaponry in the cellar. On Thursday they were still working on removing the tank. READ

Sam Mansour. Photo: Jeanne Kornum/Scanpix

Convicted terrorist loses Danish citizenship

Sam Mansour, who has been dubbed ‘The Bookseller from Brønshøj’ and ‘al-Qaeda’s PR man in Denmark’, on Wednesday became the first ever Dane to have his citizenship revoked for illegal activity. READ

The Local List

Spaniards have been protesting as the country's new "gag law" comes into force. Photo: Dani Pozo/AFP

The ten most repressive points of Spain's gag law

Its many detractors complain that the new "gag law" introduced today harks back to the repressive days of the Franco regime. Here are a list of its most controversial points. READ

French air traffic controllers call off strike

Relief for air passengers on Wednesday as French air traffic controllers called off a planned two-day strike that was set to cause travel chaos across Europe on Thursday and Friday. READ

A biopsy of a small bowel afflicted by coeliac disease. Photo: ToNToNi/Wikimedia Commons

Norway scientists find cause of coeliac disease

Norwegian scientists have discovered the cause of coeliac disease, the auto-immune disorder which causes gluten intolerance in about one in a hundred people READ

The Local List

Visby, Gotland. Photo: Rodrigo Rivas/Imagebank Sweden

Nine exciting activities to do on Sweden's Gotland

Gotland is in the national spotlight each summer during Sweden's annual politics forum, Almedalen. But here's why it is also one of the nation's favourite tourist spots. READ

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