Italy

Forty years on, the circumstances surrounding the shooting of Pope John Paul II remain as murky as ever. Roger Domeneghetti assesses the so-called ‘Bulgarian Connection’ Just before 5pm on the afternoon of May 13, 1981, Pope John Paul II stepped into his open-topped ‘Popemobile’ ready to take a short, but slow journey around St Peter’s Square. The sun-drenched […]

José Mourinho is a busted flush… so why does he keep getting plum managerial jobs? We really should stop doubting José Mourinho when he tells us he is “a special one… .not one out of the bottle.”  A linguist, a persuader, a winner in Portugal, England, Italy, and Spain. But when the trophies stopped and […]

SOPHIA DEBOICK on what might have happened if the attempt on Pope John Paul II’s life had been successful The two bullets fired by his would-be assassin perforated Pope John Paul II’s colon and small intestine, and he lost nearly three-quarters of his blood as he was rushed to hospital. Yet, they narrowly missed his mesenteric artery and […]

Italy’s Robinson Crusoe says he is “really pissed off” being forced off the idyllic island he has spent 30 years living on alone. Mauro Morandi, now 81, landed on the pink sand atoll of Budelli in 1989 while attempting to sail to Polynesia with friends. He has remained ever since, even after his sole companion […]

After a slow start, millions of people across EU countries are now receiving their vaccine – with almost a quarter of people across the bloc having had at least one dose of a Covid-19 shot. That relatively good news – though vaccine progress still lags far behind that of the UK – is marred by […]

A bereaved Italian has reacted to Rome’s funeral crisis by putting up 9×7-metre digital billboardsbearing the words, “Mum, I’m sorry I’ve not been able to have you buried yet”. “There are hundreds of coffins waiting,” said Oberdan Zuccaroli, whose mother died of a heart attack on March 8. His aunt, who died on January 9, is […]

Turkey has been left angered by Italian prime minister Mario Draghi after he branded the country’s president a “dictator” for humiliating European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. The comments about Recep Tayyip Erdogan follows tension between EU leaders and the Turkish government after claims Von der Leyen had been snubbed at a key meeting in the country’s capital. The […]

JAMES BALL on Europe’s very uneven vaccine rollout. With so much riding on the vaccine rollout across Europe, it is perhaps unsurprising it has been quite so tempestuous and bad-tempered. Governments have been accusing one another of irresponsibility, of cheating on supplies, or botching their rollouts. Last week, Italy even stopped a shipment of vaccines destined for […]

The news you might have missed from around Europe, selected by Steve Anglesey. Cyprus’ Eurovision entry is at the centre of protests over its supposedly sacrilegious lyrics. El Diablo by Elena Tsagrinou has scandalised some in the island nation, dominated by the Greek Orthodox church, with lines like: “I gave my heart to El Diablo” […]

Lionel Barber, former editor of the Financial Times, on the task facing Mario Draghi, the man dragged out to rescue his country. Late last autumn, Mario Draghi sat in his house in Umbria waiting, half in dread, for the inevitable call from Rome. Almost a year had passed since his departure as president of the European […]

Italy’s new leader enters office with plenty of experience and esteem. But he will need even more than that to tackle the monumental task facing him, says Esmé O’Keeffe. Last Wednesday Mario Draghi became the latest Italian to receive a summons to the Quirinale and to trek up the highest hill in Rome to the palace – once home to […]

Emma Luck on the singer who shook up Italy. When the long-awaited call came for a meeting with Elvis’ manager Colonel Parker and the King himself in Memphis, Little Tony leapt at the chance. Known as ‘the Italian Elvis’, the performer had always acknowledged the influence of his American hero. It was not hard to […]

CHARLIE CONNELLY looks back on the life of Giovanni Falcone who played an instrumental role in bringing down the mafia. One hot Sicilian night in July 2017 somebody attacked a statue in a piazza in the poor San Filippo Neri neighbourhood of Palermo. They meant business too. It took a determined effort to knock the […]

Forty years ago this week saw one of the most audacious and tragic acts of political terror of the 20th century. And, as PATRICK SAWER ​reports, its riddles still cast a long shadow over Italy The image is seared onto the memory of most Italians of a certain age – in much the same the […]

Amidst the chaos of Brexit comes clarity from afar. Italian journalist and Anglophile PAOLA PEDUZZI provides a plaintive view of her beloved UK As Brexit edges closer, my overwhelming feeling is one of sadness. I love Britain. I always have. I hope I always will. But this sadness stems not just from what I fear […]

Opera has a long history of shaping national identity – much to the annoyance of some. PATRICK SAWER looks at its impact in Italy and, perhaps more surprisingly, in the UK Arriving in Britain from his native Germany in 1710, George Frideric Handel wasted no time making an impression on what would now be called […]