Italy's cabinet approved a bill on Wednesday authorising naval blockades to halt migrant boats during periods of "exceptional pressure" at the country's borders, a government source said, further tightening measures against irregular arrivals.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz are deepening cooperation on trade, defence and EU competitiveness, challenging the traditional Franco-German leadership model.

Vice President JD Vance met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Milan on Friday, part of his trip to the Olympics.

The heavy atmosphere since the summer of 2025 has been exacerbated by footage of a police officer being violently assaulted by protesters in Turin at the end of January.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met U.S. Vice President JD Vance in Milan on Friday, hours before the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, using the encounter to reaffirm the strength of U.S.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has congratulated Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae on her party's Lower House election victory on Sunday. Meloni said she wishes her "dear friend Sanae" and the new Japanese parliament all the best in their work.

A detail of a restored chapel with Angels depicted on a fresco to the memory of late Italy's King Umberto II inside the Basilica of St. Lawrence in Lucina in Rome, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. Credit: AP/Gregorio Borgia