The Local

Ferocious storms and torrential rains that lashed France, Switzerland and Italy this weekend have left at least seven people dead, local authorities said on Sunday. ...

The European Union was expected to issue waings to France, Italy and several other govements over excessive spending after new budget rules came into force this year. ...

French national rail operator SNCF said on Wednesday it plaed to offer high-speed passenger services in neighbouring Italy from 2026, competing with rival Trenitalia on its home turf. ...

Italian Transport Minister Matteo Salvini on Thursday issued an injunction postponing a national rail strike plaed for Sunday, May 19th, citing public order conces due an overlap with the Emilia Romagna F1 Grand Prix. ...

Whether you're moving to Rome for the first time or are looking for a new neighbourhood to live in, here are five of the best 'quartieri' for foreign nationals. ...

Some foreigners in Italy need to pay an aual fee to register with the health service - one that's set to rise to €2,000 this year for many. But how do you pay the fee in practice? ...

From typical budgets to preferred locations and property types, Silvia Marchetti looks at how the profile of the average foreign buyer looking for a slice of Italian life has changed over the years. ...

Far-right protesters salute as they face off with police in Macerata. Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFP Italy's President Sergio Mattarella waed on Friday against the "grave risks of extreme nationalism" as the country was gripped by high racial tensions ahead of next month's elections. The president was speaking on the eve of Remembrance Day, which commemorates gruesome massacres carried out between 1943 and 1945 on Italy's north-easte border. "Remembrance day marks an agonising chapter for our country [...] a tragedy caused by a calculated initiative to purge on an ethnic and nationalist basis," he said. "The massacres, violence and suffering endured [...] caot be forgotten, minimized or...

Police inspect a train between Milan and Paris. Photo: Piero Cruciatti/AFPFrench police discovered the partially bued body of a man on the roof of a train travelling from northe Italy to southe France. His body was found as the regional train arrived early on Sunday moing in Menton, in the south of France, its first stop after Ventimiglia station in Italy. Police suspect that the man climbed on top of the train to make the 15-minute jouey across the border and may have grabbed hold of an overhead electric line to avoid being thrown off. Passengers reported hearing three loud bangs and seeing flames, France Info reported. It is the fifth such incident on the cross-border train line in a year,...

Italy players after Sweden knocked them out of the World Cup play-offs. Photo: Miguel Medina/AFPOutgoing Italian football federation (FIGC) president Carlo Tavecchio said on Wednesday he did not expect a new coach to be appointed before next June. Italy have been without a coach since Giampiero Ventura was sacked after the four-time champions failed to qualify for the World Cup finals last November. Tavecchio was forced to resign as FIGC chief but will remain in charge until his successor is elected later this month. "I'm in charge until January 29th, and I don't think that by that date there will be the new national team coach," the 74-year-old said on the sidelines of the presentation of t...

Back at your desk after the Christmas break and wondering where the national holidays fall in 2018? The bad news is that two this year are lost to the weekend – starting with the Epiphany on Saturday. But with a little plaing, you can elongate a weekend or holiday in between those that fall towards the begiing or end of the week. Here's the full list of Italy's public holidays in 2017: January 6th - Epiphany (Saturday) April 2nd - Easter (Monday) April 25th - Liberation Day (Wednesday) May 1st - Labour Day (Tuesday) June 2nd - Republic Day (Saturday) August 15th - Assumption of Mary/Ferragosto (Wednesday) November 1st - All Saints’ Day (Thursday) December 8th - Immaculate Conception (Saturda...

A mountain rescue team in northe Italy on Wednesday found six people, dressed in jeans and gym shoes, attempting to cross a snow-covered pass in freezing temperatures. It was one of several such incidents in recent months, according to rescuers, who say the situation has reached “emergency level”. On Wednesday afteoon, members of CNSAS Piemonte – a voluntary mountain rescue organization in Piedmont –reached the group of six just below the Colle della Scala, an Alpine pass that coects north-west Italy with France, after they had walked for several kilometres in the snow. “They were visibly cold and poorly equipped, but they didn’t want to tu back so close to their ...

After 120 years, Juventus Football Club -- also known as The Old Lady of Turin -- has finally opened its doors to an elite women's team, which is shaking up the world of women's football in Italy. Since September, Rita Guarino's Juventus women have swept aside their rivals with eight wins from eight league games so far, including the last two champions Brescia and Fiorentina. Now Juve look poised to follow the success of their dominant men's team in Serie A.Italian national women's team coach Milena Bertolini sees the arrival of the new team as a sign that things are changing in a sport that is seen as one of the last men's strongholds in Italy."The arrival of Juventus has give...

A group of migrants awaits rescue off the Libyan coast. Photo: Angelos Tzortzinis / AFP Amnesty Inteational on Tuesday accused European govements of "complicity" in the detention under horrific conditions of migrants in Libya, especially through their assistance to the Libyan coastguard implicated in people trafficking. "European govements are knowingly complicit in the torture and abuse of tens of thousands of refugees and migrants detained by Libyan immigration authorities in appalling conditions in Libya," the rights group said in a report.It accused European govements of "actively supporting a sophisticated system of abuse and exploitation of refugees and migrants by the Lib...

Voting in Rome. Photo: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP Italy's populist Five Star movement (M5S) on Thursday called for inteational observers to monitor next year's elections, claiming irregularities during Sicily's regional polls. Luigi Di Maio, the party's candidate for prime minister, sent a letter making the request to several officials at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The OSCE often sends observers to monitor elections, including in the recent French, German and Austrian votes. In the letter, Di Maio, 31, pointed to alleged irregularities during the November 5th election in Sicily. "Cases of vote-buying and fraud were observed," ...

In this week's podcast we look at how Austria's govement could soon include an ex-Nazi party. How right wing could it get? We also ask Jessica Phelan in Rome whether northe Italy is really following Catalonia's lead towards independence. And after the Harvey Weinstein sex allegations, The Local France's Evie Burrows-Taylor explains how France is plaing to deal with men who assault women. With James Savage, Emma Löfgren and Paul O'Mahony. ...

Over the weekend, hide-and-seek enthusiasts from across the globe descended on a tiny Italian town to battle it out in the quest to be crowned inteational champions of the sport. For the second time in its eight-year history, the touament was held in Consoo, a small Italian town which has lain uninhabited for years, since a landslide put an end to an eccentric count's plan to transform it in...

Participants hiding during last year's touament. Photo: Nascondino World ChampionshipThe most exciting sporting event of the year you've probably never heard of will take place in northe Italy this weekend: it's time for the aual Inteational Hide and Seek Championship. Between September 8th and 10th, the tiny town of Consoo will be taken over by hide-and-seek teams from around the world,...

France said on Tuesday it was ready to seek other buyers for its biggest shipyard should Italy refuse a 50-50 ownership split, before both countries pledged to find a solution next month. French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire, in Rome for talks, said in an interview with the Corriere della Sera dai...

France's biggest shipyard is about to be temporarily nationalised at a cost of €80 million. France will temporarily nationalise its biggest shipyard after failing to agree with its prospective Italian owner on a deal to share control of the site, Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire aounced Thursday. ...