Rome, Jan 21 - Nuclear energy production in Italy will need a 30-billion euro investment now, more than two decades after the country mothballed its reactors, according to the head of the largest Italian business lobby Confindustria.

"Italy's nuclear plan will involve 350 companies and 70 percent of the investments will be by Italians," said Confindustria president Emma Marcegaglia at a conference here.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government in 2008 pledged to begin construction of nuclear power plants in five years but has yet to announce any sites for the new plants.

Rome, Jan 7 : Pope Benedict XVI called Turkey a "bridge between Islam and the West," during a discussion with the new Turkish ambassador to the Vatican Thursday.

But the pontiff also said the Catholic Church should receive a recognised legal status in the country.

Such a status would help the Church to "enjoy complete freedom of religion and help to build up (Turkey's) society," Benedict told Ambassador Kenan Gursoy.

Rome, Dec 30 - The Italian government's tax amnesty scheme has netted a record 95 billion euros from funds and assets held abroad, Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti has said.

The controversial three-month amnesty was due to expire Dec 15 but has been extended until the end of April, due to a late rush of applicants who were offered generous terms and anonymity.

"These numbers indicate an extraordinary success. They are a sign of the strength of our economy and of confidence in Italy," Tremonti said in a statement Tuesday.

Nouakchott/Rome, Dec 29 :Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Monday he will travel to Mauritania where Al Qaeda's North African branch has claimed to have kidnapped an Italian couple.

"I will not comment any further, so as not to prejudice the safety of our nationals," Frattini said in an interview with public television news programme TG1.

He did not specify the exact dates of his trip to the African country other than to say it would be early in January.

Rome (Italy), Dec. 25 : An “unbalanced woman” jumped the barriers in St. Peter’s Basilica and knocked down Pope Benedict XVI as he walked down the main aisle to begin Christmas Eve Mass, a Vatican spokesman said Thursday.

But according to the New York Times, the pope quickly got back on his feet and celebrated Mass before thousands of the faithful, urging them in his homily to become “truly vigilant people.”

Television images showed a woman in red leap toward Benedict, 82, as he began to walk up the central aisle, as the police and bodyguards scrambled to his aid.

Rome, Dec 24 - Italy's Agriculture Minister Luca Zaia has won a hard-fought battle to obtain labelling for virgin and extra virgin olive oil that clearly states where the olives used to make it come from.

The victory is a boost for Italian olive oil producers, who are counting on the exceptional quality of the 2009-10 season's oil to make up for a 15 percent fall in output compared with the previous season.

"Since July 1, transparent labelling indicating the country of origin of the olives has been mandatory in all of Europe," said Zaia.

Rome, Dec 21 - Juventus closed 2009 with an embarrassing 2-1 home defeat against Serie A tail-enders Catania and fell nine points behind leaders Inter Milan, who won 1-0 in a late game with Lazio.

Ahead of a two-week winter break, champions Inter widened their lead on city rivals AC Milan to eight points, although the Devils have a game in hand when the season resumes Jan 6.

Rome, Dec 16 : A video game has surfaced on the Internet challenging players to strike Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as many times as they can with replicas of the northern Italian city of Milan's Cathedral.

The game appeared just two days after Massimo Tartaglia made headlines around the world for striking Berlusconi in the face with a small alabaster souvenir statuette of the Milan landmark.

Rome, Dec 16 - Italian car giant Fiat defied the economic downturn and recorded a dramatic increase in car sales across Europe in November.

According to the latest sales figures released Tuesday, the Fiat Group recorded a 30.7 percent increase in November sales with Fiat vehicle sales up 33.3 percent and sales of Lancia vehicles up 37.9 percent.

Sales of Fiat's Alfa Romeo cars rose by 4.5 percent, the company said.

The sales increase was a significant turnaround in the slowdown that has struck the auto industry in the past few months.

Rome, Dec 16 - An earthquake registering 4.2 on the Richter scale Tuesday caused panic and damaged houses along the border of the Italian regions of Umbria and Tuscany.

The earthquake was most noticeable in the city of Perugia and surrounding areas. Several smaller towns were evacuated, according to Italian Agriculture Minister Luca Zaia. It was unclear how many people, if any, had been injured.

An aftershock measuring 2.8 on the Richter scale spread fear, but cause neither damage nor injuries, reported emergency services agencies.

Rome, Dec 15 - Italy's Interior Minister Roberto Maroni has said that Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi could have been killed when he was attacked Sunday after a political rally in the northern city of Milan.

