Meloni's break with Trump exposes structural rift over defence and trade

Italy's low military spending and trade surplus collide with Trump's America First agenda, reshaping European alignments

Italy's recent fallout with Donald Trump over military contributions and trade reflects deeper structural tensions that were always likely to emerge between the two nations.

Sergio Madrussan · NATIONAL

Migrant farm workers face lethal heat in Puglia shanty towns

As Europe's heatwave peaks, southern Italy's agricultural labour force endures extreme conditions with minimal shelter or protection

Migrant labourers in Puglia's sprawling informal settlements are experiencing the full force of Europe's record heatwave with no escape from sun-scorched fields or corrugated iron shacks.

Francesca Lazzari · REGIONAL

AI decodes Vesuvius scrolls, revealing ancient philosophy lost nearly 2,000 years

Artificial intelligence has virtually unwrapped charred papyri from Herculaneum, exposing stoic texts on ethics and human behaviour buried since 79 A.D.

Researchers using artificial intelligence have recovered previously hidden texts from ancient scrolls burned by Mount Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago, revealing philosophical insights on ethics, art and theology.

Rosaria Esposito · SCIENCE

Warp knitting reshapes Marche's footwear future

District adopts performance technology as New Balance and Karl Mayer accelerate athletic shoe innovation

Warp knitting technology is driving a generational shift in footwear performance and sustainability, with implications for Marche's shoe-making districts as global brands accelerate product development cycles.

Elena Marcheggiani · ECONOMY

Record European heatwave tests Riviera tourism and coastal infrastructure

Western Europe's extreme temperatures strain transport, accommodation and port operations as summer season peaks

A severe heatwave gripping western Europe has pushed temperatures to record levels in France, Spain and Italy, threatening the summer tourism season that sustains the Riviera and testing the coastal infrastructure that depends on it.

Marina Doria

Bologna's power grid strains as heatwave peaks across the plain

Electricity demand surges as temperatures break records; grid operators warn of further blackouts

Italy's electrical grid faces mounting pressure as a record heatwave pushes demand to critical levels, with blackouts already striking cities and operators warning of worse to come.

Giulia Benati

Heatwave tests Tuscany's summer tourism machine

Record temperatures grip the region as Florence and wine country brace for peak season under red alert

A severe heatwave gripping Italy has placed Tuscany under heat alert, threatening to strain the region's tourism infrastructure and outdoor heritage sites as summer visitor numbers peak.

Costanza Bardi

Umbria braces as European heatwave deepens; inland farms face critical stress

Record temperatures grip the region as agricultural heartland confronts extreme heat during peak growing season

Umbria faces mounting pressure as a severe European heatwave extends across Italy, threatening crops and straining rural infrastructure in the agricultural interior.

Niccolò Mariani

Hyatt plans Italian expansion as hospitality chains bet on tourism recovery

Three new hotels planned by 2028 signal confidence in Italy's tourism market after pandemic pressures

International hospitality operators are expanding their presence in Italy, with Hyatt announcing plans for three new properties including its first Hyatt Regency and Thompson Hotels in the country.

Niccolò Mariani

Molise's farms face extended heat stress as Europe's climate shifts

The region's agriculture sector confronts one to two extra months of dangerous temperatures annually compared to the 1970s, research shows.

Molise's agricultural heartland is experiencing prolonged heat stress unseen in previous generations, as new research documents a structural shift in European climate patterns.

Antonio Petrella

Molise's minority villages embody the Mediterranean border story Europe keeps trying to draw

As scholars trace shared food and migration across the Mediterranean, Molise's Albanian and Croatian enclaves show how modern borders obscure centuries of cultural exchange.

Molise's Albanian and Croatian minority villages stand as living refutations of the rigid geopolitical borders the foreign press treats as natural, a reality underscored by this week's Guardian commentary on Mediterranean cultural flows.

Antonio Petrella

Migrant farm workers in Campania endure record heat with no refuge from sweltering conditions

As Europe's heatwave peaks, labourers in southern Italy's agricultural zones face extreme temperatures with minimal shelter or protection.

