An Italian court opened a  hearing Monday into whether to hand down indictments against the captain and some crew of the Costa Concordia cruise ship for the 2012 grounding off Tuscany that killed 32 people.

 The golden girl of Italian swimming, Federica Pellegrini, will not be defending the 200 and 400 metres freestyle titles she won in 2009 and 2011 at this year's world championships in Barcelona in August.

  Umberto Bossi, the former head of the regionalist Northern League, told ANSA on Friday he did not file papers to launch a new political party."What are you talking about? People are running their mouths too much," he said, denying earlier reports.

 Little Italy was thought by some New Yorkers to be a thing of the past as the neighborhood quickly began to shrink. Today, the neighborhood is on the rebound with a reinvigorating Italian restaurant scene that is back serving al dente spaghetti pasta and Italian dishes that made the neighborhood famous. 

 Vatican City, April 12 - Ever since he was named pontiff one month ago and opted to present himself without the traditional papal red cape trimmed with ermine, Pope Francis has had no shortage of admirers drawn to his modest, down-to-earth touch. 

 Fabrizio Corona, Italy’s self-described “King of Paparazzi” who reportedly made millions by charging famous figures not to publish embarrassing photos, saw his appeal on charges of fraud and tax evasion denied, putting him behind bars for nearly four years. 

 The striker position has been a thorn in the side of the Italian national team for a long time now.  Even during the team's magical run to the 2006 World Cup title, the Azzurri didn't have a top striker—they scored 12 goals through 10 different players.In that tournament, Francesco Totti was still playing with metal plates in his ankle and Alessandro Del Piero was being deployed as a super-sub. The forward line was led by Luca Toni (scorer of 31 goals that season atFiorentina) and Alberto Gilardino (17 goals with AC Milan).

 Italy plans to rent out its cultural heritage to the highest bidder in an effort to pay off some of its trillion-euro debt. The government initiative will hand over castles and monasteries to luxury hotel chains for development as niche resorts.

 Two task forces appointed by Italy's president to help break the country's political gridlock have proposed a host of government and financial reforms that have long been discussed but never taken up by Italy's squabbling politicians.

Italy's Democratic Party (PD) chief Pier Luigi Bersani on Thursday denied an imminent split of his center-left bloc, the largest in parliament, amid increasing criticism of his leadership during a prolonged political stalemate