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Monte dei Paschi Fights Takeover With €34bn Counter-Bids
World's oldest bank launches offers for Banco BPM and Banca Generali to fend off Intesa Sanpaolo
Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena has launched €34bn in share-exchange offers for two rivals, a defensive move that reshapes Italian banking.
Lorenzo Ferraris · ECONOMY
Lombardy requests state of emergency after severe storm damage
Regional government seeks national intervention as violent weather hits Italy's economic heartland
Lombardy's request for a state of emergency highlights the growing cost of extreme weather on Italy's richest region, from infrastructure to agriculture.
Beatrice Comolli · NATIONAL
Iceland's EU Vote Reopens Questions on Bloc's Future Shape
Nordic island's referendum could make it the 11th aspiring member, testing enlargement appetite
As Iceland prepares to vote on resuming EU membership talks, the referendum highlights the bloc's uneven appeal and the challenges of enlargement.
Adriana Sole · INTERNATIONAL
Calabria's Coast Draws Eyes, Umbria's Hills Wait
A New York Times feature praises the overlooked deep south; inland regions watch as tourists choose shore over hill towns
The NYT spotlights Calabria's ancient towns and beaches, while Umbria's inland villages ponder their own overlooked appeal in a summer of record crowds.
Niccolò Mariani · REGIONAL
Regional dispatches
Alpine summer of extremes reshapes Aosta valley life
Record heat and violent storms across Europe redraw the mountain calendar
A summer of record heat and violent storms across Europe has forced the Aosta valley to adapt its rhythms, from glacier tourism to hydroelectric output.
Camille Bréan
Monte dei Paschi's bold bid reshapes Italian banking landscape
World's oldest bank counters takeover with €34 billion in offers, a shift with ripple effects for northern regions
Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena's defensive bids for two other Italian banks mark a turning point in EU financial integration, with implications reaching small northern regions.
Camille Bréan
Monte dei Paschi's €34bn defence reshapes Italian banking
World's oldest bank fights Intesa's €30.6bn bid with share-exchange offers for Banco BPM and Banca Generali
Monte dei Paschi's counter-bids for two Italian rivals mark a dramatic turn in EU banking consolidation, with implications for Milan's financial centre.
Beatrice Comolli
Europe's 'Catastrophe' Summer Tests Alpine Tourism
Extreme heat pushes visitors to the mountains, straining fragile high-altitude ecosystems
As Europe endures a brutal summer of climate extremes, Italy's Alpine regions face a surge of visitors seeking cooler air — and new pressures on fragile terrain.
Klara Hofer
Trieste's Wulz sisters: the photographers who defied fascism
Guardian feature recalls how Wanda and Marion Wulz used their camera — and their cat — to challenge Mussolini's patriarchy
A Guardian feature on the Wulz sisters, whose Trieste studio became a quiet front of resistance against fascist Italy's vision of womanhood.
Sergio Madrussan
World's oldest bank fights takeover with €34bn counter-bids
Monte dei Paschi's defensive strategy raises questions about EU financial integration
Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena has launched €34bn in counter-bids to fend off Intesa Sanpaolo's takeover, a move that analysts say exposes deeper tensions in EU banking policy.
Giulia Benati
The Wulz Sisters' Defiant Lens Gets a Global Spotlight
Guardian feature revives the legacy of Trieste's pioneering women photographers
A new Guardian feature on Wanda and Marion Wulz brings the fascist-era photographers' subversive portraits of women into focus.
Costanza Bardi
Monte dei Paschi's Bold Counter-Bid Shakes Italian Banking
World's oldest bank fights Intesa's takeover with €34bn in share-exchange offers
Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the world's oldest bank, has launched a €34bn counter-offensive to fend off a takeover bid from Intesa Sanpaolo.
Costanza Bardi
The Wulz Sisters' Camera Defied Fascist Italy
A Guardian feature recalls the Trieste photographers who turned their lens on women — and their cat — under Mussolini
Wanda and Marion Wulz used their studio to challenge fascist patriarchy, photographing dancers, fencers and famous women in 1920s and 30s Italy.
Niccolò Mariani
Monte dei Paschi's defence signals shift in EU banking
World's oldest bank launches €34bn counter-bids to fend off takeover
Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the world's oldest bank, has launched a €34 billion counter-offensive against a takeover bid, in a move that a leading economist says reveals the limits of EU financial integration.
Marco Di Sante
Europe's Summer of Climate Extremes Tests Italy's Regions
From Alpine heat to southern drought, the 2026 season reshapes daily life
Europe's summer of 2026 has brought brutal climate realities to daily life, with Italy's regions — from the Alps to the deep South — facing unprecedented heat, drought and storms.
