Italy

Former Italy striker Gianluca Vialli, who earned 59 caps for his country and enjoyed a stellar club career with Sampdoria, Juventus and Chelsea, has died from cancer at the age of 58.

In a terrifying incident, a circus trainer was attacked by a tiger during a live show in the Italian province of Lecce on Thursday.

An Italian court on Tuesday postponed for a second time a hearing on whether to hand over to Belgium a woman suspected of involvement in a Qatar graft scandal that has rocked the European Parliament.

Italy on Thursday urged the rest of the European Union to follow its lead and test travellers from China for COVID, but others said they saw no need to do so for now or were waiting for a common stance across the largely border-less bloc.

Italy must have equal treatment in a partnership with Britain and Japan to develop a new jet fighter, Rome's defence minister told Reuters, as talks proceed to define the roles each country has in the ambitious project.

Fast-food eateries in France will soon no longer be able to use disposable containers, plates, cups and tableware for clients eating in, the latest measure from a 2020 law to combat waste and encourage recycling.

Britain, Italy and Japan said Friday they will jointly develop a future fighter jet in a project that UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said would guarantee national security and safeguard thousands of jobs.

An Italian court has ordered the state to restore a German charity vessel seized in 2017 over migrant rescues in the Mediterranean, a lawyer told AFP Friday.

Italy's ruling rightist parties are preparing to vote on allowing the government to continue sending weapons to Ukraine throughout 2023, a draft amendment and a parliamentary motion seen by Reuters showed on Tuesday.

At least seven people, including a newborn baby and two children, were killed on the southern Italian holiday island of Ischia after a landslide caused by torrential rain devastated a small town, an official said on Sunday.

Italy's new far-right government unveiled its 2023 draft budget on Tuesday, with most of the nearly 35 billion euros in spending going on the energy crisis rather than flashy electoral promises.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's first budget, due to be approved by her cabinet on Monday, will focus on curbing sky-high energy bills and cutting taxes for payroll workers and the self-employed, government officials said.

A rescue ship carrying 230 migrants docked at the French port of Toulon on Friday amid a blazing row between France and Italy over which country is responsible for them.

Two former finance chiefs at travel website Booking.com are set to be questioned after Dutch authorities agreed to cooperate with Italian prosecutors on a tax investigation, the Dutch prosecutors office confirmed to Reuters.

Italy will approve a package of measures worth more than 9 billion euros ($8.96 billion) on Thursday to lower energy prices, increase gas output and preserve stocks ahead of the winter, two government officials told Reuters.

Italy aims to follow a cautious fiscal policy in order to lower its public debt but is ready to act quickly to curb surging energy costs and head off recession risks, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti told parliament on Wednesday.

France criticised Italy's refusal to let a charity ship carrying over 200 migrants dock in its ports, with a government spokesman on Wednesday calling the attitude of the new rightist government in Rome "unacceptable".

An eight-year-old girl was allegedly kept locked inside her house for the whole of her life by her mother and grandparents in Germany.

Norway has no responsibility for people aboard charity boats flying its national flag, its ambassador to Rome said on Friday, after Italy urged Oslo and Berlin to take charge of almost 1,000 migrants stranded in the Mediterranean.

Italian luxury sports car manufacturer Ferrari said Wednesday it had raised its 2022 earnings guidance after posting double-digit gains in sales and earnings.

Italy posted better-than-expected quarterly growth on Monday, a surprise bump for new Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni that staves off -- for now -- an expected recession in Europe's third-largest economy.

Italian inflation surged to a new record high in October, data showed on Friday, underscoring the economic challenges facing new Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and increasing the risk of a further rise in the euro zone as a whole.

A pro-Russia, anti-gay politician was elected speaker of Italy's lower house of parliament on Friday, a day after a nationalist lawmaker who collects fascist memorabilia became speaker of the Senate.

Italy's outgoing government has adopted a new plan for LGBT rights just before handing over the reins to a right-wing administration that promises to be far more socially conservative.

Italy's economy probably shrank in the third quarter and will keep contracting until mid-2023, according to Treasury forecasts that will make grim reading for Giorgia Meloni, the rightist leader expected to be named prime minister this month.

Belgian chemicals group Solvay said it plans to cut industrial waste discharged into the sea from soda-ash production on a Tuscan beach, in the wake of pressure from environmentalists and activist Bluebell Capital Partners.Solvay, which had previously pushed back on concerns the waste may be harmful, now plans to invest around 15 million euros ($14.96 million) to reduce the release of limestone residue into the sea at its facility in Rosignano, Italy, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

One century on, cult of Mussolini persists in Italy

The Italian government is preparing a new multi-billion euro package to help shield firms and families from surging energy costs and rising consumer prices, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Thursday.

Italian sports car maker Lamborghini has already pre-sold the entire production run to early 2024.

Pope Francis has quashed rumours that he plans to resign anytime soon but his planned visit next weekend to the Italian city of L'Aquila will underscore the Catholic Church's need to regulate the status of pontiffs who step down instead of ruling for life.