An Italian couple burdened by their country's economic downturn hanged themselves, and the woman's brother - after learning of their deaths - threw himself into the Adriatic Sea and died, CNN affiliate RAI reported Friday.
Romeo Dionisi, 62, and his wife, Annamaria Sopranzi, 68, were found by neighbors in the coastal city of Civitanova Marche, and police told RAI that the family's financial difficulties led to the suicides.
Rescuers pulled Joseph Sopranzi, the woman's brother, from the water but could not revive him, according to RAI.
FULL STORYThe Indian Supreme Court on Tuesday lifted its foreign travel ban on the Italian ambassador following Rome's recent decision to send two marines back to New Delhi where they face trial over the killing of two fishermen last year, a lawyer said.
The court barred Italian Ambassador Daniele Mancini from leaving India last month because of Rome's refusal at the time to return the two marines, who had been allowed to go home temporarily to vote in national elections.
FULL STORYWith Italy mired in post-election gridlock, Pier Luigi Bersani told Italian President Giorgio Napolitano on Thursday that he has been unable to form a new government, state news agency ANSA reported.
Bersani fared the best in the February elections by leading a leftist coalition to a small majority in the lower house of parliament. But he was unable to win a majority in the Senate.
Instead, power in the Senate was divided between Bersani and the center-right coalition of his rival, former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, which is anchored by his party, Popolo della Liberta, or People of Freedom.
[Posted at 9:53 a.m. ET] Italian Supreme Court judges ruled Tuesday that U.S. citizen Amanda Knox should stand trial again for the death of her former roommate in Italy.
Knox, who returned to the United States in 2011 and has been living in Seattle, was not in court for Tuesday's ruling. She vowed Tuesday to fight with her head "held high" to prove her innocence.
Knox said it had been "painful" to hear the news that the court had ordered a retrial, in a statement issued through the family's PR spokesman, David Marriott.
[Posted at 1:23 a.m. ET] Italian Supreme Court judges are expected to announce Tuesday whether American Amanda Knox should stand trial again for the death of her former roommate.
The judges concluded a hearing over the question Monday and were expected to announce their decision by midday Tuesday.
Knox spent four years in prison before an appellate court overturned her murder conviction in the 2007 death of Meredith Kercher. She returned to the United States in 2011. Prosecutors say despite the appellate decision, they still believe Knox and her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, are responsible for the death.
FULL STORY
Pope Francis officially became the Catholic Church's pontiff Tuesday, in a ceremony that the Vatican said ahead of time would be short in keeping with the spirit of simplicity exuded by the new Holy Father. We live-blogged the event below. You can read the full story here
[Updated at 10:21 a.m. ET] That's all for the live blog of Pope Francis' inauguration as the Catholic Church's 266th pontiff. Tens of thousands of people listened from St. Peter's Square in Vatican City as Francis called for the protection of the weakest in society during his homily.
For more on today's event, check out our full story. Also, see a number of select photos of the event.
[Updated at 7:18 a.m. ET] U.S. Vice President Joe Biden greets Pope Francis.
Vatican magistrates may have authorized the tapping of two or three telephone lines during the investigation into leaks from the pope's private apartments, a Vatican spokesman said Thursday.
The Rev. Federico Lombardi was responding to a report in the Italian weekly magazine Panorama claiming that there had been a large-scale wiretapping and surveillance operation during the investigation. He denied there had been "a massive" operation on the scale reported by the magazine, saying there was "no foundation" for the article.
If there was any wiretapping or surveillance, "it's a very small process," Vatican spokesman the Rev. Thomas Rosica said. Both spokesmen denied that the operation had been ordered by the three cardinals commissioned to write a report into the scandal, saying that if it had happened, it was ordered by magistrates.
World markets retreated Tuesday as a big vote for anti-austerity parties in Italy's elections left the eurozone's third biggest economy in political deadlock, sparking fears of a revival of the region's debt crisis.
