ROME- Summer in Italy is not just sun and sea, pasta and pizza, there is culture too, music for all tastes but also quite serious discussions.

This was one of those summer initiatives that Italy is so good at; a beautiful setting, a balmy temperature and a good roundtable debate sandwiched between a good meal and divine almond and then blackberry granite or granulated water ice.

ROME --The tragedy of a Japanese FAO staffer who jumped to his death raises questions whether the U.N. agency gives sufficient priority to staff welfare, UN sources say.

An FAO spokesman confirmed the March 8 death of Shinya Abe, a natural resources Officer in FAO regional office for the Near East, Cairo.  FAO staff in Rome March 20 “observed one minute of silence at noon to show their solidarity with Mr Abe’s family and our colleagues in Cairo,” spokesman Mehdi Drissi told Italian insider. “So did colleagues in the field worldwide.”

ROME--The Eternal City is a treasure trove for history lovers and culture buffs. I was thrilled to start combing its museums and startling array of ruins when I moved here five years ago. But the city hides plenty of ancient secrets.

 Rome's Ancient Treasures  -  A Travel Guide takes you inside temples and tombs that are tucked away where you would least expect to find them and gives you new insights into places you may have already seen.

ROME– The British Second World War veterans' leader, Harry Shindler, has been made an honourary citizen of Porto d’Ascoli in tribute to decades of work toward Anglo-Italian friendship.

Mr Shindler, aged 90, born in the Lambeth district of south London, served with the British Eighth Army during the liberation of Italy in 1944, taking part in the Battle of Anzio.