Rome's conservative mayor Gianni Alemanno received a letter and a bullet through the mail at his office in the town hall.

The typed letter was said to have been signed 'The Armed Patriotic Groups' (G

A US art detective says he has proof that a garish terracotta statue found discarded in a mouldy cardboard box in an Italian antiques shop is an original model by Michelangelo for his famous Pieta.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will go on trial in April over allegations that he paid a 17-year-old girl for sex and abused his power by trying to get her cleared of theft, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will go on trial for buying underage sex and abuse of power in April, a judge ruled on Tuesday.

From an unobtrusive wife of a slain Prime Minister to becoming the top ranked politician in India, Mrs Sonia Gandhi is hailed in her country of origin Italy as an “Indian who is loyal to its interests”.

Mario Monicelli, the celebrated film director of the Italian comedy, took his own life by leaping from the fifth-floor balcony of a Rome hospital where he was being treated for cancer. He was 95.

Italy’s Premier Silvio Berlusconi ordered controversial repairs to a 2nd century AD marble statue at his Rome office, which included adding a new penis. Critics say the repairs, which cost Italian taxpayers 70,000 euros, amount to “aesthetic surgery” and “alter the authenticity of the work”.

Pope Benedict XVI Monday called for an end to the "absurd and ferocious violence against Christians in Iraq".

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has posted the second issue of its English-language magazine Inspire to jihadi forums, US intelligence website Site reports.

Italian news reports say a military airport in Sardinia has been closed following a riot by illegal migrants at a holding centre.