In 2013 Pope Francis had a lot to celebrate. Not only was he named Time magazine person of the year, but was also awarded the title of Esquire's best-dressed man.

Italy's leading tourist attractions including the Colosseum could soon be in foreign hands as the country seeks new directors from around the world to make its museums more profitable.

Chow Chow dogs, painted and dyed to look like panda bears, have been seized from an Italian circus.

The UN's refugee agency has revealed "the most lethal route in the world" after a record number of deaths.

A fruit fly infestation has ravaged orchards across Italy, one of the world's top producers of olive oil, sending prices soaring.

Visitors to Italy will find its famed foods come in many gluten-free forms they'll love.

Italian police yesterday revealed an enormous collection of animals confiscated in recent months from jailed or arrested mafia bosses.

Make a plan before you leave ship and reap the rewards of your research, Pam Neville says. She shares some shore excursions from a recent Mediterranean cruise.

Security for Italy's most at-risk prosecutor has been increased because of claims that Cosa Nostra bosses have plans to assassinate him with a bazooka.

Dozens of suspicious deaths in a hospital in northern Italy may have been the work of a suspected "killer" nurse with a grudge against "annoying patients with pushy relatives".

George Clooney's wedding put Venice in the news. But Anne Hanley finds plenty for lesser mortals to do - for free.

When Rome's tourist traps got a little tiring, Josh Martin found a boisterous table with locals was only a few clicks away.

An Italian villa is the perfect setting for an exotic honeymoon, writes Alexia Santamaria.

Italy's economic crisis appears to have produced a boom in criminal deceptions that are testing the faith of the elderly.

Football Federation Australia boss David Gallop has received assurances Italian giant Juventus will bring their World Cup stars for next month's clash with an A-League All Stars side.

Sir Michael Caine and Julie Christie are among celebrities who have signed a petition calling for giant cruise ships to be banned from Venice.

A Catholic priest has been arrested in Italy on suspicion of dealing drugs at a party.

The good folk of Tuscany are offering lessons in manners to wealthy Russian tourists.

The former boyfriend of Amanda Knox has cast doubt on her innocence in the murder of the British student Merdeith Kercher.

A young New Zealander is rubbing shoulders with some of the stars of the World Cup - and living the life of training and discipline that took them there.

It was a clash that pitted one of the finest journalists of his generation against a now-disgraced former world leader, but this was no modern-day Frost-Nixon.

Prince Harry has paid tribute to the terrible price paid by Kiwis who fought at the Battle of Monte Cassino in the Second World War.

Paul Abercrombie gets to grips with Venice's watery warrens during a once-in-a-lifetime rowing lesson.

Amanda Knox's alibi for the murder of a British student could now be in doubt after CCTV footage was released which appears to show her on the night of the killing.

Chris Wiltshire feasts until he can feast no more in the region known as the bread basket of Italy.

For more than half a century it has been seen as one of the most potent landmarks of Italy's fascist era.

The leasehold of a Venetian island described as one of the most haunted places in Italy is to be auctioned next month as the state desperately seeks to raise revenue.

An Italian woman having IVF treatment is carrying twins that are not her own following an apparent hospital mix-up.

The number of migrants sailing from Africa to Italy resembles a "biblical exodus", the head of the Italian navy said yesterday.