Visitors can observe rare and tropical butterflies flying freely. The Casa delle Farfalle, a tropical greenhouse in Rome's Appia Pignatelli area, offers the chance to admire hundreds of butterflies including the world's most spectacular varieties. Until 9 June visitors can observe the butterflies upclose and watch them flying freely in an environment that reproduces their natural habitat. In addition to butterflies and cocoons, the Casa delle Farfalle houses stick insects, leaf insects and even hissing cockroaches from Madagascar. Tickets cost €9 for adults and €6 for children aged 4 to ..read more

Race for the Cure celebrates 25 years in Italy. Italy's main state museums will open for free to participants of the 2024 edition of Race for the Cure, the charity sporting event that raises funds and awareness for breast cancer, the Italian culture ministry announced. Those who wish to partake of the initiative must wear the official Race for the Cure shirt and bring their donation receipt for the annual event which this year celebrates 25 years. The Rome edition of Race for the Cure takes place this weekend, with the museum offer available from 10-12 May. Dal #9maggio torna a ..read more

Writer defends Saviano at Salone del Libro in Turin. The Indian-born British author Salman Rushdie on Thursday said that Italy's prime minister Giorgia Meloni should be "be less childish and grow up" in relation to criticism. Rusdhie, speaking at the Salone del Libro book fair in Turin, was referring to a libel conviction that Meloni secured against Italian writer and journalist Roberto Saviano who called the right-wing leader a "bastard" over her hardline immigration views. Saviano made the remark during a television interview in December 2020, when Meloni was still in opposition, in relation ..read more

RAI alleges that Serena Bortone violated company rules with Scurati post. Italy's state broadcaster RAI has sent a letter of disciplinary complaint to journalist Serena Bortone over a viral Facebook post regarding the last-minute cancellation of a monologue by anti-fascist writer Antonio Scurati on her TV talkshow last month. In her Facebook post on 20 April, Bortone said that she had learned "with dismay" of the decision to cancel Scurati's anti-fascist monologue to mark Italy's Festa della Liberazione, a public holiday to commemorate the end of the Fascist regime and the Nazi occupation ..read more

City offers incentives of up to €30 a month. Florence is launching a new incentive-based scheme to encourage the city's residents to cycle, particularly commuters who swap their car for a bicycle. Cyclists who sign up to the pilot project - titled Pedala, Firenze ti premia (Pedal, Florence rewards you) - can earn up to €30 a month or a maximum of €2 a day. The €1.2 million scheme is open to all over-18s resident in Florence and those who commute to the city for work or study from the greater metropolitan area. In addition to owning a bicycle, participants are required to downloa ..read more

A quick guide on how to get to Rome's Foro Italico. Rome is currently hosting the 2024 edition of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia or Italian Open, the prestigious annual tennis tournament also known as the Rome Masters. In addition to the world's top tennis stars, the Italian capital is currently welcoming hordes of tennis fans, many of whom will be asking how to get to the Foro Italico. Located in the north of Rome, the Foro Italico complex is home to several major sporting facilities including the Stadio Central del Tennis which hosts the Italian Open. How to get to ..read more

Public can watch the Spanish champion for free. Spanish tennis champion Rafael Nadal will train on the red clay court set up in Rome's central Piazza del Popolo on Wednesday 8 May as part of the city's celebrations for the Italian Open. The event, scheduled for 17.30, will be open to the public free of charge in what is described by the city as "a unique opportunity to see Nadal train live for free". Nadal, who is set to compete at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia or Italian Open tournament for the last time, has won the prestigious Rome title a record 10 times. Italian Open: Rome sets up red ..read more

Mango won Sanremo with her song La noia. Italian pop singer Angelina Mango will represent Italy in this year's Eurovision Song Contest which takes place in the Swedish city of Malmö from 7-11 May. Mango, 23, goes into the 68th edition Eurovision after winning the Sanremo Music Festival, Italy's biggest song contest, earlier this year with her song La noia. The popstar's triumph at the 74th Sanremo saw her come ahead of Geolier, Annalisa, Ghali and Irama to clinch the coveted title. Among the 37 songs competing for the Eurovision this week, La noia is the one most listened t ..read more

Spate of workplace accidents continues in Italy. Five workers died while carrying out sewage works near Palermo on the Italian island of Sicily on Monday, with a sixth transported to hospital in critical condition. The workers were conducting maintenance work in a wastewater purification tank in the town of Casteldaccia when they apparently became trapped inside and inhaled toxic fumes, leaving five of them dead. Firefighters said a sixth worker was extracted alive but unconscious and was taken by helicopter to hospital in Palermo. A seventh worker was uninjured. #Palermo, intervento #vigilide ..read more

Viterbo gets ready for "Bomba Day" after discovery of massive bomb buried for 80 years. Around 36,000 people will be evacuated from their homes in the central Italian town of Viterbo on Tuesday while army experts defuse a massive unexploded bomb left over from world war two. The long-lost bomb is one of the biggest ever found in Italy and was unearthed during construction works in the town, located about 100 km north of Rome. The device weighs 2,000 kg - of which 1,300 kg is explosives - and reportedly belongs to the category of aircraft bombs dropped by the Bristol Blenheim Mk IV bomber,  ..read more