Statistics office Istat claims Italian men become fathers at a later age than any other nationality, and do little or nothing to help their wives once their babies are born.

According to Istat, Italian men have their first child at an average age of 33, as opposed to under 31 for fathers in Spain, France and Finland.

Six half-naked animal rights demonstrators began a string of protests planned in the days before Pamplona's traditional "running of the bulls" begin next week.

The group reportedly interrupted Madrid's historic Puerta del Sol square overnight in a protest against bullfighting. Shoppers and tourists snapped photos as the five young women and one man carried "Stop the Bloody Bullfights" signs held by the protesters, wearing only white underpants and plastic bulls horns on their heads. The chanted, "Torture is not art or culture".