ROME - In Puccini’s La Bohème, the best aria for the philosopher, Colline is his farewell to his old coat, “vecchia zimarra”.

Rome – On September 13, 1978, the Corriere della Sera published on page 1 a letter by a 50-year-old man whose love was unreciprocated by a girl much younge

ROME - The Day of Memory is a moment when the world looks back on the Shoah.

ROME - Today Barack Obama is sworn in for his second term, a visibly older and, I would guess, politically wiser man than four years ago.

ROME - Politics is about power and policy, the two motivations for anyone to get involved.

ROME - A tactless remark from a cabinet minister was the cue for Silvio Berlusconi to storm back onto center-stage. The consequences for Italy and for the rest of Europe are likely to be dire.

ROME - On the Italian chessboard a year of positioning is moving rapidly towards a conclusion.

The Italian justice system doesn’t have the best reputation, but just like in Italian politics, we keep looking for a sign of change. And sometimes we find it.

ROME - It is such a sad debacle, the original errors of conception and execution in the first version have been compounded and increased.

 Confusion still reigns over next year's elections, says Rome's premier political commentator.

ROME - Almost four years ago, I went to the Terrorhaza, the House of Terror in Budapest.

ROME - Every day brings new revelations about scandals in the cities and the regions.

NAPLES -- Naples has been notorious for poverty and social deprivation since the days when wealthy Europeans visited the city as part of their Grand Tour.

ROME - This month heads of state and government from FAO donor countries and beneficiary states gathered in Rome at the UN agency’s headquarters for World Food Day.

VATICAN CITY - The trial of Pope Benedict XVI's butler reflects the Vatican's uncertainty how to use contemporary media, Holy See watchers say.  

ROME--The chief executive of the Lazio regional government, Renata Polverini, resigned yesterday, a resignation without honour.

Rome -- In August Italy normally sinks into a torpor and the most serious worry is whether there is space on your favorite beach or mountain path.

ROME- The weak economy is visible to all but there is a parallel system crack at least as dangerous to the country’s wellbeing and stability, undermining the very structures of the country.

ROME- Romans are a lot like New Yorkers: they are thick-skinned to outsiders and seemingly unaffected by the qualms of visitors.