The Local

Economic Development Minister Carlo Calenda's comments came three months after Rome was granted "unprecedented" leeway over its 2016 budget. Photo: AFPItaly is to seek a new deal with the European Union to allow it to kickstart its stalling economy with an expansionary 2017 budget, a govement minister said Saturday. Economic Development Minister Carlo Calenda's comments came three months after Rome was granted "unprecedented" leeway over its 2016 budget and waed by the European Commission that it should be tightening fiscal policy next year. Calenda spoke out after data published on Friday showed the Italian economy failed to grow between the first and second quarters of this year, suggestin...

One of the men released was arrested in Milan. Photo: AFPTwo men have been released from police custody in Bari, where they were being held on suspicion of plotting terrorist attacks. Their lawyer said the case had been "blown out of proportion". The arrest of the men had been widely reported and the suspects named in Italian and inteational media, with claims that they belonged to a jihadist cell with links to Isis and Al-Qaeda. A 23-year-old Afghan and 24-year-old Pakistan national have now been released after being held for two days. Italy's interior minister Angelino Alfano had on Tuesday hailed the arrests as a success for Italy's counter-terrorism work, but the men's lawyer has now des...