About 30 passengers have suffered light injuries after a plane went off the runway while attempting a landing in heavy rain at Palermo airport in Sicily, the ANSA news agency reported.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was treated to a private lap dance in his hotel during an official visit to Brazil early this week, according to media reports.

Former star Italian defender Claudio Gentile has called Diego Maradona a buffoon after the Argentina coach referred to him as a killer.
“After what he said, I must agree with the opinion of Pele and Platini: Maradona is more a buffoon than a coach,” Tuesday’s edition of the Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport quoted Gentile as saying.

The team of defending champions Italy which crashed out in the first round of the World Cup produced the worst performance of any Italian lineup in the history of the competition, the country’s press said on Friday.

Once kept at home by love for mamma’s home-cooked pasta, a growing number of young Italians are now forced to live with their parents because they can’t get a steady job or afford a home of their own.

Archaeologists and art restorers using new laser technology have discovered what they believe are the oldest paintings of the faces of Jesus Christ’s apostles. The images in a branch of the catacombs of St Tecla near St Paul’s Basilica, just outside the walls of ancient Rome, were painted at the end of the 4th century or the start of the 5th century.

One of Italy’s most prominent Catholic cardinals and a former minister have been put under investigation as a corruption scandal that has tainted the government spread to touch the Vatican.

The Italian government on Wednesday sparked controversy when it announced Mafia informant Gaspare Spatuzza would not be given police protection as he had taken too long to turn state’s evidence.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is reportedly considering the purchase of a luxury villa for his daughter in the exclusive community of Olgiata, north of Rome.
Adnkronos has learned that Mr Berlusconi travelled to the town 25 km north of the city for secret talks late on Thursday.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has provoked a fierce political debate in Italy after complaining he lacked the power of former fascist dictator Benito Mussolini as head of the government.