Italy centre-left leader Bersani to resign Voting for a new Italian president headed towards a fifth round Saturday, after the political deadlock claimed another victim, with centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani saying he will step down.
21 April 2013
Italy to elect new president amid government deadlock Italian lawmakers meet on Thursday to begin voting on a new president in a key step that could end a two-month impasse between political parties that has blocked the formation of a new government.
Berlusconi says could support leftist president Italy's Silvio Berlusconi said he could consider supporting a candidate for president from his rivals on the left but only on condition that they form a grand coalition government with him.
Parcel bomb sent to Italian newspaper office A parcel bomb was sent to the offices of Italian newspaper La Stampa on Tuesday but failed to detonate when opened, prompting an evacuation of the building as bomb disposal teams were deployed.
10 April 2013
Michelangelo enlisted to help deter youth crime in Italy Michelangelo's art might help deter Italian youths from a life of crime, the interior minister said Monday, praising the loan of a drawing by the Renaissance master to a school in a rough suburb of Naples.
09 April 2013
Pope completes installation with emotional Rome mass Pope Francis on Sunday completed his installation as pontiff at an emotional ceremony in which he formally took possession of Rome's St John Lateran basilica -- the official seat of the city's bishop.
08 April 2013
Italy marks fourth anniversary of L'Aquila quake Italy on Saturday commemorated the fourth anniversary of a devastating earthquake in and around the city of L'Aquila which killed 309 people and forced tens of thousands to abandon their homes.
Pope marks first Good Friday with torch-lit ceremony Pope Francis marked his first Good Friday with a traditional torch-lit ceremony around the Colosseum in Rome and prayers for a Middle East "torn apart by injustice and conflicts".
30 March 2013
Italy struggles to break government deadlock Italy was left struggling to form a government after leftist leader Pier Luigi Bersani on Thursday lost his bid to end an impasse created by elections with no clear winner in the eurozone's third-largest economy.
29 March 2013
Muslim-born convert quits Church after pope change A Muslim-born journalist whose 2008 baptism by Pope Benedict XVI made him Italy's most famous convert announced Monday he was leaving the Catholic Church over the new pontiff's overtures to Islam.