Italy

Venice to start charging visitors €5 entry fee next year

VENICE, Italy, (Reuters) - Venice plans to experiment with an admission fee of 5 euros($5.35) for day trippers next year to try to manage the flow of tourists drawn to…

Read More Here

Ex Italian PM Amato says Ustica tragedy was French attempt to assassinate Gaddafi

Ex-premier Giuliano Amato has said that a French missile was behind the mysterious 1980 Ustica plane crash that left 81 people dead. Amato said the Dc9 Bologna-Palermo flight operated by…

Read More Here

Closure of Mont Blanc tunnel between Italy and France postponed

ROME, (Reuters) - A planned closure for maintenance of the Mont Blanc tunnel between Italy and France will be postponed after an alternative Alpine route was disrupted by a landslide…

Read More Here

Italy fears military solution to Niger crisis could foment migration

TOLEDO, Spain, Aug 31 (Reuters) - A military solution to the coup in Niger would be a "disaster" that could trigger a new migration crisis, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani…

Read More Here

Death threats to Italian PM Meloni

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni has received death threats ahead of her visit Thursday to a crime-ridden town near Naples that has hit the headlines again for an alleged gang rape,…

Read More Here

Photo Story: Train hits seven workers, kills five, on tracks in Brandizzo, Italy

Firefighters and carabinieri arrive at the site where a regional train hit seven workers who were working on the tracks near the Brandizzo station, in Brandizzo, Turin, Italy, 31 August…

Read More Here

Italy’s northern routes disrupted by Alpine tunnel closures

ReutersROME, (Reuters) - Italy is facing serious disruption to transport links with its northern neighbours due to the planned shutdown of the Mont Blanc tunnel for maintenance and the closure…

Read More Here

Italy in the grip of bad weather

Extreme bad weather is lashing Italy again and is not confined to the north as it was on Monday, but wreaking havoc across the whole of the country in a…

Read More Here

Italy set to take over Telecom Italia’s submarine cable unit -draft

Italy's Treasury can take full ownership of Telecom Italia's (TIM) submarine cable unit Sparkle as part of an agreement with U.S. fund KKR to jointly bid for the group's landline…

Read More Here

Italy struggles with spike in migrant arrivals

Italy was struggling to accommodate arrivals from North Africa and the Balkans as the country's Red Cross called for more international efforts against migration "chaos". On Lampedusa island, Italy's southernmost…

Read More Here

Rome moves to clear rats out of Colosseum area

ROME (Reuters) - Rome's city government said it was taking action to tackle an infestation of rats around the Colosseum after tourists posted photos on social media of the rodents…

Read More Here

Record migrant arrivals on Lampedusa

Lampedusa was under serious pressure on Saturday following the arrival on the island of a record 1,918 people in 65 landings on Friday and a further 1,116 people in 29…

Read More Here

Italy’s president calls for more legal migration to beat people trafficking

ROME (Reuters) - The European Union should allow more legal migration into its borders to stop people trafficking, Italian President Sergio Mattarella said this weekend, amid a surge in arrivals…

Read More Here

Milan records hottest day since 1763

Italy's northern city of Milan registered a new record high average daily temperature of 33 Celsius (91.4 Fahrenheit) on Wednesday as a heatwave which began around mid-August reached its peak,…

Read More Here

Italian music great Toto Cutugno dies

Toto Cutugno, a prominent figure among the greatest interpreters of Italian music, passed away on Tuesday at San Raffaele Hospital in Milan. His manager, Danilo Mancuso, informed ANSA about the…

Read More Here

Italy’s prosecutors investigate ex-minister over Solvay plant licence -sources

Italy's former energy transition minister Roberto Cingolani is under investigation by Rome prosecutors for having renewed an environmental authorisation to the Rosignano Solvay plant on a Tuscan beach in 2022,…

Read More Here

Italian migration capacity on verge of collapse – Italian municipalities organisation ANCI

(ANSA) - ROME, AUG 19 - The immigration pointman for Italian municipalities group ANCI said Saturday that migrant reception facilities in the country's cities and towns were "on the verge…

Read More Here

ECB to write to Italy raising objections over windfall tax on banks – press

The European Central Bank (ECB) is preparing to send a letter to Italy raising objections about the government's windfall tax on banks' profits, the Corriere della Sera daily wrote on…

Read More Here

Italy PM Meloni takes ‘full responsibility’ for bank tax

MILAN, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Monday took "full responsibility" for last week's shock decision to impose a one-off bank tax that has been blamed…

