ROME – The Dutch Ambassador to the FAO, Gerda Verburg, is considering running as a candidate for election as Director General of the UN agency, diplomatic sources said Thursday.

ROME-  The Turkish Ambassador to Italy, H.E. Aydin A.Sezgin, played host to hundreds of guests at a glittering reception to mark Turkey’s national Day.

ROME -The FAO is laying off 111 of its staff in Somalia and Kenya, raising concern about the agency's capacity to deal with a future famine, FAO sources say

ROME –The FAO will follow “precautional measures recommended by Italian authorities” against Ebola when thousands of delegates arrive for an international nutrition conference, the UN agency says.

ROME --A World Food Programme (WFP) staff member tested negative for Ebola at a Rome hospital Wednesday having felt unwell after returning from Guinea, WFP said.

ROME -An FAO Conference on nutrition at the agency next month has raised concern of possible contagion from delegates from Ebola hit countries among thousands arriving in Italy, FAO sources say.

ROME – A senior executive in FAO corporate communications boasted that female colleagues he seduced were “obsessed” with him and “devastated” when he dropped them, FAO sources said.

ROME– Kuwait's Emir, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Jaber, will continue to work for peace after the UN named him a “world humanitarian leader,” the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Italy said Friday.

ROME – At the Turkish Embassy Esin Zeynep Selvi has been appointed as the new head of the Office of Culture.

ROME – “Remember if something happens to me I want you to see to my burial in Port Stanley,” Mike Sposito told a friend last year, adding: “liver to be buried separately with full military honours.

ROME – FAO Director General José Graziano da Silva insisted the UN agency buy him a brand new Mercedes despite at least seven other limousines being in the car pool for him to use, FAO sources said

Rome—Italy’s debate over what to do about the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has been overshadowed by a furious row over the ill-judged comments of Alessandro Di Battista, an MP

 PALERMO, Sicily -- The Kuwaiti-flagged vessel "Journey of Hope" arrived in the Sicilian port capital Thursday as part of a world tour to raise awareness about the rights of the mentally disabled.

 ROME- Italy may send a first consignment of AK-47 Kalashinikov assault rifles for Kurdish forces to Erbil aboard a C-130J aircraft "within two or three days," defence ministry sources said Tuesday

 ROME –FAO Director General Jose Graziano da Silva is billing the UN agency for building a private driveway to his apartment block so he need not mingle with his neighbours, FAO sources say.

Rome - FAO DG José Graziano da Silva has ordered the agency's Latin American top jefe to send his girlfriend back to Buenos Aires as part of a crackdown on nepotism, FAO sources say.

ROME –The Eternal City’s only US Catholic university campus offers a unique combination of academic rigour with opportunities to network with cardinals, interim President Fr Joseph Levesque says.

ROME– IFAD strategy whizz Gary Howe has quit citing differences with President Kanayo Nwanze as top honcho Thomas Elhaut "took a sabbatical" after clashes with the Nigerian czar, UN sources say.