MATTEO SALVINI

Heavy rainfall triggered landslides early Saturday on the southern Italian island of Ischia. It cut a muddy swath through a port town, collapsing buildings and sweeping cars into the sea.

12 people were reported missing and over 100 stranded after rainfall led to landslides and collapsed at least 10 buildings on the Italian Island of Ischia.

Firefighters and the Coast Guard were working on rescue efforts.

MILAN — (AP) — Heavy rainfall triggered landslides early Saturday on the southern Italian island of Ischia that collapsed buildings and left as many as 12 people missing. Italy's interior minister said no deaths had yet been confirmed, appearing to contradict an early announcement by another senior politician. “At the moment there are no confirmed deaths," said Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, speaking from the firefighters emergency coordination center. The prefecture for the Naples region, which includes Ischia, said at least 12 people were missing. Video from the island shows paths that the landslides had cut down slopes, leaving behind traces of mud.

Several people are missing after a severe storm triggered a landslide on the southern Italian island of Ischia on Saturday, authorities said. The deaths were confirmed by Italian Vice Premier Matteo Salvini, according to the AP and The Guardian. Firefighters in Italy said that a rainstorm began at about 4 a.m. local time, causing flooding and a landslide on the island, Reuters reported. Reinforcements were being sent from nearby Naples but were having difficulties reaching the island either by motorboat or helicopter because of the weather, according to the AP. “It’s a complicated situation, houses have been uprooted by the landslide,” police chief Tiziano Laganà told La Repubblica.

MILAN — (AP) — A landslide triggered by a storm on the southern Italian island of Ischia has killed at least eight people, Italian Vice Premier Matteo Salvini said Saturday. The news agency ANSA reported that at least 10 buildings had collapsed and more people are missing, including at least three children. At least 100 people were stranded in isolated parts of the island, and the mayor urged people to stay at home. Reinforcements were being sent from nearby Naples, but were encountering difficulties in reaching the island either by motorboat or helicopter due to the weather. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Italy’s vice premier says at least eight people have died following a landslide triggered by heavy rain on the southern island of Ischia

Heavy rainfall has triggered a massive landslide on the southern Italian resort island of Ischia.

Lines have formed at one of Italy’s northern border crossings with France following Paris’ decision to reinforce border controls over a diplomatic standoff with Italy about migration policy and humanitarian rescue ships.

MILAN — (AP) — Italy’s new far-right-led government has blocked humanitarian rescue ships from accessing its ports, resulting in a standoff with charities that patrol the deadly central Mediterranean, rescuing people in trouble at sea. A third charity ship, carrying 89 people rescued at sea, unloaded all of the people it rescued in Calabria on Tuesday. Italy says it is not responsible for taking on migrants rescued by charity rescue ships. A German captain, Carola Rackete, famously defied Salvini and entered an Italian port despite orders not to, citing an emergency situation on board. Most arrived on their own, or were rescued by the Italian Coast Guard or other national rescue ships.

Italy’s new government has blocked humanitarian rescue ships from accessing its ports, resulting in a standoff with charities that patrol the deadly central Mediterranean Sea, used by people desperate to reach Europe for a new life.

The captain of a charity-operated migrant rescue ship has refused Italian orders to leave a Sicilian port after authorities refused to let 35 migrants disembark.

Two German-run migrant rescue ships carrying nearly 300 rescued people are waiting off the eastern coast of Sicily.

Italy’s new interior minister, Matteo Piantedosi, has drafted new measures alleging that the non-governmental groups violated procedure by not properly coordinating their rescues, a step setting the groundwork for Italy to close the ports. Italy's posture, maintaining silence to repeated requests for a safe port, has effectively blocked three charity-run rescue boats at sea. It is reminiscent of Italy’s anti-NGO policies under former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who is now in charge of ports as infrastructure minister. “We have no doubt that Italy will welcome the ship, ... that Italy will respect international law,” he told French news broadcaster BFM TV. Charities have denied circumventing procedures, and say it is their duty to rescue people in distress at sea.

France and Germany are asking Italy’s new far-right-led government to grant a safe port to nearly 1,000 people rescued by humanitarian groups in the central Mediterranean, some of whom have been stuck at sea for more than two weeks

Italy’s new far-right led government has adopted a measure formalizing the closure of its ports to rescue ships run by humanitarian groups as four vessels with more than 1,000 migrants continue to press for a safe port.

