Italy's populist opposition 5-Star Movement says it is ready to run the country after voters triggered the demise of prime minister Matteo Renzi with a stinging defeat on his reforms referendum.

The referendum result in Italy, which comes after Donald Trump's election last month and the Brexit referendum in June, could now potentially trigger a further bout of political and economic turmoil not just in Italy, but across Europe too, argues Andrew Hammond.

Italy’s highest court gave the green light to a referendum that Prime Minister Matteo Renzi says will guarantee political stability and on which he has staked his future.

Football officials have written to two clubs in England after a friendly match was abandoned at half-time with one side unwilling to continue due to what it called the "aggressive direction" of the game.

Britain: An orangutan called Rocky has outperformed Sylvester Stallone in the movie of the same name by displaying an ability to emulate human speech.

Pope Francis said yesterday that the mistreatment of migrants who are escaping war and injustice “makes one cry”, as he visited the northern Italian city of Turin, stopping to pray before the shroud that some Christians believe is Jesus’ burial cloth.

Heartened by recent election successes by an anti-immigrant party, Italian politicians based in the north vowed yesterday not to shelter any more migrants saved at sea, even as hundreds more were being rescued in the Mediterranean from smugglers’ boats in distress.

Italy’s coast guard and navy joined forces with tugs and other commercial vessels to rescue migrants in at least 16 boats yesterday, saving hundreds and recovering 10 bodies as smugglers took advantage of calm seas to send packed vessels across the Mediterranean.

As many as 950 people were feared dead after a fishing boat packed with migrants capsized off the Libyan coast in what may be one of the worst disasters of the Mediterranean migrant crisis, officials said.

Italy’s president has resigned, setting off a scramble for a new head of state that will test premier Matteo Renzi’s ability to unite his own bickering party without alienating opposition support for electoral reform.

Catalonia’s president Artur Mas says Catalans want the same chance as Scots who were given the right to vote for independence.

Italy’s maritime search and rescue service has saved 3,500 migrants and found 19 corpses in the Mediterranean since Friday as thousands attempted to cross to Europe by boat over the weekend, the Italian navy said.

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France’s far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen told a Sunday paper that she expects her party to get enough votes in the May 22 to 25 European elections to form a bloc with other Eurosceptics that can stop the EU’s progress.

Italy’s president is consulting political chiefs to determine if Democratic Party leader Matteo Renzi has enough support to form a new government.

Italy is going to the polls today and tomorrow for a watershed parliamentary election that could shape the future of one of Europe’s biggest economies.

Former premier Silvio Berlusconi sharply criticised the decision by Mario Monti to run in Italy’s general elections and vowed to launch a parliamentary inquiry into the 2011 fall of his government and appointment of Monti as Italy’s premier.

Mario Balotelli profile

New Italian leader Mario Monti has formed a government tasked with helping Italy escape financial disaster.

Italy’s prime minister-designate won wide backing from political leaders today as he worked to put together a cabinet that can steer the eurozone’s third-biggest economy through its debt crisis.

Economist Mario Monti won some pledges of support today to lead a new technocratic government to rescue Italy from financial disaster, but not from the Northern League, a long-time ally of Silvio Berlusconi.

The prospect of an Italian government led by leading economist Mario Monti helped calm market jitters today.

Market pressure on Italy eased slightly today after the president vowed to accelerate reforms to make way for Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s resignation as early as this weekend and a bond sale went better than expected.

Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi lost his majority in parliament today intensifying the pressure for him to resign and help calm markets worried by the European debt crisis.

PRESSURE mounted on Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to quit yesterday as six former parliamentary loyalists called for a new government and the squabbling cabinet failed to agree an urgent economic reform program.

Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has reached an overnight deal with his allies in parliament on emergency growth measures demanded by the European Union.

A FLARE-UP over the European Central Bank and political turmoil in Italy kept the eurozone on edge last night on the eve of today’s summit meant to confront the currency bloc’s worsening sovereign debt crisis.

Pressure was growing today on Italy’s embattled premier Silvio Berlusconi as he struggled to win support for a vital emergency growth plan.

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi has survived a confidence vote in the Italian Parliament.

Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi faces a confidence vote in parliament today that is seen as the most serious threat to his political survival since the billionaire media baron was swept into power nearly two decades ago.

ITALIAN Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi called for a vote of confidence in his government, saying that a collapse of his centre-right coalition now would be catastrophic for the country and its economy.

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi is fighting for his political survival on the eve of a confidence vote in parliament which could force him out of office.

PRIME Minister Silvio Berlusconi is bracing for a confidence vote in Italy’s parliament this week that will determine his political future amid a rebellion by some allies and growing discontent with his leadership at a time of financial crisis.

ITALIAN Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti pledged to meet European Central Bank demands for sweeping economic reforms in exchange for help in shielding Italy from the eurozone debt crisis.

ITALIAN Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s main coalition ally has warned the government could collapse over an unpopular austerity plan.

ITALIAN Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi overcame coalition infighting to win a vote of confidence, his first parliamentary test since suffering two stinging electoral losses.

Beleaguered premier Silvio Berlusconi has come under pressure on two fronts: his crucial coalition ally demanded tax cuts or early elections, and Italy's credit rating appeared in danger due to high public debt and a laggard economy.

ITALIAN Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi recognised a humiliating defeat last night in referendums aimed at blocking nuclear power and abolishing a law intended to give him legal immunity.

ITALIAN premier Silvio Berlusconi has acknowledged that his centre-right party suffered defeats in his political stronghold of Milan and in the southern city of Naples — outcomes that observers say could undermine his government’s stability and his leadership.

Premier Silvio Berlusconi suffered a heavy blow after two days of local polling across Italy, losing his stronghold Milan and the southern city of Naples, projections and partial returns showed today.

Italian coastguards were trying to rescue migrants lost at sea today after their boat capsized off the coast of Lampedusa, a tiny Italian island close to North Africa, officials said, but many were feared dead.

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.