In this edition

• Etna's Ash Chokes Catania, Testing Southern Italy's Summer Travel

  Mount Etna's renewed eruption has forced Catania airport to suspend flights, stranding tens of thousands of travelers during the peak summer season.

  Francesca Lazzari · 420 words

• Explosion at Munitions Factory South of Rome Raises Safety Concerns

  A huge explosion rocked a munitions factory south of Rome on Thursday, according to Al Jazeera, raising fresh concerns about industrial safety in Italy.

  Francesca Lazzari · 306 words

Recent headlines from this bureau

• Explosion at Munitions Factory South of Rome Raises Safety Concerns
• Etna's Ash Chokes Catania, Testing Southern Italy's Summer Travel
• Etna's Eruption Halts Catania Flights, Disrupting Summer Travel
• EU Bans 'Forever Chemicals' in Food Packaging, Testing Southern Agriculture
• Ceuta border spat reaches Puglia's ports, testing summer trade lanes
• Spain-Italy border spat reaches Puglia's ports and airports
• Hugo cocktail snaps at Aperol's heels in UK summer of spritz
• Garbage workers help Bitonto woman find binned €1m lottery ticket

Geography & climate

Hot Mediterranean; dry summers, mild winters.

The long flat heel — olive plains, the Salento, the trulli of the Itria valley, two seas.

Economy & culture

Olive oil and agriculture, tourism, the Taranto steelworks, ports, renewable energy.

Trulli and whitewashed towns, the pizzica, a Greek and Norman past, an Adriatic gateway.