https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from Italy in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed After recent regional election breakthroughs by the Alternative for Germany (AfD), here is an overview of radical, nationalist and far- and hard-right parties' positions across Europe in recent years. https://www.thelocal.it/20260926/breakthroughs-for-the-radical-and-far-right-in-europe Sat, 26 Sep 2026 15:11:29 +0200 breakthroughs-for-the-radical-and-far-right-in-europe The airport changed its name in a ceremony on Friday to honour scandal-plagued former prime minister and billionaire Silvio Berlusconi, in a move criticised by local and national politicians. https://www.thelocal.it/20260925/milans-malpensa-airport-officially-named-after-berlusconi Fri, 25 Sep 2026 16:58:45 +0200 milans-malpensa-airport-officially-named-after-berlusconi Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's cabinet adopted a decree law on Thursday banning burqas and niqabs in schools and capping the number of students with a poor command of Italian per class. https://www.thelocal.it/20260925/italy-bans-burqas-in-schools-and-limits-foreign-pupils-per-class Fri, 25 Sep 2026 09:54:44 +0200 italy-bans-burqas-in-schools-and-limits-foreign-pupils-per-class Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni made headlines over the weekend by pledging to ban burqas in schools and limit the number of non-Italian students in each class. But what’s really driving the clampdown? https://www.thelocal.it/20260922/whats-behind-melonis-plan-to-cap-foreign-students-and-ban-burqas-in-schools Tue, 22 Sep 2026 16:18:16 +0200 whats-behind-melonis-plan-to-cap-foreign-students-and-ban-burqas-in-schools Italy will ban burqas and niqabs in schools and limit the number of foreign students per class, far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Sunday. https://www.thelocal.it/20260921/meloni-says-italy-to-ban-burqas-in-schools-and-limit-foreign-students Mon, 21 Sep 2026 09:22:01 +0200 meloni-says-italy-to-ban-burqas-in-schools-and-limit-foreign-students Italian rights groups on Thursday criticised prosecutors for investigating doctors suspected of helping undocumented migrants to avoid being held in detention centres. https://www.thelocal.it/20260918/probe-of-doctors-working-with-migrants-sparks-anger-in-italy Fri, 18 Sep 2026 08:54:36 +0200 probe-of-doctors-working-with-migrants-sparks-anger-in-italy Italy said on Tuesday it had extended for another 15 days its border checks for travellers from Spain, drawing a tit-for-tat response from Madrid in the ongoing spat between the two EU members. https://www.thelocal.it/20260915/italy-and-spain-extend-tit-for-tat-border-checks-in-wake-of-migrant-rush Tue, 15 Sep 2026 17:19:23 +0200 italy-and-spain-extend-tit-for-tat-border-checks-in-wake-of-migrant-rush Italy's political world turned out on Tuesday for the state funeral of Emma Bonino, a former government minister, EU commissioner and feminist fighter. https://www.thelocal.it/20260915/italy-pays-tribute-to-feminist-trailblazer-bonino Tue, 15 Sep 2026 15:31:19 +0200 italy-pays-tribute-to-feminist-trailblazer-bonino Senators on Tuesday approved the latest version of a draft law designed to overhaul Italy’s voting system, with the bill now passing to the lower house of parliament. https://www.thelocal.it/20260915/italys-senate-approves-controversial-electoral-reform-bill Tue, 15 Sep 2026 12:10:09 +0200 italys-senate-approves-controversial-electoral-reform-bill With Italy preparing to go back to work, politicians will be turning their attention to the challenges ahead - and there are some big ones waiting when parliament reopens. https://www.thelocal.it/20260827/five-of-the-big-challenges-facing-italy-this-september Thu, 27 Aug 2026 17:38:30 +0200 five-of-the-big-challenges-facing-italy-this-september Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday hailed Italy's new political stability but admitted failings as she celebrated her government becoming the longest-running in the country's postwar history. https://www.thelocal.it/20260904/italys-meloni-throws-party-to-celebrate-record-in-power Fri, 04 Sep 2026 09:26:06 +0200 italys-meloni-throws-party-to-celebrate-record-in-power Giorgia Meloni's administration on Friday set a new record for the longest time in office - no small feat in a country known for political instability. But critics say she managed it mainly by doing very little with that time. https://www.thelocal.it/20260904/how-did-the-meloni-government-become-italys-longest-lasting Fri, 04 Sep 2026 13:29:12 +0200 how-did-the-meloni-government-become-italys-longest-lasting Is climate change set for a comeback as a top EU priority, after a deadly summer of record-breaking heatwaves across Europe? https://www.thelocal.it/20260904/will-the-european-union-take-up-the-climate-fight-after-brutal-heatwaves Fri, 04 Sep 2026 10:10:40 +0200 will-the-european-union-take-up-the-climate-fight-after-brutal-heatwaves The Italian government must "act early" against any potential interference from Russia in next year's election, Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani warned on Wednesday. https://www.thelocal.it/20260903/russia-could-try-to-influence-italys-general-election-foreign-minister-warns Thu, 03 Sep 2026 11:35:55 +0200 russia-could-try-to-influence-italys-general-election-foreign-minister-warns Giorgia Meloni's hard-right government on Friday becomes the longest-lasting in Italy's postwar history – a notable record that belies considerable challenges ahead of elections next year. https://www.thelocal.it/20260902/nothing-has-changed-meloni-government-set-to-become-italys-longest-lasting Wed, 02 Sep 2026 09:55:22 +0200 nothing-has-changed-meloni-government-set-to-become-italys-longest-lasting Italy and Spain announced on Monday a 15-day extension of reciprocal border checks imposed in a spat over a migrant rush last month into the Spanish north African territory of Ceuta. https://www.thelocal.it/20260831/italy-extends-schengen-ban-for-spain-for-15-days Mon, 31 Aug 2026 13:32:19 +0200 italy-extends-schengen-ban-for-spain-for-15-days Ukraine's ousted defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov - whose sacking last month prompted rare wartime protests - on Friday said he had accepted a job working as an advisor to Italy's defence minister. https://www.thelocal.it/20260829/ousted-ukraine-defence-chief-accepts-job-advising-italian-minister Sat, 29 Aug 2026 15:42:21 +0200 ousted-ukraine-defence-chief-accepts-job-advising-italian-minister Six EU countries are stepping up calls for a bloc-wide windfall tax on oil companies as profits soar due to the Middle East war, according to a letter seen by AFP Saturday. https://www.thelocal.it/20260823/six-eu-countries-urge-windfall-tax-on-energy-firms Sun, 23 Aug 2026 12:37:46 +0200 six-eu-countries-urge-windfall-tax-on-energy-firms The spate of killings around the August 15th holiday came in Italy's first summer since femicide was made a specific crime under the Meloni government. https://www.thelocal.it/20260821/italy-weighs-inquiry-into-venice-femicide-as-six-women-killed-since-ferragosto Fri, 21 Aug 2026 12:55:04 +0200 italy-weighs-inquiry-into-venice-femicide-as-six-women-killed-since-ferragosto The EU pushed back Friday at renewed trade pressure from the United States, as Washington said the bloc was enabling Chinese evasion of US tariffs and stepped up calls for it to roll back flagship green rules on businesses. https://www.thelocal.it/20260815/eu-pushes-back-as-us-revives-trade-pressure-on-bloc Sat, 15 Aug 2026 14:54:42 +0200 eu-pushes-back-as-us-revives-trade-pressure-on-bloc