A court in Sicily Friday found Italian Vice Premier Matteo Salvini not guilty of illegally detaining 100 migrants aboard a humanitarian rescue ship iin 2019 when he was interior minister.

A court in Sicily is expected to announce its verdict on whether Italy’s vice premier, Matteo Salvini, is guilty of illegally detaining 100 migrants aboard a humanitarian rescue ship when he was interior minister.

Italy’s deputy premier, Matteo Salvini, is sounding defiant as he awaits a verdict in Sicily for preventing some 100 migrants from disembarking a rescue boat in 2019 when he was interior minister.

Milan’s famed Teatro alla Scala presents Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino” for its gala season premiere Saturday for the first time in 59 years, seeking to shake the opera's reputation for bringing bad luck.

Italy's Premier Giorgia Meloni suffered election setbacks in two regions as the opposition Democratic party won a tight race in the central Umbria region and deepened its control of the traditional left-leaning stronghold of Emilia-Romagna.

Choosing billionaire Elon Musk to be what President-elect Donald Trump calls “our cost cutter” for the U.S. government, is not the first time an American president has empowered a business tycoon to look for ways to dramatically cut federal regulations.

Italy's president has sharply rebuked Elon Musk.

An Italian navy ship has arrived at the Albanian port of Shengjin with eight migrants who will be processed there after they were intercepted in international waters.

An Italian navy ship has taken back to Italy the first 12 migrants from newly opened asylum processing centers in Albania following a highly-debated court decision in Rome.

Italy on Wednesday criminalized citizens who go abroad to have children through surrogacy, while opponents slam it as “medieval” and discriminatory to same-sex couples.

An Italian navy ship docked at the Albanian port of Shengjin to bring the first group of 16 migrants intercepted in international waters.

Italy is transferring the first group of migrants to Albania as part of a contentious plan to process thousands of asylum-seekers outside its borders.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says it’s important that allies’ aid to Ukraine doesn’t decrease next year.

Commemorations and protests are being held across the world to mark a year since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

President Joe Biden says he won't support an Israeli attack on sites related to Tehran’s nuclear program in response to Iran’s missile attack on Israel.

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen has put women in many of the top roles on her new team for her next five-year tenure at the head of the bloc.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has met with Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni in Rome.

A passionate crowd showered Algerian boxer Imane Khelif with cheers during her fight Saturday at the Paris Olympics following a cascade of backlash over false claims about her gender.

Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has landed in the middle of a divide about gender in sports after her Italian competitor, Angela Carini, pulled out seconds into their bout at the Paris Olympics.

The Hungarian Boxing Association says it is sending letters of protest to both the IOC and Hungary’s Olympic committee over Anna Luca Hamori’s quarterfinal matchup with Imane Khelif of Algeria in women's boxing at the Paris Olympics.

Italian boxer Angela Carini quit her boxing match against Algerian opponent Imane Khelif after just 46 seconds.

Imane Khelif of Algeria won her opening Olympic boxing bout when opponent Angela Carini of Italy quit after just 46 seconds.

Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says Italy and China have signed a three-year action plan to implement past agreements and experiment with new forms of cooperation.

A judge in Milan has ordered an Italian journalist to pay 5,000 euros or nearly $5,500 in damages to Premier Giorgia Meloni for making fun of her height in social media posts.

Lawmakers at the European Parliament have reelected Ursula von der Leyen to a second 5-year term as president of the European Union’s executive commission.

Far-right parties from 12 countries, including France’s National Rally and Hungary’s ruling Fidesz, have joined forces to form a new bloc in the European Parliament.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni has dismissed a cease-fire offer for Ukraine by Russian President Vladimir Putin as “propaganda” as she wraps up a Group of Seven summit that saw a deal reached for a $50 billion loan to Ukraine.

President Joe Biden and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni have spoke privately on various matters but apparently not on abortion.

Pope Francis has challenged leaders of the world’s wealthy democracies to keep human dignity foremost in developing and using artificial intelligence.

Leaders of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations turned their attention to migration, artificial intelligence, economic security and the Indo-Pacific region on the second and final day of their summit.

Leaders of the Group of Seven rich democracies are meeting in a faux medieval town constructed as a luxury resort on the heel of Italy’s boot.