Read More Here

Sicily’s Mount Etna erupts, Catania airport temporarily closed

Flights to and from Catania airport in southern Italy were suspended on Monday morning due to a volcanic eruption of Mount Etna, the airport's managing company said. Spewing ash onto…

Read More Here

Italy’s cap on island airfares ignites feud with Ryanair

A decision by the Italian government to cap airfares to the islands of Sicily and Sardinia has prompted a dispute with airlines and been branded illegal by Ryanair, in a…

Read More Here

Italian government’s raid on banks undermined by confusion

A drive to shore up its political base and appeal to the less well off lay behind the Italian government's decision to impose a windfall tax on banks but its…

Read More Here

Italy earmarks 2.9 million euros to tackle blue crab invasion

ROME, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Italy's government has earmarked 2.9 million euros ($3.2 million) to tackle the spread of a particularly aggressive crab species that is threatening the country's role…

Read More Here

Heatwave caused higher than normal death rate in southern Italy

ROME, Aug 7 (Reuters) - The central and southern regions of Italy recorded 7% more deaths than normal in July after a baking heatwave, health ministry data showed, while firefighters…

Read More Here

Italy calls on West African states (ECOWAS) to extend Niger ultimatum

ROME, Aug 7 (Reuters) - The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) should prolong their deadline for the reinstatement of Niger's ousted president, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said…

Read More Here

Italy’s clam industry under threat from blue crab ‘invasion’

By Alvise Armellini ROME, (Reuters) - A particularly aggressive crab species from the western Atlantic is threatening Italy's role as one of the world's top producers of clams - as…

Read More Here

Italy plans measures to support key sectors including microelectronics

By Elvira Pollina and Giuseppe Fonte Decree to be discussed by cabinet on Monday Italy earmarks 630 mln euros for microelectronics Govt in talks with Intel over packaging factory ROME…

Read More Here

Two dead, 57 rescued from migrant shipwrecks off Italy’s Lampedusa

ROME, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Italy's coastguard said on Sunday it had recovered two bodies and rescued 57 people off the southern island of Lampedusa, amid reports that more than…

Read More Here

Catania airport in Sicily cleared to reopen main terminal

(Reuters) - The Italian Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC) on Saturday gave its green light to reopen the main terminal at Sicily's Catania airport, a statement said, nearly three weeks after…

Read More Here

Italy’s lower house approves ‘right to be forgotten’ law for cancer survivors

ROME, Aug 4 (Reuters) - An Italian law giving cancer survivors the right not to declare their past condition to banks and insurance agencies, shielding them from discrimination, has been…

Read More Here

Italy braced for three days of extreme weather

Italy is braced for three days of potentially extreme weather, starting on Friday, when Cyclone Circe is forecast to hit the country, bringing storms with torrential rain and powerful winds.…

Read More Here

UNESCO recommends adding Venice to list of world heritage sites in danger

(Reuters) - UNESCO experts have recommended that Venice and its lagoon be added to its list of World Heritage in Danger as Italy is not doing enough to protect the…

Read More Here

Italy’s parliament poised to approve fiscal reform plan

Bill gives tax-dodgers more leeway to cut deals PM Meloni also plans income tax cuts Aims for single tax band by 2027 Opposition parties, unions criticise plans By Giuseppe Fonte…

Read More Here

Italian government plans to put more taxis on the road

By Alvise Armellini and Keith Weir ROME (Reuters) - The Italian government proposed steps to improve taxi services after the country's antitrust authority (AGCM) said it was looking into problems…

Read More Here

Russian hackers crash Italian bank websites

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's cyber security agency said it had detected hacker attacks against websites of at least five banks, which temporarily made it impossible to access some of their…

Read More Here

Call to restrict public access to Trevi Fountain

Access to the Trevi Fountain should be limited and controlled, Rome's tourism pointman said in the wake of a social media video showing a man climbing onto the iconic monument…

Read More Here

Italy minister: joining China’s Belt and Road was ‘atrocious’ decision

By Alvise Armellini Italy entered pact in 2019 under a previous government Current administration is considering how to pull out PM Meloni says a decision will be taken by December…

Read More Here

Consumption of meat, eggs banned in Palermo due to dioxin alert

An alert over dioxin from a recent waste dump fire in Palermo on Sunday spurred an ordinance from the Sicilian capital's council banning citizens from eating eggs and meat for…

