Make even a slight effort to speak Italian, chances are you’ll have uttered at least one of these already today. But you probably weren’t aware of the strange story behind how that word came to be. Just like every other aspect of its culture, from architecture to food, every word in the Italian lang...

Italy has asked local authorities to find an additional 15,000 beds for asylum seekers as fears mount that it could be squeezed between a surge in new arrivals from Libya and its neighbours tightening their borders. Officials stress there is no evidence of a much-predicted major surge inxa0the numbe...

Making the decision to move abroad isn’t something to be taken lightly. There’s plenty of planning to of boxes to be ticked, forms to be filled out, and general planning to be done. But where do you actually start? Unfortunately there’s a little more to it than just packing your bags and jumping on ...

A fresco in a the Basilica of San Giovanni Maggiore, pictured above, was damaged by building work. Photo: WikimediaA sixteenth century fresco inside a Naples church was damaged on Tuesday when someone drilling next door accidentally perforated the artwork. The accident happened during the course of ...

Austria said it would tighting controls at all of its borders from June 1st. Photo: Sakis Mitrolidis/AFPAustria has threatened to completely close the Brenner pass, one of the main links across the Alps, unless Italy stops the flow of refugees to its northe neighbour. The country’s Defense Minister ...

A policeman in Verona was sanctioned for putting on a southe accent.Photo: Patrick Rasenburg/FlickrOver-zealous police chiefs in Verona have slapped officers with a rang of disciplinary procedures, including such innocuous crimes as "mimicking a Campania accent". Since 2011, some 152 disciplinary pr...

Iranian President and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in Rome in January. Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFPItalian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Tuesday became the highest-ranking European leader to visit Iran since its nuclear deal with world powers, leaving some questioning his decision to take the lea...

A candidate in Rome's mayoral elections has said he will unleash 500,000 cats against the city's rats if he takes office. Photo: Filippo Monteforte/AFPA Rome mayoral candidate has promised to solve the city's well-documented rat problem by deploying 500,000 cats to catch the rodents. The unique appr...

A new study suggests Italians and Swedes are just as likely to cheat on their taxes. Photo: Ken Teegardin/FlickrItalians are often considered to be more dishonest than their northe European counterparts, due mostly to the country's high profile problems with corruption and tax evasion. But new resea...

A shark was seen swimming up the mouth of Rome's Tiber river on Tuesday. Photo: Nicola/FlickrA two-metre long shark created panic among pleasure sailors on the Tiber river on Tuesday mo ing. The shark, whose genus is currently unknown, was spotted by boating enthusiasts around 500 metres from the ri...

People hold a banner reading "On April 17th, Vote Si" during a march in Rome. Photo: Filippo Monteforte/AFPAn offshore platform a stone's throw from Dante's beach on Italy's Adriatic coast has become the focus of a politically charged national referendum on the country's oil and gas drilling concess...

The Italian wine industry is flourishing. Photo: Vincenzo Pito/AFPAs he swirls a glass of yellowy green wine made from the trendy pecorino grape, Fabio Centini purrs with enthusiasm. "I hadn't even heard of this grape 15 years ago," the Italian-bo xa0chef-restaurateur from Calgary, Canada tells AFP ...

Asutria has begun building an anti-migrant barrier at the Brenner pass, pictured above, on its Italian border. Photo: A ulf Zu Linde /WikimediaThe European Union said on Tuesday it is "very conce ed" that Austria may be preparing to reintroduce controls on its border with Italy over fears of a new m...

An ex-CIA agent convicted for the extrodinary rendition of an Italian imam Abu Omar, pictured above, is trying to block her extradition to Italy Photo: Khalen Desouki/AFPA former CIA agent convicted in Italy for kidnapping an Egyptian imam under the agency's secret renditions programme has made a la...

'Frequent heatwaves' are forecast for the summer of 2016 in Italy. Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFPTemperatures will hit 30 degrees Celsius in parts of the country this weekend, a prelude to what forecasters say will be another hot summer for Italy. The entire country will be drenched with sun over the comin...

Photo: Screengrab France 2 TV.A leak in the attic of a house in Toulouse led the owner to find a painting that could be the work of famed Italian artist Caravaggio. And if so it would be worth a lot of money. A report in Le Figaro newspaper on Tuesday suggested a long-lost masterpiece by the Italian...

Artist Christo's new project "The Floating Piers" will be staged at Lake Iseo in Italy. Photo: Giuseppe Cacace/AFPWorld-renowned artist Christo may be 80, but he boasts the energy of a teenager: after creating umbrella forests, wrapping the Reichstag and decking Central Park in saffron, his new proj...

Iran President Hassan Rouhani (L) and Italian premier Matteo Renzi. Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFPItalian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi started a two-day visit to Iran on Tuesday, the highest ranking European leader to do so since world powers completed a nuclear deal with Tehran. Accompanied by a 250-person...

Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni will visit Tripoli. Photo: John Thys/AFP AFP · 12 Apr 2016, 09:54 Published: 12 Apr 2016 09:54 GMT+02:00 Italy's foreign minister is to visit Tripoli on Tuesday, Rome said, the first trip to the Libyan capital by a senior Weste official since 2014. The ministry...

A travelling shepherd has been heavilly fined by one Italian town. Photo: David Martin Hunt/FlickrA travelling shepherd who is herding his flock around Italy, grazing the animals at public parks and gardens, has been fined €12,000 – as his sheep allegedly don't have the required vaccines. Massimo Fr...