Italy News

(ANSA) - Chicago, May 21 - Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi at the NATO summit on Monday told Pakistan that Italy was committed to stability in Afghanistan after 2014 and to the withdrawal of ISAF troops.

"It is in the common interest of Italy and Pakistan," Terzi told Hina Rabbani Khar, the foreign minister of Pakistan, which borders Afghanistan.

(ANSA) - Brindisi, May 21 - Italian Premier Mario Monti attended the funeral Monday of Melissa Bassi, the 16-year-old victim of a weekend bomb attack at a school near Brindisi.

Interrupting a NATO summit in Chicago, the premier flew to Italy following the blast Saturday, which injured five other students who were in stable condition Monday.

(ANSA) - Rome, May 21 - The so-called anti-politics Five Star movement of comedian Beppe Grillo pulled off a major coup on Monday when its candidate was elected mayor of Parma in a runoff with the centre-left's representative.

Federico Pizzarotti prevailed with just over 60% of the votes for the grassroots movement, which also won a number of runoffs in smaller towns after making big gains in the first round of local elections earlier this month.

(ANSA) - Brindisi, May 21 - Police investigating the weekend bomb attack that killed a teenaged girl outside her school have identified a suspect and taken his brother into custody, ANSA sources said Monday.

Police searched the home of the unnamed suspect, who has been missing for days, according to unconfirmed reports.

Police had earlier released images taken from video surveillance of the man, believed to be between 50 and 55.

(ANSA) - Brussels, May 21 - Italy has the highest tax burden on labor in all the eurozone, European Union statistics bureau Eurostat said Monday.

In 2010 the burden on business personnel rose from 42.3% to 42.6% when labor taxes and social-security contributions are combined.

The average among the 17 eurozone nations is 34%.

Eurostat also said that the tax burden on the general public in Italy is expected to rise from 45.6% to 47.3% in 2012, following a series of tax hikes as part of a government austerity program approved in December.

(ANSA) - Rome, May 21 - Doctors in Rome have successfully implanted the world's smallest artificial heart into a 16-month old, reports said Monday.

The operation, the first of its kind, used an 11-gram device to simulate heart palpitations before a real heart was later transplanted last month.

The child is reportedly in good condition.

(ANSA) - Rome, May 21 - Rafael Nadal beat reigning champion and world number one Novak Djokovic in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3, to claim the sixth Rome Masters title of his career.

The Spaniard, a 10-time singles Grand Slam winner, prevailed in two hours, 21 minutes.

(ANSA) - Chicago, May 21 - Italian Premier Mario Monti invited Spanish Premier Mariano Rajoy to join him in Rome next month with the leaders of France and Germany to discuss growth in the EU, ANSA sources said Monday.

Monti said the meeting was to find a common position ahead of an EU summit at the end of June devoted to growth.

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(ANSA) - Bari, May 21 - Italian Justice Minister Paola Severino said on Monday that it was still unclear who was behind Saturday's bomb blast near Brindisi that killed a 16-year-old girl and why the attack was carried out.

"I have no certainties, for now no certainties, so it seems to me that the best thing is for us all to work together," Severino told a press conference.

(ANSA) - Rapallo, May 21 - A small explosive went off in front of a voting station early Monday in the northern Italian town of Rapallo near Genoa, said police.

Investigators said that the homemade explosive caught fire inside a trash dumpster near the city hall and was intentionally placed.

No injures occurred.

(ANSA) - Brindisi, May 21 - The school near Brindisi that was hit by a bomb attack at the weekend reopened on Monday amid emotional scenes before the funeral of the 16-year-old victim of the blast, Melissa Bassi.

Investigators have played down, but not excluded, the hypothesis that the Puglia mafia could be behind the attack, in which five other students were injured.

(ANSA) - Reggio Calabria, May 21 - Police in the southern Italian town of Siderno arrested 15 people on Monday in another crackdown against the Calabria-based 'Ndrangheta crime syndicate.

Among those rounded up were municipal, regional and provincial politicians, as well as members of the Commisso clan, allegedly drawing a clear connection between local government and criminal gangs, police said.

(ANSA) - Brescia, May 21 - A man leapt to his death on Monday from a residential building in the northern city of Brescia after killing his two children aged one and four by throwing them out of a window.

The man, who was 49, died instantly while the two children passed away in hospital.

He is said to have argued with his wife beforehand.

(ANSA) - Rome, May 21 - Emilia-Romagna was still gripped with fear on Monday, as tremors continued after Sunday's earthquake that killed seven people, injured dozens, left over 4,000 homeless and caused massive damaged.

Many people in the region slept in cars overnight with over 100 aftershocks coming in the 24 hours that followed Sunday's earthquake, which was 5.9 on the Richter scale and took place at 4:03 in the morning.

(ANSA) - Rome, May 18 - Roughly 300 of Italy's state museums will be free and open until the wee hours Saturday as part of Museum Night, a European effort to make culture more accessible to the public.

Organized in Italy by the culture ministry, the event starts Saturday at 8:00 PM local time and lasts until 2:00 AM the following morning, turning some of the world's most prestigious museums, galleries and cultural sites into after-hours destinations.