The mafia and jazz may seem an odd combination, but on 21 April the Rome city council inaugurated a new centre for jazz, La casa del Jazz , in a magnificent 1930s villa which had been confiscated from a mafia boss. The o...
When in Rome look both ways. Recent figures show Lazio is the most dangerous region in Italy for pedestrians. On average 2,000 pedestrians are knocked down on Romes roads each year, with last year recording the highest...
Too much traffic and ever higher rents are driving Italians out of their major cities. A new study by the Fondazione Filippo Caracciolo shows that, over the last ten years, the number residents living in historic centre...
The 60th anniversary of Italys liberation on 25 April lies on the cusp between history and living memory. There are still a few who remember the event as adults and it is still close enough not to be just history. The da...
Friday 22 April sees a four-hour stop for all urban transport systems all over Italy, including bus and underground trains, in a dispute over sick pay. Travellers should check local information for the time of the strike...
After an aggressive speech to the Italian senate, prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has given his resignation to President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. He stated his intention to try to form a new government immediately and see...
Anzac day on 25 April will be commemorated by Australians and New Zealanders in Rome with a joint service at 09.00 at the Rome War Cemetery,
Via Nicola Zabaglia (near the Piramide), and in Milan with a service at the Co...
The provincial government of Rovigo, in the Veneto region in the north of Italy, has offered to pay fishermen 26 cents for every kilo of catfish they catch in the river Po. These giants, which are estimated to make up 27...
Taxes rank alongside communists and magistrates in Silvio Berlusconis list of pet hates. The prime minister once famously said that he understood people who sidestepped taxes that were too high. And, putting his policy w...
Up to now, great mirth or derision have always greeted the legend that Rome was founded on exactly 21 April in 753 BC or 2,758 years ago this month but now one of the greatest experts on the origins of Rome has come u...
The 21-mile (32 km) cross-Channel swim between Dover and Calais is notoriously one of the most taxing challenges a long-distance swimmer can tackle.
Although marathon swimmers attempt longer distances in competitions...
Solomon R. Guggenheim (1861-1949) was born in Philadelphia of a Swiss-Jewish immigrant family who had made shrewd investments in the mining industry. He and his wife Irene had been collecting old masters when they met Hi...
And the Lord God said unto the serpent,
Because thou hast done this,
Thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field;
Upon thy belly shalt thou go,
And dust thou shalt eat all the days of thy li...
The new pope Benedict XVI, elected swiftly on the afternoon of 19 April, has chosen a surprising name, one that symbolises a break with the popes of the last 50 years. Since the reformer Pope John XXIII, who opened the S...
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has been elected as the new pope. Appearing on the balcony above the main entrance to St Peters basilica at just after 18.30 Tuesday 19 April, the 78-year-old German waved briefly to the Romans,...
Rome hosts the biggest rubbish dump in Europe, claimed to be now nearly full to overflowing, the fulcrum of a rubbish crisis facing all of Italy today. Yet plans are afoot to exploit the unlovely tip further, with public...
As Italy's richest man it came as no surprise to learn that the prime minister is also its richest politician.
The fact was confirmed in the Italian parliament's latest publication of the members' declared financial int...
Every year Rome city authorities are cleaning 4.25 million sqm of city walls, in a campaign costing 2.5 million per annum. And these figures exclude efforts to remove graffiti from monuments and those of a racist nature....
The return of the obelisk or stele of Axum has suffered another setback. It should have left in March 2005 to go back to Ethiopia in order to be ready for official celebrations for its return in Axum on 13 April. However...
For those interested in Italian royal memorabilia, Christie's, the fine art auctioneers, are selling a collection of items belonging to Princess Maria Beatrice di Savoia in London on Friday 22 April. This wonderful misce...
Formula 1 racing fans will be out in force on Sunday 17 April to see Roman Giancarlo Fisichella, the Renault team driver who won the first grand prix of the season in Melbourne, Australia, and who comes from the Tiburtin...
On Sunday 17 and Monday 18 April, more than a million Italians will be eligible to vote in "run-off" voting for 25 town and city councils, including five provincial capitals, Venice, Matua, Pavia, Chieti and Andria, as w...
The influence of John Paul II will be present in more ways than one at the conclave that opens in the Sistine Chapel on 18 April. Firstly, almost all the cardinals present were appointed by him. Secondly, John Paul II re...
These are some of the names to look out for in the future of the Roman Catholic Church. Any one of these men might be a future pope, but all of them will have an influence one way or another on the way the Church will go...
Those interested in the papal sartorial details should quickly make a visit to the premises of Annibale Gammarelli, the papal tailors, 34 Via di S. Chiara, near the church of S. Maria sopra Minerva.
Three sets of vestme...
A litre of unleaded petrol at most Italian petrol stations went up from 1.199 to 1.249 in the first week of April. Add an increase of 0.05 per litre for medium-large sized cars and the price rise for a full tank becomes...
Every day, one in two Italians commute, whether by car, train, bus or tram. According to a survey by the Italian statistics institute, Istat , 26 million people travel every day from one Italian city to another. Two thir...
The Italian soccer league matches resumed after the break for papal funeral on a sour note with post-match soccer violence reported in at least five cities, Rome, Palermo, Udine, Cava dei Tirreni and Perugia, with rival...
The Czech Republic is opening a cultural institute in Rome. Directed by Miloslav Hirsch, the new institute in Via Costabella 28-32 will be inaugurated on Thursday 14 April, with an exhibition of works by Jan Knap, the co...
Turin-based football team Juventus is bracing itself for an emotional night on Wednesday 13 April when the team faces English opponents Liverpool for the second time in eight days.
The clubs played each other last Tuesd...
Qualified mother tongue teachers are needed for morning/afternoon lessons in state schools for Cambridge Primary, Lower Secondary, and Secondary 2. CELTA or equivalent teaching cer...
ICCROM is seeking a Communications Consultant to craft impactful content and strengthen external relations. In working with us, you will gain valuable hands-on experience in a dyna...
Male carer 48 years good experience and excellent references with the job, looks for a full time living job , has been in rome since 2004, with a Italian driving licence, contact...