Universita Commerciale Luigi Bocconi

Italian bloggers have found imaginative ways to dodge a ban on publishing opinion polls ahead of elections -- from referring to candidates as cardinals to commenting the vote like a horse race.

As he rises in the ratings ahead of elections this month, Italy's Silvio Berlusconi could be looking for an extra boost with the hiring of striker Mario Balotelli by his club AC Milan, observers said.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, who resigned on Friday triggering elections, is a former high-flying European commissioner who saved Italy from the brink of bankruptcy but at a steep social cost.

A defiantly unabashed Silvio Berlusconi vowed Saturday to stay in politics to reform the very justice system that sentenced him to jail for tax fraud, as the Italian press declared an emphatic end to the billionaire former premier's long domination of the nation's political scene.

A typically unabashed Silvio Berlusconi vowed Saturday to stay in politics to reform the very justice system that sentenced him to jail for tax fraud, as the Italian press declared an emphatic end to the billionaire former premier's long domination of the nation's political scene.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti will step down as finance minister and the current deputy minister Vittorio Grilli will take his place, the government said on Wednesday.

Mario Monti's diplomatic skills will be put to the test on Friday, as he is called to mediate between the eurozone's biggest economies as they race to find common solutions to the fierce debt crisis.

ROME (Reuters) - Prime Minister Mario Monti took power three months ago to rescue Italy from economic disaster. In one way, he may have done his job too well.

From Dubai to Jamaica, Australia to Brazil, high-end fashion hotels are mushrooming as growing numbers of luxury travellers seek a taste of the glamour and indulgence that only stardom used to bring.

With social network sites and smartphone apps making rapid inroads into the fashion world, observers say Italy risks falling behind even as its luxury brands feel the pain from the economic crisis.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A long, standing ovation greeted Italy's Mario Monti when he entered the packed Card Room on the seventh floor of the New York Stock Exchange last week.

MILAN (Reuters) - When Italian construction group Perego was struggling back in 2008, a white knight flush with cash rode to its rescue.

If disaster strikes, how exactly does a eurozone nation hit the emergency escape button on the euro?

LONDON/ZURICH (Reuters) - Italian police have raided two properties and launched a fraud probe into ex-hedge fund manager Alberto Micalizzi, a researcher at Italy's Bocconi University, who ran hedge fund DD Growth Premium until its collapse during the credit crisis.

LONDON/ZURICH (Reuters) - Italian police have raided two properties and launched a fraud probe into ex-hedge fund manager Alberto Micalizzi, a researcher at Italy's Bocconi University, who ran hedge fund DD Growth Premium until its collapse during the credit crisis.

ROME (Reuters) - Mario Monti looked close to forming a new government on Tuesday as financial market pressure mounted to end a damaging political crisis that has brought Italy to the brink of disaster.

ROME (Reuters) - The prospects of a new Italian government soon were boosted on Tuesday by backing from the biggest political party as financial market pressure mounted on prime minister designate Mario Monti to act quickly.

Mario Monti warned Italians of "sacrifices" ahead and asked investors to be patient on Monday as he scrambled to put together a government under heavy pressure to fight a debt crisis that has spooked Europe.

Whoever succeeds Silvio Berlusconi as prime minister faces a series of major tasks to pull Italy out of its debt crisis, including convincing Italians to accept austerity measures while pushing through urgently needed reforms to jump-start an ailing economy, economists say.

ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is set to resign on Saturday after a new budget law is approved in parliament, making way for an emergency government and ending one of the most scandal-plagued eras in Italy's post-war history.