Giuseppe Conte

Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte intends to offer his resignation on Jan. 26, his office said on Jan. 25, a move seen as gamble that the embattled leader will get a fresh mandate from the president to try to forge a more viable coalition.

Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte squeaked through a crucial Senate confidence vote on Jan. 19 night, allowing him to keep his wobbly coalition afloat but failing to secure the reliable support needed from lawmakers to help him effectively govern the country with its pandemic-pummeled economy.

Italy was plunged into political crisis on Jan. 13 after former premier Matteo Renzi withdrew his party from the ruling coalition, risking the collapse of the government in the middle of a raging coronavirus pandemic.

Italy, one of the countries worst hit by Covid-19, will be placed under new restrictions over the Christmas and New Year periods, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced late on Dec. 18. 

Under the new measures, shops, bars and restaurants will be closed and travel between regions will be banned, and in theory only one daily outside trip per household will be permitted.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is holding first position, because she has been in power for 16 years, with the assessment that she will probably remain the most powerful leader on the continent until she withdraws from politics next year.

Italy is banning travel between its regions from 21 December to 6 January as part of strict coronavirus curbs over the Christmas holidays.

A curfew from 22:00 to 05:00 will also be in place.

Restaurants can open in some regions until 18:00 but only takeaways are allowed in other parts of the country. Ski slopes must close until 7 January.

Germany is seeking an agreement with EU countries to keep ski resorts closed until early January, in an attempt to curb the spread of coronavirus.

"I will say this openly that it won't be easy, but we will try," Chancellor Angela Merkel said after speaking to Germany's regional leaders on Tuesday.

The news came as the country extended its partial lockdown until 20 December.

The prime ministers of the four European Union countries on the frontline of the migration crisis, namely Greece, Italy, Spain and Malta, on Wednesday sent a joint memorandum outlining their positions on the bloc's new Pact on Migration and Asylum to the German chair of the European Council, Angela Merkel, European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von de

Prosecutors have investigated Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and six members of his government over how they handled the coronavirus crisis, but have recommended the case be dropped, Conte's office said on Thursday.

Italy will reopen its manufacturing industry on May 4 as part of plans to ease the lockdown due to the coronavirus, and schools will reopen in September, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said.

"We are working in these hours to allow the reopening of a good part of businesses from manufacturing to construction for May 4," Conte told Italian daily La Repubblica