Italy

Grillo calls for renegotiation of Italy's public debt

4 Mar 2013

Beppe Grillo, whose anti-establishment party unexpectedly captured a quarter of the vote in Italy's inconclusive elections, wants to renegotiate his crisis-hit country's debt.

The Italian job

4 Mar 2013

Just when investors thought it was safe to get back into equities, the euro-zone crisis returned with a vengeance last week, with Europe's benjchmark Euro Stoxx 50 dropping 3 per cent on February...

Politics of debt stymies Italy

2 Mar 2013

Italy's European partners had hoped for a new government in Rome with the electoral legitimacy to complete the economic reform and austerity measures launched by outgoing Italian prime minister...

New probe on Berlusconi as ex-senator accuses him of political graft

2 Mar 2013

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is under investigation on suspicion of bribing a senator to change sides in parliament, deepening the legal troubles of one of the key players in...

Italian election impasse roils world markets, shakes Europe

27 Feb 2013

The Milan stock market plunged and Italy's borrowing rates jumped after centre-left Democratic Party leader Pier Luigi Bersani scraped a razor-thin victory in the lower house of parliament but the...

Opinion

Wang Xiangwei

Super ministries may not be the right answer for mainland China

Alex Lo

Church developers remain unbowed by government rules

George Chen

A house is not a home until it becomes affordable

Beppe Grillo's party no longer a standing joke in Italian politics

Beppe Grillo's Five Star Movement (M5S) captured more than a quarter of the vote for the lower house, incredibly becoming the biggest individual party in parliament and the number three grouping...

Maradona returns to Italy to resolve tax evasion case

Maradona's Italian debts of nearly €40 million (HK$409.6 million) stem from alleged unpaid taxes during the time he played for Napoli from 1984 to 1991, a period in which he helped the club win...

Italy's centre-left coalition leads Berlusconi camp in key elections

Italy's crucial elections appeared to be heading towards political gridlock, initial results showed, with the centre-left forces of Pier Luigi Bersani closing in on victory in the lower house of...

Topless women in Italy protest ex-PM Berlusconi vote

The protesters, from the Ukrainian women's rights group Femen, shouted " Basta [Enough] Berlusconi", as the media tycoon was voting in a polling station in a Milan school.

ANALYSIS

Europe watches anxiously as austerity-hit Italians go to the polls

Fellow EU countries and investors are watching closely, as the decisions that Italy makes over the next several months promise to have a profound impact on whether Europe can decisively put out...

ITALY

Italians head to polls as Europe watches

European capitals will be watching closely since, whatever the result, there is likely to be a change from outgoing technocratic premier Mario Monti’s agenda of austerity and economic reforms.