European stock markets were sharply lower, led by a 4% plunge on Italy's index of leading shares. Italy's borrowing costs increased, as the yield on its 10-year bond moved up towards 5%, triggering similar moves in other weaker eurozone states such as Spain and Portugal. The euro fell to just above $1.30.
Final results showed the center-left coalition of Pier Luigi Bersani winning by a very slim margin in the lower house of parliament but unable to control the Senate after a strong showing by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and a protest movement led by comedian turned politician Beppe Grillo.
FULL STORYThe center-left coalition headed by Pier Luigi Bersani appears to have won a narrow victory in elections for Italy's lower house of parliament, according to final figures released by the Interior Ministry.
FULL STORYPope Benedict XVI delivered his final public blessing on Sunday to a crowd of thousands at St. Peter's Square in Vatican City.
"Thank you for your affection," the pope told the crowd as he appeared at the window of his apartment overlooking the square.
He told the crowd that he will take up a life of prayer and meditation "to be able to continue serving the church."
After the brief sermon, he chanted the Angelus, a common Catholic prayer, with the crowd.
FULL STORYItaly's parliamentary elections kick off Sunday, with polls suggesting the center-left - led by Pier Luigi Bersani - is on track to defeat controversial three-time prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.
But Berlusconi's rise in the polls in recent weeks, combined with widespread public disillusionment, means that nothing about the race is a foregone conclusion.
The two-day election is a four-horse race between political coalitions led by Bersani, Berlusconi, outgoing premier Mario Monti, and the anti-establishment movement led by ex-comedian Beppe Grillo.
Polls are banned within two weeks of the elections, but the most recent ones had Bersani holding onto a slender lead over Berlusconi. Grillow was a distant third.
Six people died after a train slammed into a vehicle early Saturday evening in southern Italy, the nation's official news agency reported, citing investigative and other sources.
Photos taken in Rossano showed what had once been a Fiat Multipla impaled against the front of the train - mangled and largely unrecognizable - as firefighters walked along the track.
A rescuer described the scene as "appalling," according to the official ANSA news agency.
FULL STORY
[Updated at 10:35 a.m. ET] Italy's flamboyant former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was sentenced Friday to four years in prison for tax fraud.
Berlusconi is likely to appeal the sentence handed down by a court in Milan, Italy. The case involved his Mediaset group and the purchase of TV rights. Berlusconi, 76, resigned as prime minister in November over his country's debt crisis, bringing to an apparent end an 18-year era in which he dominated Italian politics. For more details about the case, check out this story.
If Paolo Gabriele ever does get the pope's pardon, it won't be before he serves some jail time.
Gabriele, a former butler to Pope Benedict XVI, will start his 18-month sentence in a Vatican cell Thursday for taking secret papers from the pope's personal apartment and leaking them to an author who included them in a best-selling book, the Vatican said.
Earthquake experts around the world say they are appalled by an Italian court's decision to convict six scientists on manslaughter charges for failing to predict the deadly quake that devastated the city of L'Aquila. They warned the ruling could severely harm future scientific research.
The court in L'Aquila sentenced the scientists and a government official Monday to six years in prison, ruling that they didn't accurately communicate the risk of the earthquake in 2009 that killed more than 300 people.
The trial centered on a meeting a week before the 6.3-magnitude quake struck. At the meeting, the experts determined that it was "unlikely" but not impossible that a major quake would take place, despite concern among the city's residents over recent seismic activity.
FULL STORY
The captain of an Italian cruise ship that wrecked in January, killing 32 people, entered court Monday to hear evidence against him as a dozen survivors looked on.
It was the first time that passengers who made it through the Costa Concordia disaster saw Francesco Schettino face-to-face.
He faces allegations of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck, abandoning ship, failing to report an accident to the coast guard and destroying a natural habitat, a prosecutor said earlier this year. The ship struck rocks and turned on its side off the Italian island of Giglio on January 13.