Read More Here

Mediterranean diet followed by only one in 10 Italians

The UNESCO-listed famously healthy Mediterranean Diet is followed by only one in 10 Italians, according to Legacoop Alimentare in a report this week. The healthy elixir and emblems of the…

Read More Here

Sicily bears the largest brunt due to wildfires

Some 51,386 hectares of crops, woodland and other vegetation have gone up in smoke in Italy due to mainly arson-caused wildfires since the start of the year, environmental group Legambiente…

Read More Here

Italy eyes deal with supermarkets to control prices of essential goods

By Giuseppe Fonte Industry Minister also holding talks with producers over plan Prices on certain food and non-food goods would be capped Plan would be implemented in Oct-Dec 'anti-inflation quarter'…

Read More Here

Italy wins EU nod to clinch 18.5 billion euros in post-COVID funds

ROME, (Reuters) - The European Commission said it had provisionally approved the payment to Italy of a third tranche of 18.5 billion euros ($20.43 billion) in post-COVID recovery funds. The…

Read More Here

Italy eyes 19 billion euros in energy investments as it reviews post-COVID plan

By Giuseppe Fonte Italy in talks with EU to overhaul post-COVID plan Some 2.3 bln euros would go to power and gas grids Italy reiterates commitment not to lose any…

Read More Here

‘Record heat’, wildfires in Italy’s southern regions

Italy's southern regions have seen record heat in terms of both intensity and duration, Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci said in an urgent briefing to the Lower House on Thursday.Temperatures…

Read More Here

China tops agenda as Biden welcomes Italy’s Meloni to Washington

U.S. President Joe Biden hosts Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the White House on Thursday, with the Ukraine war and Italy's relations with China expected to be among the…

Read More Here

Three dead as Sicily counts losses from ‘devastating’ fires

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's southern island of Sicily has been devastated by wildfires that have killed three elderly people, its regional president said, as a heatwave and severe storms further…

Read More Here

Italian e-scooter road accidents up 40% last year – stats office

ROME, (Reuters) - Road accidents in Italy involving e-scooters increased by almost 40% last year, statistics bureau ISTAT said, weeks after the government announced a crackdown on their use on…

Read More Here

Catania airport to resume normal service next week

Catania airport will resume normal service next week -after a recent closure due to a fire, Sicily Governor Renato Schifani announced. He said that from Wednesday the operation of Catania…

Read More Here

UPDATED: Five dead as Sicily counts losses from ‘devastating’ fires

By Alvise Armellini ROME, July 26 (Reuters) - Italy's southern island of Sicily has been devastated by wildfires that have killed at least five persons. The charred bodies of a…

Read More Here

Don’t go out warns Palermo amid heat and fires; Two charred bodies found in Sicilian capital

The Palermo provincial health authority (ASP) advised locals not to go out amid sweltering heat and wildfires in and around the Sicilian capital. The ASP said it recommends avoiding prolonged…

Read More Here

Italy readies special furlough scheme to save workers from heatwave

ROME, (Reuters) - Italy is preparing special measures to help construction and agricultural firms keep staff at home during an intense summer heatwave, government officials and trade unionists said. Giorgia…

Read More Here

Storms kill two in northern Italy, Palermo airport reopens after fire

Palermo's airport reopened on Tuesday after wildfires in Sicily forced its closure for a few hours as extreme weather continued to batter Italy, with severe storms causing damage and at…

Read More Here

Italy PM Meloni says right made strong gains in Spain

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Tuesday the poor showing by her Spanish far-right ally Vox was expected in Sunday's general elections, but noted that conservatives overall made strong…

Read More Here

Italy PM Meloni builds alliance to tackle illegal migration

Nations from the Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa agreed steps on Sunday to try to slow unauthorised migration and to tackle some of the pressures driving people to leave their…

Read More Here

Italian region of Calabria hit by wild fires, heat to intensify

ROME, July 23 (Reuters) - Firefighters battled blazes in the southern Italian region of Calabria on Sunday and forecasters warned that temperatures were set to soar again in parts of…

Read More Here

Italy’s holds migration conference to stem flows by helping Africa

ROME, July 21 (Reuters) - Mediterranean and Middle East countries will meet in Rome on Sunday to boost efforts to stem illegal migration flows, with Italy saying the aim is…

Read More Here

Lampedusa remains under strain as over 2,500 migrant arrivals are registered on Saturday

(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 22 - Reception capacity on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa remained under strain on Saturday morning following the arrival of 266 migrants and refugees since midnight. …

Read More Here