The country's new interior minister, Matteo Piantedosi, has already set the groundwork to ban humanitarian ships from its ports, while appealing to countries whose flags the rescue ships fly to take on the migrants and relieve the burden on Italy. The moves are reminiscent of the anti-NGO posture taken by League party leader Matteo Salvini, now the deputy premier, who prevented humanitarian ships from accessing Italy’s ports when he was interior minister from 2018-19. Even while Italy is de facto blocking the humanitarian ships from disembarking the 1,000 people, interior ministry figures indicate that 6,383 others have been brought to its shores by Italian authorities over the last week. The crew of the Geo Barents is struggling to accommodate the migrants picked up in seven operations starting Oct. 22. The rescued migrants were struggling with the crowded conditions and the uncertainty.

Humanitarian groups caring for 1,000 rescued migrants aboard three ships in the central Mediterranean are sounding an alarm about deteriorating conditions on board.

New far-right Premier Giorgia Meloni has used her first visit to European Union headquarters to declare that Italy will be a force to reckon with in EU affairs.

Several thousand black-clad fascist sympathizers chanted and sang in praise of Benito Mussolini as they marched to the slain Italian dictator’s crypt Sunday, 100 years after Mussolini entered Rome and completed a bloodless coup that gave rise to two decades of fascist rule.

ROME — (AP) — Italy’s new far-right-led government of Premier Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday night easily won the first of two required confidence votes in Parliament by a comfortable margin. On Wednesday, the new government will face a vote in the upper chamber, the Senate, where it also holds a solid majority. Such attitudes are tantamount to "a lack of respect for the Italian people, who don't need lessons,'' Meloni said. With the confidence votes out of the way, Meloni will be able to get down to the business of governing. “I have never felt sympathy or closeness for any non-democratic regime, including fascism,” Meloni told lawmakers in the Chamber of Deputies.

ROME — (AP) — Italy’s new premier, Giorgia Meloni, on Tuesday laid out her government’s policy plans, firing back at critics at home and abroad alarmed that her far-right politics might undermine European unity or citizens' civil rights. “To pose these questions doesn't mean being an enemy or a heretic but a practical” person, Meloni said in a 70-minute speech. Such attitudes are tantamount to "a lack of respect for the Italian people, who don't need lessons,'' Meloni said. In her election campaign, Meloni, 45, didn't make much fuss about the prospect of becoming the first woman to be Italy's premier. Meloni has been dogged for years by critics who say she hasn't unambiguously condemned fascism.

Italy’s new far-right-led government of Giorgia Meloni has won the first of two required confidence votes in Parliament by a comfortable margin.

Italy’s new premier, Giorgia Meloni, on Tuesday laid out her government’s policy plans, firing back at critics at home and abroad alarmed that her far-right politics might undermine European unity or citizens' civil rights. In a speech to Parliament’s lower Chamber of Deputies ahead of a confidence vote required of all new governments, Meloni criticized the European Union for not always being ready for challenges, notably the dramatic energy crisis now threatening households and businesses. “To pose these questions doesn't mean being an enemy or a heretic but a practical” person, Meloni said in a 70-minute speech.

Giorgia Meloni has become the first woman installed as Italy's premier.

MILAN — (AP) — As Giorgia Meloni becomes Italy’s first female premier, the world is watching closely to see whether she will emerge as a firebrand leader of a far-right party with neo-fascist roots or the more moderate right-wing politician who succeeded in capturing 26% of the vote. Meloni has recently signaled Poland as a key ally for Italy in a speech to a Spanish far-right rally, where she also singled out the success of the far-right in Sweden. On Friday, Meloni chose as foreign minister Antonio Tajani, a pro-EU politician and former president of the European parliament. Meloni is tasked with reducing Italy’s public debt, currently the second-highest in the eurozone at 150% of GDP, while maintaining budget stability. Also, the right-wing League aims to do away with a 10-year-old pension reform that raised the retirement age.

As Giorgia Meloni becomes Italy’s first female premier, the world is watching closely to see if she will emerge as a firebrand leader of a far-right party with neo-fascist roots or the more moderate right-wing politician who succeded in capturing 26% of the vote.

Meloni’s Brothers of Italy, a party with neo-fascist roots, was the top vote-getter in Italy's national election last month. Meloni co-founded the party in December 2012, and it was considered a fringe movement on the right during its first years. Berlusconi and Salvini are longtime admirers of Russian President Vladimir Putin; Meloni staunchly backs Ukraine in its defense against the Russian invasion. Still, while her party's members are the largest force in the Italian Parliament, Meloni needs the support of her two allies to command a solid majority. Salvini had lobbied hard to be appointed interior minister by Meloni — a position he held in a 2018-2019 government formed by populists.

