Italy's contracts with Israeli spyware company Paragon have been terminated; revelations that the surveillance technology was used against critics of the government, journalists and migrant rescue workers, prompted uproar and calls for full investigation

Mount Etna, Europe's largest active volcano, erupted with a spectacular pyroclastic flow - an avalanche of hot lava blocks, ash, gas and volcanic material; the activity may have started following a collapse of material in South-East crater

A bar in Treviso, Veneto, has decided to put a 1 euro fee on every blasphemy to fund charitable projects; blasphemy - annoying for most Italian even if not religious and formally banned by law - is on a growing trend among youn generations

A huge snowfall whitened the Alps, by far the biggest of the 24-25 season, with the avalanche danger at a rare maximum 5 out 5 in area of the Western Alps; the snowfall is a good news for glaciers and snowpack before the arrival of summer

Italy is under investigation by the International Criminal Court for non-cooperation with the Court in the Almasri case, wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity: it is the first time this happens to a European country