U.S. President Joe Biden says the agreement to tap into the windfall profits on frozen Russian assets held in Europe would put that money to work for Ukraine.

A summit of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations has opened in Italy.

A summit meeting of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations has focused on migration on its second day, seeking ways to combat trafficking and increase investment in countries from where migrants start out on often life-threatening journeys.

The leaders of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies have agreed to set in motion a $50 billion loan to help Ukraine.

The next European Parliament will have more hard-right members than ever before, occupying close to a quarter of the 720 seats.

Puglia is known for its olive groves, white-washed houses and spectacular coastlines that will provide the backdrop when Premier Giorgia Meloni hosts Group of Seven leaders for their annual summit this week.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni hosts this week’s summit of the Group of Seven industrialized nations as the most stable European Union leader.

A four-day election has shaken the European Union's parliament to its foundations.

Far-right parties rattled the traditional powers in the European Union with major gains in parliamentary seats, dealing an especially humiliating defeat to French President Emmanuel Macron, who called snap legislative elections.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s far-right party has won European elections in Italy with a strong 28% of the votes, boosting her leadership at home and consolidating her kingmaker role in Europe.

Far-right parties have made big gains in the European Parliament in election results that rattled the traditional powers and made French President Emmanuel Macron call snap legislative elections.

Far-right parties made major gains in European Union parliamentary elections, dealing stunning defeats to two of the bloc’s most important leaders: French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the EU elections.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni joined voters in Italy and a half dozen European Union nations in casting a ballot during the penultimate day of European Union parliamentary elections on Saturday.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni has traveled to Albania to thank its government for its unique and controversial role in agreeing to host thousands of asylum-seekers while Italy processes their claims.

A top Vatican cardinal has urged European voters to remember their own migratory roots in showing sympathy to people forced to flee their homes.

While Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni adopts a reassuring Western-allied foreign policy, cultural wars at home are preserving her far-right credentials heading into European parliamentary elections.

Europe’s far right political parties have unofficially launched their campaign for the European Union elections in Spain with strong messages against illegal migration and the bloc’s climate policy.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni’s far-right-led government has scored a victory with the Senate approving a law allowing anti-abortion groups access to women considering ending their pregnancies.

Milan’s La Scala, one of the world’s most prestigious and historic opera houses, has named Fortunato Ortombina as its new director.

European Union leaders are vowing to ramp up sanctions against Iran as concern grows that the country's unprecedented attack on Israel could fuel a wider war in the Middle East.

President Joe Biden says the U.S. will begin air-dropping humanitarian assistance into Gaza, a day after more than 100 Palestinians were killed during a chaotic encounter with Israeli troops.

Survivors and family members of victims of a shipwreck a year ago that killed 94 migrants, including 35 minors, just off Italy’s southern coast, have returned for three days of commemorations and called for justice to be done.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has welcomed Western leaders to Kyiv to mark the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, as Ukrainian forces run low on ammunition and foreign aid hangs in the balance.

Albania has agreed to host two migrant processing centers on its territory that will be run by Italy under a deal that worries human rights activists.

Albania’s Parliament has approved a deal for the country to hold thousands of asylum seekers for Italy despite protests from opposition lawmakers and human rights groups.

Despite their rocky start, Argentine President Javier Milei and Pope Francis appear to have hit it off.

Argentina’s faith and politics have come together at the Vatican.

Hundreds of antifascist activists have gathered in Hungary’s capital to oppose an annual commemoration held by far-right groups.

The year has gotten off to a slow start for a charity-run rescue ship that typically plies the Mediterranean Sea looking for migrants and refugees in distress.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni has told her European Union partners that curbing migration flows from African countries has less to do with offers of charity than strong partnerships coupled with strategic investments in those nations.

The leaders of Italy and the U.K. have agreed to tackle irregular migration to Europe.

Dozens of world leaders said they know the planet’s dangerously overheating and they are trying to keep it from getting worse.

A judge at Britain’s High Court has ruled that life support for a terminally ill 8-month-old baby should be withdrawn at a hospice or hospital.

An 8-month-old terminally ill British girl has been granted Italian citizenship after a court in Britain authorized the withdrawal of life-supporting invasive treatment.

More airstrikes have ravaged parts of the Gaza Strip, leaving it looking like a wasteland from space.

