After 98 days,the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta(MEND) handed over their two Italian hostages Cosma Russo and Franco Arena to a visiting Italian journalist Massimo Alberizzi in the Niger Delta on Thursday 15, 2007.

Italy and Russia said today they wanted talks between Russia and the European Union on a new strategic partnership agreement to start as soon as possible.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ends a two-day visit to Italy today. He travels to the Adriatic city of Bari with Italian Prime Minister Romani Prodi for talks expected to focus on improving already good business ties.

On 13 March Vladimir Putin will hold talks with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano and Prime Minister Romano Prodi in Rome. On that same day the President of Russia will meet Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican.

Italy's center-left government on Thursday won the first of two parliamentary votes that will allow it to keep troops in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, a large photo of an Italian reporter kidnapped in Afghanistan was hung from Rome's city hall as hundreds gathered to call for his release.

Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi defended his government's foreign policy on Tuesday, including its troop commitment in Afghanistan. In a wide-ranging speech to the upper house of parliament, Prodi tried to convince senators of the need for his government to survive.

Chief lawmakers in the Italian parliament meet later Monday to decide when Premier Romano Prodi's government will face a vote of confidence, after the Italian president this weekend rejected Prodi's resignation in the latest political crisis to hit the country.

The president of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano, has asked Romano Prodi to stay on as prime minister and face a vote of confidence in parliament. The decision came three days after Prodi announced that he was stepping down. Sabina Castelfranco reports from Rome.

Mt. Vesuvius, an Italian volcano with a history of explosive eruptions, poses a serious threat to the nearly one million people who live near its flanks, but this hazard is difficult to quantify.

Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi resigned late Wednesday after his government lost a crucial parliamentary vote on foreign policy. The president will now begin talks with political leaders to discuss a way forward.

Italy will host an international conference on judicial reform and security in Afghanistan in May, one month later than originally scheduled.

World Cup winners Italy and European champions FC Barcelona dominated the 2006 team of the year in an online poll on UEFA's Web site.