Meloni and her campaign allies met for about 10 minutes with President Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinal presidential palace. She emerged to tell reporters that the coalition had unanimously indicated to Mattarella that she deserved the mandate to govern. If Meloni, 45, succeeds, she would be the first woman to become Italian premier. Earlier this week in a meeting with his lawmakers he expressed sympathy for Putin’s motivation for invading Ukraine. That prompted Mattarella to dissolve parliament and pave the way for elections some six months early.

Giorgia Meloni has formed Italy’s new ruling coalition, giving the country its first far-right-led government since the end of World War II.

Italy’s presumed next premier, Giorgia Meloni, and former Premier Silvio Berlusconi are seeking to put days of acrimony behind them over possible Cabinet picks.

ROME — (AP) — The honeymoon is finished even before any marriage of political convenience in Italy could be formalized. Salvini on Saturday issued a sort of call for a truce between Meloni and Berlusconi so that three allies' bid to rule Italy isn't derailed. By all accounts, Meloni had vetoed a ministry for a close political aide of Berlusconi who is one of his several female political proteges. "It seems like a point was missing among those listed by Berlusconi — that I can't be blackmailed,'' Meloni told private Italian TV La7. Still, Meloni needs the forces of Berlusconi and Salvini for any viable coalition.

Meloni is expected to be asked next week by Italy's president to try to create a governing coalition with campaign allies Berlusconi and right-wing leader Matteo Salvini and become premier. Salvini on Saturday issued a sort of call for a truce between Meloni and Berlusconi so that three allies' bid to rule Italy isn't derailed. By all accounts, Meloni had vetoed a ministry for a close political aide of Berlusconi who is one of his several female political proteges. "It seems like a point was missing among those listed by Berlusconi — that I can't be blackmailed,'' Meloni told private Italian TV La7. Still, Meloni needs the forces of Berlusconi and Salvini for any viable coalition.

The resounding victory by far-right leader Giorgia Meloni in last month's Italian election isn't sitting well with Silvio Berlusconi.

The honeymoon is finished even before any marriage of political convenience in Italy could be formalized. Meloni is expected to be asked next week by Italy's president to try to create a governing coalition with campaign allies Berlusconi and right-wing leader Matteo Salvini and become premier. Behind-the-scenes divvying up of ministries in what would be Italy's first far-right-led government since the end of World War II started after her Brothers of Italy party took 26% of the ballots cast, more than those won by the forces of Salvini and Berlusconi combined.

Forming a new government in Italy involves time and decades-old rituals.

Far-right leader Giorgia Meloni is vowing to put Italy's national interests first in tackling soaring energy costs.

The country has chosen its most right-wing government since the Second World War. Will political dysfunction temper extremism?

Italy’s former premier Silvio Berlusconi is making his return to Italy’s parliament nearly a decade after being banned from holding public office over a tax fraud conviction.

The shift in Italy follows a similar right-wing victory in Sweden and recent gains by the far right in France and Spain.

Italy’s left warned of “dark days” ahead and vowed to keep Italy in the heart of Europe. It followed a right-wing victory in Sweden and recent gains by the far-right in France and Spain. The center-left Democratic Party and its allies had around 26% support, while the populist 5-Star Movement — which had been the biggest vote-getter in the 2018 parliamentary election — saw its share of the vote halved to 15%. But he may face an internal leadership challenge, with Meloni’s party outperforming the League even in its northeastern stronghold. “The trend that emerged two weeks ago in Sweden was confirmed in Italy,” acknowledged Democratic Party leader Enrico Letta, calling Monday a “sad day for Italy, for Europe.”"We expect dark days.

Italy’s European Union partners are signaling discomfort and vigilance after one of the bloc’s founding members swung far to the political right.

Italy’s lurch to the far right immediately shifted Europe’s geopolitical reality, placing a euroskeptic party in position to lead a founding member of the European Union and its third-largest economy. Right-wing leaders across Europe immediately hailed Meloni’s victory and her party’s meteoric rise as sending a historic message to Brussels. Near-final results showed the center-right coalition netting some 44% of the parliamentary vote, with Meloni’s Brothers of Italy snatching some 26%. He may also face an internal leadership challenge after the League suffered an abysmal result of under 10% of the vote, with Meloni’s party outperforming the League in its northeastern stronghold. French politician Marine Le Pen’s party hailed the result as a “lesson in humility” for the EU.

