The Local

Often dubbed ‘little Venice’, Treviso may not be as widely known as its neighbour, but it has grown in popularity in recent years....

The Institute for Religious Works (IOR) the Vatican's bank at the Vatican. Photo: Gabriel Buoys/AFP The deputy director of the Vatican bank has been sacked, throwing yet another question mark over Pope Francis's reform efforts for the Holy See's finances. 
 Vatican spokeswoman Paloma Garcia Ovejero said Thursday that Giulio Mattietti had been given his marching orders at the start of the week, while Francis was out of town on a six-day visit to Myanmar and Bangladesh.She did not give any reason for the dismissal. Italian media reported that he was escorted off the premises.The axing follows the firing earlier this year of the Holy See's auditor general, Libero Milone, who was accu...

Beautiful sunsets and empty streets: That's autum in Rome. Photo: Moyan Bre/FlickrIt's never a bad time for an Italian holiday, but autumn is when the country really comes into its own. Read on for the top reasons you should book a trip here now. 1. The Colours Autumn by Lake Como. Photo: rglinsky/Depositphotos Whether it's the autumn sunshine illuminating reddish city buildings, the changing...

About 40,000 Italians left their country in search of better fortunes elsewhere in 2015 alone. "Italy gets worse every time you look at itand offers less and less to young people," says Antonio Davide D'Elia, justone of thousands of young Italians who have decided to try their luck abroad. With th...

An Italian campaign to raise awareness over fertility issues has provoked outcry, with protestors accusing the govement of doing nothing to tackle the real reasons behind Italy's slowing birthrate. Italy has the lowest birthrate in the European Union and one of the lowest in the world, with only eight babies bo for every 1,000 residents in 2015, according to EU figures released in July. A total of 485,000 babies were bo in the country last year, a record low and less than half the level of the 1960s. Mums are also getting older; the number of women over 40 giving birth doubled between 2002 and 2012, according to Eurostat, and the average age at which mothers have their first child is 31 year...

There are a lot of money transfer services out there. How do you know which is the best one for your inteational transfers? There are probably dozens of services available for transfering money overseas. Expats sometimes lea the hard way that they're not created equal. Big banks may take a chunk out the sum while delaying the payment, and other services may have hidden fees or unexpected transfer exchange rates. Of course everyone has their personal preferences, but here are just a few reasons why so many expats are choosing TransferWise for sending money abroad or back home. 1. It's safe...

With valleys, lakes and forests nestled among the summits of the Dolomites, South Tyrol is a breathtaking wonderland. The northe Italian region is an adventure holiday-seekers paradise: you can hike, bike and ski until your heart’s content. Cortina d'Ampezzo. Photo:Manuel Bierbauer Or you can simply sit outside a mountain hut, with a glass of local wine, and marvel at the pristine landscape. Photo: The Local Italy But there are plenty of other reasons why South Tyrol will blow you away. Here are just a few. 1) – Well firstly, it will confuse your mind - will it be "morgen" or "buongioo"? Photo: The Local Italy The moment you cross into the region of South Tyrol from another part of Italy, yo...

Italy's bank and corporate stocks have had a volatile start to the year. Photo: Giuseppe Cacace/AFPA stalled economic recovery; billions wiped off major bank and company stocks; public debt creeping up; unemployment up again in December. It's been a bleak start to the year for Italy's economy, despite Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s rapid reform efforts and a glimmer of hope in the middle of last year. The only good news has been that consumer confidence reached a record high in January, although business confidence was at its lowest in almost a year. Some might argue that Italy, often dismissed as a basket case, has always been listless and that a crash is a foregone conclusion. When the coun...