Zombie-banks, anti-EU sentiment and a stagnant economy are just some of the issues facing a country that would be too big to bail out, writes Philippe Legrain

If parliamentarian Elvira Savino has her way, Italian parents who insist on a vegan diet for their children will risk up to four years in jail.

Ex-Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi has been taken to hospital for scheduled tests after doctors discovered a small irregular heartbeat during an earlier appointment.

Italy’s banking woes are set to plague prime minister Matteo Renzi for months to come after a long-sought deal with the EU on bad debts disappointed investors.

Silvio Berlusconi’s acquittal in his notorious ‘bunga bunga’ case has been upheld by Italy’s highest court.

Football sometimes seems like politics in disguise but in Greece, the opposite is also true, writes David Shonfield.

An Italian appeals court has acquitted former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi in a sex-for-hire case, reversing a lower court conviction that had carried a seven-year prison sentence and a lifetime ban on holding political office.

An Italian appeals court has acquitted former premier Silvio Berlusconi in a sex-for-hire case.

Germany’s Angela Merkel expressed regret populist parties had done well in EU elections and said it was up to governments in countries like France to win back voters with policies that foster growth, jobs, and competitiveness.

Silvio Berlusconi will perform community service for his tax fraud conviction at a centre for the elderly, a Milan court has ruled.

Silvio Berlusconi has asked to serve his one-year sentence for tax fraud helping disabled people, according to judicial sources.

Italian football is the continuation of politics by other means rather than war.

Italy’s fragile coalition government, already struggling to contain deep divisions over tax and economic policy, woke up to a whole set of new problems yesterday after Silvio Berlusconi’s conviction for tax fraud was upheld by the supreme court.

When historians of the future dig beneath the rubble of 21st-century Italy, they are likely to view Silvio Berlusconi as the last Roman emperor.

The great Italian caricaturist Altan had a cartoon on the front of La Repubblica in recent days, in which an Italian is sinking below the waves, shouting: “I’m drowning!” On the beach, a fat man whose swimsuit sports the German national colours, says: “Zat is how you learn, zpendthrift!”

Former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi suggested that he will attempt a return to power — using the old party name that brought him into politics two decades ago.

Former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi has suggested in an interview that he will attempt a return to power – using the old party name that brought him into politics two decades ago.

Silvio Berlusconi has been campaigning to the point of exhaustion in hope of boosting fellow conservatives’ fortunes in local balloting across Italy and dealing a blow to Premier Romano Prodi, his archrival who beat him a year ago for the nation’s leadership.

THE trek home began immediately after the match ended: 7,000 Milan fans with their different-coloured bracelets indicating the departure time of their return flights to Malpensa.

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

FORMER Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi issued a public apology to his wife yesterday after she learned through the press of his verbal dalliance with a pretty young lawmaker.

New Italian Premier Romano Prodi outlined his centre-left government’s programme today.

Centre-left leader Romano Prodi said today he intends to govern Italy for the full five years of Parliament’s term, and said Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s refusal to acknowledge that Prodi won the elections is “not my problem, it is his.”

A top Italian court tonight confirmed the slim electoral victory of centre-left leader Romano Prodi in the lower house of parliament, although was not conceding defeat.

Romano Prodi moved a step closer to becoming the next Italian premier today when the Interior Ministry sharply lowered the number of contested ballots in the closely fought election, boosting the likelihood that his narrow victory will stand.

CENTRE-LEFT challenger Romano Prodi yesterday claimed an outright electoral victory yesterday over Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi.

Italy’s parliamentary election hung in the balance today as the country counted ballots cast for six new senate seats by Italians living abroad.

THE fate of Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s longest-serving premier since World War Two, hung in the balance last night as vote projections from parliamentary election returns swung dramatically back and forth.

Elections pitting Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s conservative coalition against centre-left forces led by Romano Prodi were too close to call tonight after projections showed Berlusconi’s forces leading in the Senate but running neck-and-neck in the lower Chamber of Deputies.

Centre-left challenger Romano Prodi was leading conservative Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi in parliamentary elections, an exit poll indicated today.

Italians had a final day of voting today to deliver a verdict on conservative Premier Silvio Berlusconi, the billionaire media mogul who failed to jump-start a flat economy in his tenure as the nation’s longest-serving premier since the Second World War.

The resignation of Italy’s embattled central bank chief has cleared the way for the government to focus on reforming the nation’s scandal-tainted banking industry at a special cabinet meeting today.

Italy’s image-conscious leader Silvio Berlusconi, who has undergone a face lift and a hair transplant since becoming premier, has begun a diet.

ITALY’S president began a round of crisis talks between the country’s leading political figures yesterday aimed at averting early elections after the resignation of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

A JUDGE yesterday ordered the arrest of an MP from Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s party and 50 other people in the latest crackdown on organised crime in southern Italy.

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi indicated today he might resign if his coalition partners fail to back him in parliament on income tax cuts.

Europeans are enjoying a smirk before the usually staid European Parliament elections, with curious candidates such as a porn star who dons risque outfits, a soccer player and a supermodel.

ITALIANS are facing an extraordinary dilemma after Monday’s ultimatum from the kidnappers holding three of their countrymen hostage in Iraq.

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi appears to have put his foot in his mouth again.

ITALIAN prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, facing a German tourism boycott that would cost his country millions of pounds, yesterday came under fire from one of his closest political allies.

ITALIAN Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi expressed regret for his Nazi gaffe last night - but only to German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi expressed regret for his “Nazi” gaffe tonight – but only to German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.