In this edition

• Lazio's beach clubs ban packed lunches, sparking customer fury

  A child's smuggled sandwich at a private beach club on the Lazio coast has ignited the latest row over Italian resorts' bans on outside food.

  Davide Ruspoli · 316 words

• Vatican rejects U.S. claim Pope speaks as politician

  The Vatican has pushed back against the Trump administration's attempt to characterise Pope Leo XIV as a political actor, asserting instead that he is proclaiming the Gospel.

  Davide Ruspoli · 318 words

Recent headlines from this bureau

• Vatican rejects U.S. claim Pope speaks as politician
• Lazio's beach clubs ban packed lunches, sparking customer fury
• Vatican rejects US framing of Pope as political actor
• Lazio beach clubs ban packed lunches, sparking rows over access
• Vatican severs ties with traditionalist sect in doctrinal rupture
• Italy arrests two in Russian espionage case, citing Ukraine aid tensions
• Italy ordered to pay damages for prosecutor's dismissal of rape as 'normal'
• Vatican excommunicates rebel bishops as traditionalist schism deepens

Geography & climate

Mediterranean; hot dry summers, mild wet winters.

The Tiber and the Roman countryside, the Apennines, the Tyrrhenian coast, the Pontine plain.

Economy & culture

Government and public administration, the Vatican, tourism, film (Cinecittà), services, aerospace.

Ancient Rome and the Catholic Church, the seat of the Italian state, Cinecittà, a sprawling capital.