Migrant farm workers across Campania are experiencing dangerous heat exposure as a record-breaking European heatwave intensifies, with conditions described as unbearable in sprawling agricultural labour camps.

Rosaria Esposito

Mediterranean food reveals what rigid borders obscure, says Guardian essay

Tracing a chickpea snack across Africa and Europe shows migration and cultural exchange are the region's historical norm, not exception

A Guardian commentary on Mediterranean food culture argues that modern borders mask centuries of migration and exchange between Europe and Africa, a reality that Puglia's own culinary heritage reflects.

Francesca Lazzari

Southern Italy's farm workers face survival test as heatwave peaks

Migrant labourers in Basilicata and Puglia endure record temperatures with minimal shelter or relief

As Europe's heatwave reaches its peak, farm workers across southern Italy's agricultural heartland are confronting extreme heat with little protection, raising questions about labour standards in the region's vital crop sector.

Pietro Lasorsa

Calabria's citrus fields bake as heatwave tests southern agriculture

Record temperatures strain labour, irrigation and crop survival across region's core export economy

As Europe's heatwave peaks, Calabria's agricultural heartland faces a convergence of labour stress, water scarcity and heat damage that threatens both harvest and the migrant workers who sustain it.

Saverio Gallo

Sardinia's grid strains as record heat drives island demand

Power cuts and electricity spikes test fragile infrastructure as heatwave peaks across Mediterranean

Soaring electricity demand triggered power cuts across Italy this week, with grid operators warning of further disruption as the heatwave reaches its peak—a threat that bears particular weight on island grids already operating at capacity.

Gavino Sanna

Binance pulls services from European clients ahead of regulatory deadline

Cryptocurrency exchange cites failed licensing bid; Italian customers among those receiving withdrawal notices

The cryptocurrency exchange Binance has announced it will stop providing services to European Union clients after failing to obtain a regulatory license by July 1, affecting customers in Italy, Spain, Poland and France.

Adriana Sole

Alpine heatwave tests Valle d'Aosta's hydroelectric lifeline

Record temperatures threaten water supplies and power output as Europe's energy crisis deepens in the mountains

As Europe endures its hottest June on record, Valle d'Aosta faces a converging crisis: soaring demand for cooling power collides with shrinking water flows from melting glaciers and warming streams.

Camille Bréan

Piedmont's power grid faces fresh strain as heatwave peaks

Soaring electricity demand threatens blackouts across northern Italy's industrial heartland

Italy's electrical grid is buckling under record summer demand as temperatures climb, with grid operators warning of further disruptions ahead across the country's most power-intensive region.

Lorenzo Ferraris

St. Bernard dogs find new purpose as Alpine tourism shifts

A Swiss museum honours the breed's rescue legacy while the Great St. Bernard Pass prepares for changing visitor patterns

High in the Alps near the Italian border, the St. Bernard dog breed that once saved avalanche victims now draws tourists seeking connection to Alpine heritage—a shift that mirrors broader changes in how Europe's mountains are valued and visited.

Camille Bréan

AI decoding Vesuvius scrolls reshapes ancient scholarship

Technology reveals texts buried for 2,000 years, signalling shift in how Renaissance centres approach classical heritage

Artificial intelligence has begun decoding charred scrolls from Mount Vesuvius, revealing texts that remained unreadable for centuries and marking a turning point in how classical materials are studied and preserved.

Costanza Bardi

Dolce & Gabbana designs for the heatwave: Milan menswear turns climate crisis into aesthetic

Spring/Summer 2027 collection pivots to lightweight fabrics and Mediterranean escape as Europe's record heat reshapes fashion calendar

Dolce & Gabbana has unveiled menswear built explicitly for extreme heat, signalling how Milan's fashion houses are adapting design and fabric choices to Europe's accelerating climate crisis.

Beatrice Comolli

Heat finds those with nowhere to hide

A heatwave that breaks records in cities also exposes the fragility of those living at Italy's economic margins.

Editorial Board

Ancient scrolls, modern tools, and what we choose to read

Artificial intelligence has unlocked a text buried by Vesuvius nearly two millennia ago. The irony is that we use such power to read the past while struggling to see the present.

Editorial Board