Italy's news in English

Change edition:
Austria ·
Denmark ·
France ·
Germany ·
Norway ·
Spain ·
Sweden ·
Switzerland

Greece Crisis

An EU flag in the foreground of the ancient temple of Parthenon atop the Acropolis hill in Athens. Photo: Aris Messinis/AFP

Eurozone to decide on Greece's new debt plan

Finance ministers from the 19-country eurozone will meet in Brussels at 1300 GMT Saturday to review Greece's proposals for market-oriented reforms in exchange for its third bailout since 2010. READ

One person was killed in a powerful explosion that severely damaged the Italian consulate in central Cairo. Photo: Mohamed El-Shahed / AFP

One dead in blast at Italian consulate in Cairo

One person was killed Saturday in a powerful explosion that partly damaged the Italian consulate in central Cairo, health ministry spokesman Hossam Abdel Ghaffar said. READ

Photo: Luca Mascaro

12 dead in Nigeria pipeline explosion: Eni

UPDATED: An accidental explosion on an oil pipeline in Nigeria operated by Italian energy giant Eni left 12 people dead and three injured, the company said in a statement Friday. READ

Migrant crisis

150,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean this year. Photo Photo: Alfonso Di Vincenzo/AFP

Italian coastguard finds bodies of 12 migrants

The Italian coastguard announced late on Thursday that 12 migrants had been found dead and more than 800 rescued during multiple operations in the Mediterranean. READ

Greece crisis

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi (L) with Greek counterpart, Alexis Tsipras. Photo: Andreas Solaro/AFP

Renzi 'hopeful' on Greek deal

UPDATED: Italian premier Matteo Renzi is hopeful that a deal to avert a Greek default will soon be reached after Athens presented its proposals on a fresh bailout. READ

Video

A motorcyclist goes the wrong way down the A13. Photo: Video screengrab.

Man drives 8km against traffic on busy motorway

A 47 year-old motorcyclist from Genoa was stopped going the wrong way down the A13 motorway, heading towards Genoa. READ

Two rugby players kiss on this week's cover of Sportweek. Photo: Sportweek cover, Saturday 11th July 2015.

Backlash over sports mag's gay front cover

An Italian magazine cover showing two male rugby players kissing has sparked a backlash after being published on Twitter. READ

Primark will open its first store in Milan next summer. Photo: Britta Pedersen/DPA/AFP

Primark set to open in Italy's fashion capital

From Giorgio Armani to Muccia Prada, Milan is home to some of the world's most famous fashion designers. And now the UK’s bargain clothes chain, Primark, is planning its first foray in the city. READ

The boy died after falling into a lift shaft at a Rome metro stop. Photo: Matthew Black

Boy, 5, killed after falling into Rome metro lift shaft

UPDATED: Three people have been detained for manslaughter after a five-year-old boy died on Thursday when he fell into the lift shaft at a metro stop in Rome. READ

Several national protests have been held against the reforms. Photo: Filippo Monteforte/AFP

Italy approves school reforms amid protest

Italy’s education system is set for a major overhaul after premier Matteo Renzi’s controversial school reforms package won final approval on Thursday. 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

This photo shows Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel exhibition in Montreal, Quebec. Photo: Clement Sabourin/AFP

Sistine Chapel recreated in Montreal - in photos

A full-size recreation of the glorious Michelangelo frescoes that adorn the ceiling of the Vatican's Sistine Chapel -- entirely in photographs - will from Friday be on display in Montreal. READ

Foreign labourers work at the construction site of a new stadium in Qatar. Photo: Marwan Naamani / AFP

Italian firm gets Qatar World Cup contract

Qatar has awarded Italian firm Salini Impregilo a €770 million ($859 million) contract to build and operate a stadium for the 2022 World Cup, the company said on Thursday. READ

A couple take a selfie in Trastevere, Rome. Photo: Anita Szeicz

Where and how to take a great selfie in Italy

Whether you're a seasoned selfi-holic or first time snapper, nobody can resist a sneaky selfie in Italy. READ

One of the seized mafia properties is a sprawling beach resort in Catania. Photo: Leandro Neumann Ciuffo

Seized mafia assets a 'headache' for Italy

Italy's battle against the mafia has provoked an unusual problem for the government - the headache of managing a staggering portfolio of assets and cash seized from mobsters. READ

