Calling himself “a great admirer”, US president Barack Obama held nearly an hour of private talks about fighting global inequality with Pope Francis and invited the pontiff to visit the White House.

Silvio Berlusconi: House arrest most likely outcome.

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano expressed despair yesterday at fierce criticism of his latest plan to end a post-election deadlock that has raised fears of months of instability in the eurozone’s third largest economy.

It’s “cash only” now for tourists at the Vatican wanting to buy museum tickets, souvenirs, and other services after Italy’s central bank decided to block electronic payments, including credit cards, at the tiny city-state.

Carlo Martini, who was buried yesterday, was for progressives in the Church a symbol of the fading dream of open reform, writes Tom Heneghan

Italy’s prime minister Mario Monti warned of a potential breakup of Europe without greater urgency in efforts to lower government borrowing costs, as a standoff over ECB help for Italy and Spain hardened.

Italy’s central bank chief says there is no need “at the moment” to request help from European funds to fight soaring borrowing costs.

Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy rounded on his Italian counterpart Mario Monti yesterday by calling on European leaders to be more careful when they talk about Spain as it struggles to show markets it can control its finances.

The Italian government announced measures yesterday to end tax exemptions on commercial property owned by the Catholic Church, in a move expected to add up to €600 million to state coffers each year.

The captain of the doomed Italian liner Costa Concordia said he was told by managers to take his ship close to shore on the night it ran aground and capsized, according to bugged conversations leaked in Italian newspapers.

A YOUNG Moldovan ballet dancer has denied she is a lover of the captain of the capsized Costa Concordia cruise ship.

THREE Italian brothers suffered heart attacks on the same day, two of them dying as a result.

ITALY’S second austerity package in less than a month was met with a chorus of criticism a day after becoming law, with the largest union threatening a general strike over the “injustice” of the measures.

Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli has revealed he is "unhappy" in the city.

Aspiring Italian starlets and Oscar-winning actor George Clooney are being called to make appearances in premier Silvio Berlusconi’s trial on charges he paid for sex with an underage prostitute, then tried to use his influence to cover it up.

FROM jewels and antiques to loans for young starlets, Italy’s billionaire Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi spent €34 million in 2010.

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi is under investigation in a prostitution case involving a then-17-year-old Moroccan girl, Italy’s leading newspaper reported today.

ITALIAN Premier Silvio Berlusconi yesterday dismissed as “media trash” reports that two television executives helped introduce an underage girl into his entourage.

The Italian press pulled no punches this morning as they dissected the Azzurri’s World Cup failure.

A senior cardinal defended Pope Benedict XVI from “petty gossip” today as the pontiff maintained his silence on mounting sex abuse cover-up accusations during his Easter message.

Pope Benedict XVI has opened the church’s solemn Holy Week amid increasing questions about his own handling of cases of sexual abuse of children by priests.

ITALIAN prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s approval rating has slipped below 50% after a scandal about prostitutes and news that his wife was divorcing him because of his relationship with a teenage girl from Naples.

ITALIAN prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, facing demands to explain his relationship with a teenage girl, denied yesterday he had had a “steamy affair” and said he would have to resign if caught lying about it.

ITALIAN police are investigating a brutal attack on four Franciscan monks in a monastery in northern Italy.

Visitors to Italy’s capital are being told to obey the old maxim – when in Rome do as the Romans do.

Italian media mogul and former premier Silvio Berlusconi paid off a paparazzo to stop the publication of compromising photographs of his daughter, Italian papers said today.

Italy's president today asked Romano Prodi to stay on as premier and face a confidence vote in parliament.

Apparently seeking to calm fears that he will not go after militia gunmen loyal to one of his key political backers, Iraqi prime minister Nouri Maliki said 400 fighters from the Mahdi Army had been arrested over the past several weeks.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Rome today ahead of a conference that will gather top diplomats and officials from key Mideast players in an effort to stop warfare between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas.

The Italian president today said he would not seek a second term when his seven year-mandate ends in mid-May, possibly causing delay in the formation of a government after parliamentary elections.

Judges began inspecting more than 80,000 contested ballots, with Italian politics in turmoil and the country’s future mired in uncertainty following Romano Prodi’s narrow electoral victory and Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s demands for a recount.

Italian prosecutors have concluded an investigation into whether Premier Silvio Berlusconi bribed British lawyer David Mills to give false testimony and they intend to seek his indictment on corruption charges, Italian newspapers said today.

There is no evidence so far that the deadly form of bird flu can be transmitted to humans through food consumption, the EU food agency said today, quashing speculation that it might issue warnings that raw eggs and uncooked chicken should be avoided.

Masked gunmen abducted an Italian journalist in the Gaza Strip town of Deir El-Balah today, after stopping his car and forcing him into theirs, witnesses said.

CONSERVATIVE Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has gained strong support among Catholic cardinals seeking a successor to Pope John Paul II but many of them are still undecided, a Church official said yesterday.

Opposition to his candidate for a key EC post left Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi with a tough decision today: Whether to stand by his choice or give in to protests over the conservative Catholic’s positions on gays and the family.

AN ITALIAN minister nominated for a top job at the European Commission is in trouble for saying single mothers “aren’t very good”, only days after coming under fire for calling homosexuality a sin.

ITALIAN anti-terrorist police yesterday captured one of the masterminds of the March 11 Madrid bombings as part of an investigation involving police in at least two other European countries.

Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, the newly-elected chairman of Italy’s employer lobby, said Italian industry must invest to pull the country out of its economic slump, Corriere della Sera reported.

Italy has been warned that al-Qaida terrorists using Italian passports may try to hijack a plane in Croatia and crash it into American interests in the region, a newspaper reported today.

EUROPE shimmered in a blistering heatwave yesterday, delighting holidaymakers but causing concern for farmers and power companies.

Italian rescue ships have recovered the bodies of seven immigrants who drowned off the North African coast when their ship capsized.

Investigators are looking into a ransom demand for the body of Italy’s most powerful banker, which was stolen from the family tomb last week, newspapers said today.

An Italian newspaper has said the violence before the Roma-Liverpool UEFA Cup match was the result of premeditated guerilla action.