Rome - Pope Francis on Friday led the traditional Easter week "Way of the Cross" procession in Rome, which was this year took the theme of modern-day slavery and human trafficking, including the prostitutes who ply their trade on Italy's streets.

Rome - A serial killer Italian nurse was on Friday sentenced to life in prison for killing four patients although police suspect she could have been responsible for as many as 10 fatalities.

Palermo - Members of Sudan's secret service described the capture Wednesday of an alleged people trafficking kingpin, who insists he is a victim of mistaken identity.

Rome - Italy's far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini signed a new directive Tuesday against charity vessels rescuing migrants off Libya, targeting the Italian ship Mare Jonio in particular.

Rome - Libya's UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) appealed Tuesday for Europe's support against military strongman Khalifa Haftar, who is waging an offensive on Tripoli, warning continued violence could see 800,000 people try to flee to the West.

Rome - Italy's Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said Monday he was once more under investigation for alleged false imprisonment after refusing to let migrants disembark from a rescue ship.

Rome - An Italian man and his Canadian companion abducted last December in Burkina Faso are alive but may have been moved to another country, a Burkinabe government spokesman said.

Rome - A high-profile pro-migrant mayor in populist-ruled Italy was ordered Thursday to face court over charges he set up fake marriages to help foreign women stay in the country after their asylum applications were rejected.

Rome - International anti-mafia stings may have increased in recent months, but Italian organised crime groups constitute a social and economic "cancer" that the world seems to underestimate, experts say.

Milan - Italy's populist government on Tuesday defiantly raised its 2019 budget deficit forecast to 2.4 percent of GDP, incurring the risk of a new row with the EU over fiscal discipline.

Milan - Italy's hardline interior minister Matteo Salvini gathered a handful of European far-right parties in Milan on Monday in a bid to forge an unlikely alliance of nationalists ahead of next month's European parliament elections.

Milan - Italy's Matteo Salvini gathers far-right parties from around Europe in Milan on Monday hoping to forge an unlikely alliance of nationalists ahead of next month's European parliament elections.

Rome - Italy on Saturday marked 10 years since a devastating earthquake hit L'Aquila, killing 309 people and destroying much of the historic city.

Rome - Two migrant mothers and their two children on board the German rescue ship Sea-Eye have refused to leave without their fathers, Italian officials and the NGO said Friday."The women and children refuse to leave the ship.

Rome - A German charity rescue ship has picked up 64 migrants, including women and children, stranded off Libya while trying to cross the Mediterranean and enter Europe.

Verona - Several tens of thousands of people marched in support of the ultra-Conservative World Congress of Families on Sunday, on the final day of their conference in northern Italy.

Verona - Tens of thousands of people marched in the northern Italian city of Verona Saturday to protest a meeting of the anti-gay, anti-abortion US-based World Congress of Families.

Rome - A tanker that picked up migrants off Libya has changed course for Europe, Italy's far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said on Wednesday, accusing those rescued of having hijacked the vessel.

Rome - Italian prosecutors have lifted a block on a boat that rescued 49 migrants off the Libyan coast and brought them to Italy in mid-March, the collective operating it announced Wednesday.

Rome - Foreign children on the school bus hijacked near Milan last week are to be awarded Italian nationality, far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said Wednesday after a week-long debate.