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Italy

The latest breaking news and stories on Italy, a country in southern Europe known as a parliamentary republic, and the world’s eighth largest economy. Also covering Italy’s relationship with China and Europe, plus commentary and updates on Italy’s economy, politics, society and social issues.

Capital

Rome

Head of State

President Sergio Mattarella

Head of Government

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni

Italian tennis player Lorenzo Musetti currently holds the No 14 spot in the ATP singles standings. Photo: @stregishotels/Instagram

Get to Know

Meet Lorenzo Musetti, the Italian tennis star making his comeback at the US Open

Sidelined by a leg injury earlier this year, the Tuscan-born player recently shared the court with Roger Federer for a special practice session at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

28 Aug 2026 - 2:49PM

Luxury brands

Loro Piana at Cop17: how the house is committing to sustainable Mongolian cashmere

25 Aug 2026 - 1:20PM

Travel

Art, saints, Galileo: Italy’s Padua offers a quiet alternative to Venice

24 Aug 2026 - 4:21PM

Malaysia

Islamic university sacks professor who claimed Malays could fly

Solehah Yaacob went viral with her pseudo-history claims. She is fighting against her dismissal.

25 Aug 2026 - 2:13PMvideocam

Controversial Malaysian academic Solehah Yaacob seen in a still from a live-streamed lecture. Photo: Facebook/profsolehah

Ukraine war

Zelensky says Ukraine had no role in Nord Stream pipeline blast

Croatian police have detained a second Ukrainian national in connection with the 2022 sabotage of the pipelines linking Russia to Europe.

24 Aug 2026 - 12:35AM

China trade

European wine producers seek new markets as China sales dream sours

Imports of bottled wine from the EU fell 16.6 per cent by volume in the first half of this year, according to Chinese customs data.

23 Aug 2026 - 3:00PMvideocam

Spain

How to be a good tourist; a guide for the modern traveller

With the world’s most popular destinations bursting at the seams – and neither residents nor visitors happy with the fact – it would be in everyone’s interests for travellers to rethink their approach.

23 Aug 2026 - 8:00AM

Tourists listen to a tour guide outside the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain. Photo: AP

Fashion

Italian womenswear label Max Mara marks 75 years – interview

The founder’s granddaughter, Maria Giulia Prezioso Maramotti, and long-time creative director Ian Griffiths reflect on the brand’s understated quality and lasting impact.

22 Aug 2026 - 10:00AM

Dish in Focus

Oranges and anchovies? Ninetta’s unlikely pairing tells the story of Sicily

Chef Marco Xodo brings a refreshing Sicilian-inspired winter salad to Hong Kong’s sweltering summers – with a Venetian twist.

20 Aug 2026 - 3:00PM

Space

The Milky Way swallowed a smaller galaxy about 11.8 billion years ago

Scientists say the event shows Milky Way grew not only by forming its own stars but also by merging with smaller galaxies caught in its gravitational pull.

18 Aug 2026 - 6:30PM

The collision about 11.8 billion years ago, when a dwarf galaxy known as LKH collided with the Milky Way and merged with it, appears in an artist’s concept released on Tuesday. Photo: Handout via Reuters

Travel

Are these Odyssey islands prepared for tourist surge in wake of new film?

A jump in visitors is expected in Ithaca, believed to be Odysseus’ home in the poem, and Favignana, its stand-in in the recent blockbuster.

18 Aug 2026 - 7:15AM

Tourists disembark from a boat after returning from nearby beaches on the island of Ithaca on August 3, 2026. Ithaca is widely believed to be the home of the hero Odysseus in Homer’s Odyssey. Photo: AFP

Crime

Mafia link feared in theft of grand master paintings from Sicily museum

The robbery of 4 works by Antonello da Messina has revived memories of the 1969 mafia-associated disappearance of a Caravaggio in Palermo.

18 Aug 2026 - 4:08AM

China trade

China’s green dominance a ‘dilemma’ for world’s governments: report

World needs cheap green technologies to decarbonise, and efforts to reduce reliance on China risk slowing the transition, researchers say.

17 Aug 2026 - 10:00PM

Social media

Chinamaxxing: is it really about China or Gen Z fleeing Western fatigue?

