The markets seem to be on summer shut-down, the likes of which I can barely remember in my career lifetime. From eurozone data that showed growth shrinking everywhere bar Germany, to Greece saying they'll need to extend the terms of their bailout - the market reaction is barely more than a shrug.

Vincenzo Crescenzo works in a lemon grove on the Amalfi coast, growing the sfusato lemon.The orchard he works in is soon to commence harvest. Vincenzo can expect to earn around 50 cents per kilo, which is an improvement on last year's returns. However, it does not represent a profit. As Vincenzo says, "The owner has had this orchard for 15 years and she's never once got back her costs."

ROME -– Led by the unmistakable smell of pot, Italian authorities stumbled across the biggest marijuana-plant cultivation site ever discovered in Rome –- right below the vaults of the Bank of Italy.On the outskirts of the Eternal City, where the ruins of ancient aqueducts stand next to dilapidated warehouses, officers out on a routine patrol Monday detected the odor of marijuana rising from an air duct of an underground tunnel, according to a statement by the Guardia di Finanza, or financial police. The officers followed their noses to a metal door that opened on to what appeared to be a subterranean mushroom-growing business.

Italy's UEFA EURO 2012 campaign may have had an unhappy ending but it has not cast a shadow over Cesare Prandelli's enlightening approach and ambitious plans are afoot for 2014.

The 204,000-euro Ferrari 458 Italia has never been a particularly common sight, even on the autostrade of its native Italy. Today it’s becoming even rarer as austerity measures spur Ferrari owners to export supercars by the truckload.

Officials say the capsized Costa Concordia cruise ship will not be moved from its resting place off Italy’s Tuscan coast as quickly as planned. Giglio island Mayor Sergio Ortelli told reporters Monday that the timetable for removal of the liner, now lying on its side off the island’s port, has been pushed back.

Emanuele Pesoli is risking death by starvation in order to clear his name. The Verona defender chained himself to the gates of the Italian football federation headquarters in Rome on Saturday and and gone on a hunger strike to protest a lengthy ban, according to Reuters.

 The Italian government is ready to appeal to the constitutional court against a ruling to halt production at Europe's biggest steel plant, an official said on Monday, as it seeks to head off thousands of potential job losses in southern Italy.