With the 1 May national holiday falling on a Thursday this year many Italians will take Friday off in order to have an extra long weekend. An estimated 12 million cars will take to the roads and traffic delays should be... [more]

Christian charities Caritas and the Community of S. Egidio have signed a deal to give free funerals to 50 of the city’s homeless who have no family members to take care of payment. The charities will be responsible for informing AMA,... [more]

The Roseto Comunale, Rome’s city rose garden, opens this year from 3 May until mid June. The garden opened at its present location in 1950 on a site previously occupied by a section of the Jewish Cemetery, which was moved to the... [more]

Run-off elections for Rome mayor and president of the province of Rome will be held 27-28 April. Contestants for mayor are outgoing minister of culture Francesco Rutelli of the centre-left Partito Democratico (PD) and Gianni Alemanno of the centre-right Popolo della... [more]

Friday 25 April Italy celebrates Liberation Day, which is generally accepted as the end of world war two in Italy, although German forces did not officially surrender until four days later on 29 April. In Rome, President Giorgio Napolitano will pose... [more]

The outgoing Italian cabinet has approved a bridge loan of €300 million for Alitalia in a last ditch attempt to keep the struggling Italian airline afloat while the new government of Silvio Berlusconi attempts to find a buyer to replace Air... [more]

A ten-year-old American tourist who went missing on 21 April from the Vatican Museums was found safe and sound four hours later in Via Veneto, some four kilometres away. The little boy had been visiting the museums with his parents, but... [more]

Rome marks its 2761st birthday on 21 April, based on its mythical founding date in 753 BC, with various events on the day itself and the days that follow. This year the city has chosen musical events in particular to celebrate... [more]

He won’t be taking office as Italy’s “new” prime minister until early May, but the victorious Silvio Berlusconi is already giving hints about his future policy for resolving one of Italy’s most pressing problems, the future of the nearly bankrupt Italian... [more]

Sunday 20 April sees the return of “Domenica ai Fori”, a fair with street artists such as clowns, fire-eaters, roaming musicians, acrobats, and puppet shows all performing in Via dei Fori Imperiali, which will be closed off to traffic. Events will... [more]

World-renowned architect Massimiliano Fuksas, acclaimed film director Ettore Scola, and one of the most respected voices on politics and current affairs and founder of the newspaper the Repubblica, Eugenio Scalfari, are just some of the Italian intellectuals who will take part... [more]

The 13-14 April elections for mayor and president of the province of Rome will go down to run-offs between Francesco Rutelli of the centre-left Partito Democratico (PD) and Gianni Alemanno of the centre-right Popolo della Libertà (PdL) for mayor, and Nicola... [more]

The alliance led by Silvio Berlusconi has won the parliamentary elections of 13-14 April with a clear majority in both houses of parliament. This is partly thanks to the consolidation of Umberto Bossi’s right-wing Lega Nord, which did significantly better than... [more]

The centre-right alliance led by Silvio Berlusconi’s Partito della Libertà (PdL) is headed for victory in the parliamentary elections of 13-14 April. Partial results updated to 22.09 and based on ballots counted in 48,087 out of 61,062 polling stations in Italy... [more]

49 million Italians will be called back to the polls on 13–14 April to vote in the general elections following the dissolution of Romano Prodi’s centre-left government elected in April 2006. Up for grabs are 630 seats in the chamber of... [more]

The chapel in Palazzo Barberini containing a crucifix by Pietro da Cortona and ceiling vault frescoes by either his pupils or him together with his pupils is now open to visitors after many years of closure. The newly restored chapel which... [more]

Drivers of so-called microcars will have to pay to drive in the limited traffic zone (ZTL) areas of the city from 1 July. The tiny cars, which are popular with under-18s since they do not require a licence to drive, currently... [more]

With less than a week to go before the general election Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the centre-right coalition Popolo della Libertà (PDL), appealed to the president of the republic Giorgio Napolitano to change the voting ballots he said were confusing and... [more]

The national strike of rubbish collectors set for 7-9 April has been called off. The Federambiente, which represents most public sanitation workers throughout Italy, has now signed a new national contract. Work was as usual therefore on Monday 7 April on... [more]

Palaces, theatres, villas, aqueducts, and other sites in Italy normally closed to the public will open their doors on 5 and 6 April for the Fondo per l’Ambiente Italiano (FAI) sixteenth “Giornata di primavera”. Coming shortly on the heels of the... [more]