Sylvia Poggioli

Last year, Pope Francis called the Ottoman Empire's slaughter of Armenians "the first genocide of the 20th century," sparking a diplomatic spat with Turkey. He begins a 3-day visit to Armenia Friday.

Rome elected it's first-ever woman mayor and its youngest. 37-year old Virginia Raggi of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement promises to reform a corrupt and antiquated city government.

Part of the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria is seaborne. The Navy's USS Truman has been in the Persian Gulf but now is in the Mediterranean, on its way home to Virginia.

Pope Francis broke a Catholic Church taboo last month when he said he would create a commission to study whether women can serve as deacons — as they did in early Christianity.

With the arrest this spring of six Moroccans suspected of planning terror attacks on Italy, the southern European nation believes it has become a target. It is pushing for greater continental cooperation and sharing of intelligence to combat extremists.

In the last week, Italy has rescued more than 10,000 people at sea. The spike appears tied to Africans making the trip from the continent's northern coast, taking advantage of improved weather. But there also are reports smugglers are moving westward from Turkey with the closure of borders in Europe.

With warmer weather comes an influx of refugees and migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe, and a shift in the route they're taking. Over the weekend, hundreds of people drowned.

The hope is that Chinese tourists will feel safer after recent terrorist attacks. In the long run, greater cooperation could help break up illegal activities by Chinese and Italian organized crime.

Migrants are again heading to Italy on a dangerous sea-crossing from Libya. The surge comes as Austria prepares to shut its border leaving Italy in crisis over what to do with the new arrivals.

Pope Francis visited the Greek Island of Lesbos in order to draw attention to the plight of migrants there. The migrants are caught up in a controversial deal between the European Union and Turkey.

Pope Francis says he going to the Greek island of Lesbos to show solidarity and sympathy with migrants and those who have been welcoming them. He's also expected to sharply criticize the European Union for what he calls the "globalization of indifference" towards refugees and migrants.

The pontiff isn't content to remain in the Vatican or sit on the sidelines. His trip this weekend to the Greek island of Lesbos is just one part of his emerging world view.

The southern Italian village of Riace had an aging, dwindling population. That was before it was reborn as a global village following the arrival of thousands of migrants from more than 20 countries.

In Italy, volunteers are helping young migrants cope with their new reality through one-on-one language lessons.

A Catholic-Protestant initiative is bringing refugees from Lebanon and Morocco to Italy on humanitarian visas to spare them deadly sea crossings. Most are old, sick or women with young children.

A funeral is being held Friday in Italy for Giulio Regeni, a doctoral student allegedly tortured and killed in Egypt. Thousands have demanded an independent probe into Regeni's death.

Pope Francis will meet in Cuba next week with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church in an effort to heal the 1,000-year-old schism that divided Christianity between East and West.

Legislation to legalize same-sex civil unions is fueling passions across Italy. Activist say they expect hundreds of thousands of anti-gay adoption supporters to protest against the bill on Saturday.

Italy's Senate takes up a measure this week that would permit civil unions, but the bill would not legalize same-sex marriage. All of Western Europe already permits one or both.

Iran's president is in Italy at the start of a Europe trip made possible by the lifting of sanctions following the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal. President Hassan Rouhani me...