Italy’s unemployment rate has risen to a new record high in May as the country is struggling with a recession-hit economy following implementation of tough austerity cuts. The Rome-based national statistics office, Istat, said on Monday that the jobless rate rose to 12.2 percent in May from 12 percent in April, the highest since the institute started collecting data on Italy in 1977. The eurozone’s... 

Demonstrators marching during a protest against austerity measures in Italy’s capital, Rome. Thousands of Italians have taken to the streets in the capital Rome to protest against tough austerity measures adopted by the government of Prime Minister Mario Monti. Thousands of anti-austerity demonstrators gathered in Rome’s Piazza della Repubblica on Saturday, expressing their anger at the government’s... 

Giorgio Napolitano is reelected as Italy’s president. Giorgio Napolitano has been reelected as the president of Italy, after accepting an appeal by the country’s major political parties to stand for a second term. In their sixth round of voting, 1,007 Italian lawmakers and regional representatives voted for Napolitano, 87, on Saturday, putting an end to a two-month political deadlock. “I... 

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano Italian lawmakers have failed to elect a new president during the first two rounds of voting, as tensions grow among center-left politicians. Italy’s parliament failed to elect a new successor to President Giorgio Napolitano during the first and second rounds of voting on Thursday, with no candidate able to secure the required two-thirds vote. Frontrunner... 

Italy’s main union leaders speak to crowds outside Parliament in Rome April 16, 2013. Thousands of Italians have protested against the deteriorating conditions for the country’s workforce, blaming the political stalemate for the worsening economic situation. The country’s three major unions organized the rally outside Parliament on Tuesday, where workers demanded more money to a state... 

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti leaves the presidential palace in a car after handing in his resignation to President Giorgio Napolitano on December 21, 2012. Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti has resigned, just days after ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and his party threatened to topple his government. On Friday, Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic of Italy Donato Marra said,... 

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti has announced he is going to resign as he has lost support in the country’s parliament hours after former Premier Silvio Berlusconi said he would run again for head of government. Italian President Giorgio Napolitano’s office issued a statement on Saturday, announcing the prime minister’s resignation, saying Monti “does not think it possible to continue... 

Rescuers searching for survivors in Medolla earthquake on May 29, 2012 Italy’s second fatal earthquake in just over a week has killed at least 16 people and injured 350 others in the northern region of Emilia Romagna. At least 14,000 people have also been displaced since a strong earthquake measuring 5.8 struck northern Italy on Tuesday morning, local security officials reported. The rescuing teams... 

Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti has pointed to the possibility of calling in the army to deal with the violent protests in the country over the government’s economic policies. Monti raised alert levels on Sunday at some sensitive sites across Italy to handle the recent violence that has hit the country. Interior Minister Anna Maria Cancellieri also said on... 

Italian metalworkers march during a protest in Rome on March 9, 2012. Italy’s main labor unions have staged rallies in the capital Rome to protest Prime Minster Mario Monti’s pension reforms that is expected to trap many workers in a legal limbo without retirement pay. The plan will see the retirement age raised and that younger workers will collect smaller pensions than their parents. Monti’s... 

Demonstrators hold a banner reading "We don't pay your bill, change the menu" as they march during a general strike in Italy. Tens of thousands of Italian workers plan a general strike against the imposition of the government’s harsh austerity measures aimed at saving the country from financial ruin. Leaders of Italy’s three biggest unions have called for a three hour strike... 

A general view of Piazza Duomo during the FIOM CGIL and Students National Strike on January 28, 2011 in Milan, Italy. Italian trade unions have called for a strike to protest the recent government austerity measures aimed at resolving the eurozone debt crisis. Two of Italy’s three biggest trade unions said they would hold a two-hour strike on December 12, AFP reported on Monday The Cisl and Uil...