The 77-year-old died on a beach in Cagliari, Sardinia. Photo: Claire Rowland

Two more people die in Italy heatwave

Two people died on Wednesday as temperatures in parts of Italy continued to hover around 40 degrees Celsius, bringing the number of those who have died of heat-related causes over the past week to over ten. READ

Roman ruins at Ostia Antica. Photo: ZeWrestler

Satanic symbols carved into ruins at Ostia Antica

Archaeologists working at the Roman ruins of Ostia Antica, near Rome, made an unpleasant and shocking discovery when they re-opened a dig site to find it was full of satanic symbols. READ

The tornado killed one person. Screengrab: YouReporter.it

VIDEO: One killed in Venice tornado

One person was killed and more than thirty were injured when a tornado swept through the outskirts of Venice on Wednesday night, destroying dozens of homes and other buildings. READ

Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro has officially banned from schools dozens of children's books on homosexuality and disability. Photo: Alvyspera

Venice mayor bans books on homosexuality

The new mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro, has officially banned from schools dozens of children's books on subjects such as homosexuality and disability, provoking a flurry of criticism. READ

Silvio Berlusconi won't actually have to serve any prison time for the conviction. Photo: AFP

Berlusconi sentenced for bribing Italian senator

Former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi suffered a fresh legal blow on Wednesday when a Naples court sentenced him to three years for bribing a senator. READ

The operation was aimed at "known entrepreneurs from the Palermo area who belong to the Marineo mafia family". Photo: Archway Andres

€1.6bn seized from Sicilian mafia pensioners

UPDATED: Italian authorities have seized assets worth more than €1.6 billion from a family of five Sicilian pensioners believed to have links to a prominent mafia clan. READ

Read older articles »

From our other editions:

Smoking ban

Photo: Paul Gillingwater

Smoking ban bill to become law

Austria’s parliament will pass a new bill on a complete smoking ban on Wednesday - which will come into force in May 2018. READ

EXPAT GUIDE | Work

Photo: Anatoly Vartonov/Stockphoto.com

Quick tips for writing the perfect Swiss CV

Every country has a slightly different approach to the perfect resume. Rebekka Affolter, who writes the blog for leading Swiss recruitment website swissjobs.ch, tells The Local how to polish up your CV and stand out from the hordes of other jobseekers in Switzerland. READ

An Xbox 360 controller. Photo: DPA

Man drugs girlfriend to keep playing videogames

A court fined a 23-year-old man in North Rhine-Westphalia after he admitted to giving his girlfriend a sedative so that he could keep playing video games with a friend. READ

The golden spirals are each approximately 3cm long and weigh 0.1 grams each. Photo: Vestsjællands Museum.

Bronze Age treasure found in Denmark

Danish archaeologists have found 2,000 gold spirals buried in a field in Zealand that they suspect were used to adorn the ceremonial garbs of sun-worshiping priest-kings during the Bronze Age. READ

A beach in Barcelona, certainly not segregated. Photo: Ivan Lian / Flickr Creative Commons.

Catholic group calls for sex-segregated beaches

A Catholic group in northern Spain has caused controversy after advising people not to visit mixed beaches this summer to avoid "sins of the flesh". READ

Gallery - Travel

Everyone knows Mont Saint-Michel but what about some of France's more unknown Unesco World Heritage sites? Photo: AFP/Unesco

Ten French Unesco sites you won't have heard of

After France was awarded two new World Heritage sites at the weekend The Local has dug up some of the country’s least known gems on a list that now boasts 41. How many of these have you heard of? READ

An armed Norwegian policeman patrolling Stavanger. Photo: Mats Danielsen/Wikimedia Commons

Norway Police fired just two shots last year

Norwegian police fired just two shots in the entire of 2014, neither of which killed or injured anyone, according to statistics published last month. READ

A Sweden Democrat politician has claimed halal meat has magical powers. Photo: AP Photo/Mel Evans

'You become a Muslim if you eat halal meat'

The leader of a local wing of the nationalist Sweden Democrat party has caused a controversy after he claimed that halal meat has magical powers that turns people into Muslims. READ

RECEIVE OUR NEWSLETTER AND ALERTS