Near-final results show a party with neo-fascist roots, the Brothers of Italy, has swept Italy’s national elections.

A party with neo-fascist roots has won the most votes in Italy’s national election, setting the stage for talks to form the country’s first far right-led government since World War II, with Giorgia Meloni at the helm as Italy’s first female premier.

Italy’s lurch to the far right immediately shifted Europe’s geopolitical reality, placing a euroskeptic party in position to lead a founding member of the European Union and its third-largest economy. Right-wing leaders across Europe immediately hailed Meloni’s victory and her party’s meteoric rise as sending a historic message to Brussels. Near-final results showed the center-right coalition netting some 44% of the parliamentary vote, with Meloni’s Brothers of Italy snatching some 26%. Salvini has made clear he wants to return to the interior ministry, where he imposed a tough anti-migrant policy as minister. French politician Marine Le Pen’s party hailed the result as a “lesson in humility” for the EU.

In a victory speech, far-right Italian leader Giorgia Meloni struck a moderate tone after preliminary results in Sunday’s national election showed her Brothers of Italy party leading contenders. Projections based on votes counted from nearly two-thirds of the polling stations in Sunday’s balloting indicated Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party would win some 25.7% of the vote. In the last election, in 2018, Meloni’s party took 4.4%. Meloni’s party was forged from the legacy of a neo-fascist party formed shortly after the war by nostalgists of Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. Meloni kept her Brothers of Italy party in the opposition, refusing to join Draghi’s unity government or Conte’s two coalitions that governed after the 2018 vote.

"Italy moves to the right,'' Italian daily La Stampa headlined its front page in an early Monday edition. Her main campaign allies and likely coalition partners are anti-migrant League leader Matteo Salvini and conservative former Premier Silvio Berlusconi. That compared to some 19% by the closest challenger, the center-left Democratic Party of former Premier Enrico Letta. Meloni's strong showing heartened her allies in Europe, intent on shifting the European Union's politics sharply to the right. In the last election, in 2018, Meloni's party took 4.4%.

An alliance of right-wing parties in Italy, led by Georgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy party, was set to win Sunday's election, according to exit polls.

ROME — (AP) — Far-right leader Giorgia Meloni’s electoral alliance appeared to hold a wide lead in Italy’s national note, an exit poll on state television suggested shortly after polls closed on Sunday evening. The publication of opinion polls is banned in the two weeks leading up to the election. Polls before then indicated that far-right leader Giorgia Meloni and her Brothers of Italy party, which has neo-fascist roots, was the most popular. Their leaders, Salvini, Berlusconi and 5-Star Movement leader Giuseppe Conte, a former premier whose party is the largest in the outgoing Parliament, saw Meloni’s popularity growing while theirs were slipping. Meloni kept her Brothers of Italy party in the opposition, refusing to join Draghi’s unity government or Conte’s two coalitions that governed after the 2018 vote.

Italy held elections on Sunday which may move the country to the Right, politically.

Italians were voting on Sunday in an election that could move the country's politics sharply toward the right during a critical time for Europe.

Italians were voting on Sunday in an election that could move the country's politics sharply toward the right during a critical time for Europe.

Before publication of opinion polls were banned 15 days ago, far-right leader Giorgia Meloni and her Brothers of Italy party, with its neo-fascist roots, led in popularity, suggesting Italians were poised to vote their first far-right government into power since World War II. But pollsters predicted turnout could be even lower than the record-setting low of 73% in the last general election in 2018. But the three populist parties in the coalition boycotted a confidence vote tied to an energy relief measure. She further distanced herself from Salvini and Berlusconi with unflagging support for Ukraine, including sending weapons so Kyiv could defend itself against Russia. In the final days of the election campaign, Salvini criticized Russian atrocities in Ukraine.

The center-left did not agree on teaming up with left-leaning populists or centrists, which is a big disadvantage in Italian elections. But populist leaders saw their parties' support steadily slipping both in opinion polls and in various mayoral and gubernatorial races since the last national election in 2018. In July, 5-Star Movement head Giuseppe Conte, right-wing League leader Matteo Salvini and former Premier Silvio Berlusconi yanked their support for Premier Mario Draghi during a confidence vote. Her far-right Brothers of Italy, a party with neo-fascist roots, won just over 4% in the 2018 election. Since the last election, a reform has been passed aimed at streamlining Parliament and make its operation less costly to taxpayers.

