The Italian language proved a secret weapon for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as she launched a charm offensive with US President Donald Trump and his deputy JD Vance in back-to-back transatlantic meetings. Meloni met both Trump and Vance at the White House on Thursday before heading straight home
Ukraine imposed sanctions on three Chinese companies on Friday, a day after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy alleged that China had been supplying weapons to Russia. China's foreign ministry earlier on Friday dismissed Zelenskiy's accusation as groundless. While maintaining close economic ties with R
Kyiv said on Friday it aims to complete talks by the end of next week about a deal with Washington on jointly exploiting Ukrainian mineral resources, an agreement Ukrainian officials hope will go some way to firming up softening US support for them in their war with Russia. Though the terms of the
Pope Francis, still recovering from double pneumonia, paid a surprise visit on Thursday to Rome's Regina Coeli, one of Italy's most overcrowded prisons, to offer well-wishes to inmates ahead of Easter. The 88-year-old pontiff, gradually making more public appearances as he recovers from the bigges
Russian forces are trying out a new tactic of larger-scale assaults involving several hundred troops, according to Ukraine's military, as Kyiv girds for a new offensive push from its bigger adversary more than three years into a full-scale war. The change signals a possible break with the tactics
Italy will meet NATO's 2.0 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) target on defence spending this year, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said at a parliamentary hearing on Thursday. Italy's projected defence budget for 2024 was 1.49 per cent of GDP, according to NATO criteria, one of the low
The European Commission on Wednesday included countries such as Egypt and Tunisia, where human rights have come under scrutiny, on a list of "safe countries" to which failed asylum seekers could be returned. The EU list, criticised by human rights groups, would allow "member states to process asyl
Britain's highest court ruled on Wednesday that only biological and not trans women meet the definition of a woman under equality laws, a landmark decision greeted with concern by trans supporters but welcomed by the government as bringing clarity. The much anticipated ruling centred on whether a
A senior figure in the Chinese underworld has been shot dead along with a companion in a mafia-style execution in Rome, in what police suspect is a spillover from a long-running turf war within Italy's Chinese criminal networks, police said. Zhang Dayong, 53, also known as "Asheng," was found dead
It took Ed Roberts over a year to find a senior scientist to work at his cancer research laboratory in Scotland, a delay he blames on high UK visa costs that made it harder to attract international workers. Scientific academy the Royal Society says UK immigration fees for foreign workers are up to
The Kremlin said on Sunday contacts with US President Donald Trump's team were moving ahead very well but that it was too early to expect instant results due to the level of damage done to relations under Trump's predecessor Joe Biden. Trump, who says he wants to be remembered as a peacemaker, has
Pope Francis made a brief appearance in St. Peter's Square on Sunday at the end of a Palm Sunday service, greeting the crowds from his wheelchair as he continues to recover from double pneumonia. "Happy Palm Sunday, Happy Holy Week," the pope said, before once returning inside the Vatican, stoppin
France plans to recognise a Palestinian state within months and could make the move at a UN conference in New York in June on settling the Israel-Palestinian conflict, President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview broadcast Wednesday, reports BSS citing AFP. "We must move towards recognitio