Schettino was released from house arrest in July.
Below are several transcripts of recordings between authorities and the captain published following the disaster and translated by CNN's Hada Messia. They give insight into the mindset of the captain as well as rescuers. The first calls came in right after midnight.
Livorno Port Authorities: "Concordia, we ask you if all is OK there."
Concordia: "All is well."
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Port authority: "Concordia, We ask you if all is well there."
Concordia: "All is well. It is only a technical failure."
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Port authority: "How many people are on board?"
Schettino: "Two-three hundred"
Port authority: "How come so few people? Are you on board?’
Schettino: "No, I’m not on board because the ship is keeling. We’ve abandoned it."
Port authority: "What? You’ve abandoned the ship?"
Schettino: "No. What abandon? I’m here."
FULL POST
The captain of an Italian cruise ship that wrecked in January, killing 32 people, entered court Monday to hear evidence against him as a dozen survivors looked on.
It was the first time that passengers who made it through the Costa Concordia disaster saw Francesco Schettino face-to-face.
He faces allegations of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck, abandoning ship, failing to report an accident to the coast guard and destroying a natural habitat, a prosecutor said earlier this year. The ship struck rocks and turned on its side off the Italian island of Giglio on January 13.
Schettino was released from house arrest in July. He was fired last week by the Costa Crociere parent company, Italian news agency ANSA reported.
FULL STORYThe Italian Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the convictions of 23 Americans who were found guilty in absentia three years ago in connection with the 2003 kidnapping of a terror suspect in Milan.
The Americans, many of whom were thought to have worked for the United States' CIA, never appeared for trial and are not in Italian custody. The Italian government hasn't asked for their extradition.
The case centered on the "extraordinary rendition" of a Muslim cleric, Osama Mustafa Hassan Nasr, or Abu Omar. He was seized on the streets of Milan, Italy, in 2003, transferred to Egypt and tortured, he said. He was suspected of recruiting men to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan and was under heavy surveillance by Italy's intelligence agency.
Prosecutors said he was nabbed by a CIA team working with Italian intelligence officials.
The trial was the first to deal with a practice that human rights groups call "extraordinary rendition." They say the United States has often sent suspects to countries that practice torture. Washington acknowledges making secret "rendition" transfers of terrorism suspects between countries but denies using torture or handing suspects over to countries that do.
A total of 22 Americans were each sentenced to five years in prison for their role in his abduction. Another – Robert Seldon Lady, whom prosecutors said was the CIA station chief in Milan – was sentenced to eight years in jail.
Former CIA analyst Michael Scheuer told CNN in the past that the Italian military secret service had approved the operation involving Hassan, and CIA sources who refused to be named told CNN in 2005 that the agency had briefed and sought approval from its Italian counterpart for such an abduction.
The Italian government at the time – which was led by Silvio Berlusconi – vigorously denied having authorized Hassan's kidnapping, which it called illegal.
FULL STORYMore topless photos of Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, spilled into public view Monday as Britain's royal family planned to ask a French court to stop further publication of the pictures.
The legal battle raged while the duchess and her husband, Prince William, carried on with an official tour of the South Pacific, including meetings with Solomon Islanders - some of them topless.
The new photos were published Monday by the Italian gossip magazine Chi, which is owned by the same company that last week published several pictures of a topless Catherine sunbathing in private during a vacation at a private chateau belonging to William's uncle in Provence, in southern France.
The grainy images, shot from a distance, show Catherine on a balcony and appear to be no more revealing than those published last week by the French magazine Closer, the Guardian newspaper reported.
FULL STORYRescuers searched for dozens of people feared missing at sea when a boat carrying as many as 100 migrants ran into trouble overnight, Italian officials said Friday.
At least 56 people have been rescued so far - some from the sea and others from the small island of Lampione, said Filippo Marini, a coast guard commander. They are believed to be Tunisians, he said.