A Sunday parliamentary election will determine who next governs major industrial economy and key NATO member Italy.

ROME — (AP) — Italians will vote on Sunday in what is being billed as a crucial election as Europe reels from repercussions of Russia's war in Ukraine. Recently, a right-wing party in Sweden surged in popularity by capitalizing on peoples' fears about crime. Meloni's main alliance partner is right-wing League party leader Matteo Salvini, who blames crime on migrants. Yet Meloni, the sole major party leader to refuse to join Draghi's coalition, is polling the strongest. Italy's tiny Greens party, a campaign partner of Letta, is forecast to capture barely a few seats in Parliament.

Italian voters cast ballots on Sunday in an election that has been billed as crucial as Europe reels from the repercussions of war in Ukraine.

After Sunday elections, Giorgia Meloni could be the next politician to move from the fringes to a position of power.

Her Brothers of Italy party has enjoyed a meteoric rise in popularity since the vote in 2018, when it polled just over 4%. ____ENRICO LETTALetta, the 56-year-old leader of the Democratic Party, Italy’s main center-left force, is Meloni’s chief election rival. ___MATTEO SALVINISalvini, the 49-year-old League party leader, had been the unchallenged face of right-wing leadership in Italy until Giorgia Meloni's far-right party took off. When neither then-5-Star leader Luigi Di Maio nor right-wing leader Matteo Salvini budged on who would become premier, Conte got the job. Early in his second stint as premier, Italy became the first nation in the West to be slammed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The main candidates in Italy's general election on Sunday to elect a new Parliament and determine who next governs the country include both familiar names and lesser-known ones.

With Italy's election looming, the main leader of the Italian center-left alliance says the gains of a Swedish populist party with neo-Nazi roots is one more indication that fear is driving the far-right's growth in Europe.

MODENA, Italy — (AP) — As far-right leader Giorgia Meloni 's push to become Italy's first female premier gathers momentum, the country's fractured left is offering voters a contrasting style of feminist politics. The 45-year-old Meloni's Brothers of Italy Party consistently has led polls going into the Sept. 25 parliamentary vote, putting her in position to be tapped as premier. “Not all female leadership helps women,’’ Schlein told an audience of several hundred at a weekend campaign rally at the Festa dell’Unita in Modena. She faults Italy’s current political class with creating “paternalistic” policies that fail to consult the people they affect. But that effort failed miserably to bring into being an electoral coalition on the left for this vote.

Far-right leader Giorgia Meloni’s is gathering momentum in her push to become Italy’s first female premier.

Italy’s Democratic Party leader is galvanizing center-left voters, trying to confound opinion polls that indicate a right-wing alliance is headed to triumph in this month’s parliamentary elections

Italian far-right leader Giorgia Meloni has led her first election campaign rally in the Adriactic port city of Ancona.

The far-right candidate who aspires to be Italy’s first female premier has come under fire from opponents for posting a pixelized video that purports to show a woman being raped by an asylum-seeker.

Giorgia Meloni is riding a wave of popularity that next month could see her become Italy’s first female prime minister and its first far-right leader since World War II.

The country’s right-wing coalition unveiled a policy manifesto that can essentially be summed up as patriotic talk and a cocktail of misguided tax cuts.

The leader of Italy's Democratic Party is warning of the threats to European democracy posed by Italy's right-wing nationalistic parties.

Italy's far-right leader Giorgia Meloni, who is leading in opinion polls ahead of next month's elections, is insisting she won't be a danger to democracy if she becomes the country's next premier.

The implosion of the center-left coalition in Italy isn’t likely to ease the tensions between the right-wing leaders.

Italy’s firebrand former interior minister, Matteo Salvini, has put migration at the center of his electoral campaign during a visit to Lampedusa.

A judge in Italy has ordered the suspect in the death of a Nigerian street vendor to remain jailed as an investigation continues.

The European Union’s top court says maritime authorities cannot impound ships involved in search-and-rescue work just because they think the vessels might be overloaded due to the number of migrants aboard.

Italians are debating whether a Nigerian street vendor could have been saved from a fatal attack by an enraged Italian man that played out in public as bystanders watched.

Police investigator Matteo Luconi told Italian news channel Sky TG24 that onlookers called police, who responded after the suspect had fled and attempted to administer aid to the victim. Luconi told Sky TG24 the assailant lashed out after the vendor made “insistent” requests for pocket change. Amanza gave a different version of what happened, saying the attacker became infuriated when Ogorchukwu told the man's companion she was beautiful. “This compliment killed him,’’ Amanza told The Associated Press. “My condemnation is not only for the (crime) but it is also for the indifference,'' Ciarapica told Sky.

