In this edition

• Etna's Ash Cloud Halts Catania Flights, Testing Southern Tourism

  Mount Etna's eruption has again grounded flights at Catania, disrupting summer travel across the Mediterranean and raising questions for the wider South.

  Pietro Lasorsa · 420 words

• Viral Dancing Seniors in Rome Spark a Conversation on Italy's Ageing

  A viral video of an Italian senior couple dancing in a Rome piazza has struck a chord in a country with the EU's oldest population, prompting calls for more active lifestyles.

  Pietro Lasorsa · 390 words

Recent headlines from this bureau

• Viral Dancing Seniors in Rome Spark a Conversation on Italy's Ageing
• Etna's Ash Cloud Halts Catania Flights, Testing Southern Tourism
• EU 'forever chemicals' curbs touch Basilicata's food chain
• Ceuta fallout reaches Basilicata as Spain checks Italian travellers
• Po drought exposes Italy's fragile water web
• Ancient Roman Shipwreck Found Off Sicily, a 'Treasure' for Southern Heritage
• Mount Etna ash suspends arrivals at Catania airport
• Hugo cocktail snaps at Aperol's heels in UK summer of spritz

Geography & climate

Continental in the mountains, Mediterranean on the coasts.

Mountains and badlands between two seas; the Sassi of Matera, the Val d'Agri oilfields.

Economy & culture

Oil and gas (Italy's largest onshore field), agriculture, the Matera tourism boom, automotive.

Matera, once 'the shame of Italy', now a film set and capital of culture; a sparse, ancient South.