Among the many culinary treats Italy has given the world is gelato, a frozen dessert with roots in ancient Mesopotamia. Gelato lovers from all over the world are flocking to a university outside Bologna, Italy, to master the art of gelato-making. Here's a free lesson: Don't call it ice cream.

Pope Francis has surprised many with his candor in the early days of his papacy. In recent remarks, he reportedly acknowledged a so-called gay lobby in the Vatican. The pope's words are being interpreted as part of a broader effort to re-examine the way the Vatican is run.

After the popes comments, headlines proclaimed, "Even Atheists Can Go To Heaven." A Vatican spokesman quickly intervened and said this was not the case. Still, the remarks were in keeping with a pope who is emphasizing inclusiveness and wants to speak to a global audience that reaches far beyond the Catholic Church.

Niccolo Machiavelli is synonymous with political deceit, cynicism and ruthlessness. He called his most famous work, The Prince, a handbook for statesmen. An exhibit in Rome celebrates the 500th anniversary of what's still one of the most influential political essays in Western literature.

In Italy, the youth jobless rate is nudging 40 percent, a record high in post-war history. Demographer Stefano Rosina says the Italian welfare system has always been skewed toward the middle-aged and elderly, leaving Italian youths with no political or trade union representation.

Shunning the formalities of his office and focusing on poverty, Pope Francis is drawing a sharp contrast between his 2-month-old papacy and those of his predecessors.

Culatello. Capocollo. Sopressata. It will soon be legal to import a whole new world of Italian cured pork products, thanks to the USDA's decision to end a decades-long ban. Every Italian region and province, and even many towns have their own distinctive salumi.

A newly cleaned painting in the Vatican, which dates to 1494, may be the first European depiction of Native Americans. The painting had been largely ignored for more than 500 years.

On Sunday, a new government was sworn in in Italy. The event was marred by a man who shot and wounded two police officers and a passerby as the swearing in ceremony was taking place.

About a century ago, a beautiful tradition emerged in the Italian city of Naples: Cafe-goers would buy a cup of coffee anonymously and in advance for a less-fortunate stranger. With much of Europe now in tight financial times, the custom is spreading across the continent.

Eight weeks after an exceptionally tight election, Italy still has no government. While the deadlock may be broken this week, the battle has wounded Italy's political establishment.

A group of American nuns and Catholic women has traveled to Rome for a pilgrimage to the sites where there are traces on frescoes, mosaics and sarcophagi that show how women played an important role in the church in the early centuries of Christianity. Groups say women once held "co-equal roles with men."

Pope Francis called for peace before a crowd of tens of thousands in St. Peter's Square on Sunday. He called for reconciliation in the Korean Peninsula, an end to the conflicts in Syria and between Israelis and Palestinians.

Italy's highest court has overturned the 2011 acquittal of Amanda Knox, the American student who, together with her then boyfriend, was accused of killing her roommate in Perugia in 2007. It raises the possibility that Italy will seek to extradite her from the U.S. to be re-tried. U.S. constitutional protection against double jeopardy would complicate any extradition attempt, however. Knox, now a student at the University of Washington, said it was "painful" to receive the news but said she will face the continuing legal battle "confident in the truth and with our heads held high." The original trial attracted world wide attention.

In a surprise ruling, Italy's highest court ordered a retrial of American student Amanda Knox and her former boyfriend for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher. The ruling overturned the 2011 acquittal of the two defendants after they had spent four years in jail.

At a mass in St. Peter's Square, the pope appealed to political leaders of the world to protect the environment, the poor and the marginalized. Representatives of the world's major religions were present, as well as some 132 delegations from all over the world.

Pope Francis is formally inaugurated in a mass in St. Peter's Square Tuesday. Leaders from all over the world are attending. In less than a week, the pope has made himself known to the Catholic world and beyond for his direct and simple words and gestures.

Pope Francis' spent his first day as leader of the Roman Catholic Church on Thursday.

Roman Catholics woke up Thursday with a new pope — the first non-European supreme pontiff since the early centuries of Christianity. The Argentine chose the name Francis, never before used by any other pope. That could signal the start of a new chapter for the crisis-ridden church.

Audie Cornish talks to Sylvia Poggioli about the scene at the Vatican after a Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, Argentina, was elected as pope on Wednesday.