Police in Italy arrested an Italian man in the slaying of a Nigerian vendor whose brutal beating death on a busy beach town thoroughfare was filmed by onlookers without any apparent attempt to intervene physically. Video footage of the attack has circulated widely on Italian news websites and social media, eliciting outrage as Italy enters a parliamentary election campaign in which the right-wing coalition has already made immigration an issue. Right-wing leader Matteo Salvini, who is making security a plank of his campaign, also expressed outrage over the death, saying “security has no color and ... needs to return to being a right.”

A humanitarian organization’s maritime rescue ship is sailing to the Italian mainland to disembark 438 migrants who were rescued in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya

Italy's president is urging Italians to reinvigorate their democracy as the country notes the 100th anniversary of an attack that paved Benito Mussolini's path to power.

The Italian political class has had a long, controversial dalliance with Moscow. This is not the time to rekindle that affair.

Italian Premier Mario Draghi’s decision to turn in his resignation after his “unity” coalition broke apart dramatically in Parliament was the latest step in a political crisis that could take months before a new government is solidly in place to lead the European Union’s third-largest economy

APTOPIX Italy Politics Italian Premier Mario Draghi waves to lawmakers at the end of his address at the Parliament in Rome, Thursday, July 21, 2022. By Thursday afternoon, about the only certainty was Italians are going to the ballot box on Sept. 25, some six months early. Its leader, Giuseppe Conte, drafted by the 5-Stars to be premier in back-to-back governments, had joined his successor's “national unity coalition." But with Salvini itching for years to become premier, Meloni might face a Salvini-Berlusconi deal to make the League leader the next premier. The dramatic and rapid unraveling of Draghi's ‘’unity" coalition is likely to leave its mark on Italy's political landscape.

Italian Premier Mario Draghi's decision to turn in his resignation after his “unity” coalition broke apart dramatically in Parliament was the latest step in a political crisis that could take months before a new government is solidly in place to lead the European Union's third-largest economy.

Italy is headed for an early election after its president accepted Premier Mario Draghi’s resignation and decided there was no possibility for cobbling together another government.

PM Mario Draghi's government nears collapse after a populist coalition party withdraws support.

Italy’s political landscape has shifted after Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio formalized his departure from the 5-Star Movement.

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine grinds into its fourth month, officials in Kyiv have expressed fears that the specter of “war fatigue” could erode the West’s resolve to help the country push back Moscow’s aggression.

Italian Premier Mario Draghi meets with U.S. President Biden this week in Washington as Europe faces another “whatever it takes” moment, with war raging on its eastern flank in Ukraine.

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen is gathering her party’s troops, not to mourn her loss in the presidential election but to plot out a victory in France's parliamentary election in June.

The mayor of a Polish town has called out the leader of Italy’s right-wing League party for his pro-Kremlin views, derisively calling Matteo Salvini a “friend" of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The mayor of a Polish town bordering Ukraine publicly called out the leader of Italy’s right-wing League party for his pro-Kremlin views on Tuesday, derisively calling Matteo Salvini a “friend” of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Przemysl Mayor Wojciech Bakun challenged Salvini during a news conference at the train station in Przemysl, where hundreds of thousands of refugees have arrived since Russia launched its war against Ukraine on Feb. 24. The mayor pulled a T-shirt from his jacket showing Putin's face and the words: “Army of Russia.”

The war in Ukraine has forced Rome to re-examine its entanglements with powers inimical to Europe.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella has been pulled away from his impending retirement and reelected to a second seven-year term as the country’s head of state, ending days of political impasse as party leaders struggled to pick his successor.

Insistence by Italy's center-right bloc that their candidate becomes the nation's president has backfired.

Leaders across Italy's political spectrum have been struggling to nail down an agreement on who should be the country's next president.

Former premier Silvio Berlusconi has bowed out of Italy’s presidential election set for next week.

Italy is poised to elect a new president, a figure who is supposed to serve as the nation’s moral compass and foster unity by being above the political fray.

The Italian Coast Guard has rescued more than 550 migrants, many of them young men and boys from Egypt, from traffickers boats in storm-tossed waters off the southern “toe” of Italy's mainland.

U.S. actor Richard Gere is officially on the witness list to testify at the trial against Italy’s right-wing former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini.