Megan Williams

Syrian refugee girl rests inside the Spanish rescue vessel Astral after being rescued by the Spanish NGO Proactiva off the Libyan coast in the Mediterranean Sea.

Migrants desperate to flee Libya’s detention camps are being turned back at sea

Conflict

Refugees crammed onto rickety boats for the trip from Libya to Italy are increasingly being intercepted and sent back to Libya.

Scientists on trial for not warning about earthquake

Environment
A mother embraces her child next to the Tiburtina train station in Rome.

Migrants are sleeping on cardboard outside Italian train stations after EU halts their journey north

Conflict
Emergency workers inspect the earthquake damaged buildings in L'Aquila Italy in April, 2009.

An Italian appeals court overturns the convictions of six scientists accused of not warning people about an earthquake

Justice

Venetians aren’t all smiles about the cruise ships that visit the city

Rescued migrants on board a coastguard vessel arrive at the harbor of Lampedusa.

Tragedy strikes African migrants headed to Italy seeking asylum

Conflict & Justice

Some 500 African migrants piled into a boat in Libya this week, headed for Italy and, they hoped, asylum. But the boat sank, killing dozens with many more still missing.

Italy’s PM says he’s stuck in Groundhog Day as his government also grinds to a halt

Global Politics

There’s another government besides the US in danger of shutting down: the one in Italy, where the government is on the verge of collapsing because of the failure of politicians on the left and the right to find a compromise.

Public opinion in Italy divided over Amanda Knox acquittal

Some in Italy say a propaganda campaign supported by US media outlets affected outcome of Amanda Knox appeal — Knox was fully acquitted.

Italian Prime Minister’s behavior condemned by Catholic Church

The Catholic Church publicly condemns behavior Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s Berlusconi, who is embroiled in yet another sex scandal.

Opera at a different scale

Arts, Culture & Media

Piccolo Teatro Lirico, a small historic theater in Rome, has a new, short twist on a centuries-old art form.