The Latest: Fewer casualties likely in quake damaged hotel

Italian rescue workers are expecting fewer casualties than initially feared at the site of a hotel that was badly damaged in Wednesday's earthquake. Officials initially said about 70 people had been staying at the Hotel Roma in the central Italian town of Amatrice when the quake struck.

Release of Indian ‘child abductor’ sparks backlash in Italy

Rome, Aug 22 : The release of an Indian migrant accused of trying to abduct a small girl from a Sicilian beach resort has riled conservative Italian politicians and sparked calls for his deportation. Ram Lubhay should be "immediately expelled" for his attempted abduction of a five-year-old girl last week as she played in the sea at Vittoria, the town's centre-right mayor Giovanni Moscato told Adnkronos.

Up and Down – But Mostly Up – the Income Ladder

TWO RESEARCHERS at the Bank of Italy have documented something remarkable about Florence, the gorgeous Tuscan capital where the Medicis ruled and the Renaissance was born: The city's wealthiest residents today are descended from its wealthiest families six centuries ago. As The Wall Street Journal reported this month , economists Guglielmo Barone and Sauro Mocetti looked at tax records compiled in Florence in 1427 alongside municipal tax data from 2011.