A study by a research ship from the Italian environmental organisation Legambiente has found that more than 40 per cent of coastal seawater samples it tested from all over Italy's coastline contained pollutants above legal limits. Legambiente's Goletta Verde (Green Boat) research boat just retu ed

Anti-immigration activists whose boat was reported in trouble said Friday they had got their engines going again, after a migrant rescue ship said it had been dispatched to help. The C-Star, which has vowed to expose what it describes as "collaboration" between privately-funded rescue ships and peop

Italy's troubled bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS) said Friday it lost more than 3.2 billion euros in the second quarter, after the EU approved a bailout for the stricken lender. The bank's chief Marco Morelli had wa ed in July that he anticipated losses due to write downs on bad loans. Founded

Pope Francis. File photo: Alberto Pizzoli/AFPA Belgian Catholic charity said Thursday it has been wa ed by Pope Francis to stop offering euthanasia in its psychiatric hospitals by the end of the month or face expulsion. The board of directors of the Brothers of Charity group, which runs 15xa0hospita...

Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti. File photo: Mahmud Turkia/AFPThe murder of a crime boss in Puglia has highlighted the lawless nature of the Gargano region in Puglia. Italy's interior minister, Marco Minniti, visiting Puglia day after four men were shot on a highway by an unknown assassin, p

New arrivals are down in July as the Italian navy ship Tremiti arrives in Tripoli to continue to provide training to the Libyan coast guard. The number of migrants who reached Italy by sea was 11,459 in July 2017, according to UNHCR sea arrivals data, down from 23,524 in June. The number is less tha

A girl in the Piedmont was tu ed down for a retail assistant position by a shopkeeper because she is in a relationship with an African man. "As far as I'm conce ed, you can go out with the Monster of Florence (ED: a serial killer who butchered women in the 1990s), but allow me to not entrust the s

An ongoing feud between rival crime families has surfaced again in Puglia as four men, including two innocent bystanders, were gunned down yesterday in the middle of the day near a railway station. Killers gunned down a mobster Wednesday and shotxa0dead two farmers who stumbled across the crime in t...

The 112 number for all emergency services was meant to streamline responses to crises. Instead, the waiting times have increased, coordination between services is slower and the hotline is often out of service. Long waiting times, frustrating hold music and a service regularly out of order. These ar

Gianluca Vacchi. File photo: Romain Maurice/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFPGianluca Vacchi, an Italian playboy who has built up a huge social media following by recording his hedonistic lifestyle, has had a yacht and properties seized by creditors, much to the amusement of the inte et. The tattoo-ed

The Circumetnea railway below Mt. Etna. Photo: Alex Macbeth.From circumnavigating Mt. Etna, to views of lakes, rivers and natural reserves, classic trains remain a great way to see Italy in slow motion. Some climb through snow-capped fields in winter to reach peaks of more than 1,400 metres. Others

The assassination of a mafia boss and two innocent bystanders in broad daylight in Puglia has reopened old wounds in the region. Police have been called to the scene of the crime where reportedly multiple unidentified gunmen have shot and killed four people. At least one further person is injured. T

Patriarch Kirill (l) and Pope Francis. File photo: Osservatore Romano/AFPA top cardinal due to meet Vladimir Putin in Moscow this month says he will be seeking to clear the way for Pope Francis to make a historic visit to Russia. Pietro Parolin, the number two in the Vatican hierarchy and its de-fac

Eritrean 2015 Nobel Peace Prize candidate, don Mossie Zerai. Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFPAn Eritrean human rights activist is being investigated by the public prosecutor in Trapani for allegedly illegally sending information about boats and landings to NGO rescue ships. Don Mossie Zerai, better known

An ongoing feud between rival crime families has surfaced again in Puglia as four men, including two innocent bystanders, were gunned down yesterday in the middle of the day near a railway station. Killers gunned down a mobster Wednesday and shotxa0dead two farmers who stumbled across the crime in t...

Austria is building up a stronger police and military presence on it borders in an attempt to reduce the number of asylum seekers trying to enter via Italy, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary. Austria is to reinforce its border with Italy, according to several newspaper reports in both Italy and Austria

Investigators are finding that a sex racket and protection money are the reasons behind the fires that have plagued the nature reserve of Castel Fusano near Rome. Flames have resurfaced in the coastal nature reserve of Castel Fusano outside Rome, two weeks after fires tore through large swathes of t

Delays on the railway line between Fiumicino Airport and Rome Termini are affecting travel plans during the busiest tourist season of the year in the capital. A train has been held up for over an hour between the stations of Magliana and Ponte Galeria on the Rome Termini - Fiumicino airport railway.

Photo:xa0Ortigia, Syracuse: zx6r92/Depositphotos It is the birthplace of Archimedes, the most important city of Magna Graecia and is now listed among Unesco’s World heritage sites: Syracuse in Sicily is a magnetic place to stay and one of the most sought-after Italian destinations where to buy a sec...

Benito Mussolini’s bust and crypt in San Cassiano cemetery are a sensitive topic in Predappio, Italy. Saiko/Wikimedia, CC BY-NDRumours that a museum of fascism is to be built in northe Italy have reopened the debate about Italy's difficult relationship to its past. Recently, the Italian daily La