A few opulent restaurants opened right after the economy fell apart in 2008, like guests who pound on the door long after the lights have been turned out and the hosts have gone to bed. Armani Ristorante, inside the Armani store on Fifth Avenue in Midtown, was one of those late arrivals ...

Rosario Crocetta smokes two to three packs of cigarettes a day, lighting them without putting them to his lips, often glancing at the three cellphones arrayed before him as he does so. If you are speaking to him, as an emissary from Turin named Antonio Saitta was on the day I first met Crocetta, he often picks up one of the phones in midconversation, without apology, and urgently begins reading text messages.

A top arts expert has attributed a 16th century painting to renowned Italian artist Titian, according to a BBC report that cited new findings by Professor Artur Rosenauer of the Vienna University. The "Risen Christ" is estimated to have been painted around 1511, according to the art historian's new findings reported in Burlington magazine.

Markets slumped across Europe on Friday, dragged down by increasing concern that Italy's fragile coalition government may not be able to survive the current political turmoil it is facing. Italy's Ftse Mib index fell 1.2% to 17,646 points. Investors reacted to the turmoil hitting the Italian government Friday, with yields climbing and the spread between Italian bonds and their ultra-safe German counterparts

All five Italian ministers belonging to the party of former PM Silvio Berlusconi have announced they are resigning from the country's coalition government.

ll five ministers from Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right party said on Saturday night they were resigning from Italy's grand coalition government in a dramatic move that plunged the country back into political uncertainty and raised the possibility of fresh elections.