Visiting scene, Italian PM says country must take measures to ensure such a tragedy does not happen again

Thunderstorms have hampered the search for more than a dozen hikers who remain unaccounted for a day after a huge chunk of an Alpine glacier in Italy broke off, sending an avalanche of ice, snow and rocks down the slope.

The Italian prime minister, Mario Draghi, pledged on Monday night that his government would work to avoid a repeat of the tragedy in which at least seven people were killed.

Authorities say another eight hikers injured following fall of ice, snow and rock on popular trail in Dolomites

At least six people have died after a large chunk of Alpine glacier broke loose and slid down a mountainside in Italy.

The collapse on Sunday afternoon sent ice, snow and rock slamming into hikers on a popular trail on the Marmolada peak, killing at least six and injuring eight, authorities said.

Mayor of town near Bologna says thousands of litres of water wasted due to double-shampooing of customers’ hair

The mayor of an Italian town has banned hairdressers and barbers from shampooing their customers’ hair twice in an attempt to conserve water during one of the most severe droughts in decades.

Carlo Gubellini, the mayor of Castenaso, near Bologna in the Emilia-Romagna region, said thousands of litres of water was squandered each day through double-shampooing, which many hairdressers believe is beneficial, and hence double-rinsing.

Martina Patti claimed her child was taken by three men, before confessing a day later in Mascalucia

A woman in Sicily has been arrested after admitting killing her four-year-old daughter, having initially claimed the child was taken by hooded kidnappers for a ransom.

The body of Elena Del Pozzo was found in a field close to her home in Mascalucia, a town in the province of Catania, on Tuesday.