At least one body has been found, said Capt. Davide Miserandino of Italy's finance police, which is helping in the search.
Survivors picked up during the night reported that there were about 100 people on board, said Laura Boldrini, head of the U.N. refugee agency in Italy.
FULL STORY
Drivers love fancy technology extras packed in their car and Fiat is hoping their latest innovation may be the best yet - one that can save you a trip to your favorite coffee store.
But the car designers new innovative addition to their latest line, due out in Italy in October, is landing them in some hot water with some consumers concerned about it adding to a mounting list of things that distract drivers. However, the car maker says, don't rush to judgement, you can't brew up a cup unless your car is stopped.
Their new crossover model the Fiat 500L boasts a whole range of accessories, but the one drawing the most attention and perhaps concerns, is their built-in espresso machine. That's right. Forget your Starbucks runs, or trying to rush out the door to work with your homemade brew. Instead, inside your console you'll find a "new coffee machine created in collaboration with Lavazza," considered to be the Starbucks of Italy.
"The 500L is the first standard-production car in the world to offer a true espresso coffee machine that utilises the technology of the 'A Modo Mio' pods," the company said in a press release. "It is perfectly integrated in the car with a deck designed expressly by Fiat."
A video put out by the automaker shows a cartoon character couple debating the choice of having to make a coffee run. But no longer!
"Do you want to take a break while flavouring the best Italian espresso coffee without stepping out of the car? With 500L even this will be possible!" the company touts on its Italian site.
Passengers can brew on the road, filling the car with the sweet aroma of drink of the tired.
" It will be possible to enjoy ... inside a car the high quality, the unique taste, the body and creaminess of the true Italian espresso," the automaker boasts.
While it is certainly a first-of-its kind offering, the function has been met with a lot of criticism in the U.S. about concerns that drivers don't need another distraction while driving. Most of the focus of distracted driving campaigns have focused on texting, including a new set of public service announcement commercials from AT&T that show the fatal consequences of multitasking while driving.
So, when news of the coffee meets car collaboration hit the Web in the U.S., people on Twitter took the car company to task, noting that while we can't drive while texting in many places, it doesn't seem like a stellar idea to be making scorching hot coffee while taking your car to the road. It was unclear if those criticizing the idea knew the machine only worked while the car was stopped, a detail that was not touted on the car's site or in many media pieces criticizing the idea.
Even TV host Tom Bergeron weighed in on the idea, remarking that the innovative addition may be more dangerous than impressive.
Fiat's 500L will have an in-car espresso maker. Nothing better than generating 200 degree liquid when texting at 80 MPH. #wtfMotorCo
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Tom Bergeron (@Tom_Bergeron) July 16, 2012And it prompted responses from others that wondered whether it would lead to lawsuits, similar to the infamous McDonald's scalding hot coffee debacle and concerns from auto blogs and writers about the safety of the innovation.
So Fiat is coming out with a car in October that has a built in espresso machine. I'm glad they are focusing on safety. #Fiat500L
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(@CineSportsTalk) July 16, 2012But the automaker wants to make a few things clear in the wake of the sudden uproar about the espresso machine's safety. They say they've done the testing and they are sure their setup is safe for drivers.
"You can use it only when the car is stopped," Norman Winkler, the communications press officer for Fiat in Europe told CNN. "It's quite tiny and it has a docking station in which it remains locked. The quantity of coffee is much (less) than usual use in the cups in the states. Its espresso, it's very tiny."
And it's not even clear whether those who are outraged in the U.S. will even have to deal with the issue. Jiyan Cadiz, the spokesman for Fiat in the U.S., said it was too soon to say what features might or might not show up in the American model.
"We have not provided any product details at this time," he told CNN. "As we get closer to our own launch of the vehicle we’ll provide feature availability and specs and more context between the Euro cousin and the U.S. model."
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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