From viral candy wrappers to hot water routines, Western Gen Z appears obsessed with all things China. But is it true love?

18 Aug 2026 - 2:01AMvideocam

Crime

Thieves steal 4 Renaissance artworks worth millions in Sicilian museum robbery

The Antonello da Messina paintings were taken from the MuMe museum while crowds gathered across town for the Assumption holiday celebrations.

17 Aug 2026 - 2:45AM

A drone view shows the grounds of the Museo Regionale di Messina, where four artworks by 15th-century painter Antonello da Messina were stolen overnight, in Messina, Sicily, Italy on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Art

Italian police recover stolen Renoir, Cezanne and Matisse art worth millions

The three pieces were taken from a private museum earlier this year, in a nighttime heist that took less than three minutes.

15 Aug 2026 - 2:00AM

Nato

Nato jets shoot down foreign drone after it enters Latvian airspace

Latvia’s military said a foreign drone had entered its airspace as a result of Russia’s electronic warfare activity over the Balvi region.

14 Aug 2026 - 8:13PM

India

Why India is eyeing France’s fighter jet project for future air warfare

The move could boost strategic cooperation with France and ensure India has a credible sixth-generation fighter jet option, analysts say.

13 Aug 2026 - 10:00AM

Visitors watch the unveiling ceremony of the full-scale jet fighter model of the Systeme de Combat Aerien Futur, the French-German-Spanish next-generation Future Combat Air System (FCAS) at an air show near Paris in June 2019. Photo: AFP

Natural disasters

Tourists rush to Mount Etna as it erupts, alarming Italian guides

Unruly locals and climbers in flip-flops are among the thousands trying to get a closer look at the volcano’s spectacular lava flows.

13 Aug 2026 - 1:20AM

China-EU relations

Can Europe stay united in China trade battle? Ceuta crisis offers a warning

The recent row over migration and Spain’s border policy suggests it may be hard for the bloc to stand together under pressure from Beijing.

9 Aug 2026 - 10:00PMvideocam

Timepieces

Full-lume watches are the new flex, from heritage brands to indie upstarts

Luminescence was a stand-out trend at this year’s Watches and Wonders – here’s how makers are using innovative materials to light up horology.

9 Aug 2026 - 12:00AM

IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Ceralume. Photo: Handout

European Union

Spain to start Italy border controls amid Ceuta migrant row

Italy had rejected Spain’s ultimatum to lift checks imposed in response to the migration crisis. Now Spain has announced its own checks.

8 Aug 2026 - 7:20PM

An information panel displays flight details on Saturday at Adolfo Suarez Madrid–Barajas Airport, as Spain’s government said it would establish border controls for flights and ships from Italy. Photo: Reuters

Russia

Russian drone factory boss badly injured in car blast that killed driver

Targeted attack on Uraldronzavod chief outside Yekaterinburg follows series of strikes against defence figures.

6 Aug 2026 - 2:20PM

Offbeat

Lost US$1.15 million lottery ticket dug out of trash by Italian binmen

The winner had discarded the stub, not realising that she had won the big jackpot.

5 Aug 2026 - 4:03AM

Spain

Death toll from migrant rush into Spanish enclave of Ceuta reaches 72

More bodies recovered near shoreline following mass movement of 50,000 people across Moroccan border.

3 Aug 2026 - 11:19AM

Belongings left behind by migrants float in the sea after they crossed from Morocco into Ceuta. Photo: AP

Icons and Influencers

Style according to … Italian designer Alessandra Rich

The designer is obsessed with Alfred Hitchcock’s films and draws inspiration for her feminine designs from Grace Kelly and Ingrid Bergman.

1 Aug 2026 - 4:00PM

Designer Alessandra Rich divides her time between London and Milan. Photo: Handout

Spain

France, Italy tighten borders after 60,000 migrants enter Spain’s Ceuta

France is increasing its border police presence fivefold while Italy has suspended its Schengen agreement with Spain.

1 Aug 2026 - 11:54AM

Spain

Italy halts EU Schengen free-travel pact with Spain over Ceuta migrant crisis

Over 50,000 people had rushed into Spanish territory from Morocco, sparking concern over border security.

1 Aug 2026 - 1:42AM

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