Israeli warplanes have struck targets across Gaza as well as two airports in Syria and a mosque in the occupied West Bank allegedly used by militants.

Slovenia says it will introduce border checks with neighboring Hungary and Croatia following Italy’s decision to do the same with Slovenia because of security concerns due to violence in the Middle East.

When Giorgia Meloni took office a year ago as the first far-right premier in Italy’s post-war history, many in Europe worried about the prospect of the country’s democratic backsliding and resistance to European Union rules.

The leaders of the European Union are once again taking up the divisive issue of migration as they met in the Spanish city of Granada.

Italian authorities say at least 21 people have been killed and 18 injured in a bus crash in Venice.

Pope Francis has blasted what he calls the “fanaticism of indifference” that greets migrants seeking a better life in Europe.

Thousand of migrants reached the Italian island of Lampedusa on more than 100 boats this week.

A migrant reception center in Italy’s southernmost island of Lampedusa is overwhelmed as authorities work to transfer to transfer thousands of newly arrived migrants to the mainland.

A flotilla of flimsy boats, crowded with migrants and launched from Tunisia, is overwhelming a tiny Italian island south of Sicily.

When Giorgia Meloni was running to become Italy’s first far-right head of government of the post-war era, she steeped her winning campaign in the sharply ideological rhetoric of national sovereignty, “traditional families” and fear of migrants.

Vivek Ramaswamy, the 37-year-old biotech entrepreneur, is hovering among the top contenders as a Republican presidential candidate while being open about his Hindu faith.

The Senate has passed a massive annual defense bill that would deliver a 5.2% pay raise for service members and keep the nation’s military operating.

President Joe Biden is praising Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni for Italy's “very strong support” of Ukraine under her watch.

European leaders and Tunisia’s president have announced progress in the building of hoped-for closer economic and trade relations and on measures to combat the often lethal smuggling of migrants across the Mediterranean Sea.

The leader of the conservative bloc in the European Parliament says his party will not cooperate with the far-right Alternative for Germany but is willing to work with Italy’s far-right premier to curb migration.

Hungary and Poland have vetoed a statement by European Union leaders laying out their migration priorities in a symbolic gesture of protest.

The British-Canadian director of Milan’s Brera Gallery was hired in 2015 after the Italian government launched reforms that for the first time brought in foreign museum directors.

Italy’s political, business and soccer elite bade farewell to former Premier Silvio Berlusconi with a state funeral inside Milan’s imposing Duomo cathedral.

Silvio Berlusconi’s outsized hold on Italian political life over three decades had greatly diminished in recent years.

Silvio Berlusconi cast a spell over Italy — and nearly led it to financial ruin.

Silvio Berlusconi, the boastful billionaire media mogul who was Italy’s longest-serving premier despite scandals over his sex-fueled parties and allegations of corruption and bribery, has died at age 86.

European leaders are holding out the promise of more than 1 billion euros in financial aid for Tunisia as well as investments in undersea data cables and renewable energy.

Silvio Berlusconi's doctors say the former Italian premier was admitted to a Milan hospital for planned medical checks related to his chronic leukemia.

The Group of Seven advanced economies are expected to announce more sanctions against Russia to further hinder its war effort in Ukraine during their summit in Hiroshima, Japan.

While the world awaits Ukraine’s spring offensive, its leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy has already launched a diplomatic one.

Rescue crews are working to reach towns and villages in northern Italy that were cut off from highways, electricity and cell phone service following heavy rains and flooding.

Officials say eight people are now confirmed dead in northern Italy following floods from rain-swollen rivers.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his country's planned counteroffensive is designed to liberate areas occupied by Russia, not to attack Russian territory.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has met with Pope Francis at the Vatican, saying later he sought the pontiff's support for Ukraine's peace plan.

Pope Francis has joined Italy’s conservative premier in encouraging Italians to have more children after Italy registered a record low birth rate last year.

Italy is starting to come to terms with its Fascist-era colonial past and the loot it has in its museums.

Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi has made his first public statements since being hospitalized a month ago, delivering a video address from a Milan hospital to his Forza Italia political party.

Former Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte has been physically attacked during an official appearance in Tuscany by a man protesting against Italy’s lockdowns and other measures to contain the pandemic.