Antonio Petrella
Wulz sisters' subversive lens resurfaces in Italy's memory wars
Guardian feature on the Trieste photographers who defied fascism finds echoes in Naples' own untold stories
A Guardian feature on Wanda and Marion Wulz, who weaponised their family cat against Mussolini's patriarchy, lands as Italy re-examines its fascist past.
Rosaria Esposito
Puglia Faces the Summer Climate Change Hit Europe
As 2026's brutal heat reshapes Mediterranean life, the region's farms and coasts feel the strain
The summer that forced climate change into daily life across Europe has left Puglia's olive groves, beaches and towns confronting a new normal.
Francesca Lazzari
EU Windfall Tax Push Puts Basilicata's Oil in the Spotlight
Six countries urge bloc-wide levy on energy firms as Italy's largest onshore field faces scrutiny
As six EU states call for a windfall tax on oil companies, Basilicata's extraction economy becomes a focal point in the debate.
Pietro Lasorsa
A Bridge Too Far? Sicily Link Revisited
Strait of Messina crossing plan revives old dreams and doubts
A Roman-era dream of linking Sicily to the mainland is back on the table, but critics and locals question whether the bridge is workable.
Saverio Gallo
A Bridge Too Far? Sicily Link Remains a Dream
Roman-era ambition to span the Strait of Messina revived, despite doubts
For over 2,000 years, the dream of linking Sicily to the mainland has persisted. Now officials have revived it, but the plan faces claims it is unworkable and local protests.
Concetta Vassallo
Sardinia's Summer of Fire and Drought
As Europe swelters, island interior faces a season of strain
A summer of record heat across Europe has left Sardinia's interior parched and its fire crews stretched, a pattern the island knows all too well.
Gavino Sanna
Why Italians Are Leaving Their Beaches for Greece
Crowded, costly lidos push holidaymakers abroad and strain island tourism
As more Italians head to Greece for their summer holidays, Sardinia's coastal tourism model faces questions about value, crowding and the island's own appeal.
Gavino Sanna
Monte dei Paschi's Defensive Bid Reshapes EU Banking Debate
World's oldest bank launches €34bn counter-offer to fend off Intesa takeover
Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena's defensive share-exchange offers highlight the limits of EU financial integration, analysts say.
Adriana Sole
The Wulz Sisters and the Cat That Fought Mussolini
New Guardian feature revives the Trieste photographers who defied fascist patriarchy
A Guardian feature on Wanda and Marion Wulz, the Trieste sisters who used photography — and a cat — to resist fascist Italy's patriarchy.
Eleonora Vanzetti
Basilicata's Summer of Extremes Mirrors Europe's Climate Reckoning
Heatwaves and drought test a region where agriculture and heritage tourism collide
As 2026 becomes Europe's hottest summer on record, Basilicata's farmers and tourism operators feel the strain of a changing climate.
Pietro Lasorsa
Monte dei Paschi's Bold Defense Reshapes Italian Banking
World's oldest bank counters Intesa bid with €34bn counter-offers
Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the world's oldest bank, has launched €34 billion in counter-bids to fend off a takeover by Intesa Sanpaolo, a move that could redraw Italy's banking landscape.
Antonio Petrella
The Wulz Sisters Who Defied Fascist Italy With a Camera
Trieste photographers Wanda and Marion Wulz weaponised their art — and their cat — against Mussolini's patriarchy
A Guardian feature on the Wulz sisters recalls how two Trieste photographers used their studio to defy fascist-era gender norms.
Elena Marcheggiani
Monte dei Paschi's €34bn defence reshapes Italian banking
World's oldest bank counters takeover with bids of its own, testing EU integration
Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena has launched €34bn in counter-bids to fend off Intesa Sanpaolo's takeover, a move analysts say could redefine Italy's banking landscape.
Davide Ruspoli
The Wulz sisters: photography as defiance in fascist Italy
Guardian feature profiles Wanda and Marion Wulz, who weaponised their art against patriarchy
A Guardian feature profiles the Wulz sisters, whose studio photography of dancers, fencers and their cat Mucincina defied the patriarchy of fascist Italy.
Davide Ruspoli
Opinion
The Ten-Year Account
Amatrice's slow reconstruction is not a failure of engineering but a measure of how the world's attention fades.
Editorial Board
The Bank That Would Not Yield
Monte dei Paschi's defensive bids reveal a deeper truth about European finance: governments will not easily surrender their banks.
Editorial Board