The destroyed historic centre of Amatrice. Photo: AFPFive people are facing charges including manslaughter in connection with building collapses after the deadly earthquakes which hit Italy last year. Prosecutors in Rieti, Lazio have placed five people under investigation, almost a year after the 6.

File photo of a young girl playing in hospital. Photo: ArturVerkhovetskiy/DepositphotosAn Italian startup has come up with a way to help children fight their fears of dentists, injections, and other medical procedures - through magic. "We want to help children see magic in places where it's difficul

Policemen and soldiers stand guard outside the Italian national Anti-mafia services in 2015. Photo: Andreas Solaro/AFPAn Italian court on Wednesday denied jailed mafia boss Salvatore "Toto" Riina's request that he be released from prison because he is seriously ill. The court, in the northe city o

The Italian gove ment has launched an app which will allow residents and tourists to connect to wifi across the country using a single log-in. Users will be able to connect instantly to a nationwide network of wifi hotspots - in railway stations, hotels and public institutions, for example - via th

Two men are accused of embezzling charity money to refurbish the apartment of Cardinal Bertone, pictured. Photo: AFPA trial against two former members of a Vatican foundation charged with embezzling charity money to refurbish the luxury apartment of a cardinal opened on Tuesday. The former executive

Frozen food can be served at restaurants - but customers have to be told. File photo: resnick_joshua1/DepositphotosServing frozen food at a restaurant without explicitly labelling it as such is a crime, Italy's top court said in a ruling published on Monday. Thousands of tourists travel to Italy eac

British newspaper The Sun labelled Naples as one of the world's ten most dangerous cities, alongside Isis-occupied Raqqa in Syria. Under the caption 'Bad World', the headline said the newspaper had revealed the world's ten most dangerous cities, "from drug cartel run hellholes to war-ravaged cities

File photo of one of the recent wildfires in Messina, Sicily. Photo: Giovanni Isolino/AFPPeople were evacuated from their homes in Naples and Rome as wildfires continued to devastate the Italian countryside, while police have arrested at least four suspected arsonists across the country. Firefighter

Almost one in five young Italians are neither employed, job-seeking, nor in full-time study, according to an EU-wide report released on Monday. The Italian figure of 19.9 percent was close to double the EU average of 11.5 percent, though it had seen a slight drop from the previous year's figure of 2

An Italian woman is suing a hospital for over 200,000 euros after undergoing an unsuccessful abortion. The 34-year-old had a termination at Milan's San Paolo hospital in 2013, only to discover one month later that she was still pregnant.xa0 By that time, only a surgical abortion was possible, and th...

The head of the Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity, sister Mary Eliza (R) flanked by Catholic nuns in 2011. Photo: AFPThe famous white sari with three blue borders wo by saint Mother Teresa has been copyrighted by nuns, and one of the Vatican's top cardinals is not pleased. "Holy Mother Teres

Throngs of tourists flood the streets of Venice. Photo: Venezia AutenticaVenice has topped travellers’ bucket lists for centuries, but in recent years the city has struggled to cope with mass tourism, while tension has grown between visitors and locals. By the 17th century, a trip to Venice had beco

File photo of Totti celebrating a goal. Photo: Filippo Monteforte/AFPFrancesco Totti confirmed his retirement on Monday, the Roma legend announcing "a new adventure" in his storied career as he takes up a directorship role at the Serie A club. The 40-year-old played his final game for Roma in May af

Prime minister Paolo Gentiloni pictured speaking on Wednesday. Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFPItaly's gove ment has delayed a parliamentary vote on a citizenship rights bill as tensions rise over the number of migrants arriving on the country's shores. The proposal to give children bo on Italian soil to

Traditional Roman dish, cacio e pepe. Photo: Naotake Murayama/FlickrA very good way to lose friends in Italy is to mess with pasta. Fiddling with the tried and trusted Italian methods can also affect the taste of the dish, but many foreigners don't even realise their technique is unorthodox. Food wr

One of the firefighting helicopters. Photo: Vigili del FuocoThe president of the central Italian region of Lazio said on Sunday he would ask the gove ment to call a state of emergency over a spate of fires which have devastated hundreds of hectares of land. "In this moment alone, there are 18 fires

A man dressed as a centurion jokes with tourists. Photo: Alberto Pizzoli/AFPThe costumed 'gladiators' who pose for pictures with visitors in retu for tips have been banished from Rome's historic centre with a new regulation from mayor Virginia Raggi. Rome's local authorities have been battling wit

Italian ambassador to Libya, Giuseppe Perrone (L), and Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti.Photo: Mahmud Turkia/AFPItalian Interior Minister Marco Minniti on Thursday proposed a pact with Libya to combat human trafficking during a visit to Tripoli to meet mayors of cities affected by the scourge

File photo, not of the dogs in question: willeecole/DepositphotosDogs cannot be ring bearers in wedding ceremonies, according to the mayor of one Italian town, who said "marriage is an important, serious thing". The decision came after an engaged couple planned to have their dogs carry their wedding

From crystal clear lakes to postcard-perfect villages, and castles perches on clifftops, Italy has more than its fair share of fairytale travel destinations. We've rounded up 13 of the most magical locations from up and down the country. San Cassiano, Dolomites Photo: Giuseppe Milo/Flickr In winter