Maroni expressed his concern Monday about the lapse in security after meeting senior police and political leaders in the city to discuss the incident.

"He was at risk of being seriously injured, or killed," said Maroni, adding that the attack was "a very serious event".

Rome, Dec 14 : Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho jostled and insulted a reporter after the Serie A game in which his side drew 1-1 at Atalanta, the ANSA news agency reported.

Andrea Ramazzotti, a reporter with daily newspaper Corriere dello Sport, said that the Portuguese coach got off the Inter bus Sunday and grabbed him by the arms, telling him to leave a nearby area reserved for Inter Channel.

Ramazzotti said he had been authorized by both clubs to access the area.

Some stewards said they heard Mourinho insult Ramazzotti, telling him he was to move to the press room of the Bergamo stadium.

Rome, Dec 14 - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was bloodied and knocked to the ground by an attacker shortly after a political meeting in the Italian city of Milan on Sunday.

Berlusconi, who was hit in the face and bleeding profusely from the mouth, was rushed into a car and driven away after the attack to be examined at a hospital, reported eyewitnesses.

Rome, Dec 10 - The conservative Italian government has brought the mafia "to its knees", Italy's justice minister Angelino said while urging prosecutors to work even harder to defeat it.

His comments followed the arrest Saturday of the Sicilian mafia's alleged second-in-command, Giovanni Nicchi, and and another top mafia boss, Gaetano Fidanzati.

"The mafia is now on its knees, its historic leaders are all in high-security prisons, its rising stars have already fizzled out. Now we want to deal the killing blow and free ourselves from the mafia as soon as possible," Alfano told journalists Wednesday in the the Italian capital, Rome.

Rome, Dec 9 : The insults that a group of Juventus fans late Tuesday levelled at their club's team and management topped a series of confrontations and tantrums that lately have busied the chroniclers of the Italian Serie A.

A 4-1 razing from guests Bayern Munich ejected Juve from the Champions League at the group phase, an event that last happened in the 2000/2001 edition and that sparked angry disappointment of about 50 fans at the game's end.    

Rome, Dec 8 - Pope Benedict XVI will hold this year's Christmas Eve midnight mass at St Peter's basilica two hours earlier, the Vatican has announced.

"This is in order not to tire His Holiness," said the Vatican's Office of Papal Liturgical Celebrations, quoted by Italian media Monday.

It is the first time the world-famous Christmas midnight mass has been brought forward, the Vatican confirmed.

The service will begin at 10 p. m. and finish by midnight.

During the papacy of Benedict's predecessor John Paul II, the traditional midnight Easter Vigil was on several occasions brought forward, the Vatican said.

Rome, Dec 7 : Serie A newcomers Parma retained fourth place with a 2-2 draw at Genoa, who remained one point adrift in fifth position in the Italian Serie A.

A brace from Parma's French forward Jonathan Biabiany reversed the opening goal from Argentine Rodrigo Palacio, but the hosts levelled the intense game Sunday with a 67th-minute drive from Raffaele Palladino.

Fiorentina prevailed 2-0 against Atalanta after two straight defeats and joined Sampdoria, Genoa and Roma in fifth place - a standing that better suits the only Italian side to have qualified for the Champions League knock-out phase with one group game left.

Rome, Dec 4 : Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has received a chilly warning from the environmental activist group Greenpeace ahead of the global climate change summit in Copenhagen.

Activists from the group created an ice statue depicting the premier in the Italian capital, Rome, to highlight the risk of global warming.

One activist was arrested for displaying a banner next to the statue that read: "Berlusconi, don't be stupid. Save the climate".

Rome, Dec 3: Juventus are in a must-win situation against leaders Inter Milan in an Italian football classic Saturday if they want to stay in the Serie A title race.

Coming off a 2-0 defeat at Cagliari last weekend, which followed another 2-0 crash at Bordeaux in the Champions League, Juve have dropped eight points behind Inter and have virtually no room left for further mishaps.

With the club barricaded in their training camp south of Turin, veteran defender Fabio Cannavaro was the only one to speak, offering support to the often criticized young coach Ciro Ferrara.

Rome, Dec 2 - Italy's unemployment rate rose to eight percent in October, the highest rate recorded in five years.

According to official statistics released by the European Union's statistics agency, ISTAT, the number of jobless in Italy rose from 7.8 percent in September.

Claudio Scajola, minister for economic development, said that Italy's jobless rate was far better than the EU average and many other countries.