The Local

If you live in Italy and hold an account with a UK, US or other non-EU bank, you may have recently had a message telling you about a new EU directive. Here’s what it means for foreigners in Italy. ...

As climate change causes rising temperatures across the Mediterranean Sea, an invasive predator is wreaking havoc for fishermen and holidaymakers off the coast of Sicily. ...

As he begins his first overseas trip, the UK's new Foreign Secretary David Lammy writes for The Local on how Britain plans to rebuild ties with Europe and become a better neighbour. ...

The European Union is seeking to thrash out an agreement on sweeping rules to regulate artificial intelligence, following months of difficult negotiations in particular on how to monitor generative AI like ChatGPT. But what does Brussels want? ...

Italian bureaucracy can be daunting - but does hiring a lawyer help? We take a look at where their services may (or may not) be needed. ...

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Monday she was 'stued' after a Sicilian judge ruled her govement's latest decree was not compatible with either Italy's constitution or European law. ...

Recent changes to how Italian courts are applying rules dating from 1912, known as the ‘minor case’ issue, can prove an unexpected obstacle for some citizenship applications. ...

A Rome demonstration earlier this year in favour of citizenship reform. Photo: Filippo Monteforte/AF Proponents of a controversial law that would grant Italian citizenship to the children of foreigners bo in Italy have made a last-ditch appeal for it to be approved before parliament is dissolved. Parliament is due to be dissolved on Thursday, paving the way for general elections which are expected to be called for March 4th. But the ‘Italians without citizenship’ group, made up of immigrant children, and senators for the ruling centre-left Democratic Party and the Green Party have urged President Sergio Mattarella to allow parliament two more weeks to debate and pass the ...

The Italian Senate during a voting session on economic reform measures demanded by the European Union, in Rome on November 11th 2011. Photo: AFP. AFP [email protected] @thelocalitaly 24 December 2017 15:14 CET+01:00 A controversial bill that could grant Italian citizenship to about 800,000 children bo in the country if they have spent five years in school was defeated in the Senate, newspapers said Sunday. Under the bill called "right of the soil" or Ius soli, children under 12 who have spent five years in school would qualify to be naturalised. The rule would also app...

Italian schools can let children walk home alone without fear of legal repercussions, after the senate approved an amendment to a law that said they had to be picked up by an adult. Under-14s will require written permission from their p...

The Italian senate overwhelming passed a new election law on Thursday, despite fierce opposition from Italy's newest political party. The senate passed the bill by 214 to 61, with one abstention. It took five confidence votes to finally...

A supporter of the Five Star Movement holds up a ripped Italian flag during a protest outside the lower house of parliament. Photo: Filippo Monteforte/AFP Italy’s lower house of parliament has approved a new electoral law, paving the way for a general election before May next year. Amid fierce protests from the insurgent Five Star Movement and its supporters, the bill passed with 375 votes in favour and 215 against. The law now requires approval in the Senate, or the upper house. A confidence vote was called on Tuesday in a bid to force it through the lower house and curtail further discussion on a law that has been subject to parliamentary tractations for nearly three years. ...

Supporters of the anti-establishment populist Five Star Movement in Rome on Wednesday. Photo: Filippo Monteforte/AFP Italy took a major step towards approving a new electoral system on Wednesday, sparking protests and a countdown to knife-edge elections to be held in the first part of 2018. A majority of lawmakers in the Chamber of Deputies backed the ruling centre-left coalition in a vo...

Rome mayor Virginia Raggi looks on during a press conference. Photo: Filippo Monteforte/AFP Rome's mayor Virginia Raggi on Tuesday called for tougher laws against rape, after a spate of reported sexual assaults in the capital and across Italy. "What is happening to women is monstrous; it's a black September for Italy," said Raggi, commenting on the recent reports of violent rapes. "We...

An Italian football fan holds a flag bearing the head of Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini. Photo: Giulio Napolitano/AFPItaly's MPs on Tuesday voted in favour of a law which would introduce prison sentences for the production and sale of 'fascist propaganda', including souvenirs and other products seen as celebrating fascism or Nazism. Article 293 was approved in the Italian Chamber of Deput...

Activists hold a picture of Giulio Regeni and candles as they take part in a demonstration in front of the Italian Parliament. Photo: Andreas Solaro/AFP.Authorities in Egypt have arrested a lawyer whose human rights group opposes enforced disappearances and is linked to one such case involving murdered Italian student Giulio Regeni, officials said on Wednesday September 13th. Ibrahim Metwally was ...

A man was placed under house arrest on Monday for allegedly punching a doctor because he believes a vaccination caused his child's illness. The doctor is in charge of a vaccination centre in the seaside town of Diamante, in the Calabrian province of Cosenza, Ansa reported. The alleged incident came ...

The Italian Senate has proposed a more relaxed version of a controversial law on vaccines for school children, with fewer vaccinations considered compulsory and reduced penalties for those who don't comply. The number of compulsory vaccinations will be reduced from 12 to ten, while financial penalti...

Italy's supreme court in Rome. Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFPItalian lawmakers have approved a new law extending a series of statutes of limitations for court cases, a move aimed at reducing the number of criminals who escape punishment because of Italy's snail-paced judicial system. Unlike most countries,...

A recently passed law making vaccinations compulsory for school starters provoked fierce debate in Italy. Alberto Giubilini, an Italian expert on infectious diseases currently working at the University of Oxford, explains why he thinks other countries should copy Italy's vaccine law. In the first fo...